Page 24 of Protected from Malice
My body tenses.
Alarm bells sound in my head.
Keeping my voice carefully calm, I ask, “Did you try to trace the number?”
She nods. “Of course. I even paid for one of those online services that’s supposed to identify any phone number. But it was one of those pay-as-you-go phones, registered to a number in Portland. So it didn’t help. And I thought… I mean, I’ve gotten texts sent to the wrong person before. Someone who used to have my number. And once, this poor guy kept trying to get a hold of this girl he’d gone on a date with. I felt terrible telling him I wasn’t her. That she’d probably given the wrong number on purpose.
“And the cars,” Eden continues, “could have been nothing. Portland’s a big city. My neighborhood is quiet, but there’s still plenty of people living there. Just because I saw the same truck?—”
Eden stops. Her face pales. “The truck. How did I not think…” She shudders. “I couldn’t tell last night. Because the truck behind me was so close. All I could see were the headlights. And the bumper. But what if it was the same one?”
Pain spears through my jaw and teeth.
From what I’m hearing, it sounds pretty fucking likely itwasthe same truck.
“We’ll figure it out,” I assure her. “And you’re safe here. You know I won’t let anything happen to you.”
The trust in Eden’s eyes is almost my undoing.
“I know you will,” she says. “But… I wasn’t trying to be intentionally stupid about it. I really wasn’t. Everything could be explained away so easily. And it wasn’t the first time I overreacted to something…”
“What do you mean, overreacted?”
“Nothing.” It’s too quick. “Just… a woman living on her own. Sometimes things seem threatening when they’re not.”
I’m sure she’s right.
But I also know sometimes things that seem threatening really are.
Just like I know there’s something Eden’s not telling me. Something I’m not going to like.
“Was there anything else?” I ask. “Aside from the truck last night? And tonight, of course.”
She shakes her head. “No. Before this month, the last year has been normal. Quiet.”
That’s an odd way of wording it.
And it makes me worry even more.
But.
Looking at Eden’s wan face, at the lines of strain across her forehead and the bluish smudges beneath her eyes, I decide now isn’t the time to push it. Not when it’s well after two AM already. Not when I just made Eden cry by shouting at her.
She’s safe now. And I know most of the story, at least.
“Eden.” I hold her gaze. “You know we need to tell Indy about this. Not this second, but first thing in the morning.”
She plucks at a loose string on the comforter. “I know.”
“And I want to get some of my friends involved. Old teammates from the Green Berets. Niall. Xavier. Rhiannon. AndCole—he was on a different team, but I trained with him for years. Indy and I both did.”
“Cole who owns Blade and Arrow Security?”
“Yes. They have two branches now. One in New York and one in Texas. And they’re good. The best, really. I want to bring them in on this.”
Eden frowns. “But I’m in Portland. And I’m sure they’re busy. Plus… I make decent money, but I’m not sure if I can afford to hire private security.”
“Money’s not an issue. Neither is distance. These guys—they’re like brothers to me. And sisters,” I amend, thinking of Rhiannon, my old teammate, and Nora, who works with the New York team. “Once they know you’re in trouble, they’ll help. I promise.”
