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“He’s as good a suspect as Emma,” Rebel offered. “I mean if what she said to you is true and the guy didn’t leave her anything, I say we make it look like the brother did it to cover his debts.”
“Or just out of jealousy,” Diesel added with a satisfied grunt.
“Frame him?” I asked. I wanted her asshole brother-in-law out of the way, but with everything else we’d done, that seemed like we’d be digging ourselves an even bigger hole.
“Not exactly, just make sure the heat goes off Emma and onto the brother,” Rebel said with a grin.
At my brothers’ words the tension around my heart loosened. It was a good plan, one that would allow me to use my skills to save my daughter and my woman, because they were mine.
I just had to convince Emma that was true.
Chapter 25
Emma
Mark was following me as I left my not-quite-an-interrogation with Sheriff Cross but this time he wasn’t hiding the fact he was doing it, which made me feel a little bit better. I hoped that the sheriff would at least see that I’d been telling the truth about the harassment. But I was even more terrified now that he wasn’t even trying to hide his behavior because I knew how reckless a person could get when they felt untouchable.
Every turn I made, he made. If I stopped at a green light and let the horns blast in anger, he did the same. I stopped at the gas station for a bottle of lemonade, and he stopped, idling at the far end of the lot until I came back out. I refused to go back to Slate’s place with him following me even though I was sure he already knew that’s where Ash and I had been staying. Slate had texted me saying he was taking Ash to the clubhouse, and I wondered if I should head there, or whether that would be bringing trouble to his club’s doorstep.
I drove around for about half an hour, cringing at the amount of gas I was wasting when I didn’t have an income yet while Mark kept on my tail. I maintained a death grip on the steering wheel, poised for a bump from behind that might send me into a tree or even a utility pole. But he didn’t do any of that, he patiently followed me wherever I went, an almost ominous presence determined to keep me off-center.
I couldn’t leave Slate with Ash all day. He wasn’t used to looking after a kid on his own and our little girl required a lotof energy. She was curious about everything and seemed to have an endless supply of questions on just about any topic. But I couldn’t let Mark get close to her, he’d find a way to use my love for my daughter against me. I knew that as well as I knew anything because it was exactly what Alex had done.
I leaned forward at the next red light and pressed the button to call him.
“Hey Emma.” Slate’s tone was light and carefree, I was half expecting him to sound frazzled after keeping up with an inexhaustible five-year-old.
“Slate,” I sighed. Suddenly I don’t know what the hell to say to him.
“How did it go with Cross?”
I shrugged even though he couldn’t see me, just as the light turned. “I’m not sure. They found some indicators that Alex might be in Miami and wanted to know if either of us had any Florida connections.” I gave him a brief rundown of my conversation with Sheriff Cross. “I told him about Mark, and he was uninterested, even after we found him waiting for me in the parking lot.”
A beat of silence passed and then Slate bit out a curse. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I mean he’s following me now, which is why I haven’t come home yet. I’m sure he knows where you live since he’s a PI, but I’ve been driving around to piss him off. I wasn’t sure if I should come to the clubhouse or not. How are things with Ash?”
When he spoke, there was a smile in his voice. “She’s great. She’s having a whale of a time and is currently covered in doggy slobber.”
His words brought a smile to my face. “That’s good. Thank you for giving her some of her childhood back.”
“Of course. She’s great. I hope you know that I adore her.”
“I do,” I whispered, more to myself than to him. He didn’t need to know how much it affected me to see him being the father that Ash needed and deserved. “She’s incredible, Emma.”
He loves her already.
That thought made everything better. If anything happened to me, Slate would be there for our little girl, he would make sure she had the life she deserved. “She really is,” I sighed and made another random turn. “So is it okay if I come to you? Mark might follow.”
“Hell yeah. Do you remember how to get to the clubhouse?”
I glanced in the rearview to see if Mark was still there, seeing him steadfastly on my tail I said, “No, can you just send me and address?”
He paused briefly and then his deep voice filled my vehicle. “Done. Get here soon.”
“On my way.”
***
