Page 5 of The Soul of Archer
"What about your parents? They must be worried about what's happening."
"Um, well, my parents are dead. They died in a car accident my sophomore year of college."
Debbie moved to the chair beside Alora and pulled her into a motherly embrace. "Oh honey, I'm sorry."
Alora absorbed the hug, having missed her own mother's hugs. "It was hard at first, but us St. James's are fighters. I know they were together, and they would want me to live my life. So, I'm doing just that. In fact, it was my parents who named my bakery. The summer before they died, I was home and telling her and daddy that I wanted my own bakery one day.
"Mom said whatever I called it, to make it "Sassy". The "Explosions" part came from daddy. That night I tried out a new cake recipe for them and he said it was like an "explosion" of flavor. After they died, they said in their will for me to use the insurance money to buy my bakery. That's what I did. Right behind the register I have their wedding picture and in the decorating room is the last family picture we did the Christmas of my freshman year."
"That's so sweet. I bet they are proud as hell of you Alora." Debbie smiled tearfully.
"I like to think they are." Alora agreed.
***
Lance was sweeping Alora's home office. After Krista and Alora left, Nick told them that Annabelle said that in the past Sam had spied on his girlfriends. Hidden cameras, bugging their phones, even having them followed. This had pissed Lance off big time.
"Found another one!" Tony yelled out.
Lance turned off the sweeper and walked out of the room. He and the others walked into Alora's bedroom where Tony was. They found Tony pulling off the grate for the air vent. There it was, a camera.
"How many does that make now?" Gage asked, his brows furrowed.
"Hidden cameras? This one makes five. As for listening devices, I've found six." Tony stated, his voice taking on an edge.
"I found three in her office." Lance added, his own voice hardening. "This bastard has been watching her for a while now and she never knew it."
"What makes you think that Hawk?" Ethan inquired.
"Seriously?" Lance gaped, "You're telling me a woman like Ms. St. James would AGREE to having cameras in the bedroom, bathroom, her office, not to mention having her phone tapped?"
"Okay, okay I get it Hawk." Ethan surrendered. "Tony, Grant, you guys have disabled the remote DVR for them, right?"
"That was the first thing I did after I found the first camera." Tony nodded. "I've got a trace running to see where the feed was going, but I'm not expecting much."
"Do we tell Ms. St. James about the cameras and bugs?" Grant questioned.
Lance ran a hand along the back of his neck. "I think we should. If she's going to feel safe and cooperate with us, we need to be upfront with her to a point. This is one of those things we should tell her."
Ethan studied Lance. Something was different about him ever since he barged into the interview room. "You sure buddy?"
Lance faced Ethan. "Yes Ethan. I'm sure."
Ethan gave a curt nod. "Alright then. Tony, Gage, Grant, you three finish the sweep and get our system installed and running. Lance, you come with me. We'll go to Mama Debbie's and tell her now."
Chapter 3
"He did what?" Alora demanded.
"He had five hidden cameras and at least six hidden listening devices around your house." Ethan answered.
Alora was floored. Sure, she had seen things like that in movies and read about them in books but to actually have it happen to her was unbelievable. She turned her gaze from Ethan over to Lance who stood like a statue against the wall. The grim expression he wore was all the validation she needed. She surged to her feet and began pacing the Jameson's living room.
"That sorry son-of-a-bitch. How dare he invade my privacy like that! Ohhh… if I get my hands on him I'm gonna rip his balls off and shove them down his throat!" She raged.
"Easy there, tigress." Lance chuckled as he pushed off the wall and walked toward her.
"Excuse me?" Alora demanded.
