Page 71 of Beneath The Truth
A shiver ripped through me as I wrapped myself in my towel and ran for thehouse.
Who the hell was that guy?Carlos wouldn’t have sent someone, would he?How did he get in without setting off the security?Where wasCarver?
The voice echoed in my head.“He can get to you.Hesays when you’re done.Notyou.”
I swallowed the bile rising in my throat as I threw open the sliding glass door and locked it behind me.Once inside, I forced myself to thinkrationally.
This wasCarlos.The nice guy who liked to go out for dinner when our schedules meshed and was my on-again, off-again boyfriend who clearly didn’t limit himself to being exclusive.He wasn’t a crazy psycho with possessive tendencies.He justwasn’t.
My brain, logical to a fault more often than not, couldn’t connect this type of behavior to the man I knew.This was stalker-crazy, and I was too smart to ever get involved with a guy like that.Wasn’tI?
I leaned back against the door, my first instinct to run to Carver and tell him what had happened, but somethingstoppedme.
I’m capable.I can handle this.Carlos isn’tcrazy.
I picked up my phone and stared at the text for another second.Part of my mind told me not to engage, but the other part wanted this done and over with, without anyone else having to know what kind of man I might have gotten myself involved with.It was one thing when a security threat came from some rogue ex-employee, but this was a guy I’d dated.I’d slept with.I’d sharedthingswith.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I punched inatext.
Ariel:We’redone.
His reply wasinstant.
Unknown Number:We will discuss your temper tantrum and poor decision-making when you return to California today.The date on your ticket has been changed.Don’t make me come collect youmyself.
What.The.Hell.
I flipped open my email and, sure enough, there was a new first-class return ticket leaving New Orleans in a fewhours.
Ariel:Don’t contact me again.I’ll be calling the police to report the person who broke in and threatened me, along with screenshots of thesetexts.
The unknown numberpopped up on the screen as my phone came to life withacall.
I hitIgnoreand pulled up the security screen to block this number as well.My hand shook, knowing it would only be a temporarymeasure.
Now I had todecide—
Another text popped up.It was from a different unknown number, and chills racked my body at how quickly he could skirt mysecurity.
Unknown Number:If you tell anyone about my visit today, I’ll make sure they die.Think carefully, because I always followthrough.
This wasn’t Carlos.This was ...This was the guy who wasjusthere.
Icy fear, completely at odds with the bead of sweat rolling down my face, locked me inplace.
Think logically, Ari.They want you to be afraid.They want to use your fear to control you.You can’t give in to emotional and psychological terrorism.They can’thurtyou.
But they couldhurtme.
That man had stood not two feet away from me while I was completely unaware, not tripping any security measures, otherwise Carver would have been on him.He could have killed me instead of delivering awarning.
What doIdo?
I’d never run to my brother for help.That wasn’t my MO.But I knew the right answer was to get a larger security team in place and tell Carver, Rhett, and Heath whathappened.
But what if his threat is real?What if telling them puts them in danger?I couldn’t livewiththat.
Rhett’s parents’ houseexplodedlast week, for Christ’s sake, which was all the proof I needed to know that life was unpredictably terrifyingsometimes.
