Page 25 of Victorious Vice

He wrinkles his forehead. “This is your actual phone. Not the burner.”

I nod, swallowing—or attempting to swallow—the lump in my throat.

He strokes his chin. “So the text saying you were in danger came in on the burner. But this one…”

“Came tomyphone.” My heart is racing as I say the words. “From someone who knows my number.”

“A cell phone number is easy enough to get,” he says. “Which means…”

“Whoever is communicating with me on the burner is…not an enemy?”

He frowns. “I’m not ready to say that, but it appears they’re trying to warn you.”

“Warn me?” I echo, my mind whirling. “About what exactly?”

“I don’t know. About Gallo, maybe.”

“Vinnie?” I shake my head. “He’s gone. He dumped me. He was very clear. He’s probably somewhere in South America by now.”

Jared takes a deep breath.

I wait for him to speak.

He doesn’t.

“This isn’t fair,” I gulp. “Do they know what they’re doing to me? I just survived cancer. I’m in the middle of doing some work of my heart to help others.” I feel emotion coming up my throat, but I do my best to swallow it down. My voice cracks a little as I continue. “Do they have any idea what a death threat will do to a person who’s already faced death once? I’m frightened, Jared.”

“I know. I know.” He lays his hands gently on my shoulders. “No harm will come to you as long as I’m here. I was hired to protect you.”

My heart hammers and a shiver runs down my spine. “Should we report this? To the police or someone?”

Jared looks at me gravely and shakes his head. “Not yet. We don’t know who we’re dealing with or what their game is. If we go to the police now, we could scare them off.”

I stare at the words on my phone’s screen. “But we can’t just ignore this.”

“No,” he agrees. “We definitely can’t ignore it. I’ll see if the number can be traced, but it probably can’t be. My guess is it’s coming from a burner phone.”

I groan. “Of course it is.”

“In the meantime, let’s get you home. Your place is secure.”

“Are you sure?”

He nods. “You’ve got the best system in place, but when we get back, I’ll call your brother and Phoenix. See if they want you to go somewhere else for the time being.”

I bite my lip. “Where else would I go?”

“There is a place. We’ll see if they think you should go there.”

A place? What is he talking about?

I close my eyes and rub at my forehead. “I can’t just disappear, Jared. I’m starting a nonprofit. I’ve got a gala to go to in a couple of weeks. I just can’t…” I clench my hands into fists. “Damn it! Damn all of them! How dare they? I won’t let this happen to me. I need to live my life. I can’t let them force me into hiding.”

“I understand. I really do. We don’t know yet who we’re dealing with. It could be related to Gallo and his family.”

“Why would it be? He and I aren’t together.” I choke back a sob.

Jared opens the car door for me and I slip inside. He moves into the driver seat and starts the engine. It’s a long drive home to Summer Creek.

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