I held on, keeping her close to me and fought myself, trying to figure out whether I should tell her about the call. Would it be helpful for her to know that this guy knew who she was? Was it best to keep her in the dark and sort it out myself?
“Where have you been?” she asked after long moments of us standing with me holding her still, in her bedroom.
“Working.”
She spun around and glared at me. I stared back, knowing she was searching for more answers. I hated the uncertainty I saw in her eyes She doubted me, and what made it worse was that I knew I was keeping vital information from her.
“I’ve been at work, Jocelyn,” I said more forcefully. “And investigating this case.”
Her eyebrows lifted, and after a beat, she nodded.
She raised her hand to my cheek, cupping it. “What’s wrong?”
I pushed out a deep breath and moved around her to take a seat on the side of her bed. I pulled her between my legs and ran my hands up and down the length of her waist.
“There was a fire tonight,” I said, pressing my forehead against her stomach. My eyes drifted shut when I felt her start to massage my scalp.
“D-did someone get hurt?” The tremble in her voice called out to me, twining itself around my heartstrings and tightening.
“No.” My voice came out strained. “But it was damned close.”
“Don...”
“It was a mother and her two children.”
She paused. “Do you think...?”
“Yeah, it was that motherfucker.” I knew it in my bones.
“We need to stop him.”
“He called me,” I admitted, peering up at her.
“What? When? What did he say?”
“He threatened you. That’s why I’ve stayed away from you. He knew we were together. This isn’t the first time he’s called.”
“When did he call before?”
“The first night we went to the movies.”
She frowned and wrinkled her nose. “Don, that was four months ago,” she declared, pushing away from me.
I tightened my hands into fists because I hated how empty they felt without her in them.
“How could you not tell me?”
“I was doing my best to keep you safe.”
“How is that keeping me safe if he already knows about me?” Anger and betrayal were evident in her voice.
“He’s focused on Rescue Four. He hates us. If I could keep you at arm’s length, then he wouldn’t focus on you. He wants to hurt us, and he’ll use the people closest to us to do it.” Standing, I ran my hands through my hair. “But I couldn’t stay away from you. Not then, and not tonight.”
“What’s different about tonight?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest. “You’ve done a damned good job of it for the past two weeks.”
“There was a little boy.”
She blinked, and her eyes softened, just a touch.
