Page 121 of Reaper
I don’t want any of them to get hurt because of this asshole. Doc hesitates but then puts his pocketknife in Smithy’s hand. My feet are frozen in place. Someone gently takes hold of my shoulders and forces me to step back. My gaze stays glued on Smithy as I try to steady my shaky hands, though I don’t think I’m successful since someone takes the phone out of my hands a moment later.
Smithy carefully cuts the tape and we all breathe a collective sigh of relief when nothing happens. He slowly opens the flaps of the box and my chest tightens at how pissed he looks. He lifts his head and his gaze immediately locks with mine. He gesturesfor the phone and I realize then that it was Devil that had taken it out of my hands. Even though he doesn’t say anything to me, I also step forward with Devil and walk up the steps.
Looking into the box, I gasp as I cover my mouth.
Inside the box are a bunch of what look like black rose petals, a naked Barbiedoll that has my picture taped over her face, and below the doll are pictures of Reaper and me.
“Smithy, take that inside and get everyone out of the cold. Spread out everything on the counter but use gloves. We’ll need prints done on everything,”Reaper says, his voice hard and cold.“Give the phone back to Lark.”
Devil hands me the phone and I switch it back to selfie mode. I swallow hard and somehow manage to find my voice.“S-Should we set up the laptop or do you want us to continue using the phone for this next part?”
Reaper’s face softens, though I can still see the muscles ticking in his jaw.“Have one of the guys set up a laptop. Are you sure you want to see this, Darlin’?”
I narrow my eyes at him.“Hell yes, I want to see this. I’m sick and fucking tired of this stalker messing with us. I need to know what he’s threatening me with so I’m not caught off guard. And even though I don’t know what all is on those pictures since some of them were covered, the guys all need to know as well so they know what we’re up against.”I pause, hesitating to say this next part, but then decide to just put it out there.“And Reaper, when we catch this fucker, he is going to pay for all this bullshit. Even more so if he’s behind these fires that have been popping up lately. I understand we might not get to do justice our way, especially if the stalker is the arsonist. But if we do get to do it our way, it’s going to be painful.”
Reaper grins darkly and I hear a feminine laugh from off screen.
“Knew you were a good egg, Lark!”Levi calls out and I can’t help my grin despite the dark cloud hovering over me.
“Thanks, Levi. Reaper, I’m going to hang up and one of the guys will call you on the laptop. Should they connect with Smoke or Python?”
Reaper looks around and after a moment nods before he looks back down at his phone.“Have them call Smoke. I’ll talk to you after this is all done, Darlin’.”
I give him a small smile.“Sounds good, Hercules.”
Ending the call, I take a deep breath and try to calm my nerves. Even though I said everyone could see the pictures, I’m still nervous about them since I haven’t seen them all yet. Fuck. He doesn’t have any nude pictures of me, does he? I shake that line of thought off. I won’t worry about that unless I have to.
Smithy picks up the box and after I unlock the door and shut off the alarm, we all pile into the house. I hang up my coat and head into the kitchen.
“Um guys, can I look at the pictures first before showing them to you all?” I ask hesitantly. Each of the guys’ faces soften, but I can tell they are all clenching their jaws when they catch the unspoken meaning behind my question.
Doc reaches into his bag and holds out some gloves. “Put these on first though, Lark. Then you can handle them. If there are any pictures you want to be looked at discretely, just face them face down on the counter for now.”
Shakily, I take the gloves and slip them on. All the guys except for Cannon take a few steps back to give me some space.
“Give me just a moment, Lark, to get the call hooked up and then you can start going through the contents,” he says.
“Good idea,” I mumble as I wait for the video call to connect.
When it connects, I can see most of the Forest Creek members as well as the guys from our club. Reaper’s sitting right smack dab in the center, and I bet that was on purpose.
“Okay, here it goes,” I say as I turn and look at the box.
I push the black petals that were scattered on top of everything off to the side and pull out the doll, shivering at seeing my face taped on it and my stomach knots when I notice something else that must have been covered by a rose petal.
“Fuck, he’s taped a picture of a baby to my stomach as well.”
I turn the doll so that they can see it. Reaper’s hands fist and I hate that we’re separated for this.
Setting the doll on the counter, I pick up the pictures. One by one I go through them, and breathe a sigh of relief that none of them are nudes. Looking up, I tilt my head toward Devil.
“Devil, can you take pictures of these in groups and send them to the guys? I’ll show them one by one as well, but it might be easier if they can flip between pictures themselves if need be.”
One by one, I show the pictures to everyone in Forest Creek before laying them down in groups of six on the counter. They’re of me working at the tavern and the supper club, of Reaper and I cuddled on the couch watching TV and reading books, of me walking to and from the house and the clubhouse, of Reaper and I kissing, and of me doing errands around town.
When I get to the bottom of the box, I pause.
“Hey guys, there’s a note in here, too,” I call out as I pick it up.
