Page 40 of Forever Mine

My stomach soured. I wasn’t looking forward to that. Dakota looked at me. “We should probably call Beck and Wes. I’m assuming they want to be in the loop, and I’d rather only tell everyone once.”

It was a good idea. “Yeah, okay. I’ll text Beck.” I looked over at Declan, “What’s your address? Oh, and is it okay if I invite them here?”

Declan rattled off an address, which I guess was consent to invite them over, and I shot Beck a quick text.

We all sat down to eat and were pretty quiet during the meal. I guess we were all in our heads too much for small talk. Fine by me. Just as we were finishing up, Dakota’s dad, Patrick, showed up. He hugged his sons and kissed his wife and nearly shocked the life outta me by squeezing my shoulder affectionately.

“I know you’re uncomfortable with hugs, but if that ever changes, I’ll greet you the same way as I do my kids.”

I had…no fuckin’ clue what to say to that, so I said nothing. Patrick didn’t seem to mind.

Dakota and I cleaned up after breakfast. I loved little moments like this with him. Even with this dark-ass cloud hanging over our heads, things seemed a little brighter when wewere standing side by side, our arms touching as he washed and I dried. Kota spent the whole time grumbling that his brother didn’t have a dishwasher, but I didn’t mind. The first one I’d ever had was at our new apartment. I was used to this.

Just as we were finishing up, the doorbell rang. The sound felt fuckin’ ominous, and I knew the little bubble of peace we forced while we ate was about to break.

Declan opened the door as Kota and I walked out to the main area. Beckett, Riley and Wes were all standing there. Beckett looked as on edge as I felt and even Wes had some tension in his shoulders. Nobody was taking this lightly, which I appreciated.

“Hey,” Beck up-nodded Declan. They met briefly yesterday and Declan greeted him with a “Hey” before stepping back to let the group in.

Beck went right to me, ignoring everyone else in the room. He held my head in both his hands as he searched my eyes, making sure I was okay. I didn’t need to speak, we knew each other too well, andI couldn’t hide anything if I tried.

“We got this, bro. We got your back no matter what. Yours and Dakota’s.”

Something unfurled in my chest. I knew he would, but still, hearing it made me breathe a little easier. We’d kept each other sane for years. I wouldn’t let him fall, and the same went for him. Now, Beck just confirmed he considered Dakota part of our ever-growing family, and just knowing he and Riley had us, made everything a little easier to cope with.

“He got into Kota’s locker, man. He knew he wanted chocolate.”

I couldn’t get over that. How could he have heard that? No one was around. I checked. How the fuck did he get into the break room and know the code? It made me fuckin’ sick to think about.

Dakota came up to me and squeezed my hand. “Why don’t we all sit and we can tell the whole story?” I squeezed back, Dakota’s touch and Beck’s presence the only things keeping me present.

Thank fuck Dakota handled the introductions, and soon, we all took over Declan’s living room. I felt kinda bad about it, but no one else seemed to mind, including Declan, so I tried to let it go. Kota’s family was a different breed, I just had to accept it.

We then spent the next twenty minutes briefing everyone on what happened yesterday. Kota’s parents gave him some shit for not telling them about the flower, and I felt a little crappy about it. I never meant to throw him under the bus, I just couldn’t think straight when he wasn’t answering my messages, even if I knew he was likely just busy. All I could think of was what if that fucker got to him somehow? What if I was stuck at the fuckin’ factory with my destroyed car while he took my Dakota?

They didn’t seem too mad though, just more worried than anything. I’d have hated itif I’d done anything to mess up his relationship with his family. That was some special shit they had going on there. I wasn’t gonna be the cause of it fracturing.

Luckily, the focus was mainly on what happened and what to do going forward. Everyone looked at the pictures of my car and took a turn reading the note from the psycho. Wes even made Declan get the box of chocolates out of the car where we’d forgotten it last night. I didn’t know what he was gonna do with it, but he said he was taking it with him.

“I tried calling Luca but he’s still dark. Diego won’t tell me where he is or what’s happening, but he did agree to tap into the cameras at the hospital and the lot at the factory. They both have heavy surveillance, and it’s likely something got caught on camera.”

“Do you think it’s more than one person?” Patrick asked. “How did they get into Dakota’s locker and to Jay’s car?”

Wes shook his head. “It’s possible, but based on the notes that were left, I’d say it’s the same person. They were both stuck inside for twelve-hour shifts. Dakota said he hadn’t touched his locker in nearly seven hours since he was with that patient. The hospital and factory are only fifteen minutes away from each other, it’s feasible for one person to have gotten to one place and then the other.”

Shauna wrung her hands and leaned heavily into her husband. “Shouldn’t we go to the police?”

I scowled at that and was surprised to see Patrick making a similar face. Though I guessed, even if it’d been a while, he didn’t have the best past with cops either.

I was even more shocked when Wes agreed. “Yes, actually, you both should. Jay, you absolutely should press charges and have them investigate. I’m not sure how much they can do, especially for what’s going on with Dakota, but having it on record will be helpful. I’ll still investigate on my own, but I’d like to at least try to do things the legal way.” He looked tired too. I wondered if it was only this taking a toll on him. I had no idea what was going on between him and Luca, but having no way of knowing what was going on with him and if he was okay had to be hard. I’d lose my fuckin’ mind if I had to deal with that with anyone I loved.

“I’m going to say the same thing I did last year when we were in a similar situation, and this time I expect you all to listen.” He glared at Beckett, who had the decency to look embarrassed.

Last year when Mr. Chase was missing, we were all told to never go anywhere alone, and always make sure Skye or Maverick, who were acting like our bodyguards, knew where we were going. Well, Ri and Beck didn’t listen just once and Mr. Chase almost fuckin’ killed Beckett. Riley got there in time, but it was a close call. Nobody wanted a repeat.

“Stay fucking together. No one walks alone. If you have to be alone at home, doors must always be locked. Either me or Diego will be monitoring the security cameras. Don’t shut them off. Ever. I know you all have to work, but be careful and alert. Dakota, if you see anyone who seems off to you, call me immediately. If you can’t reach us, get hospital security. I’m also going to reach out to my contacts with the police and see if we can get any plain clothes sitting in front of your homes and work. It’s not ideal, but without Luca’s team around, it’s the best I could do. I don’t have the connections I used to have.” He shrugged, “It’s better to be paranoid than dead.”

Dakota frowned. “Is it really that serious?” He held up his hand before the entire room fucking attacked him. “Not like that. I know the threat is real, and I’m freaked out. I agree we should go to the cops, and I’m filing a report with the hospital too, but everything else? The guy hasn’t approached me or anything.”

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