Page 21 of Breakout (Walker University #3)

She starts walking toward the door and calls over her shoulder, “Remember what I said, cousin, walk away now, or face an early grave like your parents.”

As soon as the door slams shut, Jeeves spins toward us.

“I am so, so sorry. I had no idea that she had a key. She shouldn’t have one. I don’t know how it happened,” Jeeves rambles. “She bypassed the security system at the gate too. Mr. Anderson was concerned about this when some items had gone missing.”

“It’s not your fault,” Peyton mumbles.

“Are you okay?” I ask as I rub her arms.

She shakes her head slowly. “No, not really. That was…”

“Insane?” I offer.

“Yeah, let’s go with that,” she huffs.

I look over at Jeeves. “How do we prevent that from happening again?”

“I’ll get the security system changed out today.” He runs his hand through his hair. “I must apologize, now that I’m thinking about it, I never changed the code to the front gate after your grandfather passed. When she had the code, she didn’t need to buzz in.”

“It’s not your fault, Jeeves. Really, I’m not mad at you,” Peyton tells him.

“Accidents happen. We just need to try and prevent them from happening again,” I add.

Jeeves offers us a weak smile. “That’s kind of you to say. I’m going to go place that order now. Let me know if you need anything else.”

I wait for him to walk out of the room before I pull Peyton into my arms. Instantly she wraps hers around my waist and buries her face into my shirt.

“Are you okay?” I ask again now that we are alone.

“She threatened to kill me. That had to have been all talk, right?”

“I fucking hope so, but I don’t think we should take any chances.”

“Do you think Jeeves really called the cops?”

“I don’t think he’s the type to lie about that.”

She pulls back slightly and rests her chin on my chest. “I don’t know. I hate the idea of her getting in trouble with the cops if she was just talking out of her ass.”

“Peyton, I think we should take her seriously.”

“Yeah, but…”

I cut her off. “No, at the very least we need to tell Mr. Piper. I’m not willing to risk your life on the chance that she was just talking shit.”

Peyton sighs. “You’re right.”

“Can you repeat that?”

She rolls her pretty hazel eyes. “You know, you could have taken her money and been done with all of this bullshit.”

“Yeah, I could have, but I’m not with you for your money. Shit, I have my own. I’m with you for you, and that’s not something she can buy.”

A look I can’t quite name dashes across her face. “You’re a pretty good husband.”

“I’m trying to be for you. Now I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get the hell out of here. I know we were just starting to peel back the curtain on this place, but I could use a break, and I’d rather not be here when she knows we are.”

“You’re right. Still, I think we should change the locks too.”

“We can go grab some and come back. We can stop by and let Mr. Piper know what happened too. Let’s check with Jeeves first to make sure he doesn’t need anything from us,” I tell her as I reluctantly pull away.

We head toward the kitchen, and as soon as we step inside, Jeeves looks up. “The security people will be here within the hour. I also asked them to bring new locks for all the exterior doors.”

“Are you sure? We would have run out and got them,” I tell him.

Jeeves shakes his head. “It’s no issue, and I’ll keep you updated.”

“Awesome, thank you. I appreciate you doing that,” she tells him.

“We need to head back to campus. Do you need anything from us?” I say.

Peyton frowns. “Yeah, how much do I owe you for the security stuff?”

Jeeves shakes his head. “I have a card that all things related to the house go on. Your grandfather set up an account just to maintain this place, so don’t worry about it. That’s also where my pay comes out of as well.”

Peyton relaxes. “Oh good.”

“I’m assuming Mr. Piper oversees that?” I ask.

Jeeves nods. “He does.”

“Good. We are going to talk with Mr. Piper to see if there is anything else we can do to prevent this from happening. Are you sure you don’t want us to run out and grab locks? We can come back and change them.”

“I have it under control, sir.”

I shake my head. “Okay, if you don’t mind keeping us updated. You have a pen and paper to write down our numbers?”

He pulls out a small notepad and pen, handing it to me. I write our numbers down before giving it back.

“Give us a call if anything happens.”

“Of course, it would be my pleasure.”

“Oh, do we need to wait for the cops?” Peyton asks suddenly.

“No, ma’am. I’ll handle that.”

She nods, heading toward the door. I follow her out.

“Will Ms. Anderson be okay?” Jeeves asks quietly.

It bothers me that he doesn’t add the Hayes, but I don’t say anything.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of her.”

I close the door behind me, following Peyton to my car. When we get into the car, we both fall silent.

“Hey, Beck,” Peyton says as I pull onto the road.

“Yeah?”

“I just want you to know that I really lucked out when I married you, and I can’t imagine having a better husband than you,” she says softly.

You’re not the lucky one, I am.

“Thank you for saying that. I’m pretty lucky too. Now come on, let’s head into town.”