Page 57 of Finding Home with You

“No problem. Thanks for being here to get the keys to Ryan’s car.”

Finn reaches into a drawer and grabs the keys; handing them to me he says with a mouthful of food, “You’re not walking back in this cold. I’ll drive you back.”

“I’m not going to argue with you about this one,” I say and Finn looks up, his eyes wide and his expression shocked. I laugh and add, “It’s really fucking cold out.”

“Well, fuck me, I think I need to write this down.” He looks at his watch and grabs a pen and jots a note down on his desk calendar, muttering, “The day Erin didn’t argue with me.”

“Oh fuck off, Finn,” I say and we both laugh a bit before the room falls silent for moment. “Hey,” I ask breaking the silence. “Did Ryan mention anything to you when he contacted you about the car keys?”

“Nope. Why?”

“Someone slashed his tires and he won’t talk to me about it. I think there was probably more than just the tires too, because he rushed us out of Boston and up to see his parents without any notice.”

Finn shrugs his shoulders and takes another bite of his sandwich. “Could be anything, Erin. He’s a cop in Boston. I’m sure he has enemies.” His aloofness bothers me because now I feel like he’s hiding something from me too.

“You know why I’m worried,” I say, but we both know I’m not asking a question. “If you’re hiding something from me, Finn, I’m going to be pissed.”

He nods his head, and adds, “I don’t know anything, Erin and I’d like to keep it that way. Now don’t take that the wrong way, you know I’m here if you need help, but the more I know, the more likely it is that I’ll have to report it.”

This time it’s me who nods in response. Finn knows what made me leave Atlanta all those years ago but we don’t discuss it.

Ever.

Because if we do, we’d have to admit to each other that we both know what happened in that secluded shipping yard. Neither one of us has ever said it out loud, like speaking about it will make it more real.

It’s the reason I will never feel safe. It’s the reason Finn shares my bed and it’s the reason why I wanted to keep Ryan out of this mess.

Finn finishes up his lunch and we climb into his SUV. We haven’t really spoken to each other since my mentioning of Ryan’s tire slashing and my unspoken fears, but when he drops me off he says, “Call me if you want me to spend the night.”

“Thanks. I will.”

I let myself in and toss Ryan’s car keys into the bowl beside the front door before pulling off my boots. I’m still freezing so I run a hot bath and strip off my clothes. Sliding down into the warm water I feel my body temperature finally start to return to normal.

I soak for bit before draining the tub and pulling on a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt. I have to go to the market and now that I have the keys to the truck, I set about doing that. After being up in Maine for the weekend I have no food in my house at all.

Slipping my feet back into my boots, I don’t bother tying them as I grab a dry coat from the closet. I step out the front door and then that’s when I hear someone call my name.

I look around, but I don’t see anyone. My fingers are on the handle of the car when I feel someone’s hand grip my upper arm.

“Erin,” he says, his voice low and quiet, but there’s a harshness to it that only I would know.

“No!” I scream in his face, as I try to pull the handle of the car door, but it’s locked. I fumble with the keys, trying to unlock it, but dropping them.

“Erin, don’t do this,” he says calmly, but his grip on my arm is anything but calm. I swore if this ever happened to me I’d be prepared. I’d have my gun in my purse, I’d use the techniques I learned in self-defense, but now, in reality, I just stand there.

“Seriously Erin, I’m not going to hurt you. Fuck, you know that,” he hisses. “I could’ve sent someone to kill you years ago if I wanted. I let you live your life because you did it quietly, but now you’ve gone and found yourself a boyfriend and a detective at that.”

By now Anthony has me turned me around, his hands gripping my upper arms tightly, with my purse pinned against my side. Even if I wanted to get to my phone or the keys I couldn’t.

“Tell your boyfriend to back the fuck off or it’ll be a hell of a lot worse than getting grazed by a bullet.” He motions at my house as if he thinks Ryan is inside, like he’d just sit back and let Anthony accost me.

“Fuck you,” I spit in his face. “You have no idea what you’re doing, Anthony. You’re getting sloppy and you know it.”

There’s no way any detective back in the day would’ve been able to track any of my dad’s dealings the way Ryan and his team have done with Anthony. He’s gotten greedy and messy, and it’s only a matter of time before he does something stupid.

“Don’t make me take care of this myself, Erin,” he says, but his threat is thinly veiled and I know he wouldn’t be here right now if he didn’t feel threatened.

“You do whatever you have to do,” I say calmly. “And I’ll do what I have to do. Don’t forget, Anthony, I know much more than you think.”

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