Page 22 of Securing His Family
“Hi.” She smiled and used the back of her hand to wipe her cheek
He noticed the ring hanging from a chain, further testing his limits in not hauling her close and claiming ownership of her. At least she’d kept her word and had it close by. “Busy day?”
“Yep.”
She was avoiding his eye, and her one-word responses raised red flags. Reed went on alert and looked around, as if there were any clues as to what was troubling her. “What’s wrong?” he asked, the envelope crinkling as he crushed it a little bit. He deliberately relaxed.
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just tired. As I said it’s been a busy day.”
Again, she wasn’t meeting his gaze, there was something going on, but he was getting to know Lauren really well now and knew that he couldn’t push her to answer him, even if that annoyed him. She would tell him in her own time—if at all.
“Right. I’m just going to see Steve, and then we can go get Charlee.”
“You don’t need to do that anymore. Okay? We’re fine.” There was a bite to her tone. A bit of exasperation, frustration and…fear? He had to be imagining it, unless Patrick had got in touch with her. Had he sent her photos as well?
Not wanting to exacerbate the issue any further, he nodded and headed toward the office tucked off to the right of the kitchen.
Steve was looking at something on his laptop when Reed walked in. “Did Lauren get a delivery today?” he asked without preamble.
“Why? What’s going on?” This was another great thing about his boss, he trusted his staff and knew that there was a reason why Reed had asked the question.
“I was just talking to her. She was acting out of sorts. Something’s happened. She’s reverted back to being short with me. And,” he tossed the envelope on the table, “these were delivered to the office, addressed to me with no return address.”
Reed paced around the small space, as he waited for Steve to open the envelope.
“What the hell? Do we know when these were taken?” Steve placed the photos back on the table.
“Looking at the clothes both Lauren and Charlee are wearing, not to mention what I’m wearing, I’d say in the last week. The whole time Patrick has been silent. He knows where I work. Who I work for. Where Charlee goes to school.”
Steve sat back in his chair, and it may have looked casual, like he didn’t give a shit what Reed had just showed him, but Reed knew his boss well. Steve was running everything through his mind. He was considering how the photos could’ve been taken without anyone’s knowledge and what it all meant.
Reed was too close to it all so he wasn’t thinking clearly, his immediate thoughts were to grab Lauren and Charlee and hide them somewhere safe. Then find Patrick and eliminate the asshole so that he couldn’t hurt Lauren anymore. But he couldn’t and wouldn’t do any of that, at least not without a plan and not until he had all the facts and information he needed.
“These were taken by a professional,” Steve surmised. “Someone who knew how to get them without being detected. We’ve been keeping a close eye on the surrounding areas of Charlee’s school, their home and here, there haven’t been any suspicious cars lurking around. I don’t think it’s a private investigator who’s done this.”
“Do you think it’s Patrick? After all, he’s been able to find out Lauren’s number after she’d changed it. Not to mention where she lives and the café. Plus my connection to them now. Although I haven’t been hiding that. As far as Patrick believes, we’re engaged.”
“How much time have you been spending with Lauren and Charlee?”
“Not as much as I’d like. Lauren’s pretty stubborn, as you know, so I’ve been giving her space.”
“Maybe not a good idea, because if you and Lauren were engaged you’d be spending more time together. If Patrick is the one who has been watching you, then he’s going to think his first assumption was right, that you and Lauren aren’t really engaged.”
Reed dropped into a seat and sighed. Steve was right, they hadn’t done anything to convince anyone watching them that they were in a true relationship. “What do we do? I can’t force myself onto Lauren. Do you think that Patrick has contacted her? You never did answer if something was delivered to her.”
“There’s been no deliveries apart from some supplies, but today is the usual day that they arrive so I didn’t think anything of it.”
“Is it possible that Patrick knew this and arranged for a little extra to be put in the delivery?” Reed wished that wasn’t the case, but after seeing those photos, anything was possible.
“Maybe, but he’d have to pay off the driver, and the guy that delivers the supplies has been doing it for years. Tabby knows him well.”
Reed hated that they seemed to have more questions than answers. “We still don’t know if Lauren did get a letter or photos like I did. The only way to find out is to ask her.”
The question was, would she answer him or put him off?
ChapterTen
The longer the door remained closed, the more Lauren’s nerves stretched.
