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“Did you tell anyone about the threats?”
“Sure, my old beat partner, Tony. And, of course, Gene. They both insisted I take the threats seriously.”
“But you didn’t?” Beck crossed his arms, almost angry.
Despite the fact Heavenly knew this was all in the past, fear for Seth assailed her. He’d thumbed his nose at danger and been incredibly reckless. Even if he hadn’t known the killer would come after his family, he’d known full well a madman was coming for him. And he hadn’t cared.
“I couldn’t,” Seth shot back. “I felt like I owed the victim…”
“Why? You were responsible for other victims, too.” Heavenly shook her head, shocked to find herself fighting tears. “And your safety mattered.”
“It should have. I was a new father, and Autumn relied on me in every way—financially, mentally, and emotionally. But I was too driven to just give up, so I trashed the third note that came in mid-December. By then, someone, probably the killer, was following me. I acted like I wasn’t aware and tried to lead him into a dark fucking alley where I could rough him up for answers. But it was like this perp was a half-step ahead of me. Just before I’d corner him, he’d disappear.”
Heavenly sat up straighter, her eyes going wide. Had Seth been insane? “Did he follow you home? Is that what happened?”
Seth shook his head. “No. But that was another reason I never imagined he’d come after my wife and son. Anyway, I’d taken the week before Christmas off that year. The holiday fell on Sunday, and since I had the least seniority, I was scheduled to be back on duty by then. So Saturday, Christmas Eve, was my last day off. I’d been up half the night, thinking. I had a hunch, so I got up early, kissed my wife and son, and told them I’d be back that evening to take them to my mom’s for family dinner. She and the baby were planning to go to her parents’ place for Christmas.”
“You didn’t spend your last day off with your family?” Heavenly didn’t understand.
Clearly, Beck didn’t, either. “You spent it chasing ghosts instead?”
Seth closed his eyes. “Yeah. And believe me, no one regrets it more than me. If I had a do-over… Would it have changed the outcome? I don’t know. Maybe I was already in too deep. Probably. Even Liam’s mom called me from Ireland a few days prior to warn me I was into something too dangerous. Back then, I thought her psychic shtick was shit. So that morning I was stupidly ignorant of the tragedy about to unfold.
“Evidence that had previously been overlooked sent me to a warehouse in Jersey, near the docks. Most of those operations are crooked as hell, and I didn’t have any authority to be crawling inside the location, but…yeah, that didn’t stop me.”
Beck looked stupefied. “Isn’t that mob territory?”
Even his question made Heavenly’s gut twist. She hadn’t been aware of that, but Seth’s expression said he had.
Despite the fact she already knew the end of this story, the sense of angst and impending doom made her squirm and her heart ache.
“Definitely. But the Mafia wasn’t my problem. In my experience, if I left them alone, they’d return the favor.”
“You were damn cocky.” Beck sent him a disbelieving stare. “Jesus…”
“I was. Weren’t you at twenty-four?”
Beck shrugged. “Pretty much.”
“I’m not that old yet, and I would be terrified,” Heavenly objected.
Both men sent her smiles that were at once amused and protective.
“A sweet angel like you has reason to be,” Seth pointed out. “I was a pissed-off motherfucker with a gun and I wasn’t afraid to use it. Anyway, I didn’t find anything at the warehouse, but I knew in my gut the place was somehow important. When I got back to my car, there was a note on my windshield. Another threat. But this one was different. This one made my blood run cold.”
Seth choked on his last words and turned away. Heavenly rose from the sofa to comfort him, but Beck grabbed her arm and pulled her down with a shake of his head.
“He needs to do this himself,” he whispered.
She shook her head. “He’s all alone.”
Beck nodded. “He has to tell us if he doesn’t want to be.”
That low-voiced murmur knocked the breath from her. As much as she hated it, Beck was right. Seth might love them and he might be telling them the story of Autumn’s and Tristan’s deaths, but that didn’t mean he wanted to come home and have a future with them.
That realization was crushing.
“What did the note say?” Beck asked.
