Page 24 of Only The Strong

Huntley and I talk more, I learn about what she’s going to school for, and more about her training. “I’m gonna call Finn and see where the hell they went, there's a slut here that's always trying to get him to take body shots off of her.” Huntley pulls out her phone. “Damn my phone died.” She rolls her eyes.

“You can use mine.” I slide my phone across the table.

“Thanks. I’d really hate to beat some bitches ass the first time I meet you.” Her smile is pure evil and it only makes me adore her more. She taps on the phone and holds it up to her ear. Her smile turns into a grimace, her eyebrows knitting together. She pulls the phone away from her ear and ends the call, only to type the number in again and place the phone to her ear, she repeats this one more time while the guys walk up to the table laughing.

“Angel, you didn't even give me enough time to answer.” Finn laughs, sliding into the chair next to Huntley.

“Shhh!” She hisses as she ends the call again and looks at me, panic barely peeking through her hard exterior. “Reese, your phone has been cloned.”

22

REESE

“How do you know?”Callum demands, still standing next to the table.

Huntley sets my phone in the middle of the table and dials Finn’s number again, quickly switching it to speaker phone. “Did you hear that?” We all shake our heads, just hearing normal ringing. She growls under her breath and redials the number “Listen for a clicking right before the ringing starts.” She hits ‘call’ again and turns it to speaker, and just as she said there's a faintclickright before the ringing begins.

Finn curses under his breath, Callum looks like he wants to murder someone, and Huntley slides my phone across the table back to me, but I just feel cold.

"What does this mean?" I ask, afraid of the answer. a cloned phone doesn't sound positive.

"It means that someone copied your sim card onto another phone and they can see everything that you do on your phone." Huntley's calm voice is the only sound I hear despite the light wind blowing through the deck and the steady flow of water in the stream. "They can see every text you send and receive, listen to every call, basically use your phone as their own.” She looks between Callum and I, biting the side of her lip.

I feel the chilling fingers of fear that hadn't been around in weeks, crawl its way up my spine again. We’ve talked about my stalker, but with no signs of him I was beginning to think he’d been scared off by the constant protection of bikers or had become disinterested, but it turns out this whole time he’d been reading my text messages and listening to my calls. The cold in my spine turns to my stomach turning into painful knots and I feel like I'm going to vomit.

Callum grabs my hand and breaks me out of my panic. I swing my head to the side to look up at him. “Come on, Red, we're leaving.” He pulls me to my feet.

“Where are we going?” I follow his quick steps, not letting go of his hand.

“To get you a clean fucking phone.” He gets on his bike and I climb on behind him.

Finn and Huntley climb onto his bike next to us. “We’ll follow, brother, just in case.” Callum nods and we speed out of the dirt parking lot, the wheels kicking up dirt as we speed out.

* * *

We arrive at my apartment,Finn deciding we were fine to be alone after leaving the phone store with my new phone and new number. “I’m staying with you tonight, and the Prospects are back on watch duty.” Callum holds my hand as I step off of the bike.

I nod my head and pull my hair tie out and ruffle my loose hair. We had one week of peace, but I guess that was just in our heads. “I would like that, but I think you should go home and grab your stuff and let me shower and get my thoughts in order.”

He looks at me with his brows knit together. “I’m not leaving you alone, Red.”

I set my jaw, ready to fight. “I haven't had a moment alone since this creep put that envelope on my door. I’ll be fine in my apartment with the security alarm on; you’ll only be gone for a half hour tops!” He shakes his head. “While I appreciate you protecting me, this is my life and my choice. Please don’t fight me on this.” Callum and I have spent any spare moment together in the last few weeks, and if I'm going to be able to keep my feelings for him at bay I need some time to get my heart and mind on the same page.

Callum sighs. “I’ll be thirty minutes, that's it. Lock the door and set the alarm.” I nod and lean in to kiss his cheek. “Don’t answer the door for anybody. I’ll call when I’m here and you can let me in.”

After my shower I’m no closer to burying my feelings for Callum, all I did was reflect on how much fun we have together and how he’s always been so reliable. He's never lied or hid anything from me, other than club stuff. As much as I don't want to get hurt again, he hasn't given me any reason to believe he's anything like Noah; he’s more like me than anything, with his ex cheating on him too. He’s been single for so long though, would he consider going monogamous just for me? Why would a guy want one girl when he could have as many as he pleased? Great, now my head is more of a mess!

Turning off the shower, I open the shower door and wrap myself in a fluffy pale pink towel. Stepping out of the stall I look up at the foggy mirror, in the corner, there's a small smiley face drawn in the condensation. My stomach falls to the floor and I can hear my heart beating wildly in my ears. This was done while I was in the shower, the end of the mouth is still dripping down my mirror. I walk to the closed door as quietly as I can and I lean my ear against it and listen, I don't hear anything, no security alarm, no voices, no movement. I want to stay in the bathroom, but my phone is laying on my bed and the ensuite door doesn't lock, just the door to my bedroom. I have to get to my phone and then I can lock my bedroom door and hide in my bathroom and call Callum. I grip my towel tightly; one breath, two, three. I open the door just a crack to be able to listen better, there's no sound at all; I open it more and see my phone still on my bed. Another deep breath and I swing the door open wide and run to my bed and grab my phone, as I pick my head up to run to the bedroom door I see my once bare white wall covered in big red block letters.Mineis written on my wall, still dripping from whatever he used to paint it. I freeze, my knuckles turning white around my phone. I want to scream, but my throat feels like it's closing up. After what feels like a century, the red liquid drips getting closer to the floor, something in me finally snaps and I remember to breathe. One, two, three. I quickly reach the door, close and lock it, and run back to the bathroom. I shut the bathroom door and sit on the opposite side of the room, against the closet door. Dialing Callum, I start to cry and realize I'm shaking again.

Callum answers, the roar of his bike in the background. “What’s wrong, Red?” concern evident in his voice.

I let out a shaking sob. “He was here while I was in the shower,” I scream. “He was in my bathroom while I was showering!” I take shuddering breaths between sobs.

Callum yells, “I’m a few blocks away. I’ll be there in two minutes. Fuck!” He roars and then hangs up and I curl into the wall and stare at the door.

A few minutes later I hear the front door slam into the entryway wall, loud footsteps stomp until they are outside of my bedroom door. I can hear the handle moving and then fists bang on the bedroom door. “Reese, it's me. If you don’t open this door in five seconds I’m breaking it down to get to you.”

“Coming,” I croak, running to the door. I tear the door open and stare into the eyes of the most handsome man I've ever met, my friend, my protector, the only person I want to chase away my fear. I crash into him, burying my face into his chest. He strokes my wet hair, whispering apologies into the top of my head.

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