Page 26 of Anders and the Girl Worth Fighting For
I yawned just then, a reminder that I had been awoken from a nightmare and it was still the middle of the night.
“Better yet, that can wait until tomorrow. Just sleep for now.” Anders gentled his voice when he saw me yawn. It was like he was only just realizing he wasn’t talking to a fellow marine. Or maybe he also just remembered it was the middle of the night.
I nodded my head. That can wait until tomorrow. In this state, I wouldn’t even remember everyone, anyway.
I laid down and watched as Anders moved towards me, hesitated for a moment, and then turned around and walked out of the room. A brief pang of disappointment echoed in my chest, but my eyes were already closing on their own and I was back in the dream world before the door fully closed behind him.
Chapter Twelve
tempting as it was, I didn’t crawl into bed and curl around Grace. So tempting, in fact, that I couldn’t stop myself before I made a few steps toward her to do just that.
Sleep mussed her hair and rumpled her clothing. Adorable. I meant what I said earlier, though. I didn’t want her to wake up when this was all over and regret anything between us. I wanted her to want me as more than a protector. I couldn’t bear it if she only wanted me because of the safety I provided.
I’d prove to her and myself that I was worthy of her. That she could trust me.
While we were talking, I gained some idea of who could be behind this. I just wasn’t sure if Grace was ready to hear it. She was right that there were many people who might have wanted her grandmother’s money, but there was one who would have felt slighted by her personally if he didn’t get what he considered his due. Only one person would have had a personal motive to hurt her.
Bill.
Her dick of an ex. He did a number on her emotionally. I could see that much, even in her letters, but I wasn’t sure just how much until I wiped away her tears.
If he expected to inherit money from her grandmother and then she divorced him before he got it, then he has likely becomedesperate enough to do something stupid. I needed help with this. I knew exactly who to call.
It was the middle of the night, but I knew that didn’t mean much to Tink. I don’t know if his cave even had windows. Sure enough, he picked up after just a few rings. Music played in the background, slightly too loud for a conversation, and I could hear him swear and turn it down.
“Tink. I need your help.” I didn’t bother with niceties. Tink didn’t expect them, anyway. That was the beauty of going through hell with someone. They didn’t expect you to be pretty or act nice. All pretense and masks were burned away and what was left was the raw truth. There were only a few men in the world that saw my raw truth. Tink was one of them.
“No ‘hey man, how are you?’” He said, immediately contradicting the nice thoughts I had about him only moments before. That fucker.
“Seriously, Tink. I don’t have time to fuck around.” I probably sounded more petulant than anything.
“What’s going on?” His tone was more serious this time.
“Grace is in trouble.” That phrase came out a bit ragged and worn. It was difficult to say out loud.
“Shit. What can I do?” Tink asked. All the guys knew how obsessed I had become with Grace. Those letters came so regularly for so long that it couldn’t have been a secret how much I craved hearing from her. Even if she had only existed in letters. That connection to something other than the dirt and grime and sweat and blood was the lifeline I needed to keep from drowning myself, or blowing everything up.
I told him the story, albeit a shortened version of the story.
“Fuck,” he said and then fell silent.
“I need to find the men after her,” I said. My voice turned into a bit of a growl after recounting all the shit that’s come her way. “I have my suspicions about who is behind it all. Can you doa deep dive for me?”
“What am I looking up?” I could already hear his rapid typing as he asked that.
“I need a thorough background check on her soon-to-be ex, Bill Witherwood. Likely William Witherwood.”
I could hear him snickering on the other line. “Will wither wood. Wonder how accurate that is,” he said, but I could hear him typing. “Send me his address and anything you know about him. I’m getting a few hits, but it looks like a few different unfortunate people have that name, so I’m going to need more.”
“I’ll send you what I know.”
“Is that it?” Tink asked. “Just a background check?” He teased.
“For now,” I said. I wasn’t sure what I would do if I was right. I’d been entertaining images of kicking his ass for longer than I wanted to admit. That was the power Grace had over me. Even in her letters. She had me from the first with that damn unicorn stamp.
“You’ve got it bad,” Tink teased again.
“You would know about that,” I countered. He had been in love with the wrong woman for far too long and knew exactly how much it could mess with a man.
