“Detective James, you remember my wife, Ellery.”
“Yes, I do. It’s nice to see you again.”
Ellery gave a small smile as she nodded her head. I sat down beside her and held her hand.
“Your husband has filled me in on what’s going on. Can I see the messages you received today?”
Ellery reached over, took her phone from the table, and handed it to him. As Detective James scrolled through the messages, I got up, walked into the kitchen, and grabbed the card that came with the flowers.
“He sent her three dozen roses with this card attached,” I said as I handed it to him.
“Have you met anyone new recently?” he asked.
“I meet people every day, detective.”
“What about the showing at the art gallery?” Paul said as he looked at Ellery.
“I met and talked to a lot of people there.”
“Did you notice anyone as being odd or felt like something was off with someone?” Detective James asked.
“No. Not that I can remember,” Ellery replied.
“I’m going to take a screenshot of these messages. You didn’t change your number already, did you?”
“No, I was going to do that first thing tomorrow morning,” I said.
“Well, don’t. We need to see how far this person will go. It could just be a couple of messages and then he’s done with it. Unfortunately, we can’t do anything unless he threatens her in some way.”
Julia started getting fussy, so Ellery picked her up. She said she was taking her upstairs to change her diaper. As soon as she was out of earshot, I looked at Detective James and said sternly, “I will use every resource I have to find out who’s doing this. I will not stand by and wait until he harms Ellery or Julia. I don’t give a shit about the law and I’ll warn you now, if I catch him first, I’ll kill him.”
“Connor, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Detective James said. “My men and I will be on this. After all, you’re paying us very well,” he said as he got up from the chair. “I’ll start first thing in the morning, and I’ll try to find out where those flowers came from.”
“Thank you, Detective James,” I said as I shook his hand.
“No problem, Connor. We’ll find this son of a bitch. Try not to worry.”
As I shut the door, Ellery walked into the room with Julia. “Did Detective James leave?” she asked.
“Yes, baby, he did,” I replied as I walked over to her and gave her a kiss and took Julia.
“What do you want me to do, Connor?” Paul asked.
“Find me a bodyguard for Ellery and Julia. I’ll need two of them. One to go out with Ellery and one for Mason. I want you to get our tech guys on these messages and find out what number they’re coming from, and I want to know where the flowers came from. I’m not going into the office tomorrow, so report back here.”
“I’ll get on it right away,” Paul said. He walked over to Ellery and gave her a hug. “Don’t worry about this; we’ll keep you safe.”
“Thanks, Paul. I appreciate it.” She smiled.
Paul walked out the door, and Ellery wrapped her arms around my waist. “Do you really think it’s necessary to hire a bodyguard?” she asked.
“Yes, I do. I’m not taking any chances, and I can’t be with you twenty-four-seven.”
“I wish you could be,” she said as she kissed my lips.
“I do too, baby. I do too.”
***
Ellery tossed and turned all night. I tried to keep her still by holding her, but she was so restless that she would wiggle her way out of my grip. When I got out of the shower, Ellery was sitting up in bed with her phone in her hand.
“What’s wrong? Did you get another text?” I asked.
She held out her phone to me, and I walked over and took it from her. Sure enough, there was another message.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you all night. I hope you were thinking about me.”
I threw the phone on the bed and ran my hands through my hair. Reading those words that were being said to my wife fueled my anger even more. I took in a deep breath as I walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans.
“I’m not letting that bastard run my life, Connor.”
I turned around and looked at her. “What do you mean by that?”
“I can’t live in fear and I won’t. I’m stronger than that, and I won’t let some obsessive sick fuck control my life.”
I walked over to the bed, sat down, and put my arm her. “Ellery, I’m sorry this is happening, but you’ll be protected at all times. You’re not allowed to leave this penthouse or building without security.”
“So you were really serious about having someone follow me around?”
“Not following you around, sweetheart; protecting you,” I said as I kissed the side of her head. “Now go and get dressed. We have to go visit Denny.”
When we heard Mason downstairs, Ellery threw on some clothes, and we walked into the kitchen, where he was dancing with Julia.