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“No. It referred to a little girl though, and we don’t have any others in our circle.”
Even if they did, that would be enough for me. I wasn’t going to stop the purchase of the house, but there was no way in hell we’d be moving out of the penthouse until this asshole was caught.
After we hung up with Robert, I immediately went back to my room to see what my contacts at the LAPD had been able to provide. Shaken, Cami trailed after me. She stayed in the hallway, staring down at Emma’s closed door. The Olaf-shaped night light was glowing in the crack beneath it.
“Safest place on earth,” I reminded her, spinning my chair around to face my laptop.
“Safest place on earth,” she murmured, but she didn’t come in.
I had a copy of the threat in my inbox. Twice, actually. Robert had forwarded it, and I’d gotten it from my LAPD source, too. It was handwritten–jagged, angry letters. Short, simple. Three lines.
You tore my family apart.
Now I’m coming for yours.
Starting with the little girl.
A muffled gasp came from over my left shoulder. I hadn’t realized Cami had come in the room. If I had, I would have waited to open the attachment.
“This raises the stakes. The FBI will get involved now,” I said. I’d meant to comfort her, but Cami’s face only paled further. I’d forgotten that the FBI hadn’t exactly been a friend to her family.
“Hey.” I turned the chair around and pulled her into my lap. She came willingly, her body fitting against mine as it always did, but her gaze was distant and unfocused. “It’s okay,” I murmured into her hair. “Safest place on Earth, remember?”
Cami looked up at me, but I got the feeling she still wasn’t seeing me. “I shouldn’t have come back with her,” she said. Her voice was strange, introspective, like she was thinking out loud more than she was talking to me. I listened, fighting back the urge to shake her for what she had said. “I could have told you everything from Hawaii. You would have come to us, wouldn’t you?” She looked at me now.
“You know I would.” I tightened my grip on her waist.
Cami nodded. “I know that now. It’s strange to think I didn’t know that then. I didn’t know how you would react. If you’d care.”
Again, I wondered what kind of asshole I’d been four years ago that Cami didn’t know if I wouldcareabout my daughter. It must have been a special breed. But then, if I’d been such an asshole, what was she doing back in my bed now?
“We could go back,” Cami said suddenly, her eyes finally focusing. Her gaze found mine and searched it. “We were safe there.”
“Youwere,” I said. “Past tense. Until this guy is caught, this is the safest place for you.” Again, I thought about that damn house. Saw all the potential gaps in security.
“He’d never know we were in Hawaii,” she protested.
“You don’t know that. He shouldn’t have known about Emma at all.”
That quelled her rising excitement. I felt her sag against me, her conviction broken. “You’re right,” she whispered. “How did he know about her?”
I had a couple of theories. The guy could have managed to infiltrate the Lavigne’s circle. It didn’t even have to be their inner circle. Maybe he got a job at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Maybe he’d even gotten a job working for them. It didn’t have to be close. The guy who detailed their cars would notice when a car seat appeared in the backseat. Or he’d seen Robert and Elyna at the pool with a little girl who looked a lot like their daughter Cami. The possibilities were endless, but there was only one outcome.
I was going to find him, and I was going to end him.
18
CAMI
Landon got his wish. I was still going mad, but I never wanted to leave the penthouse again. Every time I thought about taking Emma to the beach or the playground, I saw those words again.
Starting with the little girl.
I’ll never let you get close to her,I thought with clear, simple fury as I watched the little girl in question playing with her Arendelle Castle playset in the middle of the formerly austere living room.I’ll kill you first.
I felt the same, quiet, deadly confidence I’d experienced that night in the kitchen when Landon snuck up on me. I had no doubt at all that if I needed to, I could kill to protect Emma. I had no doubt at all I’d have to beat Landon to it, though. While I was willing to kill for my daughter, I got the sense that hewantedto. Pent-up frustration was clear in every move he made. He glared at the computer screen while he worked. He slammed the refrigerator door too hard when he made dinner. A wine glass had been broken the last time he did the washing up.
“We need to get out of the city for a few days,” I said, helping him clean up the jagged shards. “We’re all going crazy.”
