Page 22 of Micah

“I will.”

He disappeared out the door and pulled it closed. She heard the phone ring then stop. Micah must have answered because she knew they’d keep calling until he did or call Coby. Usually, a security company will have another person besides the home owner to call if the owner doesn’t answer.

After she locked the door, she sat in the center of the bed with the lights off. She was trembling so hard that the bed was shaking. She actually breathed a sigh of relief when she heard sirens. When would this end? When would she be able to return to her life in Dry River?

That thought had her blinking back tears. Once she returned home, she’d never see Micah again. The idea of never seeing him again hurt more than it should. She was in trouble here and it wasn’t just because some man was following her. It was Micah. She took a deep breath and blew it out. Being with him every day was hard on her and she knew it wouldn’t take much to fall for the man. If she were honest, she felt something the minute he came striding into Isabella’s bedroom.

She put her hands over her face.Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

She heard Micah calling for her just before he knocked on the door. She jumped off the bed and ran to open it. When she pulled it open, he was standing there andshe just couldn’t stop herself from jumping into his arms.

“Are you all right?” he asked her while holding her.

“Yes. Did you get him?”

“No. I’m certain it was him though. Call it a gut feeling but I think he’s doing what he can to get closer. The police are checking the neighborhood. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t gone to see White, he wouldn’t have found you.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Micah. You had to do what you could to get information. Thing is, even if this guy is caught, what’s to stop White from sending another one?”

“The FBI is working on rounding up his men. He only has a few he trusts and once we get them, there won’t be any more to worry about and wewillget them.”

“I can’t stay in hiding. I want to go home.”

“I’m doing my best here, Patsy. You haven’t been here even a week yet. Give me time to find out what I can.”

She pulled away from him. “I know, I’m sorry. I’m just scared.”

Micah rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“You can’t promise that, but I appreciate the lie.”

Micah chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve met a more hardheaded woman in my life. Let’s get back to bed. I want to get up in the morning to do some research. There will bedifferent agents out there tomorrow. You’ll be safe if you stay inside.”

“Okay. I’m exhausted all of a sudden.”

“The adrenaline wore off.”

He stood in his doorway until she entered her bedroom. She climbed between the sheets and fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

****

The next morning, Micah sat at the table in the breakfast nook with his laptop and papers strewn everywhere. Patsy was still asleep. He looked through the files on White and the men associated with him. He hadn’t lied to Patsy when he’d told her there were only a few men in his circle. The man didn’t trust many.

The warden at the penitentiary had faxed over a list of visitors and it only contained the name of one man and Micah would bet a year’s salary that it was the man following Patsy. The list of guards came over the fax a few minutes later along with a list of all those White had called. Nothing different there either.

He scanned through the list of guards and decided to check into them, but only one man had visited quite a few times when visitation was allowed, White's attorney. It had to be how Whitewasputting out orders sinceall calls were listened to, either on the landline or the phones visitors used to talk to the prisoners, except pertaining to his attorney.

Whether White wanted them to kill Patsy or just scare her to death was another matter but Micah now suspected how he was telling his man what to do. Even at that, there was always a risk of being overheard so how was he telling his man what he wanted? Some kind of code. If his attorney was complicit, he was well on his way to be a criminal too, if anything happens to Patsy.

Two hours later, he sat back in the chair. Nothing was out of place on the guards. They were all good men.Damn it!The only way to help Patsy was to get White’s men out of circulation as quickly as possible.

The sudden sound of his cell phone ringing startled him. When he picked it up, he saw Coby’s face. He answered.

“Hey, Coby.”

“Getting anywhere?”

“White hasn’t talked to anyone but one man, his attorney, so that has to be how he’s giving orders, and you know they don’t record calls with his attorney. We seriously need to get them.

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