I assumed it was a man, given his size and the fact there were no boobs when I hit the chest area. I balanced precariously against his chest as he curved his shoulders forward to prevent my fall. He was solid, and he tried to keep his footing as he helped steady me. I managed to lower myself to the floor and sit down, then he sat near me.
As my eyes started to adjust to the dark, I could make out his features a bit. It almost looked like my stalker, but I couldn’t be sure. But if he was tied up too, he couldn’t be the jerk who had been messing with me.
“Are you the one messing with me?” I asked, just to be sure.
He sighed. “Yes.”
“And?” I asked, and he sighed again with annoyance. “What the hell is going on?”
“You know Tara?” he asked.
“Tara? Trevor’s wife, Tara?”
“Yes. She’s my sister. Did you know about the divorce? Why they were getting it, all of that?” he asked.
“Yeah, she cheated on him. He only took her back because she had cancer, so she could stay on his insurance and keep the same doctors,” I answered. Trevor was a saint and a great dad. I loved him like another brother.
“Right. I’m not proud of what she became. But she was my sister, and I had to protect her and the kids. Mostly Madison.”
“Explain. All of it, right now,” I demanded. What did Trevor and Tara have to do with any of this? Had Will known?
“Madison might not be Trevor’s. At first, Tara just didn’t want him to know. She was just concerned she would lose some of the child support—you know how she was.” He shook his head. “Then she found out she was terminal, and she didn’t want Madison to be taken from Trevor if he wasn’t her father. The prick she cheated with had been blackmailing her.”
“What does Trevor’s marriage have to do with me and Will?”
“I’m a police officer. My father is a detective. In Brighton.”
I shrugged. I didn’t know where Brighton was.
“It’s a tiny town about halfway between here and Tacoma?” He gave me another look.
“Yeah. So?”
He shook his head at me. “So we needed money to help Tara. We went to a local guy for a loan.” He cast his eyes downward.
“You mean like a loan shark?” I asked, and he nodded. “You idiot,” I said. “You’re a police officer. You should know better. Mortgage your house, sell your car, or, I don’t know—arrest the blackmailer.”
“We did all of that. He kept wanting more and more, and Tara was desperate—and dying. And Madison, she’s a little angel. She can’t be taken from Trevor.”
“I understand. But why am I here? Why did that guy try to grab my son? I have nothing to do with Trevor and Tara’s marriage, or you.” All his explaining hadn’t enlightened me at all. I was still confused.
“The guys who have us are the loan sharks. They figured out who Dad and I were, and then they didn’t want us to pay them back. They wanted to use us instead. They got ambitious, wanted to branch out, and who better to help them than two cops they could get dirty? We were in way over our heads. We couldn’t ask Trevor for help. First, because we aren’t close with him for obvious reasons. And second, we didn’t want him to find out about Madison. We asked Will for help instead. We figured he wouldn’t want her to be taken from Trevor either, so he might help us on the down low.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Will died over a year ago. Why is this happening now?”
“Will was working with us to bring these guys down. I’m pretty sure they killed him.”
I gasped. “No...” My heart dropped to my stomach. Not my sweet Will. Tears filled my eyes, but I resisted letting them fall. I could think about this later; I couldn’t afford to fall apart now. Instead of sadness, I let myself feel rage. Will had been a good man, the best, and I would always love him. “What made you think they killed Will?”
“At first, we thought what everyone did—that it was a random hit-and-run. But now, I’m pretty sure they did it. A few months ago, they figured out that it was us who tipped Will off, and that we were working with him. They wanted us to gather any evidence he had managed to collect. I knew Will had the flash drive because I gave it to him. I tried to tell them it would be useless without knowing what it was. I mean, it’s just lists of places and routes. Will never found anything that would stick, and our word against theirs would have been useless without proof. We needed to find tangible evidence. I tried to explain that we had nothing on them, but they became so paranoid and reckless?—”
“You broke into my house?”
He nodded.
“You know, you are a really crappy stalker. I knew you were watching me. I knew you were following me,” I accused.
“I wanted you to know. I wanted to scare you so you wouldn’t be alone in that house with your kids. I’m not a bad person. I made a stupid decision, but I never wanted anyone to get hurt. I thought if I scared you enough, you’d get protection. You would go hide out with your father, or your cop brother, or even Trevor. I didn’t want to hurt you, or your kids. I sure as fuck didn’t want Will to die. I never wanted any of this to happen.” He was so earnest I felt compelled to believe him.
