Page 101 of The Bodyguard

Sawyer pulled out his phone and called Parker. “Yeah, we’ve got a problem.”

“What?”

He didn’t know what to call it.

“Sawyer?”

“Something… wrong happened here.” He didn’t know what else to say. “This might be far beyond my pay grade.”

“Huh?” Parker asked. “Did you find Mylene?”

Angela trembled, pulling away from Sawyer.

“Ange, wait—hey, Parker, I’ll call you back.”

“Send him pictures,” she managed.

Parker asked, “Do you need a clean-up team?”

Sawyer agreed Parker needed to see this as soon as possible. “I don’t know what we need, man. Give me a minute, and I’ll send you some pictures.” He ended the call and followed Angela.

They walked through this madhouse. He tried to understand why the walls were like they were. Every room except for a bathroom, a small bedroom, and the kitchen with a makeshift office area was covered with pictures and headlines related to Mylene’s loved ones. They were even hung on the doors and taped onto the closed window blinds.

“He did this,” Angela’s voice shook. “That bastard did this.”

Sawyer decided a video of each room would be better than photos. But even after he reviewed what he had filmed, nothing could do justice to the insane asylum they were exploring.

“Sawyer, we have to find her.”

Mylene Hathaway needed help. It didn’t matter if she had hung the photos herself or if Pham’s people had papered the house with them. She would need a mental health evaluation and probably years of therapy.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Mylene hadn’t left her house since Pham had been arrested. The outside world was terrifying. She didn’t know what to expect or who she’d see. Everyone hated her and what they had done. No one would ever believe what had happened. Pham had explained that so many times. Mylene was the reason Mark and Tabby were dead.

Now, they had forced her out of her home. She didn’t know where they were bringing her or why.

“I’m not supposed to leave,” she tried again.

They didn’t listen.

They never listened.

She missed her house—and her husband and sister. Mylene hated seeing them and couldn’t look them in the eye. But when she was home, they were still with her. Almost to keep her safe as much as to punish her.

Their faces had been Pham’s idea. Their images were how he kept her in the house because she’d have to face them if she wanted to escape, and she never would.

But now that she had left and didn’t know where she was going… Mylene needed them. They held up the walls and kept her safe.

“Can you take me back?” Tears slipped down her cheeks. The truth about what she’d done was so much more evident when there was nowhere to hide. Mylene pleaded, “Take me back home.”

Sawyer paced the hotel lobby. Since the moment Parker had seen the video, sent it to the Feds, and told them to stand down and wait for Brock to arrive, Sawyer had been unable to sit still. That mind-fuck of a house would haunt his dreams. Angelahad gone very quiet and stayed in her hotel room while Sawyer awaited Brock’s arrival.

The hotel manager appeared for the thousandth time. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“I’m good.” Wasn’t his laundry list of supplies enough to make her think he was a crazy man? Cases of soda. Cutlery. Cookie sheets from their commercial kitchen. Duct tape. A football helmet—well,thatshe hadn’t been able to locate.

She kept pace along his side. “Tea? A complimentary massage—”

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