Page 51 of Waiting For A Girl Like You (Haven House #4)

Madison cried out again, a little further away this time, as if she were fleeing from Michael. “Madi?” Evie screamed, turning a deathly shade of white. “Madison!”

Appearing behind his wife, Samuel plucked the phone out of her hand.

“Listen to me, Sinclair, because I’m only going to say this once.

” He kept his tone even, that lethal calm of his saturating every word.

“You came to our homes. You tried to take my wife. You tried to hurt my girls. All of which makes you a dead man walking, but I want you to understand one very important thing.”

Holden jerked his chin at Liam, gesturing for him to shut Samuel up, but Liam remained where he was, nodding in agreement as Samuel kept talking.

“I plan to teach you what it means to suffer. I plan to see your band of freaks suffer, and most of all, I plan to see your family suffer,” Samuel spat out.

“Fairweathers excel at inflicting as much pain as possible, and I’ll not only play witness and construct your demise, but I will have your screams before we’re done.

I will hear you beg. I will hear you beg for those you love, and then I’ll pull the trigger, anyway. ”

Madison’s crying tapered off into whimpers, with Michael shushing her soothingly. “Madison, tell them you’re okay.”

“I’m okay.” Madison’s sniffles echoed around them. “Can I go see my mommy now?”

“Yeah, I think you’ve earned some time with her.”

There was more shuffling, with Madison’s laughter growing distant .

“I won’t ask you to show mercy to my family,” Michael said after a lengthy pause. “I’ve seen the way you treat your own and how much damage you can do, so why would I think you’d be capable of something so basically human as showing mercy to strangers.”

Samuel sneered at the phone. “I don’t know what the fuck you mean.”

“I do,” Liam said. “But I can’t figure out the Arkansas connection. Parker, maybe? He was a plant the whole time, or did you guys lure him after he and Claudia hooked up?”

“Put that big brain to work, Cohen, and figure it out,” Michael replied. “I’ll be waiting.”

The line went dead.

“What did he mean?” Jamison asked.

She didn’t get an answer. Will shoved his way inside, making the closet well and truly cramped.

Her father had it remodeled while living at Haven House with her mother, needing the extra room for all his suits.

But even with it being as large as it was, she had gone out of her way to fill it and regretted that fact when Holden backed into her wedding gown, nearly knocking it from where it hung.

“Are we right?” Will whispered to Liam.

Liam held a finger to his lips and nodded. The reply didn’t seem to be what his father wanted to hear if Jamison was judging his facial expression correctly.

Will gave a curt nod. “I’ll go get the jammer fired up so we can tell Anderson and Klausen.”

“Try to convince them not to speak to their teams until we say so.”

“They’re going to want a time frame,” Holden said. “You can’t just drop a bomb and expect them not to move on it.”

Liam thought for a minute. “Ask for an hour.”

Will left without another word, and they waited, expecting Liam to tell them what was happening. Or at least Jamison did. She was completely lost and didn’t understand what was going on.

“Give my dad a minute to clear the room.”

Samuel clutched Evie tightly against him. “And then you’re going to explain what’s going on?”

“As best I can.” Liam pulled out his phone to make a call. “Rowan, kill the closet. I need five minutes. ”

“Take all electronics out,” Rowan instructed. “And even then, you need to keep your voices low.”

“Got it.”

After grabbing all their phones, Liam swung open the closet door and hurried out to hand them off to the lone man left behind.

“And you thought private security would be boring,” Liam mumbled, shoving the phones at the new arrival. “Carter, the beautiful woman in the wedding dress, is my future wife. Jamison, this is Agent Anderson’s grandson.”

Carter Anderson was a younger version of his grandfather, distinguished and classically handsome, with chiseled features and crystal-blue eyes that stood out against his tanned skin.

He was also tall—taller than even her brothers and father—with the top of his head skimming the crystals dangling from her chandelier.

Jamison gave him a weak wave. “Hello.”

“Hello.” Carter Anderson smiled half-heartedly. “Nice dress.”

“We’ll do formal intros for everyone else in a minute, but don’t let anyone in.” Liam rushed back to the closet and, snapping the door closed, glanced at the security camera. There was no blue light, nor green, or even a red one. The camera sat dead, Rowan not taking any chances.

Holden leaned his head to the side so his hair wouldn’t catch on one of her cashmere sweaters.

“Before we start this, can I just say well freaking done. You two managed to antagonize not one but two mass murderers this week, and Evie? I have never been prouder. I think you scared Sinclair the most.”

Evie looked ready to cry, hunched and nearly wrapped entirely around Samuel. “I’ve never wished death on another human, but with that man, I want to see him burn from the inside out.”

Dropping a kiss on his wife’s head, Samuel’s hold on her tightened. “Don’t upset yourself.”

“I’m not.” She tilted her head all the way back to look at him. “I’m doing okay.”

“Give me that sticky note,” Liam said to Holden. “Jamison, can you get me something to write with? I need to jot down my thoughts.”

It wasn’t easy, but she finally squished herself behind Samuel to retrieve a pen from her top dresser drawer. “Here. ”

Taking the pen, Liam pressed the paper to the wall so he could write. After jotting down a few lines, he reread it to himself. “It’s her. This whole time, it’s always been about her.”

Jamison tried to look over his shoulder, but couldn’t make out anything. “Who?”

He held up the note containing his scribbles so they could read it. Most of it was illegible, but the two words at the bottom were clear.

CeCe Miller.