Page 130 of Make Us Yours
“Should we move out? Go stay somewhere else until he’s caught?” Ronnie asks next.
“No. Staying here is our best option.” Callahan shakes his head.
“You’re joking, right? You want us to just stay here and sit around until he shows his face again?” I gape at him, completely astounded by his decision.
“I understand you are all worried right now. But my guess is he won’t show his face again for a few weeks. If he’s smart, which unfortunately he is, he’ll lay low for a while in hopes that we give up our thorough search. You running will only make it harder for us to catch him.”
“He is right,” Julian starts. “We have it narrowed down now to where he can be; it will be easier to search for him this way, rather than starting off somewhere new. He may be smart, but his obsession with Veronica is what will get him caught.”
“And you guys acting as if his presence isn’t bothering you will only make him act out more, make him come out of hiding. He wants you afraid, he wants youto run. But once he sees that his plans aren’t working, he’ll make himself known, and that’s when we’ll be able to catch him.” Jason speaks for the first time since he entered the room. That man is so quiet, despite his huge form, it’s easy to forget he’s even here.
Ronnie chews on her lip, still not certain that staying is the best option for us.
“Look, Ronnie.” Jessie reaches over and places his hand on her knee. Noah and I both look at it with a frown. “I get that you don’t trust us for now, but I promise you, we’re the best at this. We’ll catch him, and we’ll keep you safe. Do you really want to keep running forever? Or would you rather stick this out a bit longer so that you can finally be free of him for good?”
“I want him gone… I don’t want to be scared anymore,” she admits in a quiet, broken voice.Fuck, I hate seeing her like this.
“Then trust me when I say this will work. We’ll get him, and he’ll never bother you again.” He smiles tenderly as she nods.
But the fucker still hasn’t removed his hand, so I pick it up, squeeze his wrist a little harder than necessary, and throw it back his way. All he does is chuckle and shake his head, going back to his computer.Asshole.
“We will be adding two more guards to your watch, and Jessie’s team will be keeping an eye on camera footage around the clock. So please, limit your late-night activities to the bedroom until this is all over,” Julian says, then pulls out his phone, tapping away on it once more, then placing it back inside his suit jacket’s inner pocket.
“Jess, can you head down with Agent Callahan and get to work on the new keycards as well as putting up a camera near the elevators in the garage and inside the cab? I want full coverage of the underground space, no blind spots.” Julian comes over just as Jessie stands and walks to the elevator with the agent.
He sits down in Jessie’s spot and pulls something up on the laptop screen before passing it over to Ronnie. “Veronica, I want you to go through all these pictures. Tell me if someone stands out that you recognize outside of here. Not because they work or live here, but because you have seen them in the past somewhere else.”
“Okay.” She leans in, going over every single image. There has to be at least two hundred of them, and I don’t recognize three-quarters of these people.
After about twenty minutes of her scrutinizing every picture, she sits back and shakes her head. “I don’t recognize any of these people outside of here. No one stands out. I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize, it was simply a quick search. We will keep looking into everyone’s past and any connections they may have to Mr. Cordova.” He closes thelaptop and stands, nodding to Marcos, Ricky, and Jason. “We will leave you all for the night, and I will be in touch if anything comes up.”
Jessie and Agent Callahan re-enter the penthouse at that moment. Jessie passes us each a new card as well as one to Marcos and Ricky. I’m not sure how he got new ones without our authorization at the security desk, but I’m guessing it’s part of the gray zone he was referring to earlier, and I won’t question it.
Although Julian assured us that there was no way of Victor getting another keycard and that even if he managed to get one from the front desk again, it wouldn’t work. Apparently, Jessie blocked the front desk’s access to creating any more active cards for the penthouse elevator.
He also added that Ricky or Marcos would be escorting any deliveries or anyone on the approval list up from now on, since they’re the only others to have a keycard aside from us three. Which also means that if we lose ours, we’ll need to contact the Storms directly for a new card.
Agent Callahan collects the note Victor had left, and they all climb back into the elevator. Just as Julian is about to step in as well, he turns to us. “Adler,” he calls out to Noah. “My condolences on your loss.”
Noah swallows and nods. “Thank you.”
He nods in return and leaves.
We all just stand in the foyer, unsure what to do now.
“Well, this was one hell of a day…” I mutter.
Ronnie comes into my side, hugging my waist. “I know it’s late, but I don’t think I can sleep right now… Can we still watch that movie you offered earlier?”
I kiss the top of her head. “Of course, baby. Anything you want.” I look over at Noah, who seems to have retreated back into his head. “You joining us?”
He works his jaw then shakes his head. I sigh and look down at Veronica, who seems sad once more that he’s pushing us away. He comes in and kisses her cheek, wishing her goodnight, and heads back to his room. She watches him go but doesn’t say anything.
Hating the look of rejection on her face, I grab her chin and turn her gaze back to mine. “Want me to make you something to eat? I can whip us up that blueberry salad that you loved.”
She smiles now.There’s my beautiful Vixen.“Please?”
