Page 32 of Recovering Ivy

“Yo,” Jaxon answered.

“You got eyes on Forester?” I asked.

“Negative.”

“Jesus Christ. Find him. Also, tell Garrett to run Amy Lawson, thorough search.”

“Copy.”

I pocketed my phone and beeped the locks to my Rover. Once we were inside Linc started in.

“Your woman, huh?”

“Not fucking now,” I barked.

The inside of my SUV still smelled like Ivy. She’d lathered up her arms with some coconut lotion this morning on the way into the office. Christ, had that only been this morning? How was it a woman I’d known for such a short amount of time could worm her way in so deep? I concentrated on navigating to Ivy’s apartment and tried to block visions of Forester getting his hands on her. She’d fucking break if he got a hold of her. There was no doubt he’d extinguish her snarky attitude and sexy smile in a matter of hours. She had too much in her past. As strong as she was, everyone had their tipping point. Forester feeding her drugs and whoring her out would shatter her soul. She’d never come back from it.

We pulled up to a shitty apartment complex in a bad part of town and my blood boiled thinking about Ivy living in such shit. She was so much better than this. I clocked Leo standing by the front door, uncaring if people noticed him. I parked and we made our way to him.

“She’s not here. I knocked on her door. No answer so I let myself in. I’ve gotta say, I was in under three seconds. Locks are shit. No one was in there. As crap as the place is, she keeps a tidy house, nothing was out of place. No struggle. This is the only way in and she hasn’t been by.”

“Fuck!”

Linc was on his phone and when he was done he turned to us. “No sign of Forester.”

“I’m gonna tan her ass if she went on another fact-finding mission and followed him. He knows about her. Knows she’s Joanna’s sister. She’s being played,” I informed Leo. “He threatened Joanna to keep her mouth shut, or he’d take Ivy.”

“Jesus,” Leo cursed.

“He touches one fucking hair on her head I’m gonna bash his fucking skull,” I growled.

Where the hell are you, Ivy?

“We’ll find her,” Linc said.

I hoped he was right because if we didn’t there would be rivers of blood and I wouldn’t stop until I tore Forester apart.

12

Ivy

The mall was packed. I hated shopping, but I really hated it when there were wall-to-wall people. I’d found some great deals and was ready to leave. I couldn’t take the hustle and bustle any longer. I’d pulled up my Uber app and was getting ready to order my car when I got the feeling someone was watching me. You know the one, a single prickle on the back of your neck when someone is staring at you. It wasn’t the first time it’s happened while I was shopping today, but I’d dismissed it as my aversion to crowds.

Too many people.

I hated being touched and bumped into by strangers.

With my car ordered and five minutes to wait, I stood inside the safety of the mall. Maybe all this talk about me being unsafe had rattled me enough I was losing my mind, because I could swear someone was looking at me. I tried to casually look around to see if I recognized anyone, but I didn’t. And there were too many people around for me to know if someone was following me.

Damn Zane for making me paranoid. I was getting ready to go stand outside just to prove I was brave enough and wouldn’t let his crazy ideas stop me from living my life when my phone beeped alerting me my ride was waiting outside.

The woman driver greeted me and I gave her my address. She was chatty all the way to my place telling me about her rescue cats and she drove for Uber as side income so she could take in more. I wondered if I would be her by the time I was her age. A lonely cat lady, driving for Uber to not only feed them but for companionship. It sounded to me as if this woman didn’t have any human interaction outside of the people she drove.

We pulled up and I paid my toll and grabbed my bags. I was unlocking the security gate to enter the building when I felt it again. I quickly opened the door and slammed it behind me. I glanced at the elevator, then the stairs, debating which one was safer. I opted for the stairs even though the stairwell was shady and smelled like piss. I didn’t want to wait out in the open for the elevator.

Damn Zane.

I booked it two flights of stairs and made it to my door. Once I opened the door and was safely inside, I closed the door, dropped my bags, and leaned against it. I’d gone mad.