A single tear slipped out, and I turned my head before anyone could see it fall.
“John, they will stay in the back. You won’t know they are here. If I send them out, they will drive the rest of your officers crazy, pacing and climbing the walls waiting for us to rejoin them.”
“I understand. As long as they can sit quietly, I don’t care.”
I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding. It dawned on me right then that I didn’t want to let them out of my sight either. Matt was right, they were all brothers to me, and I needed all the support I could get from my family right now.
“Okay, Bekah, let’s start at the beginning. Let’s go back two weeks ago. Don’t be afraid to say whatever comes to mind. No detail is too small.”
After taking a deep breath and leaning against Daddy for support, I started to retell everything that had happened over the last two weeks.
“I guess the uneasiness started before the guys went on this last case. Beau and I went back to my hometown for my sister’s birthday. She would have been eighteen, so we went to celebrate at her graveside. When we were leaving, I saw someone in the shadows, watching and waiting. I thought it was nothing, and I was being paranoid in my heightened emotional state.”
Daddy shifted beneath me, but didn’t speak. I knew I was going to be in trouble for not mentioning this to him before now, but honestly, I didn’t think it was anything until the van showed up.
“I never saw the person again, so I just chalked it up to emotions and moved on with my day. Beau and the team left on the case, leaving me behind.”
“Which will never happen again. Someone will always stay behind on cases, and if they can’t, we will be making other arrangements to help keep you safe.”
I gave Daddy a grateful smile. I didn’t want to tell him, but I was terrified at the idea of being alone again while the team was on a case. I should have known that Daddy knew everything, though, even without me having to say something.
“Okay, what else happened, Bekah?”
“Well, it started with me feeling like I was being watched anytime I was out of the house. It didn’t matter if I was at home, working in my garden, or at the coffee shop surrounded by people. I constantly felt like I had eyes watching my every move.”
Officer John jotted down notes, keeping a timeline of everything.
“Then one evening, I needed some air, so I decided to go on a walk in the neighborhood. It had never been a problem before, so I thought it would be safe. That’s when I spotted the van.”
“Can you describe what this van looked like?”
“It was tan, and it had super dark windows. There weren’t any words on the sides, and it was kind of beat-up looking, kind of old-looking as well.”
“That’s good.”
“I was driving home from Ridge Valley. I had decided to go to the mall and pick up a few items I needed for my garden. It’s getting too cold in the evenings, and I wanted to start to work on winterizing the flower beds. I should have waited for Beau to get home to go, but I needed something to do. I was going crazy, just sitting around and waiting.”
The tension rose in the room as I began to tell the next part of the story. The part of the story that everyone in this room, besides Officer John, that is, knew and hated.
“I didn’t notice the van at first. I should have been paying better attention to my surroundings. I was not sure how long it had been following me before I finally spotted it in my mirror. Once I did, I made a few turns to see if it was following me before I called Beau, panicking.”
“You didn’t notice the van until they were ready for you to notice them, Shortstack,” Matt said from behind me.
“He’s right. These kinds of people work in the shadows until they are ready for their victims to see them,” Officer John replied.
“Well, anyway, I called Beau and told him that I was being followed. The van tried to run me off the road a few times, but I kept going. I knew that if I stopped, there was no way I was going to make it out of there unharmed.”
Daddy pressed a kiss against the side of my face and pulled me into his lap. I hadn’t noticed, but I was shaking uncontrollably. Daddy knew, though, and he gave me exactly what I needed.
“Beau helped me drive to the office and gave me directions to find his safe room. Seth unlocked the door for me, and Iran like hell. Once inside the safe room, I don’t know what else happened. Next thing I knew, Beau was opening the door.”
“You did so well, Sweets. I’m so proud of you.”
“Seth contacted my team here when they realized what was going on, and we were there moments after you. We caught the perps just as they were entering the office building. They were never going to get to you.”
I nodded, not offering up any more words. Not that I had many left to give. I was quickly losing my battle to stay present here.
“They are in custody now?”
