Page 319 of A Matter of Time

“None of this makes any sense.”

“Agreed.”

“But Trey was killed in my old apartment. I still think maybe Roman didn’t wait for Dom and got the address and tried to kill me himself. Doesn’t that make the most sense?”

“I’m telling you, I know Dom and Dom would not have let Roman, and more importantly, Roman’s guys, make that kind of mistake.”

“Yeah, but⁠—”

“Jory, come on.” He sighed wearily. “Your license was on the victim today, and the resemblance was good. I mean, he could’ve been your brother.”

I arched a brow at him. “He was as pretty as me?”

“Don’t fuckin’ joke around! This isn’t funny! Watching those officers pull that guy outta that dumpster… Fuck! If I hadn’t just left you, I would’ve fuckin’ lost it right there.”

“Sorry,” I said softly, running my fingers through his hair and watching it curl. “So what now?”

“Now you work from home. If Aubrey wants to see you, she⁠—”

“No.” I shook my head. “I won’t be a prisoner in my own⁠—”

“Goddamnit, J! How stubborn are you gonna be? Do you get that not only is there some whack job out there killing guys that look like you, but whoever the fuck it is has been stalking you for the last three years, maybe longer? Do you fuckin’ get that?”

“What’re you⁠—”

“Whoever killed the teacher today stole your wallet or had somebody else do it a long time ago. I mean, do you get how fucked up it is to steal something from your intended victim years in advance, only to plant it on your current victim? That is twisted as shit and really, really spooky.”

“Why kill other people? Why not just kill me?”

“Maybe he can’t. Maybe something’s preventing him.”

“Him?”

“The chances of it being a woman with the force that was used during the killing, the amount of—the chances are very small.”

“Oh.”

“So you’ve gotta go into protective custody and⁠—”

“Oh, fuck that, Sam!” I shouted, stalking out of the bedroom and down the hall.

“Jory!” I heard him striding after me before my arm was grabbed and I was yanked around to face him. “Goddamnit, you need to⁠—”

“No, Sam. I am not gonna go through that again. I will not have my life flipped upside down because of something I didn’t do. It’s not fair, and I won’t do it.”

“Jory—” he began, his voice rising.

“And then what?” I asked, walking away from him, turning at the couch to look back at him. “You’re gonna bail again because you gotta go look for my stalker? You won’t be able to protect me if you’re so close to me?” I ranted, throwing up my hands. “That’s bullshit too. If you wanna go, then just go. If it’s another all-or-nothing proposition for you—fuck it. I don’t want this again. Once was more than enough.”

We were silent, glaring at each other.

“You’re right.”

Since I didn’t want to say anything I’d regret, I remained quiet, crossing my arms.

“When I left I was worried about you—terrified—but I was also scared for me. I knew going would take care of both problems.”

“You ran away.”