Page 47 of I Want You
Finally, a person’s head appeared above the door as they exited the vehicle. My breath came back in a rush.
“It’s just George.”
I rolled my window down, calling to my downstairs neighbor. “Hey, George. New car?”
“Oh yeah. It was time. I wouldn’t have done it, but Wyatt told me it would cost more to keep fixing my old clunker. He helped me get a great deal on this beauty though.”
“Good for you.” I smiled at him. No one jumped out of the bushes to tackle the elderly man, so that was a good sign.
Luke pulled up in his police cruiser a second later. He dashed out of his car and pulled on my still-locked door handle. A hint of a smile crossed his face when he realized that I had locked myself in my car.
As soon as I opened the door, Luke swept me out and into his arms in a tight squeeze.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. It’s just a note. It’s on my seat. I’ve already touched it, so I don’t think you’ll get any prints off it. Sorry.”
He leaned into my car and, with a napkin in hand, picked up the note and read it. His jaw clenched; his hands held the paper so tightly I thought he might rip it. He carefully folded the paper and put it in an evidence bag.
“I’ll find out who left it, Letty. No one is going to hurt you. I promise.”
His eyes were on mine, his penetrating gaze holding me in its grasp. The sincere look on his face, the determination setin his jaw, made me believe him. I curled into him again, seeking another hug. He wrapped his arms around me, stroking the back of my head.
“Let’s get you inside,” he said.
Luke locked the door as soon as it closed behind him. He did a full sweep of my apartment, leaving no blanket unturned.
I had never felt fear like I did when I read that note. Not during my white-water rafting trips, or bungee-jumping, or paragliding. But watching Luke bustle around my apartment, remembering the feel of his arms around me… now, I had never felt safer.
15
Luke
“Does it look like anything has been touched?” I asked Scarlett. My heart was still beating out of my chest. Ever since I got her phone call, I hadn’t been able to breathe properly. I was standing at the entry to her hallway, watching her. She was putting on a good show, pretending to be unaffected, but I knew better. Her soft skin was paler than usual, her fingers danced and tapped along every surface, and she fidgeted with her hair, her shirt, her earrings.
“No. I don’t think so. Everything looks normal.”
I walked up to her and rubbed my hands down her arms. Her eyes found mine, and the depth of fear swirling within them made me want to break something. When she sucked in a stuttered breath, the only thing that broke was me. I hauled her to my chest, wrapping my arms around her. Scarlett’s soft body molded to mine. She squeezed me tightly, pulling me as close to her as humanly possible. I placed a kiss to the top of her head, inhaling the sweet scent of her shampoo.
“Who do you think left me that note?” she asked quietly.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” My voice soundedlike gravel. I had my suspicions, but until I investigated it, I didn’t want to worry her.
There were only a few people who knew that Scarlett was looking into the Karrigan case for me. The note didn’t come from me or Wes. My brothers knew some of the details, but they certainly wouldn’t try to scare her away. Seb would have thought it was a funny prank when we were kids, but we were in our thirties now. He wouldn’t have done something like this.
The only other person that I knew was aware of Scarlett’s involvement in the case was Monroe. Scarlett told me that he had caught her in the evidence lockers. He was suspicious enough to ask questions and clearly didn’t believe Scarlett’s terrible lie.
If that fucker wanted to come at Scarlett though, he would need to come through me.
I needed to track down the neighborhood cameras’ feeds immediately. But I couldn’t get a warrant. That would involve escalating this through the chain, and at this point, I had no idea who was in on what. Or why. Regardless, I wasn’t going to put Scarlett at risk. I needed to handle this myself. I would need to ask nicely and hope everyone cooperated.
Scarlett dropped her arms and stepped back.
“Thanks, Luke.” Her small smile barely tugged her lips.
“Tell me everything you did today. Beginning to end. Leave nothing out,” I told her, walking her to the couch. I sat beside her, ready to imprint her every word into memory. My radio squealed on my shoulder. Brimley’s scratchy drawl directed units to a disturbance on Little Leaf Road. I turned it down, ignoring the various call-ins with their ETAs. There were other officers on duty. One of them could handle it.
I turned to face Scarlett, folding one leg under me on the couch. She turned to face me too, and her hand fell to my knee, using it as leverage to get in position. Every cell in my body was solely focused on the feel of her hand on my leg.
