Page 18 of Betrayal & New Beginnings

“You need to tell him,” he said firmly.

“I wasn’t planning to tell him at all, but after what happened tonight,Iprobably should,”Isighed.

“Tammy gave me a brief synopsis, but walk me through what went down tonight at the bar.”

I took a deep breath and told him about the phone calls – not just tonight, but some of the hangups that had happened the last few days.Hisface visibly tensed, but he nodded a few times, encouraging me asIshared details of the calls.

“Guys like your asshole ex like control,”Wadesaid, pausing for a few moments like he was thinking about something.

My heart started racing again just thinking aboutRandallfinding me and that he chose to escalate this.

“Did he have a security system, or any security cameras in his house?” he asked, shaking me out of my moment.

“Umm…no, no security system or cameras.Why?”Iasked.

“Trying to figure out how he knew you were at his house.Yousaid you knew he would be at work, yet he came back shortly after you arrived.Justtrying to figure out why then.”

“I never really thought about it.Ijust assumed it was bad luck on my part.”

He nodded but didn’t actually confirm whatIwas thinking.

“Go ahead and relax for a bit.I’mgoing to run downstairs and get some food and bring it back up,” he said.

“You don’t have to do that.I’mfine,”Iprotested, shaking my head.

“Non-negotiable,” he insisted. “I’mgoing to get food, we’re going to eat, and then we’re going to talk about some new security measures for you at work.”Thenhe turned and walked out the door beforeIhad a chance to respond.

That man both infuriated me and drew me in at the same time.Hewas kind, but bossy, andIwasn’t sure howIfelt about it.

8

WADE

I leftEllie’sapartment and immediately went down to the kitchen and askedChuckto make me a burger and whateverEllieusually ate.

“Yeah, man.I’llmake her favorite,” he replied, then paused, leaning against the counter. “Tammygave me the lowdown on the phone call.Shedoin’ okay now?”

His concern for her only confirmed whatIalready knew—Elliehad a way of worming her way into people’s hearts, even in the short time she’d been here.

“She’s still a bit shaken up, but better,”Iresponded, trying to ease his concerns.

Chuck wiped his hands on a towel and gave me a serious look. “Youneed my help sending this asshole a message?” he asked, his voice low and steady. “She’sa sweet girl.Shedon’t need nobody hassling her.”

I told himIhad it handled for now and that seemed to satisfy him for the moment.Aftergetting the food order squared away,Iwent into my office and calledArcher.Wehad cameras all over the building, butIwanted to put a few more security measures in place.Withpricks likeRandall, they often escalated once they felt they’d lost control over a situation.Myguess was he was pissedEllieleft and was making his move to scare her.Ifhe was dumb enough to stalk her here,Iwanted to be prepared.Ialso wanted to see if we could trace some of those phone calls made to theWateringHole.Archersaid he andVincewould look into it and see what they could find.

Something also wasn’t sitting well with me about his perfectly timed arrival at his house whenElliewas packing up.Orhow he’d found her at this pub.Ialso askedVincewhat to do aboutJack.IunderstoodElliedidn’t want to worry him, butArcherandIboth agreed he should know and would be pissed if he found out we’d kept it from him.Plus, he’d met the prick, albeit briefly, so he may be able to shed some light into his behavior.Irattled off an email toJackto have him give me a call when he could, knowing it could be days before he was able to.

Just the thought of this dickhead messing withElliehad my blood boiling.Whenshe’d told me what he’d done to her, it took everything in me to remain calm for her sake.Anyman who can do that to a woman or child is not a man and, in my opinion, doesn’t deserve to share space on thisEarth.

WhileIwaited for the food,Iwent in search ofTammyto fill her in on a few things.WhileTammyhad worked here for years with my uncle, what many people didn’t know was that she was also former military and a badass in her own right.Whileshe never outright lied about her military past if people asked, she also didn’t share her exact role freely.Shesaid that if she ever felt the need to bring those skills back again, she liked having the advantage and element of surprise of people not knowing she could kick someone’s ass if she needed to.

“HeyTammy, you got a minute?”Iasked after spotting her near the bar.Iknew she’d called in extra help for the bar so she wouldn’t have to work too long.

“Yeah,Coreyjust got here, so give me a minute andI’llmeet ya back in the office,” she said, nodding toward the back.

I walked back, tellingChuckI’dcome get the food in a few minutes, and then made my way to the office.Tammycame in about a minute later.

“NormallyIdon’t like going behind people’s backs, butIneed to know what’s going on withEllie, so spill,” she said sternly with her arms crossed leaning against the doorway.

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