Kyle's Return (21 page)

We followed her inside and sat down in the living
room while she ventured off into the kitchen. I leaned over toward
Kyle. “She used to bake me cookies all the time when I still lived
around here.”

Cindy came back in and passed me a container filled
with chocolate chip cookies. When she sat down, her little
chocolate Lab puppy tried desperately to jump up into her lap. She
bent down and picked him up, his tail wagging in excitement.

“Thank you for the cookies. I missed them. Nic’s an
expert at baking, but cookies aren’t her strong suit.”

Cindy smiled. “That Nic is such a feisty girl. Please
tell me she’s not getting you into trouble.”

Laughing, I patted Kyle’s thigh. “She’s not, but I
can’t say the same for this one. Cindy, I’d like you to meet Kyle,”
I said, looking up at him. “Kyle, this is Cindy.”

He extended his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

She took his hand and shook. “Likewise. I have to
say, it’s nice to see a smile on Megan’s face.”

“Well, I’m glad I was able to put it there,” he
murmured, taking my hand.

“Me too.” I glanced over at the little puppy and
giggled. “I see you have a new friend. He’s adorable.”

Lifting the puppy in her arms, she nuzzled her nose
against him. “My daughters thought he’d be able to keep me company.
I have to say, they were right.”

“How are Raina and Jillian?” I asked. I wanted to
talk about Darryl but I didn’t want to just jump into it. It’d only
been three months since his death and I knew it was still a sore
subject.

“Oh, they’re doing well. Raina’s in her final year of
med school and Jillian just found out she’s pregnant with her
second. She visits me almost every day.”

“I bet she does.” I paused and took a deep breath. “I
really am sorry for not being here for you. But, when you said you
understood why I didn’t want to come back, I’m afraid I don’t know
what you’re talking about.”

She studied me and then cupped a hand over her mouth.
“Please tell me you know.”

I glanced over at Kyle and then back to her and shook
my head.

Setting the puppy down, she moved closer with fear in
her eyes. “I assumed someone would have called you. Darryl spent
weeks trying to get the system to change their decision. He was so
stressed.”

“Oh my God,” I choked. “You can’t be serious.”

A tear fell down her cheek and her lips trembled.
“I’m afraid I am, sweetheart. The day after Darryl died of a heart
attack was when the decision was made.”

Bile rose up and burned like hot acid in my throat. I
had never felt such terror than in that moment. Bolting up out of
my seat, I raced to the bathroom and clutched the toilet. Over and
over I whispered the word no probably a million times. Kyle knelt
down behind me and pulled my hair back while I threw up my
breakfast.

“What’s going on, love? What is she talking about?”
Lifting me up off the floor, he held me in his arms while I
cried.

“He’s out,” I whispered. “Alex is out of jail and
he’ll come for me. He’ll find me.”

Kyle froze, his muscles tense as he held me. “Fucking
shit. Why the hell didn’t anyone tell you?”

That was a good question. Lifting my head, he wiped
away the tears with his thumbs. “I don’t know, but I’m sure as hell
going to find out. We need to get out of here.”

I called Mason three times before I finally got him
to answer. “Damn girl, don’t you know how to leave a message?”

“I would have if this wasn’t important. Why didn’t
you tell me Alex was out of prison?”

“What? How can that be?”

“I was hoping you could answer that for me.”

He growled low. “Fuck, I have no clue. Where are you
at right now?”

“We’re still in Cali. I want answers and I’m not
leaving until I get them.”

“All right, meet me at the station in half an hour.
We’ll get the answers together.”

After we hung up, Kyle drove us straight to the
station. Shutting off the truck, he rolled the windows down while
we waited on Mason. “It’s been three months since he’s been out.
Don’t you think he would’ve come after you by now?”

I closed my eyes and breathed in the fresh air. “Not
necessarily. Alex loved to play games. He’ll come after me in other
ways before striking.”

About that time, Mason pulled up and we got out of
the truck. He looked pissed and ready to fight. “Let’s go.”

Kyle took my hand and we followed Mason into the
station, straight to one of the back offices where a young guy
stood behind a desk, reading a file. His head lifted and when he
saw us, he smiled. Throwing the file down, he marched around the
desk and held out his hand. “Mason, what the hell are you doing
here?”

“I could ask you the same thing. What are you doing
in Gary’s office?”

He snorted. “Reading up on the newest case I’m being
sent to solve. I head out tomorrow. Gary won’t be back for another
couple of hours.”

Mason shut the door and rushed behind the desk.
“Good, then I’m sure he won’t mind if I use his computer.” He sat
down and pounded away on the keys while Kyle and I just stood
there.

Holding out his hand, the young officer smiled
devilishly at me, his blue eyes beaming. “I’m Bryce, it’s nice to
meet you.”

I shook his hand. “Megan.”

Next, he held out his hand to Kyle and shook his. “So
what brings you all here?” he asked, sitting down and putting his
feet up on the desk.

Mason huffed. “I need some information on Megan
West’s case. Apparently, her psychotic, piece of shit ex was
released from prison. I need to know why no one called to tell
her.”

His head jerked in my direction and he studied me.
“So you’re Megan West?” I nodded. “I thought you looked familiar. I
remember your case.”

“And I wish I could forget it.”

“If I recall correctly, he was only supposed to serve
a couple of years since they couldn’t actually prove he was intent
on killing you. You fucked him up bad. I remember him telling the
judge you lured him to your house so you could attack him.”

“That’s such bullshit and everyone knows it. He was
going to kill me. I should’ve finished him off when I had the
chance.”

“Don’t worry, love. He’s not getting anywhere near
you,” Kyle whispered, putting his arm around me.

Mason sat back in the chair and huffed. “All right,
I’m in. Megan, come take a look at this. I think I found out why no
one called you.”

Rushing over to the desk, I kneeled down beside him
and looked at the screen. “What is all of that? That’s not my
information. It says I live in Austin, Texas.”

“And it also has the wrong phone number,” he added.
“I don’t know where this information came from.”

Bryce jumped up out of his seat and joined us. “What
do you mean the information’s wrong? The only people who have
access to this are us and the government.”

Mason stood up and sighed. “Not unless it got hacked
somehow. Anyone trying to call Megan would’ve gotten that wrong
number. It looks like someone didn’t want her to know he was
out.”

Bryce stepped in front of him and typed a couple of
codes into the computer. “It says here the information was put in
back in January. Alex was still in prison at that time.”

“Then he has someone helping him,” Kyle
interjected.

Mason leaned his hands on the desk. “That he
does.”

“According to the information, it says Alex Brady
lives in Florida now. That’s where I’m headed tomorrow. If you
want, I can head out tonight and go to the address listed,” Bryce
offered.

Mason nodded. “That could work.”

“Not unless you think he’s found you,” Bryce
mentioned to me. “If he had someone hack into the computers, he
already knows where you are. Has anything happened to you in the
last couple months?”

Kyle spoke up. “We were chased by a car while on the
way home last week. The cops back home haven’t been enthusiastic to
help, given my track record.”

Mason elbowed Bryce and then pointed at him. “That’s
Kyle Andrews. Surely, you’ve heard of him.”

Bryce’s eyes went wide. “Holy shit. I thought you
couldn’t walk after your last fight.”

Kyle’s jaw clenched. “Well, now I can. Let’s get back
to Megan. What if it was Alex coming after us last week?”

The thought made me sick. All this time, Kyle thought
it was his enemy going after him when it could very well have been
mine instead.

“That one’s up in the air,” Mason stated honestly.
“You have a lot of people who hate you. I don’t know if we can say
that’s Alex right now.” He then turned to me. “Has anything else
happened?”

Closing my eyes, I tried to concentrate on everything
that’d happened in the past three months. Nothing came to mind
except one, utterly disturbing realization. “Oh no,” I whispered
hoarsely.

My legs started to go numb but Kyle was there to
steady me. “What is it?”

I looked up at him and then to Mason and Bryce. “The
prank calls. I’ve gotten a few of them now. I never in my life
thought it could be Alex, but it is. Now that I can replay the
conversations in my head, it’s him. He found me. It’s only a matter
of time now.”

He’ll come for me
.

***

“I CAN’T BELIEVE he’s back. Has he called you
this week?” Nic asked nervously. She was cruising along the
treadmill while I was busting my backside to go as fast as I could.
If he did come after me, I was going to be ready.

“No calls this week, but Tyler’s been handling the
phones more now that he knows.” I sucked in a huge breath and let
it out shakily as my legs pumped. Only one more mile to go and I
was done.

“Megan?” I heard my name but I couldn’t concentrate
on it. Alex was around and there was nothing I could do about it.
There was a restraining order against him, but he didn’t give a
shit about that. “Megan!” Kyle’s shout snapped me out of my inner
turmoil. I jumped off the treadmill, gasping for air. “What the
hell are you doing?”

My lungs burned but I sucked it up. “I’m making sure
I’m ready, what does it look like I’m doing?” I stalked past him to
the punching bag and pounded on it as hard as I could.

“Megan, I’ve gotta go,” Nic called out, “but you’ll
be at the restaurant tonight, right?”

I punched the bag and the pain from the blow radiated
up my arm. “Yep, I’ll be there.”

Out of the corner of my eye, she glanced up at Kyle
and then nodded, her voice just above a whisper. “Okay, I’ll see
you around eight.”

Once she was gone, Kyle grabbed a hold of the bag
while I pummeled away on it.

“He’s the one who came after us, Kyle. I know it.
He’ll be back for me, especially because he knows I’m with
you.”

“Then let him come after me. If he’s watching you,
the last thing he needs to see is your fear. He’ll eat that shit
up.”