Page 80 of No Regrets

“I should go in. Aunt Mary and Maria will be waiting for me. They have an early flight tomorrow.”

“I can come in, if you want?”

“Nah, you’ve done enough.”

“You hear anything else from Kelly?”

Dex checked his phone. “Nope, nothing. Can’t say I blame her. Jeez, what a fucking mess. I have to talk to her and clear this up. Maybe I should go over there now.”

“Not tonight. You just buried your father and, like you said, you need to go spend time with your family before they leave.”

“Kelly’s my family too.”

“I know. And she’ll still be here tomorrow.”

Dex glanced at this best friend. “Meeting you that day at the recruitment office was one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

Ryan held up his fist and they fist-bumped. “Right back at ya, brother.”

Dex got out and walked toward his porch hearing the Mustang roar away.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The sun was just coming up. Dex had already been running for thirty minutes. As tired as he’d been, he’d tossed and turned until he couldn’t lay there anymore, eventually getting up. He’d said goodbye to his aunt and Maria, promising to make an effort to stay in touch more. Then he’d pulled on sweats and headed out for a run. Running always cleared his head, or at least it used to. This morning, it wasn’t working so well.

When he reached the beach, he stopped, sitting down on the sand to watch the sunrise. They used to love watching the sunrise together. God damn, she was in his every thought. It had been hard enough burying his father yesterday but seeing her, knowing she’d seen him with Sally... Fuck! He wasn’t proud of himself. When Ryan told him how upset Sophie said Kelly was, Dex had been crushed. Even though she’d told him to let her go, he would never intentionally hurt her. Hell, he could only imagine what she thought of him right now. Yet kissing Sally was what had finally made him realize he couldn’t let Kelly go. Not happening. Never. But how the hell was he meant to explain about Sally?

The sun had risen, shining brightly above the horizon. Getting up, Dex jogged home. Within ten minutes, he was back on his driveway. He stopped short, spotting a brown envelope leaning up against the front door. Training kicked in. A brown envelope might look innocent to most people, but he had made a lot of enemies over the years and learned never to assume anything. Looking around, he got to his truck, unlocked it, and took his pistol from the gun compartment. Moving slowly, he checked the exterior of the house. All clear. Turning his attention back to the envelope, he studied it, looked for any signs of wires or white powder. Nothing. Carefully he ripped it open. Inside was a piece of paper with a handwritten note.

I know who you are, and I know where to find you.

He double-checked the envelope, but there was nothing else in it. A practical joke maybe? No. No one he knew would ever pull a stunt like this knowing what he did for a living. He called Ryan and he answered on the first ring.

“Ryan, where are you?”

“Jeez, Dex, it’s my day off.” Ryan sounded sleepy.

“Ryan where are you?” The tone of Dex's voice must have resonated with him.

“Home. What is it?” He sounded alert now.

“Anything unusual at home?”

“No, nothing. What the fuck, Dex?”

“Check outside your front door.” Dex could hear Ryan getting up.

“Nothing there. What the hell is going on?”

“Not sure. Can you come by my place right now?” He didn’t want to discuss any specifics over the phone. Ryan would understand that.

“I’ll be there in twenty.”

By the time Ryan arrived, Dex had done a full sweep of the house. It didn’t appear that anyone had been in there, but unease settled in his stomach at the thought of someone knowing where he lived.

He handed Ryan the envelope and watched him pull out the note and read it. Ryan raised his eyes to meet Dex’s with a frown.

“I found it on my doorstep when I got home from a run.”

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