Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 66978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
“I can see how this is upsetting to you, but I trust Leif Ramsey. I trust him with my own life. With the life of my wife and daughter. And I trust him with your life.”
“Isn’t it more important that I trust him?”
Nothing for a few seconds.
I know what’s going on. Reid is trying to compose himself. He won’t raise his voice at me. He never raises his voice at me, even though there are times when I know he wants to.
Even though there are times when he certainly has every right to.
“I understand your concern,” he finally says. “But Leif Ramsey is the best in the business. You will be safe on his watch, and as long as there are threats being made against you, I want the best keeping you safe.”
“You know exactly how you can keep me safe,” I say. “Get rid of Brindley.”
“As I’ve told you countless times, Brindley denies that she sent you any messages. We have no evidence—”
“Me! I’m your evidence. I say it was her.”
Silence again.
Reid’s composing himself again.
Finally, “Kelly, someone is making threats to you. We’ve seen your texts. They’ve come from a burner phone, and Brindley denies sending them. We have watched her since these texts began, and we have never seen her go anywhere where she could purchase a burner phone. No burner phones have been delivered to her address.”
“So she called someone. Met them somewhere. Had them deliver a burner phone to her.”
“You’re not hearing me. We’ve had her watched.”
“Have you searched her place?”
He’s quiet.
“Just as I thought. You haven’t searched her place.”
“She has a right to privacy. We will not violate that.”
“For all you know, she could have a stash of burner phones in her apartment.”
A heavy sigh whooshes into my ear. “We are putting your protection as our top priority. That is why Leif Ramsey is here to protect you. That is why he has a key to your place. He will not violate your trust.”
“He already did. Today.”
“I’ll speak to him. Perhaps he jumped the gun a bit today, but his heart was in the right place. I can assure you of that.”
“His heart? Or some other part of his anatomy? He saw me naked!”
“I’m sorry about that. I’m sure he apologized.”
“What do you expect when you barge into a woman’s bathroom?”
“As I said, I will speak to him. And as I also said, I’m sure he apologized.”
I say nothing.
“Did he apologize, Kelly?”
“Yes,” I say through gritted teeth. “He apologized.”
“Ramsey is a good man. He probably feels terrible about this.”
“He should.”
“Of course he should. He didn’t want to violate your privacy any more than you wanted it violated. He was just concerned, Kelly. He was doing his job.”
“So you’re not going to change my locks?”
“I’m happy to change your locks, Kelly. But I will give Leif a key.”
“For God’s sake. Maybe I should just move out of here.” I scan the place. This was supposed to be my safe haven, the one place that only I had access to. Now, this untouched home is forever soiled.
“That is certainly your prerogative,” Reid says. “But you won’t have the kind of round-the-clock security you have at the current building. Plus, anywhere else you live, you’ll have to pay rent.”
“Maybe I can pay rent. For your information, I got a job today.”
“That’s wonderful. I’m very glad to hear that. What kind of job did you get?”
“I’ll be waiting tables at The Glass House. For the dinner seating.”
“The Glass House is a fine restaurant. You should do very well there. Congratulations.”
“So I won’t be in your hair much longer.”
Another few seconds of silence.
Yep, he’s composing himself.
“We don’t consider you in our hair, Kelly. We’re happy to provide for you. To try to make up, in some small way, for what our father put you through. We know we can’t erase those years. But we can at least see that you are safe and getting the help that you need.”
My instinct is to strike back. Strike first and strike hard.
But these people don’t mean me any harm. Funny. The first people in my life who don’t.
I don’t know any other way than to strike first and strike hard.
Saying thank you is so hard for me, but I have done it. Once or twice.
I open my mouth, will the words to come forth. “I know it doesn’t always seem like it, but I do appreciate what you do for me. For all of us.”
Silence for a few seconds. No doubt he’s stunned by the fact that I am actually grateful.
“I know that, Kelly,” he finally says. “And you should know that wherever you go, you will always have the support of the Wolfe family should you ever need it.”
“All right. Bye.” I end the call.
I draw in a breath, let it out slowly.