Page 100 of If You Love Me

I swallowed hard. “What?”

“It’s no easy way to say this. The man… the one who took your wife. He was my husband’s brother.”

I sat outside my house,dreading going in to break the news to Evenie. This wasn’t some shit I could keep from her. After Mrs. Cambridge left my office, I was no good for work. She’d told me so much more than I ever expected to hear. I ended up leaving and going by the school to pick Summer Rose up early. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her there, knowing that Iona was on the loose and looking to hurt any of us.

When I got there, I asked about her in the front office, and they told me she hadn’t been to work in a while. That concerned me even more. Iona loved this job. For her to just not come to work was alarming. Almost as alarming as the fact that she was the guidance counselor. How was she guiding these kids but refused to acknowledge where she was lacking in her own mental health?

I didn’t understand it. All I knew was my baby wasn’t coming back to this school until she was found and committed. I’d taken her to my parents and asked them to watch her for a few days. I couldn’t put her in harm’s way, even though I prayed like hell Iona wouldn’t think about hurting my baby to get back at me. It was never my intention to hurt her, but she was taking this shit too far.

I also couldn’t believe that Leon was her uncle. What were the fucking chances?

Taking a deep breath, I got out of my car and headed into the house. Evenie was working from home today because the design studio was being painted. When I walked in, she was sitting Indian style on the couch, still dressed in her pajamas with a messy bun and reading glasses. Papers and fabrics were all over the place, and she was typing a mile a minute on her laptop.

“Hey, baby,” she said, not looking up. “You came home for lunch?”

“Nah, I’m home for the day.”

She paused and looked up at me. “Something wrong?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute.”

I stood in my living room, looking around and trying to remember the camera angles from the video Mrs. Cambridge had shown me. I knew the one in the living room had to be in a vent somewhere.

“Where was it…?” I mumbled, looking around.

“Tyrion, baby, what are you looking for?” Evenie asked, watching me.

“I’m gonna tell you. Just give me a second.”

My eyes landed on the vent next to the entertainment center, and it was like a light went off in my head. I went over and unhooked the latch before popping it open. Sure enough, there was the camera. I snatched it up and closed the vent. Evenie looked on as I made my way into the kitchen. Closing my eyes, I tried to remember that camera angle. I knew it sat up kind of high, overlooking everything. Grabbing a chair from the table, I stood on it and searched the tops of the cabinets.

“Tyrion, you’re acting crazy,” Evenie said, setting her laptop down. “What is going on?”

I ignored her as I kept searching. Nothing was on top of the cabinets. I looked over at the China cabinet that belonged to my grandmother. Hopping down, I slid the chair over and climbed up to find another camera.

“Muthafucka!” I yelled.

“What! What is it!”

I jumped from the chair and ran down the hall to the bedroom with Evenie on my heels.

“Tyrion, I swear, if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on—”

“This,” I said, turning around.

Grabbing her hand, I placed two of the three cameras in her palm.

“What the hell…”

“She put cameras in the house, Ev,” I said, searching the room. “She’s been watching us.”

“Who—Iona?”

“Yes.”

My head snapped toward the built-in bookcase. It was the perfect angle. I walked over and snatched everything off until I found the last camera.

“We need to go to the police,” Evenie said. “How did she get in here? Didn’t you take her key?”

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