She sniffed and pulled a folded sheet of paper out of her shorts pocket. “I wrote it down.”
Gabe took the note and read aloud, “‘I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over.’”
“Sins,” Jessica echoed, her voice thick with tears. “Can you believe it? What the he—” She bit off her angry words and glanced over her shoulder toward the sliding glass door that led to her backyard, where the sounds of happy chatter and laughter could be heard. She resumed in a harsh whisper, “What the hell is this sick son of a bitch talking about? What sins would Chris possibly have committed against this person? He was the best man I’ve ever known! What sins could the kids or I have committed?”
Gabe took a deep breath and shared a glance with Elle. “Jessica, honey, the guy we think is behind this has some very extreme views on the government, law enforcement in particular.”
She looked at Gabe with a mixture of confusion and anger. “You know who it is? How?”
“I received a letter, too,” Elle told her. “But we only have suspicions. Nothing concrete.”
“It’s someone from Derrick Monroe’s crazy family, isn’t it?” she demanded, her fear quickly replaced by fury.
Gabe sent another glance Elle’s way. “I can’t say—”
“Why haven’t you arrested him?” she demanded. “Why are you letting him torture my family? For Chrissake, Gabe—Chris was your best friend! And you’re just going to sit there and let this bastard treat us this way? Why aren’t you doing something?”
“It’s complicated,” Gabe assured her. “We don’t have any evidence linking him to any of the harassing messages we’ve received.”
Jessica went completely still, staring at him in disbelief. Then her eyes narrowed, her lips trembling when she hissed, “Then find some.”
Elle cleared her throat. “Jessica, I promise—we’re doing everything we can. Even if we find evidence linking him to these threats, if we don’t do things by the book, he could walk on a technicality.”
Jessica began to shake with fury. “Screw ‘by the book’!” she spat. “How long has this been going on? How long have you known this bastard would be coming after my family?”
“We had no idea,” Gabe told her, keeping his voice level. “I never thought—”
At that moment, the sliding door slid opened and a little boy with dark hair and wide, brown eyes bounded inside, the Batman cape he wore billowing out behind him. “Mom! Are you coming outside yet? You’re gonna miss the whole party!”
“I’ll be out in a minute, Teddy,” she assured him, wiping at her eyes and forcing a grin for his benefit.
“Uncle Gabe!” the boy cried, running toward him.
Gabe swept the boy into a bear hug. “Hey, there, buddy. Happy birthday.”
“How come you haven’t come over for a while?” Teddy asked. “Are you staying for my party? Mommy got me a Batman cake and there’s even ice cream!”
“That sounds awesome,” Gabe told him, forcing a grin. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
“Cool!” Teddy then sent a cheerful smile Elle’s way and waved. “Hi, Miss Elle.”
But before Elle could even reply, Teddy turned on his heel and raced back outside to join the fun.
Gabe felt like the world’s biggest asshole for staying away for so long. He didn’t realize how much he’d missed Chris’s family until that moment. Chris had been like another brother to him, and his children might as well have been Gabe’s nieces and nephew. Teddy had grown like a weed since Gabe had been by to see them and had apparently lost a couple of teeth. And he’d missed it. Missed it all.
“I need to get outside,” Jessica informed them, shoving to her feet, her back straight, her chin held high. “And you’re welcome to stay for the party, Gabe, for Teddy’s sake. But then I want you to leave.”
Gabe was taken aback by her coldness toward him. He’d known Jessica for over a decade and had treated her like a sister the entire time. All he could manage was a startled look.
Elle, of course, was far more articulate. “Jessica, I know you’re upset and frustrated. We all are. But Gabe’s right. There’s nothing he can do until we have a reason to arrest this person. All we can do is try to keep an eye on him and hope he slips up and gives us something to work with.”
Jessica glanced between the two of them a couple of times before laughing bitterly. “Oh my God, I’m such an idiot! No wonder you’re taking his side—you two are sleeping together! I should’ve figured that out when you arrived on my doorstep at the same time.”
“That has nothing to do with anything,” Elle assured her. “I’m telling you the truth as deputy prosecutor.”
“Right,” Jessica spat. “God, Gabe—this is so typical! When the hell are you going to grow up? Chris always talked about you like you were some kind of freaking legend, like you were his hero or something. Well, you know what? Chris was my hero. And now he’s gone.”
Gabe reached out to her. “Jess—”
