AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And my fault most of all because I’m alive.”
“That’s right.” He took her by the shoulders, turned her so she could see the installation. “So this is happening. He’s also not going to do all that because the pattern is who he is. He needs the pattern. He may change it briefly, but only because someone else is to blame. But he’ll go back to it. He hasn’t got the guts to uproot his life and plant it somewhere else, in some other way.”
“What you’re not saying is because of that, because of who he is, he’ll have to come here.”
“I don’t have to say what you already know. But the odds have shot up, Morgan, way up, they’ll find him first.”
“Do you really believe that? I’d rather have hard truth than a gentle lie.”
“I do. With everything you’ve just told me, I do believe that. He’s running, he’s panicked, and he’s fucking up. You’re not doing any of that. And he’s alone.” The hands on her shoulders ran down her arms, up again. “You’re not alone.”
“But I have to learn to live with having cameras on the doors.”
“Millions do, apparently, and like it.”
“They’ll help keep my ladies safe when I’m not here at night.” She looked up at him. “But it was pushy.”
“Right. And your point?”
She only sighed, then tipped her head toward his shoulder. “I guess he’d better show me how it all works so I can show the ladies. But I’m not saying thank you, at least not yet.”
“I don’t care. Just like I don’t care you’re going to balk when I say you’re going to start texting me when you get home after closing.”
“Oh, for—”
“One quick text—‘I’m home,’ ‘All clear,’ ‘Fuck off’—sent after you’re inside and locked up.”
“You do know what time I get home.”
“I’m aware.”
Because she couldn’t help herself, she reached out to stroke his cheek. “I’m just going to wake you up.”
“That would be my problem. I’m only asking you to text a couple words. Don’t make me pull out my mother’s rarely used but highly effective guilt power.”
He knew he had her when he saw amusement rather than annoyance in her eyes. “What’s the power?”
“You asked for it.” He adopted a long-suffering tone twined with glittering affection. “I just can’t understand why you’d want me to worry this way. It’s not like you to be so selfish. It’s such a little thing to ask, and would do so much to relieve my mind.”
“Oh, that’s… that’s masterful.”
“She doesn’t use it often. Doesn’t need to,” he added with a hint of aggravation, “as the aftereffects can last for years. Possibly decades. Just a quick text, Morgan, after you’re safe inside.”
No, no one had ordered her around before. And no one but her family, her ladies, had ever worried about her like this.
“A remote version of you watching until I drive out of sight or go into the house. Okay, fine, but don’t blame me for messing up your sleep cycle.”
“Let’s go get that tutorial. He claims there’s nothing to it.”
“I’m not going to thank you for the camera and doorbell thing, but.” Taking his face in her hands, she kissed him. “I’m glad you came by so soon after I got the call about Rozwell. I’m grateful I had you to talk it through with, and appreciate you rearranged things at work so I could. So I’ll say thanks for that.”
“I told you, you matter. Now let’s go find out how this damn thing works, since I’m getting stuck with one, too.”
She took his hands again. “I like that part.”
“Can’t blame you.”
When he left her, Miles called his office and rescheduled something else. He’d work late, make up the time. Unlike a psychopath, he could change patterns and habits when necessary.
