“Maybe he decided to leave Aiden and me alone?” I offered, looking between Ace and Micah.
That day Reyes called me, when Joel was over at the house, he said he would contact me later. But he never did. I hadn’t heard anything from him since that day. He hadn’t shown up at my office again, either. I hoped that was a good sign.
But as I read my husband’s and his brother’s faces, my hopes were dashed.
“People like Reyes don’t just go away out of the goodness of their hearts,” Ace said, staring over my head at Micah.
“I figured,” I mumbled.
“We’ve tracked some of his movements out West,” Micah told us. “But the trail ran cold. We’ll find him,” he assured
“And what about Flores?” I asked, whispering because I didn’t want any chance of anyone still inside overhearing me mention his name. “Even if Reyes goes away, Aiden’s biological father could send someone else to hurt him.”
“We’ll never let that happen,” Ace said, squeezing my shoulder for comfort.
“We have to take things one step at a time.” Micah sighed. “This might go deeper than any of us knows.” I didn’t like the tone in his voice. It was heavy and coated with something dark.
A sense of dread filled the inside of my belly. I peered inside through the sliding glass doors at Aiden, who was wrestling with Gabriel. He was none the wiser about what was happening, and I wanted to keep it that way. He was just an innocent child.
“I’ll keep you both in the loop. Make sure all of your security codes are updated,” Micah said.
“They are,” Ace assured.
“He came to your job, you said, right?” Micah asked.
I nodded. “Months ago.” I glanced inside again. Reese was standing, evidently preparing to leave. “You don’t think he could be a threat to any of my co-workers, do you?”
Micah shook his head. “Probably not. He’s more focused on you, but since he knows where you work, you should be extra careful.”
“Hey,” Reese called, sliding open the door. “Sorry to interrupt, but I’m heading out. Thank you for inviting me.”
“I’ll walk you out.” I stepped around Micah and ushered Reese back inside. After insisting that she take more leftovers than a slice of pie, I accompanied her to her car.
“See you on Monday,” she said before driving off with a wave.
A chill ran through me even though the temperature wasn’t all that cold. I rubbed my hands up and down my arms as I swept my gaze around the street.
“We’re safe here,” Ace said, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me. “It’s a gated community. No one gets in or out without the code.”
“I know. I just hate that there’s still this threat out there.” I turned to face him.
“Yeah, I was thinking that maybe until this is all over, you should take some time off from work.”
I shook my head before he could finish. “I can’t take off work. I’ll leave them short-staffed, and we’re already scrambling trying to get as much done as we can while we take days off through the holidays.”
Ace sighed. “Fine, but no night shifts.”
That would be easy enough. I worked mainly the day shift, anyway. I’d been doing some overtime during evenings, but I could cut that out. I didn’t love the idea of leaving some patients hanging, but I understood Ace was concerned for my safety.
“I can do that.”
His frown deepened. “As much as the kid is going to hate it, I don’t think he should have any more sleepovers or go over to his friends’ places after school.” He paused. “At least until we find Reyes.”
I disliked hearing it, but I knew he was right. “We’ll have to talk with him. Tomorrow, not tonight, though.”
Ace nodded.
I lifted on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around him. “We’re going to be okay, right?”
