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“Show me,” I demanded.
“You didn’t have to fly out here,” Momma said, hugging me tightly. “Especially on your bye week.”
“Yes I did. Where is it?”
“The police took it with them,” Mom said gently. “It’s evidence, now. And you already saw it…”
I pulled out my phone and opened the photograph they had sent earlier that day, when we were in Salt Lake City. The photo was of a piece of paper laid flat on the kitchen counter next to the rest of the mail, two creases showing where it had been folded into thirds to fit into the letter envelope. The words only took up a small portion of the page, and looked like they had been stamped into the paper by a typewriter.
Convince your brother to stop playing, or I will take away what’s most important to him.
The photo had sent me into a rage earlier that day, but now that I was seeing it in the presence of my family, I felt something underneath my anger. Something more powerful.
Fear.
“I don’t care if some weirdo threatens me,” Blair said. She was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, defiant as always. “I’m not going to do anything different.”
“The Stallions GM is aware of the situation,” Cazzie said. She hadn’t had time to change into her suit—she was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. The casual dress felt at odds with the tense situation. “He’s going to call my agency and assign protection to you. To all of you.”
“I don’t want a fucking bodyguard!” Blair said. “I want to go about my life like everything is normal.”
“Everythingisn’tnormal,” I said. “And it’s all my fault. I’m the one who should be in danger, not all of you.”
“Oh, baby,” Momma said, cradling my head in her hands. “You didn’t cause this.”
“By not giving in, I’m allowing it to happen. If I do what this psycho asks, if I sit out the next game…”
“Don’t youdarefinish that sentence,” Mom snapped. “I didn’t raise you to give in to threats.”
“Neither did I,” Momma agreed. The two of them stood in front of me like a pair of linemen stopping a running back. “We aren’t going to let you cave to threats. Right, girls?”
“Fucking right,” Blair said. Alex was quiet, but she nodded emphatically.
“Then what am I supposed to do?” I demanded. “Just allow this to happen? I can’t suit up on Sunday knowing that it might get one of you killed.”
Cazzie put a comforting hand on my arm. “Let us do our jobs. Me, and whoever the agency assigns to your family. We’ll keep all of you safe. And the detectives working on the case…”
“Aren’t doing shit,” I answered for her. “They’re sitting on their asses while this maniac runs around threatening people. It’s been nearly three months since I was first attacked, and they’re no closer to stopping him.”
A dark look passed over Cazzie’s face. “Let me make a few more calls. I’m going to light a fire under a few asses.” I watched her walk down the hall and into one of the bedrooms.
“You’re lucky to have her,” Mom said softly.
“I really am. She’s stopped two different attacks…”
Momma gave me a knowing smile. “Oh, baby. We didn’t mean likethat.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“Oh, just admit it already!” Blair blurted out. “The two of you are sleeping together!”
“Eww!” Alex said. “Please don’t phrase it in a way that makes me imagine…yuck.”
“Don’t try to deny it,” Mom said. “Your face is making the same expression you used to get when you tried to lie about eating all the Oreos from the pantry.”
I gawked at the four women. “How did you know?”
“Everything is different between you two,” Momma explained. “The way she touched your arm. How you watched her leave the room. There might as well be a neon sign above you two that sayswe’re dating.”
