Page 27 of Pick Yourself Up (Heroes to the Core #3)
Ford nodded. “We’re not unarmed and we’re not easy targets. He’d be a fool to try anything. If he’s found your names, he’s also got access to your history. Gray’s record alone should be enough to deter anyone.”
Which meant that Gray was even more impressive than she’d known. But he was still human. Still vulnerable.
Knox frowned. “You could both go visit Burke or Lawson. Spend some time in Boston.”
She didn’t want to leave. “If we go anywhere, it won’t be to see them. I’m not bringing danger their way, either.”
Malssum wasn’t a common surname, which would help anyone searching for them to make connections between the names they found. Suddenly, even innocuous social media posts seemed dangerous.
Her name and photo had been listed on the websites of the hotels where she’d worked.
Had she mentioned her family or her Vermont roots in any of her bios?
Probably. She wouldn’t be on those lists now, but nothing online ever truly disappeared.
“I think some of my old bios on hotel websites mention growing up in Vermont. It wouldn’t be hard for him to find those bios. ”
Gray kept her firmly under his arm, kept her tethered to the present.
“It’s fair to say that anyone can find anyone online.
Maybe not always legally, but there are ways.
We can’t dwell on what we’ve posted or had posted about us in the past. It’s going to take time for Allard to recover from his beating and find us.
We don’t have to decide on a course of action today. ”
She sighed. “If he comes here and discovers we’ve left, he might take it out on everyone else. We can’t have that happen.”
Gray’s finger traced circles over her shoulder. “It’s impossible to cover all the possibilities. And we can’t understand the criminal mind. All we can do is take our best guess and follow through.”
Knox nodded. “After we’re done with supper, I’ll put a call into Marcus Ramirez. If Allard shows up there looking for us, we’ll have a heads up.”
She knew the police chief had helped her family with a few situations and was glad to have more help on their side.
Knox continued. “We’ve got Marcus’s entire military team in Phail, and the former FBI agents living at Midnight Lake. They’ll all help.”
But they couldn’t live with them here on the farm until Allard made a move. Not for the first time, she wished the Wells party had booked a different hotel back in Chicago. Although then she wouldn’t have met Gray and fallen in love.
They talked around the situation for several more minutes, but couldn’t reach any consensus or solution. Without knowing what Allard was doing, they couldn’t prepare a plan.
Leaving for a week or two wouldn’t help.
Depending on the severity of his injuries, Allard could wait for months before trying to find them.
They couldn’t stay away forever. No matter where they went, the possibility existed that he could find them.
Short of changing their names and disappearing from their family, there was no way to ensure he didn’t find them.
And leaving didn’t ensure he wouldn’t hurt her family instead.
She didn’t want to live always looking over her shoulder, constantly worrying where he was. Why couldn’t the man have stayed in jail? Why couldn’t his boss order him to stay put and leave them alone?
Was that a possibility? Could they somehow get word to the Lauzon family that their thug was going to make things worse?
Doubtful. It wasn’t like a criminal mastermind was going to listen to her.
Still, social media worked both ways. With a bit of research, she should be able to find the Lauzons and get a sense of their public-facing persona. Could they use that somehow?
Gray squeezed her shoulder. “What are you thinking?”
She shrugged. “Probably nothing. I’m just trying to figure out if there’s a way to use the internet to let the Lauzons know it would be better if they left us alone.”
There was silence as everyone thought about her idea. It might not go anywhere, but thinking about potential actions made her feel better than just waiting for a criminal to show up. Acting felt more proactive than reacting.
Eventually, they wrapped up the conversation and cleaned the kitchen. She wanted to spend the night in the newly fixed-up owner’s suite with Gray, but tonight it would be better for everyone if they stayed in the farmhouse with the security system in place.
After putting the ducks in the coop, Jolie and Ford would bring Hemsworth inside for the night. Another layer of protection. Even though he wasn’t a protection dog like Boomer, he was extremely well-trained and had proven he could help take down the bad guys. Fox, too, but he was happier outside.
With everyone inside, they locked the doors, checked windows, and set the alarm. She and Gray followed Boomer up to their room.
When they locked their door, Gray wrapped her in his arms. “That was a lot tonight. How are you feeling?”
She shrugged and snuggled in. “Overwhelmed. Scared. Angry.”
“Angry?”
She nodded. “How dare this asshole try to ruin our lives again? He deserves to stay in jail. He’s got no right to threaten us and make us uncomfortable in our home.”
Gray smiled and traced a finger over her jaw. “Feisty. I like it.”
That made her smile for the first time in hours. “Thanks.”
His eyebrows shot up. “For?”
“Being you and being so steady that I’m able to stop myself from having a complete meltdown. The fear is like a living thing crawling inside me, but with you and Boomer here, it’s not taking complete control of me. I’m able to breathe.”
His arms tightened around her, and he kissed her hair. “We’re going to keep each other safe from this asshole. We’re going to keep everyone safe. It’s not even a sure thing that he’ll come here, but if he does, we’ll be prepared. We’ll be ready.”
She hugged him hard. “Let’s hope he doesn’t come.”
Gray grunted but didn’t respond with words. She knew he believed Allard was on the way or would be soon.
She swallowed the fear and clung to Gray, needing his strength and confidence.
When he leaned down to kiss her, she kissed him back with everything she had. Life was too short and unpredictable to do anything else.