Page 56 of Echoes of You

“Probably not a bad idea.”

A ding sounded from Maddie’s purse on the counter. Then another. And another.

“Who’s hounding you so early?” I asked.

It was only half past eight. I had to be at the station at nine, and Maddie had asked Sue if she could take on an extra hour in the mornings so our schedules would match up for a bit. I’d have a shift change shortly, but for now, it worked.

I glanced at Maddie when she didn’t answer and found her staring at her purse as if it were a snake poised to bite. The look had my muscles hardening to stone. “Mads?”

She jerked at my voice. “Yeah?”

“Something you forgot to tell me?”

She worried the corner of her lip again. “I’ve gotten a few anonymous texts. I have to assume they’re from Adam.”

I fought the urge to tug her tighter against me. As if I could stand between her and the damn cell phone still erupting with notifications. I exhaled slowly and released Maddie, striding over to her purse and tugging out the device. “You wanna give me the password?”

Her gaze locked with mine. “Zero, three, two, two.”

A zap of energy lanced through me, and I couldn’t look away. My birthday. I didn’t say a word. Instead, I tapped the numbers into her phone. It instantly unlocked, and I selected the text message icon.

There were only two senders. One was Grae, asking Maddie out for brunch tomorrow, and the other was from an unknown sender. I clicked on that one.

My gaze slid over message after message.

Unknown Caller

You think you can block me?

Unknown Caller

I made you who you are. You think you can ignore me?

Unknown Caller

No one will ever love you like I love you.

I locked the phone screen. I didn’t want to read anything else in front of Maddie. I wouldn’t be able to hide my reaction, and the last thing I wanted was to expose her to my rage.

I struggled to keep my breathing under control. “How many of these have you gotten?”

Maddie shuffled her feet. “More than one…”

My back teeth ground together. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

She leaned back against the counter. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because we’ve had a few other things going on?”

“This kind of thing is important. It shows escalation. We need to get you a new number and that order of protection in place.”

Maddie straightened. “I’ll get a new number, but I’m not getting a restraining order against Adam. You’re the one who said cutting off all contact was best. Any attention is good attention, right?”

My fingers curled tighter around the phone. I wanted to argue and plead my case in a million different ways. But I couldn’t. Maddie needed control now more than ever. She had to make her own decisions and not have me trying to take over.

I swallowed down the need to protect her with everything in my arsenal. “Okay.”

Maddie’s brows flew up. “Okay?”

“I respect your decision, even if I don’t agree with it.”

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