Page 66 of Sheltered

I loved her. I loved her so much, the thought of not being with her made it difficult to breathe.

“Uh, did I say something wrong?” Forrest asked, interrupting my thoughts.

I shook my head. “No. No, it’s just that I’m realizing how important Harlow is to me, and if something bad comes her way because of this, I’ll never forgive myself.”

Forrest offered a nod of understanding. “Well, I think we’re all feeling that, even if it seems as though the guys like you, Royce, Nixon, and Leo have more of a reason for it right now. To that end, especially after what you did to help me with Daisy’s situation, whatever I can do to help, you just have to say the word.”

Maybe it was best to take him up on his offer. At this point, the more eyes on this case, the better. “Are you busy now? I can show you what I’ve got so far.”

“Lay it on me,” he returned.

And with that, I had to pull myself away from the lightheartedness I felt in texting with Harlow, because I had a job to do. Something happening to her wasn’t an option, so the fun would have to wait.

The woman I loved was a potential target.

It wasn’t in me to sit back and do nothing.

“Alright, well, we’re working with the mindset that whoever has this grudge against us has to be someone from a relatively recent case. It just doesn’t make sense that someone from five or ten years ago would suddenly have an interest in doing something like this,” I shared.

“That’s a reasonable assumption,” he returned. “How far back are you looking?”

“For now, I’m not considering cases more than two or three years old. In addition, I’m narrowing the list by looking at cases where multiple individuals were involved. We’ve already had numerous accounts of incidences involving more than one culprit, so we can reasonably assume this isn’t just a single person,” I explained.

Nodding, Forrest asked, “What ones have you come up with so far?”

“Well, I haven’t gotten through everything just yet, because there’s certainly plenty to go through, but one of the most recent ones is the case that impacted Banks and Lamise,” I started. “There was a massive drug ring there, and it’s likely that not everyone involved was apprehended. Of course, on the topic of drug rings, there’s the case Royce worked on years ago when Tarryn decided to try to take down the guy who was responsible for distributing the drugs used by the guy who violated her sister.”

“That guy was arrested and charged, though, wasn’t he?”

I nodded. “Yeah, he was. Along with several other members of his operation. But there are still some people lower down on the totem pole I’d imagine who might not be profiting like they used to and could be upset about it.”

Forrest considered those words before he said, “So, still a possibility, but less likely, since it’s been so long. Anyone else?”

“There’re the people from out of state that were responsible for going after Sawyer, but I don’t think it’s them, because they’d have to have resources to watch us consistently. Ellery’s ex-husband had a massive operation, and while a lot of those men were apprehended, I don’t think it’s possible that everyone was taken down. That man has the resources to pull off something like this, too. He had the kind of power that means he could be pulling strings from inside a prison cell. But we also have to consider the exotic car ring Jax was responsible for taking down, or even Maren’s former best friend and the people she had working with her who could be guilty.”

Forrest sat back and sighed. “Well, if nothing else, you’ve already come up with a lot to sort through. Let me know where you’d like me to start, and I’ll try to help rule some of these out.”

With his offer to help, I slid a couple of files across my desk toward him, and the two of us got to work.

For the remainder of the day, I spent my time focusing all my effort on the work in front of me. But when the day was done, and it was time to leave, my mind went right back to Harlow.

Best of all, the minute I got in my truck to head home, it hit me.

I pulled out my phone, went to our text conversation, and sent one to her.

Blaze

A seatbelt.

Feeling proud of myself, I set my phone down, pulled out of the parking lot, and made my way home. By the time I got there, I wasn’t surprised to see Harlow had replied.

Harlow

You can’t be real! I thought that one was going to stump you!

A smile spread across my face. She might have seemed angry, but I knew she loved this little challenge. It made things fun for us.

I desperately wanted to respond and tell her something else, something far more important, but I didn’t.