“Come on, Charlotte. It’s clear,” I ordered, pulling her behind me. “I know you want to stay with me but I can’t take any risks. You must understand that. I trust Memphis. I fucking trust Barrett. These guys won’t let you get in harm’s way.”
“I trust you.” She stamped her foot and scowled as my phone started to ring and I glanced at the screen.
Barrett.
“We’re outside. It’s clear but Xander, you need to see this.”
I walked to the front door, continuously on high alert as I watched my surroundings. I opened the front door wide and saw Barrett and Memphis stood there.
“What do I need to see?” I asked.
“Xander,” Charlotte whispered. “Look.” I turned to where she was pointing.
The door.
A knife.
A photograph.
A letter.
Fuck!
“Get the grounds checked. The cameras were shut down fully and stopped!” I screamed. “Call everyone you can to check the woods. How could I be so naïve?” I pulled Charlotte into my side as I kissed her head, ignoring the wide-eyed brows of the guys. “I don’t care. I really don’t. Look at the fucking photograph.”
Both Memphis and Barrett stared at the knife holding the photograph of both Charlotte and I kissing at Fido’s, noting how it was positioned, like it was slicing across my woman’s throat.
Was that intentional? It fucking felt like it.
“Cass! She’ll be on her way here soon,” Charlotte quickly shouted out. “What do we do? She can’t travel up here alone. I heard you say the driver is injured and what if someone hurts her on the way up here? Xander, she’s at risk too,” she pleaded, her words becoming erratic and panicked.
“Barrett, call Travis and make sure that he escorts Cass up the hill. I’m sure that he’ll want to see this.”
“I’m sure he’ll have a few words to say about it,” Memphis whispered under his breath as I pinned my gaze to his and locked my stare. “He did warn you.”
“Fucker.” I clenched my fists together in an attempt to not grab Memphis by the shirt and pin him up against the wall. “We tried. I really tried, but fuck!”
“We’re meant to be,” Charlotte announced. “It seems my stalker was just biding their time. They must have known something was going on between us, which means you were right.”
“Right?” Barrett asked, confused.
“I can’t trust anyone. Someone close to me is either my stalker or is helping them.” She flicked her eyes between us before a steely-eyed look of determination crossed her face. “If we are going to stop them, we will just need to trap them.”
ChapterNineteen
Charlotte
Icouldn’t believe I hadn’t understood Xander’s logic sooner. Everything had been fine. The last month had been a dream at work, with not a single issue but then I’d pulled away from Xander and had kept our relationship hidden. There was nothing to report. No issues at all. It was a set-up.
Whoever this stalker is had issues with me and what I did in my life. I just had to figure out why they had these issues and put a stop to it with compelling evidence so that when I presented it all to the cops, the person would rot in jail. I know I wanted to avoid the help of the local police force but I knew it was becoming more than likely that I’d need them, especially with how messy everything was becoming. I couldn’t just let them continue their everyday lives knowing that they could start the process all over again and make another person’s life a misery. I’d never be able to live with myself.
“They’re here.” Barrett announced as I looked out the window of the living room and saw a car pull to a standstill. A prim and proper Travis climbed out the driver’s seat before he opened the door for Cass. How was he so calm and collected?
Xander and I have decided to leave the evidence attached to the door until the others had arrived, to show them what had been left. I was itching to read the letter—even though it wasn’t addressed to me. It was addressed to Xander.
I counted the seconds down in my head as I tried to remain calm and not have an outburst. I knew that Travis wouldn’t be happy when he realized the reason behind the stalker’s latest attack. I knew it in my gut. I could feel it churning deep inside.
Xander and I had made our way to the front door in an effort to greet both Travis and Cass. He had his arm wrapped around my waist without a care in the world. It was almost as if he was standing his ground, knowing that things were about to get heated just like I did. Travis’s features morphed from large grins and smiles; even though he had an eerie calmness surrounding him at seeing the pair of us both safe. I watched the large breath that he must have been holding in as Cass’s eyes flitted back and forth. She’d seen the door. She’d seen Xander’s hold on me and she knew she had failed in her attempt of cockblocking the pair of us.