Page 50 of Betrayed

“Can’t you do that for my dad’s phone?” Desperation filled my voice.

Jamie and Jack shared a look, their hesitation obvious as tension filled the stretching silence. More and more, I sensed they were hiding things from me.

I had to assume they thought my father had done something illegal, provoking the threat against me.

But he wouldn’t. My dad was a good guy. He upheld the law and put criminals in jail. He was a respected member of the community.

They only suspected him because they didn’t know him like I did.

“We asked him if we could monitor his phone,” Jamie finally said, compassion filled his voice. “But he declined.”

He said it like it proved Daddy was a criminal, but he worked with a lot of high-powered clients and important political figures. I couldn’t blame him for not letting them monitor his phone.

“Blake, I know this is hard, but the person looking for you isn’t messing around. The guy they sent for you today had a syringe in his pocket, and I’d put money on the lab verifying it’s a sedative,” Jack said.

AJ uncrossed his arms, stepped away from the island, and walked towards me.

“In our experience, the first attempt is usually the weakest. Next time, they’ll send more than one guy, and they’ll be a lot more aggressive,” Jamie added. “Right now, the best way to keep you safe is for you to be out of sight while we sort this out.”

“We’re doing everything we can to find out who’s responsible and bring this to an end,“ Jack said.

AJ still hadn’t said anything, but I could feel his presence behind me.

“Do you even know anything yet?” I hadn’t meant to sound snarky, but I was ‘this close’ to losing it. They didn’t deserve my attitude, so I reframed the question, dialing it back as I asked again, “Who’s so mad at my father that they want to hurt me?”

“We don’t know, yet, but the evidence leads to a known criminal your father has,” Jamie paused and looked over my shoulder at AJ, “dealt with in the past.”

What was he going to say before he looked at AJ? What did he mean dealt with?Is he accusing my father?

“My father is not a criminal!” I yelled, emphasizing each word.

AJ stepped up beside me and placed a large, warm hand on the small of my back. “No one is saying he is. But someone he works with could be.”

AJ’s words sounded hollow, but his touch comforted me. It shouldn’t have. I wished it didn’t. I don’t want to be comforted by a big, dumb ogre who works for a company that thinks my father might be a criminal or have ties to one or whatever it is they think.

“He’d never do anything to hurt me,” I said as tears filled in my eyes. This time, I didn’t bother holding them back.

“Of course not. He’d never intentionally do anything to hurt you,” AJ said.

I was months away from earning my law degree, so I didn’t miss his use of the word intentionally.Words matter. Despite what he’d just said, he thinks my father is somehow involved.

Could this nightmare get any worse?

Chapter 25

AJ

Watching Blake react while Jack and Jamie explained the situation was killing me. There was nothing I wanted more than to hold her in my arms and comfort her, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t only because I had to keep it professional; she still hadn’t recovered from the shock of the attack.

Hearing the fear in Blake’s voice when she defended her father was more than I could handle.I have to at least try to comfort her.I moved to her side and put my hand on the small of her back. To my surprise, she didn’t flinch or pull away.

When I spoke for the first time, I chose my words carefully. I wanted to put her fears at bay, but wouldn’t lie. The more evidence we uncovered, the more it pointed to Davenport having ties to the person threatening Blake. Not that I believed he’d intentionally hurt her, but choosing to do business with people who targeted innocent victims meant he was at least partially responsible.

“Jay’s here,” Meg said. “We’ll help him get stuff put away.”

I walked Blake to the couch and sat down with her. She hugged her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth.

“Blake,” I risked pulling her small trembling hands into mine, “this won’t be for long. And I’ll be with you every step of the way.” I wasn’t sure my promise would comfort her, but I offered it anyway.

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