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“It evolved into getting flowers where I worked.Blood-red roses.”I can’t resist the shiver of disgust that rolls through me.“And the card always said something like,You look beautiful today,orWow, you smell great.”
“Creepy as fuck,” Millie whispers, and I nod over at her.“And that’s why when the flowers came for you yesterday, and I said Rem is sweet, you ran out like you’d been stung by a bee.”
“I knew they weren’t from Remington,” I whisper and close my eyes, completely mortified.“I’d told him I like daffodils, and he hadn’t even seen me that day.He didn’t know what I looked like.”
“What does that have to do with it?”Ryan asks.
“This time, it was theYou look beautiful todaymessage,” I reply.“We found out much later, after he was caught and was in questioning, that he liked to be nearby when I got the deliveries so he could watch my face when I read the card.”
“Fuck,” Brady mutters, shaking his head.
“He’d worked up this whole imaginary life in his head.He was convinced that I was his girlfriend and that Will Montgomery would be his father-in-law.”
“So, he’s a little obsessed with your dad, too,” Remington adds, and I nod.
“For sure.But I’m the one he’s convinced ishis.” I take a drink of water.“The way he watched me in court when I was giving my testimony was repulsive.He smiled and watched me with heart eyes, as if I were his soulmate.”
“How did they catch him?”John asks.
“I got a text from what I thought was my sister’s phone.She asked me if I could pick her up from a party because everyone else was drinking, and she didn’t want Mom and Dad to freak.I knew she was going to that party, so I said,Of course, no problem.Just shoot me the address.”I lick my lips and have to grip my hands together because they want to shake.
After all this time, I feel like I’m going to lose my shit.
“I put the address into the GPS and drove over there, and all the lights in the house were on.There was even loud music coming from inside.”
“The fucker made it look like there was a party going on,” Brady says.
“Yep.So I wouldn’t question it.I texted her and said,I’m here, come on out.And she replied with,Just come inside for a sec.”
I have to take another drink of water.
“It’s okay,” Millie croons, rubbing my back.“Take your time.We’re not in a hurry.”
“It’s best if I just get it all out.”I sniff and puff out a breath.“So, that was weird to me, that message from Zoey.She never would have said that, and I suddenly got a weird feeling in my gut.It was almost as if someone was yelling in my head, screaming, ‘This is not safe!’, you know?”
“Yeah,” Ryan says, nodding.“I know.”
“I think we all know that voice,” Millie says.“Especially women.Tell me you listened.”
“I called Zoey.I didn’t text her.I just called her, and she picked up.I said, ‘I’m here, dude.Just come outside already.’And she was confused.I knew.Iimmediatelyknew, and before I could put the car in gear to leave, he was standing in front of me, and he ran around to my door and opened it.”
Rem’s eyes narrow into slits.“Heopenedthe door?”
“Yeah, but I threw it in gear, pushed on the gas, and lurched forward, which broke his arm and hit him in the head with the door.I didn’t stop, either.I drove directly to my uncle Matt’s house, and we made the report.He was arrested that night and went to prison.”
“And now,” John says, “he’s out of prison.”
“I don’t know how or why.He was supposed to have another five years, and we were supposed to be alerted when he either came up for parole or was released.My dad wasn’t notified.Dad said that my uncle is looking into how he got out early.”
The room is quiet as everyone soaks in what I’ve just told them.
“If you need to fire me, I understand.I truly do.”The thought fills me with so much sadness and so much regret that I want to crumple into sobs, but I firm my lip.“It would be nice if I could have twenty-four hours to find another place to live.”
“You’re not fired,” Remington says, shaking his head.“A gate will be installed just off the highway first thing in the morning.We have men setting up cameras all over the property as we speak, as well as motion-detecting lights.”
“They’ll go off all the time, thanks to all the animals around,” Ryan says with a laugh.“But it’ll scare off any psychopaths, as well, so it’s worth it.”
“I have my men patrolling town,” Chase continues, “with photos of the perp.As far as we’re concerned, he’s a wanted man.He’s violated the conditions of his parole if he left Washington.”
