Page 35 of Fatal Attraction

“Her parents are blackmailing her?” Carter said angrily, a muscle popping along his sharp jaw.

“Yes. They are. As fucked up as it may be, there’s nothing I can do. I tried to convince Angel to come forward and hand the evidence over to Ben, but she refused. She threatened to call the cops on me if I didn’t leave.”

“We had a meeting today with Chief, Harley, Kendall, and Captain Burgess,” Phoenix said next. “They came up with an idea for us to possibly draw this guy out.”

My brows lifted. “What is it?”

“They want to bring you back in, Charlotte. They want to use the three of us as bait.”

“Bait?” My brows furrowed. “You’ve got to be joking. And what do you mean bythe three of us? What did you do?”

But all they could do was shake their heads at me, sharing the same miserable frown. “We’re not joking,” Phoenix said again. “I’m sorry, baby, I really am, but we have to do this. It may be the only shot we have at catching the guy.”

“And how the hell are we supposed to use ourselves as bait?” I asked again. “Does the captain and chief know we’re seeing each other?”

A beat of silence. Long enough to answer the question without the need for words.

“I can’t fucking believe this shit.”

I got up then and began to pace, fighting back tears.

“The club,” was Spike’s bold retort. “Phoenix and I were discussing it earlier and we both agreed the club is our best bet. All of this shit started there, so why not put an end to it there. If the plan works, then he’s left with two options, to either take a strike at us, or come after you directly.”

“No,” I refused, shaking my head. “I’m not putting you two at risk—”

“We’re already at risk.” Phoenix rose to his feet and approached me, cradling my face in his hands. “He knows who we are. I’m certain of it. At any time, even tonight, this guy could take a shot at any one of us. Either way, hewillcome for you, Charlotte. We have to stop him before that happens.”

“I’ll stay.” Carter squared his shoulders, and his face was serious as he nodded, screening between the three of us until finally his eyes landed on Spike. “I’m a soldier. This is what I was trained for. To protect the innocent at any and all costs. I wasn’t here for Blaire like I should’ve been, but I swear on my goddamn life I will honor her by helping protect Charlotte. I’ll do whatever it takes. I can be her bodyguard. Just tell me where and when, and I’ll be there.”

Tears filled my eyes at his determination, his pride. “Carter—”

His wet eyes slid to me. “I won’t take no for an answer.Please, let me help you.”

“What about your home?” asked Phoenix. “Don’t you still have stuff to square away and—”

“I’m putting it up for sale,” he sadly muttered. “As is, fully furnished and everything. I… I can’t go back there. I don’t expect you to understand, but I just…can’t.”

“You’re more than welcome to stay here until you can find a place,” I told him. “I have plenty of room.”

But Carter shook his head. “I’ll stay until whoever raped those girls and killed my wife is caught. I’ll figure it out after that.”

“I know you don’t want to do this,” Phoenix said, guiding my attention back to the problem at hand. “But Spike and I already agreed. This won’t work unless you do too.”

“So, we’re just supposed to do, what?” I questioned. “Fuck our brains out and hope our perp is there watching the whole thing?”

Phoenix chuckled, but it was Spike who was grinning from the corner of my eye.

Fucking prick.

“Yes,” he nodded. “Precisely. We can figure out the rest of the details later with Cap and Chief, but that is the plan so far.”

Phoenix was right. I didn’t want to do this shit, but I knew we were running out of options and worst of all, Karl was running out of time. The only way to save him was to catch this fucker. I made him a promise, and I had to honor it.

“Fine. I’m in.”

Sixteen

Phoenix

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