Page 42 of Saving Her Heart
"Stop what?"
"Overthinking. I can hear your brain from here."
"My brain is very quiet."
"Your brain is writing pro and con lists about everything that's happened today."
He's not wrong. But before I can respond, there's a knock at the door. We both tense. Jax immediately goes into cop mode, hand moving to his weapon as he approaches the door.
"Who is it?"
"Your worst nightmare," comes a sickeningly sweet voice.
Valerie.
Jax opens the door but doesn't invite her in. "Mrs. Thornfield."
"Officer Masterson." She peers around him and spots me. "And Ms. Greene. How cozy."
"What do you want?" I ask too tired for politeness.
"Just wanted to see the damage for myself. Building 3 is quite a disaster. All those broken windows. That threatening message." She smiles, and it's all teeth. "Terrible for property values. The board will have to discuss your continued employment, of course."
"The board already cleared me?—"
"That was before you got a building destroyed." Her smile widens. "Brad Hutchins is filing a lawsuit, you know. Says you've created a hostile living environment."
"Brad Hutchins is a suspect in the vandalism," Jax says flatly.
"Is he? How interesting. I heard he has an alibi. Multiple witnesses saw him at Hooplas drinking all afternoon." She looks at me again. "Though I wonder what the board will think about you shacking up with a police officer. Conflict of interest, wouldn't you say?"
"The board already knows about the protection detail," I tell her.
"Protection. Is that what we're calling it?" She smirks. "Well, enjoy your protection, Ms. Greene. You're going to need it. Tomorrow's going to be... eventful."
The way she says ‘eventful’ makes my blood run cold.
She leaves, her heels clicking down the hallway like a countdown.
"She's involved," I say. "She knows something."
"Probably. But she's smart. Always has alibis, never directly implicated." Jax locks the door, checks it twice. "We need actual evidence."
My phone buzzes with another text. Unknown number.
Unknown: Nice robe. Pink suits you.
I drop the phone, my blood turning to ice. "They're watching. They can see us."
Jax immediately moves to the windows, pulling all the blinds. Then he picks up my phone, screenshots the message, and forwards it to Captain Ramirez.
"That's it," he says. "You don't leave my sight."
"Jax—"
"No arguments. Someone's watching you, threatening you, escalating every day. I'm not letting you out of my sight until we catch them."
"That's not practical?—"
