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“Xander, go with them please, and make sure they stay out of trouble,” Livy requested and Xander nodded.
“We’ll be back soon and all of this will be over,” Kyle told me. He kissed me on my temple, then he, Kade, and Xander were gone.
“I’ll make some tea. Come and help me,” Livy said as she snagged Cole and Matt’s arms and pulled them into the kitchen. Dad had gone back to mom, so now it was just me and my guys at the table. I was still fighting for breath and in a mess, but I just couldn’t seem to make it stop.
“They’ll be fine, Ev. The FBI won’t let them near the apartment or that fucker if he’s there.” Harris told me.
“I…I can’t br-breathe,” I gasped as my panic started to rise. There were spots in my vision and I didn’t want to pass out.
“You can breathe, malenka. You just have to stop panicking. There’s nothing to fear. We’re all here, your bothers too. Nothing is going to happen to you. He can’t come here. He can’t get near you. It was just a photo,” Aleks told me, a slight firmness to his voice I responded to.
“Just slow everything down, baby, and take deeper breaths. We’re right here with you,” Nick added. I still had my hand over Kailan’s heart, curled up in his lap, clinging to him in the hope it would allay my fears. I tried to slow my breaths so they’d match the beat of Kailan’s heart, but it was hard to do when I was gasping so frantically.
Why was I freaking out so badly? This was what I had wanted – to identify that fucker so the FBI could arrest him and lock him away. I wanted to stop him from ever being able to hurt another person ever again, especially my family. But now that I knew who he was, it was just even more to deal with. He had lived in my home with me. He knew my entire family – the people he had been terrorizing to get to me. He knew who we all were. He knew my parents had cared for him at one point in his life and yet he still wanted me gone to protect himself.
I prayed what Kyle had said was true – that when he, Xander, and Kade walked in here it would all be over and Soloman – or Jason – whoever he was – would be in FBI custody and we would all be safe, but a huge part of me doubted that. This monster was smart and I knew it. He wasn’t going to go down without a fight, and I had this terrible feeling that his final fight was going to involve me and the people that I loved.
CHAPTER 21
EVIE
It was three AM when I gave up on any hope of sleeping and sat up at the edge of the bed, moving slowly so as not to wake Aleks who was fast asleep and snoring slightly beside me.
I had tried to sleep, exhausted after another very long, very draining day, but I just couldn’t. There was too much going on in my head.
When Kyle, Kade, and Xander had returned, just as we were all sitting down to eat, they didn’t have good news. Soloman hadn’t been at his apartment and it looked as though he hadn’t been there for some time. His rent was being paid automatically, but the building manager told the FBI that he hadn’t seen anyone come or go for months.
Aleks had spent the afternoon looking through property holdings in search of a building like the one I had described, in Jason King’s name, or any of his family, but that had been a bust. He didn’t own any property at all and his family consisted of his parents, who were both dead.
Everyone assured me the FBI would be working on it, and that they had a good chance of catching Soloman now they knew who he was, but I wasn’t confident. I had a feeling Soloman wouldn’t be found until he wanted to be.
We’d eaten dinner with my family – or at least Zack and the guys had. I’d just pushed mine around the plate, my stomach in knots. Aleks explained he had found two bugs in the house, one in the kitchen and one upstairs in my room. That meant Soloman had been in the house without anyone even knowing and that terrified me. Aleks had assured me he had upgraded the security system since then and that we were secure, but I didn’t feel it.
I was relieved when we got back to the Lyle’s building and safely locked into the apartment. It felt more secure there, especially with guards outside.
Still I couldn’t sleep. I had no doubt Soloman had some how found out we now knew who he was and I worried what that would force him to do. Getting rid of me wouldn’t help him, since the FBI had his identity now too, but I was sure that wouldn’t stop him from blaming me and the fact I broke his fucked up rules. I was just so sure he was coming for me. It was just a matter of time.
I stood from the edge of the bed and pulled on the cardigan I’d been wearing that day. The apartment had automatic temperature control and it always felt freezing if you asked me.
I tiptoed from the room and down the hall. I didn’t want to be alone, but I was sure the guys were all sleeping after the day we’d had. They’d been exhausted as we drove back to the city. They hadn’t had a full nights sleep in over fifty-six hours.
I started towards the room Zack was sleeping in, just wanting to check on him, but paused when I heard music coming very quietly from the room I was pretty sure was Harris’s. The light was shining just slightly from under the door, so I crept over and opened it just a crack. He and Nick had both made me promise I’d never sneak into their rooms if they were asleep, both of them worried about what they’d do if I woke them from a nightmare, but I was pretty sure I could just peek in and see if Harris were sleeping.
“Hey,” I whispered when I glanced in and found him sat on the middle of the bed, his laptop open and the quiet music coming from it. “Can I come in?”
“Of course you can. Come here,” he said as he pushed his laptop aside and held a hand out to me. I took it and was grateful when he pulled me up onto the bed and straight into his lap. I sat sideways so I could see him. “Couldn’t sleep?”
“No. There’s just too much going around my head,” I explained. “What were you doing?”
“Just looking over the information Aleks gathered on Jason King. He has a ton of mental issues. I’m guessing he had some kind of break and started these murders.”
“But why? Surely there has to be a reason to start killing innocent people?”
“I’m no psych professional, but I think it has something to do with his mom’s suicide. He found her body after she slit her wrists in the bath tub. I think that’s why he needs his victims to ask for the end, just like his mom did, only she ended it herself,” he theorized, and it did make sense.
“I wish they’d found him. I hate knowing he’s out there.” A shudder followed my words and Harris quickly wrapped me in his arms.
“They’ll get him, sweetheart, and until they do we’re safe and so is your family. Kyle and Kade have a team outside your parents house and a tech guy in the office watching for breaches of the security system. He can’t get to anyone you care about, and I don’t think he’ll dare take another victim when the FBI is so close to getting him. If he’s smart, he’ll be running far away from here.”
