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“You’re not funny,” Matt says. “The ME found brain cancer, which I know doesn’t really change anything now, but I thought it was interesting. Thought I’d pass the info along.”
“Does he think the cancer is what made her crazy?”
Matt shrugs. “Who knows? I guess it could have. Maybe she was already a little off, and the cancer exacerbated the obsessive traits into a psychosis. It’s definitely possible. But like I said, it doesn’t change anything. Karen’s still gone, along with the baby.”
“Do you know how Jeremy’s doing?”
Matt’s face sobers more, and he doesn’t look me in the eyes when he replies.
“He killed himself three days ago.”
“Fuck.” I stomp away and consider punching the wall, but it’s cement, and I don’t want to break my hand. “Fuck.”
“Yeah.” Matt nods.
“And the kids?”
“They’re with Karen’s parents.”
“At least he didn’t kill them, too.”
“Very true.” Matt pats my shoulder. “There was nothing any of us could have done. Nothing.”
“I hear you.”
“But you don’t believe me.”
“Three people are dead, and I saw them all alive just days ago. I should have—”
“You did everything right. We’re not God. You arrested her, and due to a flawed, human system, she hurt them anyway. It’s tragic. It’s horrifying, actually. But it’s not your fault.”
“Thanks.” I nod once, then turn to leave the building. I have to switch gears from stalkers and death to my actual job of property theft.
This has been the weirdest month of my life.I drop the stack of emails on the piano. Starla stops playing and stares at them and then looks up at me.
“Welcome home, dear.”
“There are hundreds of emails there.”
She looks at them again and then at me. “Okay.”
“Okay.” I walk away from her, tug my jacket off, and throw it on the couch, then stomp into the kitchen for a bottle of water.
I wish it was scotch.
“Fifteen months,” I begin after drinking half the bottle, “of emails. Not six months, Starla. Fifteen.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say. It felt like six months, but it’s not like I have a timestamp on hand just in case someone asks me questions.”
“I can live with that.” I nod thoughtfully. “Time goes fast, and you’ve been busy. I get it. So you don’t know how long ago they started. But the sheer number of them should have been a clue to tell someone.”
“I just—”
“What? You just, what? Because I don’t understand how this could happen. You have more money than I can wrap my head around, and a whole team of people whose only job is to take care of you. Yet you let this go on for fifteen damn months?”
“I’m just a human being.” She stands and paces away. “I may be rich and famous, but I’m a person. Sometimes, people make mistakes, Levi.”
I want to scream. I’m so damn frustrated with her, with Jeremy, with every damn thing today.
“My security team has enough to keep track of.”
“Your security team is a joke and should have been fired years ago.” I cross my arms over my chest.
“Oh, and you’re perfect.”
“Nope. Not even close. But I have a work ethic, and I would work circles around those clowns. You’re an important person, Starla. Whether you want to admit it or not. And letting this go on for months is not okay.”
“I get it.” She holds up her hands in surrender. “I understand it’s dangerous, and I’ve handed everything regarding my security to you. I’m cooperating. I don’t know what else you want from me right now, Levi. Do you want to continue arguing? To shame me? To make me feel small? Because you’re succeeding. I apologized. Now you’re just beating the proverbial dead horse, and it’s pissing me the fuck off.”
I shove my hands through my hair, but before I can respond, she keeps talking.
“I wish I could take a day off from you.”
Okay, that stings.
“And not because I’m trying to punish you, but because I need some space. I need a little time to cool off. To just breathe.”
“You can have it.”
Because, frankly, I need it too.
I reach for my phone and dial Jax’s number.
“Who are you calling?”
I don’t answer, I just hold her gaze as Jax picks up.
“Yello.”
“Hey, it’s Levi. Starla’s going to come stay with you for a day or two. Cool?”
“Totally cool. Room’s ready.”
“She’ll be there soon.”
I hang up and look at the woman I love more than anything. Under normal circumstances, I could tell her that I’d see her tomorrow and just go home.
But now, someone wants to kill her, and that’s not an option.
“Thanks for treating me like the child you, yourself, said you hated being treated as. It’s awesome.”
“I don’t know what to fucking do,” I say, holding my hands out to the sides. “We’re pissed at each other, and I can’t leave you alone, Starla. So pack a goddamn bag so I can take you to Jax and give you the space you want.”
