Page 25 of Jolene's Justice

“Someone was here.”

Adrenaline pumped through his veins, immediately putting him on alert. “What?”

“Someone was here. Under my window.”

“Are you sure?” He hadn’t heard anything moving around, and the windows in the family room where he’d been napping were directly behind them. If someone had been standing out here, surely he would have heard them.

He took a few steps closer to the house until he could see Jolene’s bedroom window past the big tree in the side yard. The flower beds were a mess, with weeds and wildflowers growing everywhere, but he could see that someone had been in there recently, as there were clear depressions in the soil. There were indications of trampling on some of the plants. The grass was wet with dew, and he could clearly see the path the intruder had taken to escape into the woods.

“Stay here,” he said before he followed the path. He should have known she wouldn’t listen. When they reached the tree line, he heard her wince. Looking down at her feet, he swore softly. “Jolie, you’re not wearing shoes. Go back to the house. I’ll see if I can track their path.”

He could see her gearing up to argue, but he wouldn’t have it. “Please, honey. Go back inside. Lock the doors. I can’t do my job if I’m worried about you getting hurt.” With wide, anxious eyes, she stared at him and nervously bit her lip before nodding in agreement and quickly turning to make her way back to the house.

Turning on the flashlight app on his cell, he followed a clear path the amateur stalker had made until he reached the road. They must have hopped into a car since that’s where he lost their trail.

Making his way back to the house, he was more determined than ever to get to the bottom of what was going on with Jolene. He hoped he’d made enough headway in their friendship that she’d trust him with the truth. And he prayed that her faith in him was strong enough to believe he would always protect her.

Chapter 11

Jolenepacedthefoyeras she waited for Finch to return. When she’d spotted the person below her window, she thought her overactive imagination had conjured them. That her worry over the threatening texts had her manifesting some nefarious being.

But the proof was plain as day in the flowerbeds. Someone had been there. Was it the same person who’d been texting her? As if she’d conjured it, another text notification dinged, startling her.

I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL I’VE DESTROYED YOU.

Her hands shook as she stared at the message. She wanted to scream. She wanted to yell at the device. Demand it tell her who was tormenting her. But, of course, it couldn’t do that. Maybe it was time to get Emma involved.

“Jolene?” Finch’s voice jolted her so badly the phone flew out of her hand and crashed to the floor. Her heart thumped loudly in her ears, drowning out all other sounds.

Finch bent and retrieved her phone. She stared at the thing as if worried it would bite. When she didn’t make a move to take it from his hand, he placed it face up on the little table next to the front door.

“You ready to tell me what’s going on?” Finch asked, making her tear her eyes away from her phone. He had a concerned look on his face, but there was also an underlying fierceness that showed he wouldn’t back down until he found out the truth.

God, she wanted to trust him with this. She knew inherently he’d do everything in his power to protect her no matter what was happening between them. But did she really want to thrust him into the middle of this? The situation was so perplexing that even she couldn’t fathom what was happening. How could she expect him to help?

He was already giving up so much to help her out here. He was resolute in his decision to support her, determined to be a source of comfort as she dealt with the stress and worry of her father’s illness. It had gone a long way toward building a bridge between them.

She thought about the last year. He’d done everything she’d requested without argument. When she’d asked, he’d backed off. He’d stayed silent when she was resolute in her stubbornness. He tried to tell her about his marriage, but she shut him down before he could even begin. She’d begun to assume his marriage was a bad one, especially since she hadn’t seen his wife since that night. But she never gave him the chance to set the record straight, and he’d respected her wishes.

He’d taken her aloofness, never once protesting. He’d taken her silence. She could see how her indifference hurt him, but he never once complaining. She’d needed the distance, and he’d given it to her. Absorbing the sting when she’d snubbed him. He’d never once been anything but patient and kind.

Now, thinking back over everything . . . God, she owed him an apology.

Maybe confessing what was going on would be another support beam in the bridge he’d been trying to build.

She was still mulling it over when her phone took the decision out of her hands. The notification tone echoed in the silence between them. The brightness of the screen lit up the dark foyer as the message preview flashed on the display.

I LOST EVERYTHING BECAUSE OF YOU. HOW MUCH DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE?

Finch grabbed the phone before she could. “What the hell?”

“It’s . . .” she started, not knowing how to explain it.

“Is there more?” She could tell he knew the answer just by looking at her expression. “Unlock the phone. Let me see,” he said, holding the phone out to her.

She took it and hesitated only briefly before doing as he asked. She opened the long text thread and handed it back to him, knowing she couldn’t do it alone anymore. The fact that someone had been outside her window had scared her. More than the threatening messages had managed to do. She could ignore words. She couldn’t ignore the tangible proof that someone had been there.

Finch’s jaw tightened as he read through the messages, anger evident on his face. His eyes narrowed on the screen, looking at it as if he could reach through it and throttle the person behind the messages. She took solace in his anger, knowing that he was on her side. If the last year had taught her anything about the man before her, it was that he would never turn his anger on her. She’d given him so many reasons to do just that. He never did.

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