Anonymous(26)

“So, it is him,” I state.

Terry nods. “It’s a possibility, but we don’t know for sure. At this point, he is most definitely our top suspect. Although, there are a ton of men around this city with the same size foot and same truck as Snyder. I tried tracing the phone numbers to him, but came up blank.”

“Bryan texted her last night,” Jake adds.

Both men focus on me. “What did the messages say?” Terry asks.

I show him the messages.

He shakes his head. “Out of all the years I’ve known Bryan, I never would’ve believed he could do something like this.” Charles looks at the messages and shakes his head in disgust.

I look at both officers. “What do we do now?”

Charles is the one who speaks up. “We can always put you two in protective custody, until Snyder’s found.”

“Fuck that,” Jake growls. “I’m not hiding from that cocksucker.”

It’s exactly what I knew he’d say. Terry doesn’t look surprised. “We can always put your wife in protective custody.”

Jake looks to me, but I shake my head. “I’m not leaving my husband. We’re going to get an alarm system at the house and work from home for a while. Hopefully, Bryan will be found soon.”

Terry shakes my hand. “We’ll keep you updated on everything we find. Right now, we have men searching for Snyder, so we can bring him in for questioning.”

When they walk out, Owen stops them in the hall. Once they’re done, he hurries into the room and goes straight over to Jake. “Look who finally woke up,” he teases.

Jake snorts. “I’ll trade places with you.”

Owen chuckles. “Not interested, buddy. So, I hear they found footprints at the scene. Hopefully, they can find his sorry ass sooner than later.”

“They mentioned having us go into protective custody,” I say.

Jake cuts in. “But I turned it down.”

“What about your wife?” Owen replies, brows furrowed with concern. He looks over at me and then back to Jake. “Bryan wants you dead and Ells for his own. Do you really think her staying in town keeps her safe?”

“I’ll be fine. You both need to stop talking about me as if I’m a porcelain doll that’ll break the second she falls. I know how to take care of myself.”

Both look at me, and Jake nods, trying his best to hide his fears. “She’s right. She can take care of herself. But,” he reaches for my hand, “if things get too crazy, I want you to get as far away as you can.”

I shake my head. “Jake . . .”

He squeezes my hand. “Promise me, Ellie. If things get bad, I need you to be safe. When it’s all over, we’ll see each other again.”

Tears fill my eyes. “I promise.” I look over at Owen. “In the meantime, I need your help. We need to get an alarm system put in.”

Owen nods once. “On it. It’ll be done today.”





Twelve





Ellie





Jake’s way past ready to leave when we finally get the discharge papers. All in all, he’s only had to stay in the hospital for two days. His boss wants him to take off a couple of weeks from work, and we’re hoping it’s enough time for the police to find Bryan. The time off from work helps me because we still have to find a house in Arizona.

We pull into our driveway, and Owen is there waiting for us, along with Jake’s parents. On our front doorstep are three huge boxes, no doubt filled with groceries, just like Randy had promised. I’ve never known an employer to care so much. Then again, I would do the same thing for Vikki.

Owen opens Jake’s door, but Jake gets out without assistance, as if he’s perfectly fine. Pride is one of the virtues he takes all too seriously. He likes to be the one giving help, not receiving it.

Jake’s mother rushes over and puts her arm around his waist, walking him inside. They’re followed by his father. Owen shakes his head, trying to hide his smile. “No wonder Jake’s happy they live in Florida. She treats him like he’s five.”

I shrug. “It is annoying because she makes comments on how nobody could ever take care of him like she can, but then I remind myself . . . it’s her only son. I don’t know how I’m going to feel when I have a child of my own.”

“Not like that, I’m sure of it.” He nods toward the garage door that leads into the kitchen. “I’ll grab the boxes off the front porch and then I’ll show you how to work the alarm system.”

We go inside, and Jake is in the living room with his parents. I can see the annoyance on his face, but he humors his mother and lets her get him a bottle of water. She likes to feel needed.

Owen sets the boxes down on the counter and points at the small box on the wall beside the kitchen door. “It’s pretty simple. Right now, the code is 1234. Just think up a different four-digit code and replace it. All you have to do is type it in and press pound.”

Lips pursed, I close my eyes. “Let’s see.” So many numbers run through my mind, but I pick the first four numbers I think of. “I got it.” Owen looks away while I plug in the digits. “Bryan knows a lot about me. I can’t use my birthdate because he’ll know it. The numbers I picked are random so there’s no way he’ll guess it.”