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“We want to go after him while he’s in our territory. If we have your permission to use your phone and message him, make him think it’s you, maybe we can lure him someplace.”
“The sooner we do this, the better, right? And you don’t want the other girls to know?”
“Exactly. Hopefully, we can stop him before he does anything else. We don’t want to stress out Blake or Tori with the news.” Liam began pacing the living room. He and I agreed we didn’t want to involve Abbey, but it was best if she was in the know in case something went wrong.
Abbey tapped her chin. “What about planning it for Sunday? We’re doing the baby shower, and all the girls will be with me. We’ll be out of the way and safe. That gives you time to trap him.”
I leaned over and kissed her. “Perfect. That’s a start. Now we need to lure him to us. We can message that you want to meet him. We need to plan the message, so he thinks you’re sincere. Something that won’t tip him off. We don’t need him to try something even more dangerous than the fire.” I scratched the scruff on my chin.“You know him best, Abbey. What do you suggest?”
“What were some of the last messages he sent me?” Abbey held her hand out for her phone.
My fingers gripped the plastic until the case bit into my hand. Like hell I was going to just hand it over. She knew the gist of how horrible they were, and I didn’t want her to see some of the worst ones.“I’ll read them to you.” My voice sounded gruff, even to my ears.
Her eyes softened. “He can’t hurt me anymore. Not now. Not after being with the two of you.”
I sighed. “Abbey, some of these messages are beyond hurtful. I can’t let you see them.”
She set her hand on my knee. “Okay. I get it.”
Turning the phone on, I pulled up the last few messages.
Jeff: Abbey, I know this isn’t you. You’re letting Blake and Grace into your head, and you don’t want that. You know you belong with me.
Jeff: Abbey, come home and I’ll forgive you for everything.
Jeff: I need to see you again. I miss you so much. You left me without so much as a goodbye. You have to come back to me.
At least the last three weren’t so bad. I turned the phone so Abbey could read the messages, and she rolled her eyes. I bit back my laughter.
“We need to play nice, right?” She glanced at me and then back to the screen.
I tilted my hand from side to side. “Basically.” I didn’t want to play nice with the fucker, but we had to remain calm for this to work.
Liam pointed at the phone. “How about agreeing to meet with him? Nothing more, nothing less.”
“I think we need a little more than that. If we say okay, I’ll come see you, it’ll be suspicious.” My mind was trying to find the best angle. All my training in the military and police academy told me we needed more—more help, more time, more resources, more everything.
“How about we keep it simple? I tell him I regret leaving and I’m okay with meeting him so we can talk it out.” Abbey pursed her lips.
I nodded. I hated hearing her say that, even though it was a lie. This situation with Jeff couldn’t be over soon enough.
“What about this?” Abbey grabbed the phone and typed a reply. She handed it back when she was done and waited for me to read it. I made a small tweak, then showed her the revision. When she nodded, I then showed Liam. He pursed his lips but caved.
“Let’s send it. We don’t want to wait. I know how quickly his moods can change.” Abbey worried her bottom lip.
She was right. I’d read through all the other messages. Jeff was sweet one second and a total psychopath the next.
Abbey: Hi, Jeff. I’ve been thinking you might be right. I’d like to talk with you about us.
I hit send, and we waited patiently for his reply.
Jeff: I’m happy you’re finally seeing reason.
Abbey: Where do you want to meet? I talked to my mom, and I’m guessing you might be nearby based on what she said.
I showed the messages to them. When they both nodded, I hit send.
Jeff: There’s a hotel by the highway about thirty minutes north. Room four-thirty-two. Come alone.
