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Slowly, I nodded. “Okay, okay, I can do that.”
He let me go and gave me an encouraging smile. I couldn’t return it, however. I was too scared and couldn’t get the idea of someone being inside the house out of my head.
Turning, I hurried back up the stairs and made my way to Henry’s room again. I slipped inside as quietly as I could, shut the door behind me, and locked it. Henry was still asleep, thank God. I leaned back against the wall by the door and hugged myself as I watched him sleep.
My mind raced. This kind of stuff didn’t happen to people like me. I was a nobody. I never would have imagined something like this happening to me. To Henry. I gazed at my son, sleeping peacefully, completely unaware of the dangers the world had to offer him. I didn’t want him put at risk in any way, and it seemed that being with Ryan might be doing just that.
I didn’t know how much time passed before I heard a soft knock on the door.
“Who is it?” I hissed.
“It’s me, Sam. It’s safe. You can open the door.”
I recognized Ryan’s voice, so I carefully opened the door and slipped out into the hallway.
“You okay?” Ryan asked, looking me up and down.
I shrugged. “I guess. Did you call the police?”
“Yeah,” he told me, rubbing my shoulders in a soothing gesture. “They’ll be here soon. We can go downstairs and wait for them.”
I nodded and let him lead down to the living room. We sat together, snuggled up on the couch in silence while we waited. It didn’t take long for the police to arrive, thankfully.
“Hang out here,” Ryan murmured. “I’ll talk to them.”
I nodded and pulled my knees up to my chest as he walked out of the room. I felt sick, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Henry and what I needed to do to keep him safe. I hated to admit it, but staying away from Ryan until he’d resolved this ex-employee thing was probably for the best. If it were just me, I’d stick it out and trust that Ryan could keep me safe. I’d be willing to take the risk.
With Henry, however, I couldn’t make that same choice. I had to choose Henry over everything else.
By the time Ryan returned, I’d made up my mind. I hated what I had to do next.
“Did the police leave?” I asked, pushing to my feet.
He nodded. “Yeah. I gave them the rock and the note. They’re going to add it to everything else they have on Bill already.”
“Are they any closer to catching him?”
Ryan sighed and shook his head, his shoulders slumping. “No, they aren’t. But they’re going to have plenty of officers posted tomorrow for the wedding. If Bill shows up, they’ll catch him.”
I bit my lip as my heart clenched.
“I’m sure they will, eventually,” I murmured. “It might not be tomorrow, though.”
Ryan frowned. “That’s true, but they’ll get him soon enough.”
I released a long breath and wrapped my arms around myself.
“Ryan, we need to talk about this whole thing. I know you’re going to catch whoever this guy is and put him away, but until then…”
“Until then?” Ryan prompted when I couldn’t finish.
“Until then, I think that Henry and I should stay away from you.”
He didn’t say anything for several moments and just stared at me, as though he were having trouble absorbing my words.
“I-I don’t understand,” he stammered at last. “I thought things were going well between us.”
“They are,” I assured him. “And if it were just us, I wouldn’t be saying this, but I have to look out for Henry. I need you to understand that.”
