Page 89 of Bailey-Rose: The Complete Duet

“Most of it is in the downstairs level. Seemed like she might have been working on something, and whatever it was sure pissed him the hell off. He even left her a note,” he admitted.

Rage hummed in my veins that the bastard dared to speak to her after almost killing her. He’d left her no choice but to push her body to the limit in order for her monitor to go off. If anything else had gone wrong or the ambulance was delayed, I wouldn’t have an Omega to curl up in my arms and whisper in her ear how much I loved her.

“Tell me,” I demanded. It came out as an Alpha bark, putting the power of my rank into those words.

There was a sharp intake of breath, telling me this man was a Beta. While they didn’t react to a barked command like an Omega would, it still had influence over them.

“Give her back to me,” the officer answered. “He used some kind of yellow paint he found in the studio and drew something that resembles a bumblebee below the words. Does that mean anything to you?”

“It was the nickname that sick bastard gave her,” I spat. “Guess he wanted to make sure to leave a clue, just in case we didn’t know who he was talking about. Take all the pictures you need of that message, then cover it up, or I’m not bringing her there. She’s suffered enough trauma from this man, and I won’t let him steal one more ounce of happiness from her. Do we have a deal?”

“Yeah, I can work with that. Give me about twenty minutes, then it will be documented and destroyed,” he assured me.

“Good, we’ll see you in twenty minutes.” Hanging up, I took a moment to take a few deep, calming breaths like I’d heard Bailey-Rose’s therapist instruct her to do when things got too overwhelming.

Once my emotions were in check and I wouldn’t risk snapping at my girl, who was the last person who deserved it, I returned to the table. The guys looked at me expectantly, but my attention was focused on the pastel beauty who was being smothered by two dogs. If Waffles felt the need to add his help, she was not okay.

I turned to Warrick and with a gesture, asked him to move so I could sit next to her. He obliged and took my seat as I slid in, wrapping an arm around the most important person in my life.

“Omae,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to her hair. “I know nothing I say right now will change the way you feel, so I will state facts that cannot be argued. You are safe in this diner and at this table with your pack. Waffles is not on alert or guarding the table, which means there is no immediate threat to you or us.”

Another thing we’d learned from her therapist was how to help her when she woke up from her nightmares. The hardest part for the person experiencing them was knowing what was real and what was imagined. So it was best to offer them facts they could see and acknowledge, helping their brain to realize they’d been dreaming.

“But that phone call was about him, wasn’t it,” Bailey-Rose stated.

“Yes, it was,” I admitted. While I wouldn’t let Randall’s actions harm my Omega if they could be avoided, I wasn’t going to outright lie to her face. If she found out about the message, then I’d own up to that too, but I was going to protect her for as long as I could.

Bailey-Rose looked up at me, her normally bright, joyful gaze had shadows behind them that weren’t there before. Those shadows weren’t always there, but moments like this, where she had to face that memory head-on, it dulled the sparkle. “What did he do?”

“He broke into the studio again,” I divulged. “I don’t know how he did it without us knowing, but he did.”

“Why? Why would he need to go back there?” she asked, her tone pleading for me to give her an answer that would have all this make sense.

Reaching up, I brushed my fingers along her jaw, wishing I had that answer. “I wish I knew, sweetheart. The cops asked for your help. They need you to tell them if he took anything, left something, or any possible thoughts you might have as to why he came back.”

“Do I have to?” she whispered.

Leaning down until our foreheads met and our noses brushed, I shook my head. “No, omae, you do not.”

“But I should,” she added as if she knew I’d held back from saying it. “The more they have to work with, the sooner they can catch him, right?”

“That is true, but you matter more,” I remind her. “If this will only hurt you, then fuck it… they can manage with what they’ve got on their own.”

Bailey-Rose fell silent for a moment, soaking in my touch and scent as she decided. “Okay, I’ll go.”

“Okay,” I murmured, kissing her as I cradled her face with my hand, trying to infuse all the love I had into the kiss.

Once more, this tiny, gentle soul who held my heart showed me what true strength and courage looked like.

The studio was trashed, and not just the back section where the working space was. In his anger, Randall had punched holes in walls, broken windows, and smeared paint everywhere. The office upstairs was the only untouched area, probably because the door to that area wasn’t obvious.

Waffles was glued to my side on high alert as I carried Nugget, not wanting to get his mostly white fur covered in paint. There was so much anger displayed in this space that I didn’t know what to make of it. Everything I was seeing seemed so different from the man I’d dated. Part of me wondered if there was another factor as to why he’d become so volatile.

“Miss Thatcher, I’m Officer Fawlk,” the officer greeted, keeping his distance with a wary eye on Waffles.

I reached down and placed a hand between my wooly companion’s shoulders. “He is impeccably trained, Officer Fawlk. Waffles won’t act without my order, or you make the first move of aggression.”

Officer Fawlk nodded but didn’t seem convinced. “We know for certain Mr. Steele was the person who broke in and destroyed the place. His fingerprints are everywhere… he didn’t even bother to hide them. What would be the biggest help to us is understanding why he’d come back here. In addition, if you could share with me if he stole anything or left something behind.”