“You still awake?” Jeremy whispered from the other side of the bed.
“Mhmm.”
Alice was between us, curled up in a little ball beneath the duvet covers. The poor thing was so upset that she cried herself to sleep. It went without saying that we were staying in in lieu of our original dinner plans. Alice was our priority. There wasn’t any point in dragging her out someplace if she wasn’t mentally or physically well enough. She needed rest, so I was happy to see she’d finally fallen asleep after hours of soft sobbing. It killed me that all I could do was rub her shoulders and back while Jeremy stroked her hair in an attempt at comfort. She was still shaking long after we got her home.
“How did he find her?” Jeremy asked, keeping his voice hushed.
I shook my head, stared numbly at the ceiling. “No idea.” I clenched and unclenched my right hand, listening to my knuckles pop. The skin was cracked and dry, my fingers strained from overexertion. “Maybe you were right,” I mumbled. “Maybe it was him who started the fire.”
Jeremy sighed, frustrated. He rolled onto his side to cuddle closer to Alice, propping himself up on an elbow. “I think so, too. But we can’t do anything without any firm proof. It’d be entirely circumstantial if we went to the cops.”
I grinded my teeth together, something I only did when I was truly stressed out of my mind. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t know what to do. I liked to have all the answers, the solutions to problems I knew how to fix. But this? This was something in a league of its own. How was I supposed to relax when I knew that creep was still out there? The guy knew where she worked, maybe even where she lived. How was I supposed to keep her safe? If Kellan was willing to drag Alice away in full view of witnesses, potentially even burning Alice alive in her apartment, how was I supposed to protect her?
Kellan was bad news. I could tell that just by taking one look at his smug face. He was a grown man, but his face screamed that he was childish and self-important. He didn’t look like he’d worked for anything in his life. The definition of hard work must have been lost on a man like him. And worst yet, he really didn’t know how to treat a woman. Judging by the way he snagged Alice like some kind of doll, dragged her behind him like a dog on a leash, I’d say Kellan was the kind of guy who took what he wanted and expected no resistance.
The memory of Alice nearly being shoved into that asshole’s car made me furious all over again. What if Jeremy and I had been too late? What if we showed up a couple of seconds later and Alice was already gone? I’d be beside myself if something bad happened to her. She’d already lost so much. Why did Kellan have to take away her feeling of safety, too?
What had this bastard done to hurt her?
“What are we going to do?” Jeremy asked softly. Always softly.
“We keep her safe.”
“Well, duh. I meant something more specific. Do you think Alice should leave town for a bit? It might be safer for her.”
“What if he tails her and we’re not there?” I countered. “No, I don’t like that idea.”
“Well, maybe we can send her to live with your sister for a while.”
“Terri?”
“Yeah. I’m sure she and Joe would be more than understanding.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I just–”
In her sleep, Alice gripped at my shirt and nuzzled against my chest. She breathed a heavy sigh, finally in a deep sleep. Her cheeks were stained with tear marks and her nose was still a little runny and pink. Jeremy chuckled as he gently brushed a few loose strands of her hair away from her face and behind her ear.
“I know,” he said. “I love her, too.”
I glared at him, but didn’t argue. He was right. I loved Alice more than I ever thought possible. I knew we hadn’t known each other for that long, but it was the truth. One day, I’d build up the courage to say it to her aloud. I wasn’t as casual with tossing out the L-word like Jeremy was. But for now, this was fine. This was more than enough. “Maybe we’ll ask her to take a couple days off from work,” I said slowly.
Jeremy crinkled his nose. “She won’t like that. You know how she is about her job. She’s getting too close to her goal to take time off now.”
“I know. But this is her wellbeing we’re talking about here.”
“Maybe we should take her to the police station when she wakes up. We can help her file a restraining order against the guy.”