Page 36 of Hooked on Marshall

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“That same number has called twice more,” he growls.

“Did he leave more messages?”

“Yes.”

I cross my arms over my stomach, my delightful lunch threatening to reappear. Sensing my worry, Marshall takes two long steps and pulls me against his chest. I melt into him as I try to fight back my tears. He simply presses his lips to my temple.

“You don’t have to listen to them if you don’t want to,” he says. “But I need to know if he’s planning on finding you. So, I can warn your family.”

“I know,” I nod against him. “So…I want to know, too. I don’t want to be in the dark.”

“Okay,” he sighs. “But you’re staying right here in my arms.”

I nod again. Marshall leans away just enough to grab my phone from the table. Then he hands it to me. My hand shakes as I hold it up to unlock it. I tap on the phone icon, but my thumb hovers over the voicemail. Gently, Marshall takes it fromme. I turn and bury my face in his chest. He takes a deep breath first.

“This is the first one,” he says quietly.

My entire body tenses in anticipation of hearing Jonas’ voice, not to mention what he has to say.

“Lovely Rose,” he chokes out. “I need you.Please. Your parents wouldn’t tell me where you were. And now they won’t answer my calls, either. Please just talk to me…please, Lana.”

There’s nothing but breathing for a few minutes, then he ends the call. I wait about ten seconds before he starts talking again.

“Just one more thing, Lana,” he growls. “If I find out who this supposed boyfriend of yours is, you'rebothgoing to be sorry. I promise you that.”

“I’ll be damned,” Marshall growls.

As more tears flow, he guides me back to my seat and settles at his desk. I’m conscious of him talking to someone on the phone but I’m not sure who it is until a uniformed officer appears at the office door. I rise as Marshall moves to greet him.

“Thanks for coming, Brian,” he says as they shake.

“No problem,” he smiles.

Then Marshall turns and reaches for me. I take his hand, and he pulls me into his side.

“Lana, this is Chief Flood of the Willow Point Police Department,” he says. “Brian, this is Lana Rose.”

“It’s a pleasure,” I say as we shake.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think my presence here is a pleasure, according to Marshall.”

I grimace and he gestures for us to have a seat. Without going into explicit detail, I explain that Jonas and I engaged in inappropriate relations that led to my resignation but no repercussions for him. Then I explain that I came back here toget my life together. And after Marshall took over the bar, and I a new role in the rebranding, we began dating.

“Since then, Jonas has called my parents home and found out about Marshall and me,” I say.

“And he’s made some threats?” he asks.

“Just today,” Marshall says.

He plays the two messages Jonas left today. When he asks about any others, I sadly tell him that I’ve deleted them. He’s not too upset about that, but he was upset about my one response to him.

“No more responding,” he says sternly. “That way we can nail him with harassment when he shows up.”

“When?” I ask.

“Possibly if,” he sighs. “But since he seems to be escalating, I’d rather be prepared for the worst, okay?”

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