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“What are the police doing to find the guy?” she asked when we sat down at the dining room table.
Will answered first. “Well, you know about the note. They are running tests for fingerprints, but we suspect he wore gloves. Is there anything you can tell us about the message? Do you know what it means?”
She pursed her lips and looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t.”
My mother’s brows furrowed, and I watched her fidget with a thin gold bracelet on her wrist. She knew something, but she was keeping it from us.
“Jake, can I speak to my mother alone?” Jake’s eyebrows pulled together, but he pushed his chair back and tapped Will on the shoulder. “Let’s wait outside for a minute.”
I knew from Will’s frown that he wasn’t pleased to be dismissed, but whether he trusted Jake or because he didn’t have much choice, he stood and walked out the door.
When I heard the door close, I turned back to my mother. “What’s going on?”
She didn’t try to act coy, which was a relief.
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
“Mother, you were the one that hired these bodyguards. You obviously think this is serious, and I’m starting to think the same now that my entire home is upside down and broken into tiny pieces. Now that I’m involved, I think I have a right to know who’s behind this.”
“I don’t know who’s behind it!” she shouted, but looked down and grabbed her bracelet.
“But you know something.”
She sighed and closed her eyes. “Maybe.”
“Then why not tell Jake and Will? They’re your men. You trusted them enough with my life. Is this more important than that?”
“No, of course, not. It’s just…”
“What?”
She turned and looked at me. “I swore an oath.”
I shook my head. “You swore an oath to protect some criminal who is now stalking you and breaking into my home?”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m not the one protecting her stalker!”
“I am not protecting him. I swore an oath to keep any briefings with the CIA secret. So, I can’t tell Jake or Will what I know because if the White House were to find out that I leaked this information, my career would be over.”
“Your career? That’s what you’re protecting? That’s your priority right now?”
“Don’t put it like that, Nikole. Don’t be a child. You know the way the world works. I hired these men to protect us and they’re doing their job. I will cooperate with the police, but I will not break protocol or give away any government secrets. Not for anyone.”
Not even to protect me. She didn’t say those words exactly, but it was pretty darn close, wasn’t it?
“Fine. But I won’t stick around and wait for the next time this man decides to write another note.”
“What do you mean? Aren’t you planning to stay here?”
I watched her closely. “Jake had suggested that.”
My mother’s forehead softened, and a small smile curled her lips. “It would be great to have you back under my roof, Nikole.”
The words made me angry. They were not malicious, and I knew she meant them well, but I also knew it meant that she could control what I did and where I went, whom I spoke to and whom I didn’t. She had done it my whole life. I wasn’t kidding when I said I would never live with her again.
“I won’t be moving back in, no. I’ll be staying with Jake.”
