Page 110 of Break

Pathetic and worthless… that’s what you are. That’s all you’ll ever be.

I fucking gave you everything, whore… fucking EVERYTHING. And you’ve completely destroyed me. Destroyed US.

This is on you.

Hope you enjoyed the movie, you bitch.

Danny doesn’t sign off on his threat, but it’s clear this is from him. Grunting in frustration, I hand the note to Max and stomp over the shards laying in the grass toward the house.

I hate interrupting Vincent and Mina, but we need to go down to the station. Clearly, Danny is becoming more unhinged than he already was, and we need to go down to the station.

Knocking on Vincent’s door, I holler through to them. “Sorry to interrupt, but you both need to come downstairs. Danny sent another note, but this time, he sent it through your windshield.”

I hear a curse and then bodies moving around behind the door. I’m not going to wait around and have Mina feel embarrassed in whatever state Vincent has got her in, so I turn and head back down to wait for them in the living room.

Within minutes, Vincent and Mina are coming down the stairs, and Max is slamming the door behind him as he storms into the house.

He doesn’t see the other two behind him when he waves Danny’s note at me. “This motherfucker has gone off the deep end! First yesterday, and nowthisshit? How the hell is he watching us!?” Max is shouting by the time he finishes his rant, only to spin around at Mina’s gasp.

“Yesterday?” She looks at me, then Vincent, and then back to Max.

My angry friend shuts his eyes in frustration, groaning over his wish to take back his words. Apparently, Max didn’t get around to filling our woman in on her stalker.

“Mina, I didn’t want to ruin your afternoon with Ethan. Then, well, things happened, and it just didn’t seem like the right time. I was going to talk to you this morning. Why don’t you sit down while I fill you in?”

We can all visibly see Mina cave in on herself, shutting down from knowing that Danny has been watching her and has been more active than she knew.

“Darlin’,” I call to her. “Come sit with me, would you?”

Thankfully, she doesn’t try to stay away. Instead, she shuffles over to where I’m sitting perched on the edge of the couch, then dives onto the cushion next to me.

Pressing a kiss to her temple, I tell her softly so the other two don’t hear, “Max had no intention of keeping this from you. There honestly wasn’t a good time to share it until now.”

Nodding against my cheek, she gives my hand a squeeze and then turns to Max. “What happened? And what’s that?” she asks, pointing at the paper in his hand.

“Right,” Max says. Both he and Vincent sit next to us, Vincent on the other side of Mina and Max perched on the coffee table in front of her.

Ensuring he has our attention, he explains. “When I was driving us home yesterday, I noticed a car following us. Ethan informed the station, and that’s why we went for the drive around the lake. I wanted to give the officers time to catch up to us and hopefully corner Danny. Unfortunately, he caught on pretty quickly that I knew he was following and disappeared before they made it to us.”

Tapping Mina’s hand, I get her to look at me. “I caught the make, model, and plate of the vehicle he was driving. It all got reported, and they’ve been looking for him and the vehicle since we got home.”

Clearing his throat, Vincent adds, “Yeah, we found the car last night. It belonged to an elderly woman who left her keys in the ignition outside her home.”

My lip curls at that piece of information. I didn’t get an opportunity to talk to Vincent last night, so I didn’t know either.

“Why didn’t you tell me what was happening yesterday?” Mina asks, some hurt filtering through her question, and I know it guts Max when he winces. I hate we didn’t tell her, but I still think it was the right decision.

Swallowing, he gives her a forced smile. “You were having a good day, dove. I didn’t want to put a damper on it. I knew the police were handling it, and there wasn’t anything we could have done last night.” His eyes shoot back and forth across her face, willing her to believe him. “I just wanted you to have a good day. I’m sorry if that was the wrong decision.”

Mina’s eyes fill with tears, and she leans forward to press a kiss to his lips. “I appreciate the apology, and I forgive you. Iwouldlike to know these things in the future, though. Not knowing makes me feel like I don’t have any control.”

“Got it,” Vincent says. Looking at us, he nods his head in a silent promise.We won’t keep any secrets from her in the future.

“So, this,” Max holds up the note, “was left in Vincent’s car. It’s another letter from Danny.”

Taking it from him, Mina spreads it out over her thighs to read with Vincent leaning into her side, skimming it over his shoulder. His head shoots up to me first, rage consuming him, but he doesn’t say a word.

I give him a sharp nod in understanding and wait quietly while she reads. It takes about five minutes before we all hear the first tear drop, hitting the paper.

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