Page 114 of Reaper

Getting up, I cross the room and put my hand on the small of Reaper’s back.

“Hey, Darlin’,” he says as he turns around and he frowns when he takes in my worried expression. “What’s wrong?”

“Can we talk to you guys for a moment?” I ask as I gesture over my shoulder toward the table I was sitting at.

They all nod and follow me back, sitting down with us.

“I think you guys should head to Forest Creek early,” I tell them and then with Mama Astrid’s help, we explain Mary’s concerns.

“Mary knows those assholes better than the club does. If she’s worried that they’ll do something, then that probably means they’ll make a move tomorrow. I think you guys should head down today in case something happens. That way if it does, you guys are already there as backup and extra manpower. I know you guys had wanted to wait and head down this Friday, but what if some of you went down now? Then this weekend, the guys could rotate so that whoever goes isn’t gone for two weeks straight.”

The guys nod as they think it over. Then they seem to have a silent conversation between themselves.

Reaper turns and gives me a proud look. “I think you’re right, Darlin’.” Then he scowls. “I hate that she’s been through all that, but you’re right, she knows them better than we do.” He pauses again as he looks over at Devil. “I think we should call Church. See who can step away this week. I’d like to keep one or two of us there for both weeks if we can swing it. It’s not much but having two extra men while we’re doing the tradeoff might make a difference if that’s when they make a move.”

Devil gives him a chin lift as he pulls out his phone. He taps out a quick message and a few moments later, I hear multiple dings from everyone’s phone alerting them to the text message.

Reaper turns to me and pins me with a look. “What’s your week like, Darlin’?”

My stomach churns. We still haven’t been able to trace any of the calls I’ve gotten from my stalker. After I snapped at the guy last week, I’ve let all unknown numbers calling my cell phonego to voicemail. However, now that I’ve done that, he’s started calling at work, too. Those I can’tnotanswer since it very well could be a vendor or someone calling to see if someone is at the tavern.

“I work Tuesday and Wednesday at the supper club from noon to closing. Then Thursday through Sunday, I’m at the tavern. It’s my weekend to work till closing so it’s from six to closing.”

My three new bartenders are doing better, but they still need more training so between me and my two seasoned bartenders, Erica, and Sam, I’ve paired the newbies, Rosalie, Cora, and Michael with each of us. In about a month or so I think they’ll be ready to be paired up and not have someone senior with them all the time.

Reaper exhales, clearly not happy with my schedule, but he nods. “Okay. I still want one of the guys with you when you leave here and when you leave work. I’m not taking any chances with this stalker and whoever’s setting off these fires running around.

My shoulders sag.

That’s another thing that started last week. Small fires have been popping up and they’ve all happenedafterI snapped at my stalker. My overactive mind keeps picturing my stalker and this arsonist being the same person. In a way I want him to be the same person so that when he’s caught, then the fires stop, too. Between the stalker and these fires, I’ve been having nightmares about the fire at my house last year and the firefighter who rescued me. I still haven’t asked who he is, though I think I might know. I was going to ask Reaper about it before he left later this week, but if I’m really going to do this, then I need to talk to him before he leaves today.

“Lark?”

I blink, clearing my thoughts and I realize the others left, leaving just Reaper and me.

“What’s wrong, Darlin’?”

I swallow thickly. Fuck, this might make things worse, but…“I need to know.”

“Know what?”

“His name. Who he is.”

I run my fingers over the burns on my face and Reaper nods, knowing who I’m talking about. His face softens as he reaches over and takes my hands in his.

“Do you want me to tell you or do you want to meet him?”

I gnaw on my lip as I debate. “I… I think I want to meet him, but I want to do it when you’re here. Maybe after you come back from Forest Creek?”

He gives me a look that tells me he knows I’m stalling. “Lark, Darlin’, I can get him here in the next twenty minutes. And honestly? With all these fires popping up around town, I think I’d rather you know before I leave.”

I want to ask him why he’d rather I know who he is before I leave, but I don’t. My throat tightens as memories bombard me, and I nod. “Okay. Today.”

Reaper pulls out his phone and my heart beats wildly in my chest as I watch him type out a text. He gets up and pulls me up from my chair. He motions to Drake at the bar and then leads me to the couches before he pulls me down to sit in his lap. And of course, it’s the couch that faces the main door. Drake comes over with two bottles of beer, and fuck am I grateful for it because I could definitely use a drink right now.

“Talk to me, Darlin’.”

I take another drink and then play with the label on the bottle, so I don’t have to look at him.