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Or will I be there to do it…
“If she’ll let me, I’ll be whatever she needs.”
“Then find a way for her to be happy again. Find a way for this not to destroy her.”
She hung up on me but I understood. She loved Cadence and because she did Val felt responsible for protecting her friend. What she didn’t know was that she didn’t have to protect Cadence or Gracie from me.
“Who was that?”
“Val.”
I was already moving through the house with him behind me. “Where you going?”
“To The Bottom. Cadence is there and so are a bunch of reporters.”
“I’m going too.”
I stopped, turning to face him. “No, stay here. She said they’re at the house too and I don’t know how this is going to play out.”
“You sure you don’t want me to ride with you. I can stay out the way.”
“Nah, you’re good. Just wait here for me and if Drew hits you up, don’t tell him shit about where I’m at or what I’m doing. In fact if he calls, don’t answer. You can’t lie for shit.”
“What?”
“You can’t,” I warned and he shrugged but didn’t argue with me further.
“You bringing them here?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“You should.” He walked to the front of the house, opening the front door. “This house is under Drew’s business, right? That means it can’t be traced back to us. There’s nobody out there and I’m sure Drew’s making plans to get us on the next flight back to Crescent Falls.”
“Yeah he is.”
“Then bring them here. It makes sense.” All his intensity and focus was centered on me. He was protecting them. Not because Cadence and Gracie were important to him but simply because he understood they were important to me.
“If she’ll let me. I will.”
fourteen
Cadence.
“Are they gone?” Del walked up to the officer who showed up when she called with the complaint about reporters and paparazzi flooding the parking lot.
Reporters that were here for me and it twisted my heart knowing that once again I had inconvenienced Del and her family.
“I made them stay outside along the property line. There’s not much I can do besides that. It’s their right to be there but they can’t be up here.”
“So they can just be out there harassing my employees and bothering my customers?”
“As long as they stay beyond your property lines, yes they can.”
“What good are you, Ant?”
“Officer Martin.” His eyes darted around to see who was watching. Del had known him since he was a kid. We all went to high school together so being an officer now didn’t mean a damn thing to Del. He was still little Ant, James and Diane’s boy. If the situation wasn’t so stressful I would have laughed. “Come on, Ms. Del. You know if there was any more I could do. It would be done.”
She glanced at me and offered a nod. “I do but just know if any one of them comes up here on my property and I feel threatened…” She kneeled down and lifted the nine she kept behind the bar.
