Intercepting Love (Second Chances #5)(20)

“Does it involve someone named Scott?”

The line went quiet.

“Lara? Are you there?”

Nervously, she cleared her throat. “Yeah, I’m here. What did she tell you?”

“She just said she was sorry. Over and over she kept saying his name and that she was sorry. She also said that they blamed her. Who are they?”

Lara sighed and blew out a nervous breath. “Okay, I’ll tell you what’s going on, but I’m not giving you all of the details. Kate would kill me if I told you. Two years ago yesterday she found her boyfriend dead in his bed. He’d overdosed on pain pills. Needless to say, his family blames her and they won’t leave her alone about it. Every year on the anniversary they come around and do something to her so she’s reminded that he’s dead. I have a feeling they called her and that’s why her phone was shattered.”

“Why doesn’t she change her number?”

“She has, but they always find it somehow. I wish I knew of a way to help her.”

We might not have a way to help her, but unfortunately, we both knew of someone who could. I never thought there would come a day when I wanted advice from the man who stole Claire from me, but I guess there always came a first time for something.

“I’m going to call Mason,” I told her.

Lara gasped, “What? Why?”

“Lara, you know what he’s capable of. As much as I don’t like the guy, I can’t deny that he used to be one of the best undercover detectives out there. He’ll be able to find these people and put a stop to whatever they’re doing to Kate. If he can’t do it then I’m sure he has connections here to people who can.”

“Okay, fine, but don’t you dare tell Kate I told you anything. She worries too much and I don’t want her drinking like she did last night ever again. She only does it once a year on the anniversary of Scott’s death and that’s more than enough.”

As soon as Lara and I hung up, I finished the coffee for Kate. It was four in the morning in California, so I knew I needed to wait a few hours before I called. She may not want my help, but by lunch time I was going to have a plan in motion. Since she was still asleep in her bed, I wrote a note to tell her that if she wanted to see me later to give me a call. It was closing in on seven-fifteen and I needed to leave so I could make it to practice on time; there were penalties if we were late.

After shutting her front door, the moment I turned around, Luke Collins pulled up in the driveway. When his gaze found mine, he snarled and jumped out of his truck.

“What the f*ck are you doing here?” he growled, slamming the door to his metallic blue Ford Raptor.

“I could say the same to you,” I replied coolly, ambling over to my car. He eyed me up and down, and I knew he didn’t like what he saw. I wore the same clothes from last night and they were wrinkled. All night I was in the bed with Kate, but it wasn’t what he thought.

“Lara told me she was taking her home and that Kate didn’t want to be bothered. Why would she lie to me for you?” When all I did was shrug in reply, it pissed him off even more. “You told her to, didn’t you? You told her to lie to me. So help me if I find out you took advantage of Kate while she was drunk I’ll kill—”

“Relax,” I snapped, cutting him off. “I would never do that to her, and I sure as hell didn’t get Lara to lie to you … that was her own doing. Why don’t you just shut the f*ck up and make yourself useful. I made Kate some coffee, but she was still asleep when I came out here. Also, she’s probably going to need something for a headache, too.”

Luke glared at me for another second before rushing to the front door. I was worried about Kate. I wanted to do anything and everything I could to help her, even if that meant calling my number one enemy and getting his help.

I would do it for her.





My mouth was dry and tasted absolutely horrible. It might’ve been because I remembered vomiting in the middle of the night and not brushing my teeth. How could I have been so stupid to drink as much as I did … and in front of people? I wasn’t worried about what Luke thought of me because he already knew me, but Cooper probably thought I was a lush.

“Why am I so stupid?” I groaned out loud.

A masculine laugh belted out from the doorway, making me jump. “Well, good morning to you too, sweetheart. Also, just so you know, you’re not stupid. You just happened to get a little too wasted last night.”

My eyes burst open and I shot up in the bed, my head pounding with the sudden movement. “Ow,” I cried, putting a hand to my forehead. “That doesn’t feel too good.”

Luke sat down beside me on the bed, handing me a couple of pills and a glass of water. “I would say not,” he teased. “Especially after the night you had last night. Why the hell did you drink so much?”

Putting the pills in my mouth, I drank them down with the water and laid back on my pillow. “You know why, Luke. August is a bad month for me.”

“Yeah, I kind of thought that might’ve been why, but I didn’t know for sure. I guess I thought you would’ve moved on by now,” he uttered sadly.

He didn’t understand.

Lowering my gaze, I blew out a frustrated breath. “I wish I could, but it’s hard when Scott’s family calls to harass me about it every damn year. Last night, before I passed out in the bathroom, Scott’s sister called my phone. When I saw that it was her I threw my phone against the wall and broke down. I don’t remember much after that.”