“You get some rest.” I stop before I say what I really want to say. I want to tell her that I think I love her. No. I don’t think it. I know it. I love this woman. Probably have since the first minute I saw her. She’s beautiful, smart, sexy and just too good to be true.
But it’s too soon and I want to have this whole mess cleaned up before I tell her about my feelings. I want to be able to tie all her troubles up in a nice, neat bow and present them to her on a silver platter.
An hour and a half later I sneak out of my house, locking the door behind me. I left a note for her on my kitchen counter explaining that I didn’t want to wake her since she was sleeping so well. She looked like a delicate angel lying there. At least if you didn’t have ears. The woman snores like a buzzsaw but it just made me smile. Such a small deficiency in an otherwise perfect woman. Who am I to complain? I’ve got a helluva lot more wrong with me than that.
I climb into my car and reverse, heading for the coffee shop and then the office. I’m the only one on duty for awhile this morning but that’s okay. I want to be alone for what I’m planning to do. I want to do a deep dive into Adam. I feel like there’s something I’m missing in the mystery of this man. Why is he so intent on fucking up Ruth’s life? For fuck’s sake! I hate to say it but there’s probably a ton of women out there that he could browbeat into letting him take over their life.
I grab my coffee at the shop, smiling at the girl behind the counter. She’s new and I’m glad that the owner got some help. She seems frazzled.
I sip my coffee as I’m driving and then turn into the parking lot by the sheriff’s office.
I hurry in the door, glance around and seeing no one else, I hit a familiar number on my phone.
“Hey, Jackson. I know you guys are really busy right now but I need your help. I want to find any sealed juvie records or anything else that I’m missing on a guy. He’s been following my girl and harassing her. She even moved to get away from him but I feel like he’s here. I haven’t seen him but there’s been a person following her and she’s had some hang up calls. Her tires were slashed. And then I took her home last night and her place was just trashed with a bunch of epithets all over the walls. It seems like he’s escalating really quickly. I swear I’m missing something in his damn records.”
“I’ll get right on it. Since this is hush-hush, I’ll do it myself. Jefferson wouldn’t say anything about it but it’s better to keep it confined until we know what you’re dealing with. Do you want me to send you some help? I’ve got two of our most trustworthy guys free right now. Victor or Henry. They’d both be an asset if you’re having a lot of different issues cropping up.”
“Victor’s a Mack truck. There’s no way that guy could blend into this town.” And Henry’s too fucking good-looking and charming. I don’t want him anywhere near Ruth.
“Fine,” he chuckles. “You want to take care of it yourself. Got it. Just email me the info on my secure line and I’ll look into it. I’ll get back to you in two hours since this is a rush.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
“You got it. And just to make sure that I don’t deviate from my usual, you know you’ve got a job offer with our company if you want it. A guy with your skills would be a real asset.”
“I think I’ve found a reason to stay in one place for awhile.”
“The girl. I get it. I have a feeling all my guys are gonna start falling soon. We’ve had one guy leave and I’ve heard some buzzing about another.”
“What about you?”
“You know that’s not gonna happen and you know why,” he grumbles.
I sigh. “Why don’t you just tell Sasha the truth? She might be more receptive than you think.”
“She’s too good a friend. I don’t want to lose her.”
“Alright, alright. I won’t bug you anymore about Sasha but let me know right away what you find out.”
I hang up my phone and immediately dial the cell phone number I have for Ruth.
It rings until the voicemail picks up. My forehead crinkles and I stare at the clock. Her business opens in an hour. She should be up getting ready by now, right?
An uneasy chill skitters along my spine. I dial Jeremiah and wait for him to pick up. He’s of course already out on calls. He’s the go-to guy for Harvey and they both stay incredibly busy. More so since they had a child.
“What,” he growls into the phone.
“Wow, you aren’t a morning person, are you?” I laugh when he grumbles some swear words under his breath.
“What do you want?”
“I’m trying to get ahold of Ruth. I took her home to my place when we found her apartment trashed last night.”
“What!! Why the fuck didn’t you call me? She’s my sister, asshole!” he snaps.
“I would have but she didn’t want to. She stayed in my spare room. Nothing happened.”
I cross my fingers behind my back like I’m a kid again, lying to my mom about where I’ve been and why I didn’t come right home from school.