Chapter 27
Cop: “Do you have any idea how fast you were going?” Driver: “Isn’t it your job to tell me?” ~ Text from Hailey to Aiden
Damn it. I jinxed myself. This is what I get for saying everything is perfect. I try to grab the piece of paper off my windshield before Aiden sees me, but the detective misses nothing. He takes the paper from me and opens it. A muscle ticks in his jaw as he reads it. Uh oh.
“Inside. Now. Move it.” When I don’t move quick enough, he grabs my wrist and pulls me back into the bar we recently vacated.
“What? What is it? What did it say?” I assumed it was another picture of Estelle’s kids. Guessing by his response, I was wrong.
He ignores me as he pushes me inside the bar. His eyes travel around the room until he locates the uncles. He jerks his chin, which must be some super-secret caveman language, as they stand as one and move to surround us.
“The office. No window access, the hallway is restricted to personnel, and there’s an alarmed emergency exit,” Wally says before we start moving as a group.
I can barely see through the mountain of men surrounding me, but I catch Pops’ eyes and give him a reassuring smile. Judging by the way his jaw locks, he isn’t reassured.
Once we reach the office, the uncles spread out like they’re my bodyguards. Lenny takes the emergency exit. Barney is practically glued to my side, and Sid is at the mouth of the hallway.
“Come on, son,” Wally says. “Let’s check the scene.”
Adrian starts to walk away with him. “Hold up. Can I at least see the note that has you acting out a scene from the Bodyguard movie?” Side note – awesome soundtrack but the ending? No. Just no.
“Later,” he says without slowing in his tracks.
I huff. “You can’t put baby in the corner!” I shout at his back. No response.
“Let him be, Hails. He’s trying to protect you,” Barney says as he pushes me further into the office and shuts and locks the door. Locking the door? Really? Does he think someone can get past Sid and Lenny? You’d need an army to get past those two.
I flop onto the sofa in Pops’ office. “This is completely crazy. Someone left a note on my car. Big whoop.”
“Come on, Hails. We taught you better. This is a security threat. You need to take it seriously.”
He’s right. I know he is, but it doesn’t stop me from being a smart ass. I salute him. “Sir. Yes, sir.”
He doesn’t respond, but I see his lips turn up as he stands in front of the door in guard position. Five minutes later and he hasn’t moved an inch. If I didn’t see his chest moving up and down, I’d think he was a statute.
Someone raps on the door. Barney raps twice back. Only when the person on the other side of the door raps another five times does he open the door to admit Aiden and Wally. I jump to my feet when I see them.
“What’s going on? Did you find anything?”
Aiden pulls me into his arms. He’s shaking as he rocks me from side to side.
“I’m okay,” I whisper. “Nothing happened.”
“What if I hadn’t been there?”
I keep my face against his chest to hide my eye roll. My car was parked in a well-lit area, under a streetlight, in fact. I walked outside with a group of friends. I’m armed. And I have taken every form of self-defense in existence. I would have been perfectly fine but try convincing the big lug of that.
Wally clears his throat, and I step out of Aiden’s arms. He isn’t letting me go anywhere, though. He throws an arm over my shoulders and pulls me close. I don’t bother trying to hide my eye roll this time. Sid chuckles as he walks in followed by Lenny and Pops.
Pops tears me from Aiden’s arms and wraps me in his arms. “Babycakes, what have you gotten yourself into?”
I pull away from him to give him a glare. “Oh no, you don’t. You are not going to blame whatever this is on me.”
I switch my glare to Aiden. “I want to know what the note said, and I want to know if you found anything outside.” He hesitates for a moment and I get all up in his face. “You are not going to keep me in the dark. I am not some wilting wallflower in need of your protection.”
He hands me the note, which is now in a plastic Ziplock bag. I’m coming for you. Shit. Shit. Shit. So much for not having a stalker and this not being personal. Someone is definitely after me. But why? It makes no sense. I stare at the note until my hands stop shaking and the fear loosens its hold on me. I can’t let my family see any weakness or they’ll lock me up and throw away the key. No, thanks.
“I don’t get it. We went through practically all my files today and found nothing.”