He studies me for a second. “Huh… I can’t believe I never thought of that before.”
“So, I only did like two semesters in college before I dropped out but I was super interested in psychology and took a class on it where we learned that when people are too close to a problem, like you are, it’s like being in the middle of a thick forest. You can see what’s right in front of you but you can’t see very far into the distance or anticipate what is up ahead.”
His scowl is etched into his face as he crosses his arms over his chest and I can practically see the wheels in his head turning. “I need to step back, then?”
“Or just get an outside perspective,” I reply, motioning to myself and he laughs, staring at me for a second before he nods.
“Okay, I’ll give it a shot.”
I smile. “For now, just give me the CliffsNotes.”
“Has your brother told you anything? Or Tate?” he asks and I shake my head, my mind drifting back to the party last night. They mentioned talking to me about it later but I don’t know if they meant it or if they were just stalling in the hope that I would forget about it. If that’s the case, I’m sure they think they’re protecting me by not telling me but I fully believe what I said to Travis. There is no way I could possibly make the right decisions and keep myself safe without knowing the facts. He sighs. “Right, okay… For the last two or so years, someone has been targeting the club but at first, we didn’t know anything was going on…”
“What do you mean?”
He runs a hand through his hair. “Well, in the work we do, sometimes the women we rescue go back to their abusers so when the first girl was killed, that’s what we thought happened.”
“Oh,” I whisper, staring at him with wide eyes. When people kept mentioning this threat, never in my wildest dreams did I think that people had died and that things were this serious. Now it makes perfect sense why Lincoln wanted me at the clubhouse instead of at his cabin.
“I’m sorry,” he says, reaching across the table and grabbing my hand. “You said you wanted to know.”
I nod. “I do… I just never…”
“It’s bad, Rowan. Really, really bad and that’s why we’re all so fucking stressed and at each other’s throats.”
Squeezing his hand, I nod. “Keep going.”
“The first girl that was killed, her name was Dina and we all assumed her piece of shit ex had been the one to kill her.”
I nod. It makes sense with the work the club does and it probably would have been my first assumption as well. “So what changed?”
“For a long time, nothing. We lost another girl but the case was so different that we didn’t even connect them until later and then we lost someone that made us all wake up.”
“In what way?” I ask, my food abandoned as I soak up every word he says.
“The man we rescued her from was dead so he couldn’t have come back to kill her and when someone found her, our business card was right on top of her body like someone placed it there.”
I blink as my mind races. “Jesus.”
“Yeah,” he breathes with a nod. “And then just a few weeks ago, this girl walked into the club. The thing was, though, it was a girl that had been missing for close to a year and we had been investigating her case.”
“I’m guessing it wasn’t a coincidence, then.”
He shakes his head. “The man who had abducted her dropped her off at our front door and he had a message for us.”
“What was the message?” My heart is pounding in my chest and I am hanging on his every damn word, somewhere between fascinated and terrified.
“I am just getting started…”
Christ.
I pull my hand from his and we both fall back into our seats as silence descends over our table and my mind races. Travis is right, this is so much bigger than anything I ever imagined and just thinking about the planning and patience it must have taken this person to put all of this together is astounding. Shaking my head, I meet his eyes across the table.
“Do you know anything else?”
He shakes his head. “Nothing concrete. That’s why we were going to talk to Tawny today.”
“Right,” I whisper. God, that feels like it was days ago and we literally just left her apartment. “So did she tell you anything that you didn’t already know?”
“Yes and no… She gave me a name which is something but that doesn’t mean I’ll find any information on him and she said the thing about how angry he was but that’s one of the things that doesn’t really help my investigation.”
Sighing, I nod. “True, but I guess it’s good to know who you’re dealing with because there is a difference between someone who is in control of their rage and someone who isn’t.”
“And what would that be?”
“Someone who isn’t in control of their anger makes mistakes.”
He nods, turning to look out of the large window next to our table as he sighs, stress lining his face, and my heart breaks for him. “Then I’d say this guy is very much in control of his rage.”
I want to tell him it’s going to be okay but I don’t know that it will and there is no part of me that wants to lie to him so instead, I turn back to my food and take a bite of pancakes. It’s tasteless now and my mind can’t stop going over everything he told me. Maybe I should have stayed in Alaska. It would have been lonely but at least I’d be safe. Then again, I’m glad I’m here with my brother… even if we’re technically in the trenches right now.
“You regretting that move from Alaska right about now?” Travis asks and my head whips up, my gaze meeting his as I shake my head.
“How in the hell do you do that?”
He arches a brow. “Do what?”
“Read my fucking mind,” I answer, pushing the food around on my plate aimlessly with my fork and he laughs.
“Well, in this particular instance, it was all over your face.”
I sigh. “Oh… well, just so you know, I’m not sure if I regret it yet. I love Alaska and it’s where I grew up but it was quickly becoming hell so in that sense, I’m happy to be here.”
“What made you leave?”
“What didn’t?” I shoot back with a dry laugh as tears sting my eyes. God, how is it that even just the mention of my home state can bring back all of the awful memories I’ve been trying so hard to forget since I got here? “My mom died a month ago and I didn’t have any family left there…”
“So you came to Baton Rouge for Kodiak?”
I shake my head. “No, I came for me. I needed something… different and new. Plus, after I walked in on my ex-boyfriend banging this girl I worked with, there was nothing keeping me there.”
“Shit,” he mutters, making a face of pity and I shake my head.
“No, it’s okay. I wasn’t actually that hurt by it all which means it was past time to end things anyway. I was just pissed and embarrassed and the fact that he did all that while I was dealing with my mom’s death was a kick in the teeth.”
“Yeah, that’s fucked up,” he agrees with a nod and I shrug.