“Calm down,” Bobby said, pushing the gun away. “What’s more likely to happen is that once you solve this mystery of who’s threatening Gabrielle, she’ll lose interest in fucking her hero. You’ll be on the side of the road with a broken heart and she’ll have moved on to some other fucker.”
Sebastian slammed the Glock across Bobby’s face. “If I didn’t need you, I’d put a bullet in you.”
Bobby frowned, then swiped at the blood oozing from the cut above his eyebrow. “You’re fucking in love with her, aren’t you?”
Sebastian ignored him. “I need you to find out if a man named Tony Brooks has any ties with Quattro.”
“Guess it’s back to business” Bobby smirked, then walked behind his desk and sat down. “I confirmed that Damian did a bunch of favors for Quattro, killing off members who had probably betrayed the gang. He spent a lot of time in solitary for his efforts. All Damian asked for in return was a few dozen cell phones, which is fucking weird. Because of the importance of the King Family to the islands, all the gangs consider them off limits. My contacts are confident that Quattro wasn’t involved in any attack on Gabrielle.”
Sebastian slumped into a chair adjacent to the desk. “Well, this information definitely changes things. Damian used those cell phones to watch videos of Gabrielle about her coming home to the Palmchat Islands. That was the reason he got into the fight with the prison guards, which led to his death. Remi said Tony Brooks spent time in Tiverton. Check and see if he crossed paths with Damian while serving time.”
Typing slowly on the keyboard, Bobby cracked his neck from side to side, then paused. Several minutes passed with neither man saying a word. A series of beeps emitted from the computer and Bobby leaned forward, then turned to Sebastian with a disturbed look on his face.
“Tony Brooks is an incel,” Bobby said, shaking his head. “Active on dozens of websites that those punks like to hide out on.”
“What the fuck is an incel?”
“Guys who hide behind their keyboard being pricks to women because they can’t attract them sexually. They have no chance of being in a relationship even though that’s what they want the most. They consider themselves involuntarily celibate.” Bobby made air quotes as he says the words. “Because no woman in her right or wrong mind would give them a second glance, they are bitter and angry. Jackasses like this hide out on websites commiserating with each other and bashing women.”
“That’s pathetic.”
“Tell me about it. Some of them, like this dude Tony Brooks can take things to the next level. He’s a frequent poster and has harassed women online,” Bobby said, flicking his finger along the computer mouse to scroll past the information on the screen. “His time in Tiverton was for stalking a woman at a local grocery store.”
Bobby turned back to the computer monitor and typed again on the keyboard. A few minutes passed as the computer hummed.
“Shit,” Bobby muttered under his breath.
“What is it?”
“Damian was Tony Brooks’s cell mate during his time at Tiverton.”
“Fuck,” Sebastian said. “Two fucking obsessive stalkers in the same cell. Damian could’ve convinced Tony to do his dirty work for him. He could’ve used those cell phones to call Tony before Gabrielle’s plane landed and set this all in motion.”
“Or Brooks could’ve idolized that bastard and went after Gabrielle to pay homage. Kinda of like those sick Fury followers.”
Sebastian shuddered thinking of the secretive group of people who worshipped The Fury, a serial killer who murdered at will across the Palmchat Islands decades ago.
“Get me a location on Tony.” Sebastian wasn’t inclined to watch the justice system play out on this one. With Hester dead, Sebastian wouldn’t let some copycat punk pick up where Damian left off. He’d take the guy out before anyone realized the connection.
“Working on it. I’ll text you as soon as I find him.”
Sebastian headed toward the door.
“One last thing,” Bobby called from behind him. Sebastian turned back. “You might want to share with Serena that the photos leaked of Gabrielle online are the same ones that the police confiscated as evidence from Damian’s computers after Gabrielle was kidnapped a decade ago. Whoever posted them could’ve hacked into their weak ass police evidence databases to get them. I’m sure her lawyers can do something to get them destroyed now that Damian is dead.”
“Yeah, I’ll tell her,” Sebastian said, then walked down the hallway to the entrance. The blond receptionist pretended to be busy, watering the fake plants, as he passed by her and exited.
Gabrielle rushed toward him. “We need to get back to St. Felipe now. Detective Shannon texted me. He said there’s been a break in the case.”
Chapter27
Gabrielle gripped the edge of the railing as the captain steered the yacht toward the dock. The crest of the King Family adorned a metal arch over the wide wooden planks as the golden sand beach stretched along its sides. In the distance, her family home loomed at the top of the hill.
She could feel Sebastian’s eyes on her, but she didn’t turn to look at him. She couldn’t. Her mind was reeling from everything he’d found out from Bobby.
Discovering that the person behind the threatening message at the beach cottage wasn’t a gangster-for-hire but could be another sick, depraved man who’d become obsessed with her had set her nerves on edge.
Tony Brooks had a criminal record for stalking and had been a cellmate of Damian’s. No doubt she’d been the topic of their conversations during the two years they occupied the same cell. The thought of Damian Hester poisoning another psycho’s mind sickened her. Unlike last time, she hadn’t done anything to foster Tony Brooks’s infatuation with her. She wouldn’t let another creep ruin her life. Not again. Not when she knew what it felt like to be free.
