“Whoa, really?” Ivan’s eyebrows rose. “And now you’re here…”
“But not with him,” she insisted quickly. “As soon as I learned the truth about him, I ran away and brought my son, Timothy, with me so that we could be safe.”
Timothy… Tim.Instantly, I was taken back to that horrible place where I lost my friends. Sickness rose up in my chest, and it took every bit of energy I had to not let it spill free. Fuck, this was a very complicated mess. But again, my protective side exploded free around Miranda. I just couldn’t stop myself from worrying about her.
“But I’m terrified he’s found me. Ivan, was there really a note?”
Ivan bit down on his bottom lip before speaking. “You mean I’m here, bitch?”
There were tears in Miranda’s eyes as she nodded. “Yes, because now I’m thinking that must be for me. He has to know I was there that day. At Lake Arrowhead. That I saw him. I left our picnic behind when I ran away in a hurry. He might have even seen my car driving off, I don’t know. I was just trying to get Timothy away from him.”
Every time she said her son’s name it was like another dagger to the heart. But there was also a small voice in the back of my brain wondering if this could be some kind of redemption for me. If this was a Timothy I could actually save from the danger.
“If you think this could be about you, then we need to go to the police right away,” Ivan insisted, thankfully being the one of us who could think straight. Because my head was all over the place. “We need to give them a chance to solve this murder. Especially if this guy is a serial killer. We have to get him behind bars where he belongs.”
Miranda slumped her head forward and rested it in her hands. It wasn’t long before her shoulders started shaking with tears. Poor Miranda. She did not deserve to be in this situation. This date could not have gone any worse if it tried. But I wasn’t mad about it anymore, I just wanted to envelop her in a warm bear hug.
I couldn’t stand it any longer. I rose up from my seat and threw an arm over her shoulder, hoping I could at least offer her some comfort. Even if it wasn’t much. She didn’t throw me off, which was at least a sign that she didn’t hate my guts. Good.
“Listen, Miranda, I think we should go to the police right now,” Ivan continued carefully. “Because the more time they have on this case, the better chance they have of solving it. I know it might be a bit of an emotional time at the moment, but we need to try. Especially because I think it might be linked to the burglaries I have been working on at the lake. If I can tell the cops what I have figured out—”
“Right now?” Miranda murmured without lifting her head. I felt so bad for her, I rubbed her neck, hoping I could do something for her.
“You want him gone, don’t you?” Ivan pushed. “If he is locked up, then you’ll be safe. That bullshit note is troubling. I don’t like the look of it at all.”
“And Timothy,” she murmured, nodding to herself. “He has to be the most important person to me right now. I don’t think Brady will go after his own son because he didn’t care much about him when we were together, so I’m pretty sure I am the target, but I need to keep him safe.”
She sucked in a couple of deep breaths and eventually lifted her head and nodded. “Okay, let’s do this. Let’s go to the police, because if this is him, then he needs to be stopped. I can’t stand the thought of him murdering other women. I already feel like this one is my fault.”
“You do?” I asked, shocked to my very core. “Why would you think that?”
“Because I ran,” she said sadly. “I was so scared, I didn’t even think about going to the police. I could have saved her life, whoever she was.”
“Miranda, you could have been his next victim. No one would blame you for running away. No one. You can’t be blamed for a murderous scum bag.”
There was a lot more I wanted to say about this ex-fiancé of hers, but I wasn’t sure it was a good time to do so. It sounded to me like a trauma bond had been created, and that wasn’t something that would sever right away. Until she said more herself about the situation, I had to keep my mouth shut.
“I’m an idiot,” she wailed. “For all of this. I feel so stupid. I hate it.”
I rubbed her shoulder, but I wasn’t sure it was helping. I was starting to think Ivan was actually being better in this situation. I wasn’t going to step aside and give up on Miranda, but I could also see why she wasn’t interested in a relationship at the moment. She had to get over her old one. I could wait for her; I knew she was worth it.
“You have an in with the chief of police, right?” I asked Ivan. “So why don’t you take Miranda there now and get this report done. Like you said, the sooner the better.”
Miranda met my eyes questioningly and I nodded.
“Okay,” Ivan agreed carefully. “Let’s go.”
It made my heart a little sad to know I was about to be left out of this one, but it was what was right for Miranda, and right now she was all I cared about. Once all this was taken care of, I would prove to her that I could show her the world.