Page 97 of Guarding Grace

I shot him a smile. “Thank you.” That was probably the nicest thing anybody had said to me in a long time. “They’re my family.”

Opening up the phone, the message contained an image.

I expanded it. It was a picture of my neighbor, Millie. She looked scared. This had come from an unknown number.

Two more messages arrived. I read them, and my vision started to blur. Fear froze me. My hand went limp, and the phone fell to the floor.

Terry

I rushed overto Grace when she dropped the phone. “What is it?” I asked frantically as I held her up in case a fainting spell was next.

“Millie,” she sobbed as she pointed at the ground. “They have Mille.”

After settling Grace back on the sectional, I picked up her phone. My blood boiled with anger.

After two pictures of an older woman I assumed was Millie came the threatening texts.

UNKNOWN: How do you feel about your neighbor?

UNKNOWN: Give me your cousin or she pays the price.

“Who is she?” I demanded.

Grace looked at me blankly. “My neighbor, Mrs. Finn.”

I pulled out my phone, put it on speaker, and dialed Lucas.

“Hawk,” he answered after one ring.

“Victor just sent a text to Grace threatening her neighbor lady, Mrs. Finn.”

“Shit,” I heard Zane say in the background. “Is that the one who has her door open all the time?”

“I’ve warned her,” Grace said with a nod. “But she won’t listen. Her name is Millie Finn.”

“I’ll send Constance right now,” Lucas said.

I liked the idea. The former Secret Service agent was well-versed in personal protection.

“I’ll go,” Zane said firmly.

Lucas didn’t overrule him. “What exactly did he write, and how do we know it was Victor?”

I read him the messages Grace had gotten and told him about the photos. “It’s an unknown number, which isn’t definitive either way, but who else would it be?”

“Probably right,” Lucas agreed.

Grace grabbed her phone back, dialed, and juggled it on her shoulder while slipping into her shoes. “She’s not answering her phone,” she yelled after a moment, exasperated. “We have to go help her.”

“Zane is already on the way,” Lucas said.

I grabbed Grace’s arm. She wasn’t thinking clearly. “We stay here. We can’t walk into a trap.”

“But—”

“No buts. We stay.”

“I agree,” Lucas agreed. “Stay put for now. Zane will report as soon as he’s on location.”