Page 106 of See You Again
She trailed off, and he knew he’d failed to hide his fury. “A smudge? Like some pervert was peeking in your windows?”
“Nothing happened to Madison, so I thought it might be neighborhood kids. A couple weeks ago, my neighbor said there was a delivery man here at my door. She thought he was trying the handle. I told her it was probably just a bottle of wine my father sometimes sends on holidays, but the delivery driver never came back.”
“And now they’ve been inside the house.”
She nodded miserably. “Should we call the police?”
James rubbed a hand over his mouth wanting to howl with frustrated anger. "I don't know what they can do. No sign of forced entry.”
“Just like the accident,” she muttered.
Blood pounded in his ears. “What accident?”
Cami blanched. “My car. A truck ran me off the road last Saturday night. The police said it was just reckless driving but… It felt deliberate.”
Fury raced through his veins, fuzzing his vision as he clenched and unclenched his fists. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“What would I say? I told you I had an accident.”
“You said you had a minor fender-bender,” he seethed. “Not that someone tried to kill you!”
Her pupils dilated. “We don’t know that’s what it was.”
“Tig! You can’t seriously be this stubborn.” He threw his hands in the air. “You know exactly why you didn’t say anything. You’re so determined to pretend everything is okay and under control that you’re being reckless.” His chest heaved. She’d been in danger and he hadn’t known. Hadn’t protected her.
Cami blew out a shaky breath, and James saw that under her confident façade she was frightened.
“I’m going to call someone I know and make sure the local police department is doing routine patrols in your neighborhood.”
“That will make Angela happy.”
“Who?” He blinked at her.
Cami barely registered his question. “What do they want? Nothing except the flowers and comments online have been a direct threat. The other things could be unrelated.”
“Someone wants you to stop investigating. One way or another.” His voice was flat, hiding the crippling fear that consumed him at the thought of something happening to her.
“But if that’s what they want, wouldn’t they make the threat more obvious? Particularly if it’s Amy’s killer, wouldn’t he just…”
James crossed the room in two strides and yanked her into his arms, anything to stop her dispassionate voice.
Cami reached up a palm to stroke his shirt over where his heart jackhammered. “They could just be coincidences, and the others just a prank by a fan.”
She could be right, even though every instinct he had screamed she was wrong. He counted his breaths as he rested his chin on the top of her head. “Nothing is going to happen to you.”
Which one of them was he trying to reassure?
Cami craned her neck back to look him in the face. “I know.” She tried to smile and failed. “You won’t let it.”
The trust in her eyes took his breath away.
She was right. James may not fully understand what was going on between them, or where they stood after Justin’s revelation. But one thing he knew with certainty. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep her safe.
He stroked his hand down her glossy hair, breathing in her citrus scent.
“Besides, someone took a file folder. It’s not like there was a horse's head in my bed.”
James knew her well enough to know that she was trying to lighten the mood. If that was what she needed, he would play along, but he was already putting a plan together in his mind. Much as he hated letting her go, he stepped back.