Page 23 of Saved from Deception

Dammit. Five minutes ago, she was smiling and now she sounds close to breaking.

“Okay, Charlie,” I soothe. “We don’t need to talk about that now.” Her features are tight with stress, her shoulders nearly up to her ears, so I rub at the base of her neck—like I’ve begun to do in the evenings when we’re sitting together on the couch—massaging at the hard knots there.

She casts a grateful glance at me, relaxing into my touch. After a moment, she sighs and says, “I guess I should look at them.”

Leo slides the envelopes together and drops his hand, holding them away from her. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Charlie’s jaw goes rigid, her eyes flaring with irritation. “Why not?”

“It might be better if we look at them first,” I say gently.

She turns to me. “Why?”

“They may be… upsetting.”

“Well.” She gives me a no shit look. “I don’t think they’re letters telling me how great I am. But I still want to know. And it can’t be any worse than what I’ve seen online.”

“Charlie,” Leo starts, his features shadowing. I know he’s thinking about Georgia and the horrible mail she got from her stalkers. “Sometimes physical mail is worse. Trust me.”

There’s a stubborn jut to her jaw. “I want to see.” And she steps forward, holding her hand out to Leo.

I catch her hand, holding it gently but firmly. “Let him open them first, at least.” When her eyes shoot to mine, anger simmering, I explain, “Just to make sure it’s safe, and there’s nothing dangerous inside. We’re not going to stop you from looking at them. Okay?”

She sighs, and her fingers twine into mine. “Okay.”

Five minutes later, we’re huddled around the kitchen island, ten letters spread out in front of us. And I really wish Charlie hadn’t insisted on seeing them.

I was there with Leo when Georgia received the letters from one of her stalkers, and I’ve worked on other stalking cases with Blade and Arrow, so I’ve seen the horrible threats, the insults, the obsessions spilling out in vicious words.

But I’ve never stood next to someone I’m developing real feelings for, watching her go pale, flinching at the absolute hate that these people are spewing at her.

There are letters calling her a whore, a slut, a disgrace to the female population. Others that describe in great detail what they want to do to her. There are screen captures of videos with slurs scratched across them. And one that’s a collage of naked photos, each one labeled with a different degrading variation of her name.

It’s awful, and the surge of emotion crashing through me is like nothing I’ve felt before. Each time Charlie reacts, it’s a slash to my heart. I’m angry and disgusted and frustrated and sad and I just want to take her in my arms and protect her from everything.

I’m gritting my teeth so hard spikes of pain are shooting through my jaw. A quick glance at Leo shows an expression that mirrors my own—features like stone, sharp angles and shadows.

Charlie lays her hands flat on the island and drops her head, breathing in long, shaky breaths. I’m torn, wanting to say something, but not sure what to say. It’s okay? Don’t worry about it? These people are crazy? Let me hold you and rub your back and tell you how fantastic I think you are?

The silence drags, seconds feeling like hours, until Charlie raises her head, meeting my worried gaze. She’s dry-eyed, but her pretty features are twisted as she works to maintain control. “I think I’m going to take a shower.”

Her voice is a thread moments from snapping.

I hate that she’s going to hide in the bathroom, but I can’t force her to stay. So I rub her shoulder and say, “Okay, Charlie.”

Once she disappears into the bathroom and there’s no risk of her overhearing, I turn to Leo, watching as he gathers up all the letters. He says, “I’m going to check out the postmarks on these, see if any raise alerts. Not that I think it will help. These are probably just from people with too much hate and time on their hands.”

“Shit.” I grit out the low curse. “This is fucked up. Now her address? Whoever is behind this is escalating.”

“I know.” Leo grimaces. “I’ve been searching for an IP address for at least one of the videos, but there’s nothing. Everything is being routed through a series of VPNs and proxies, everything identifiable about the source is scraped clean. And the sources keep changing, so as soon as I think I’ve found a trail, I’m back at the start again.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah.” His shoulders sag. “I’m good, but this situation is tough. The problem is once a video is out there, it gets shared, and then the original can be pulled down. And then the shared video can be saved, reposted, rerouted through another series of VPNs… it’s like this never-ending tangle that keeps getting bigger and more complex.”

And Charlie is stuck in the middle of it, slowly suffocating.

“Have you talked to Beth? Or Tex?” Beth is married to one of Cole’s colleagues in San Antonio, and she’s a wizard on the computer. Tex is a SEAL who was medically discharged years ago but uses his incredible tech skills to help all the branches of the military, plus groups like ours—former military and first responders. Both of them have helped us in the past, and I’m sure they’d be willing to again.

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