Page 34 of Inevitable

“This is his second day. The city is big enough that I can keep ‘Erin’ out of reach without him getting suspicious. At least, that’s what I’m hoping is happening.”

“So, it’s time to lay the trap here, and we can nail him,” Kane commented. “Going to need a couple of days to set it up and run through it before we’ll be ready.”

“I say keep him moving so he doesn’t have a chance to get antsy. How about sending him up to Shreveport and them maybe over to Mobile? If he’s driving, that could give us at least four days. We could be ready by Saturday,” Brock added.

“When he gets here, we have to put him into play right away. We can’t have him hanging around Lafayette and not take care of him once and for all,” Brady said as he sat in his chair.

“Okay, that sounds good,” Claire responded. “I’ll lure him up to Shreveport slowly, and make him drive, so you all have plenty of time to get your plan in place.”

“I’ll give Hunter a call and we can put something together,” Brock commented. “He and Erin are staying at Lilly’s condo, so they can be here quickly.”

“Let Damian know what’s going on so he can fly back in time,” Claire said as she closed her laptop.

“Let’s plan on all getting together in a couple of hours to come up with a TAC plan,” Kane said as he picked up his phone off his desk. “I have to meet a client out at the range and I should be done by one.”

“Works for me,” Brock responded.

“Me too,” Brady added.

“Thanks for the help,” Claire said before she walked out of the office.

Brady watched her go and ran his hand through his short hair. His girl was beautiful, smart, and funny, and he had no idea what he’d done to deserve someone like her in his life. She had a bravery that he found intoxicating because, despite the loss in her life, she’d kept living. Which he knew wasn’t always easy. His Claire was a lion-hearted girl and he was going to do everything he could to give her as much of the good stuff as he could.

***

Brady, Brock, Kane, and Hunter stood in Claire’s office and threw ideas around as they tried to come up with the best option for getting Alvin close enough to Erin to violate the restraining order, but not close enough to have her be in danger. Hunter had voted for taking her out of the country to keep her safe but had been vetoed by Erin and everyone else. Brady stood in front of Claire’s wall-mounted monitor and pointed to the campus of UL at Lafayette. “What about Cypress Lake?”

Hunter walked over and crossed his arms. “May not be a bad option. There are enough buildings around it, so we could have someone on overwatch. And you’d have to know the campus to get out of there in a short amount of time.”

“School doesn’t start until the third week of August,” Claire added. “So, there wouldn’t be that many people on campus. I can lead him there on the premise that she’s doing some location scouting for an unnamed project.”

“Do we have a look-alike yet?” Hunter asked.

“There is a woman from the sheriff’s department who is about the same size and build. Let me see if she’s willing to be a decoy,” Brock said.

“Any reason to believe he’s violent?” Kane asked.

“He hasn’t been caught with a gun when he’s been picked up on violating the restraining order,” Erin said. “I think he’s just mentally ill.”

“Which doesn’t mean he lacks the capacity to lose his shit and pull something crazy,” Hunter replied. He looped his arm around Erin’s shoulder protectively and gave everyone a sharp look.

Brady ducked his head and snickered. Seemed the weekend at the horse farm had changed things between the two. Which he completely understood.

“We could start him at the library and then wind him around campus until you all got in position, then lead him over to the lake. Have Erin’s double on one side and him on the other. If he does something crazy, one of you could push him in the swamp and see if the baby gator wants to have him for lunch,” Claire said from her desk.

“We are trained operatives, darlin’. No way we’re going to let a gator have all the fun,” Brady replied as he gave her a wink.

Erin looked up at Hunter and shuddered. “I kind of like the gator idea because there seems to be some suffering involved. The man has tormented me for over three years and I’d like for him to have a small taste of what it’s been like for me.”

Hunter squeezed her shoulder. “Get that, guys? We’re feeding the asshole to the gator.”

The room erupted in laughter and Brady considered himself lucky to be joining ranks with the men gathered. This thing was going to be easy as pie and securing Erin’s safety would be damn satisfying. “So, is this his last shot at breaking the order?”

“Yes, thank God,” Erin replied. “This would be his third felony conviction and that means he’d have a good chance of getting the maximum sentence.”

Brock shook his head and spoke. “The only thing that stopped Lilly’s stalker was the fact that she drew a gun on her the last time she got close. Ruth had been released from the state mental facility due to overcrowding and she made it to Lilly within a matter of months. Despite the monitoring and restrictions.”

“Well, let’s hope this is the end for Alvin,” Erin said quietly.

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