If he’d been demanding . . . if he’d insisted . . . if he’d been controlling, she would have faced her fears and told him to go away. But she was frightened, and he was being kind.
“This has to do with the case, doesn’t it, Cam?”
“I don’t know, Grace, but I think so. I think that whoever set you up wants to scare you or harm you so you can’t talk.”
“I’ll pack a bag. I’m ready to do whatever it takes to stop this.”
Cam sighed with relief before walking with her into the house. Sheriff Thompson waited until she was ready, and they all walked from the house together. Grace looked at the note one last time before the sheriff collected it for evidence.
I’m watching you everywhere you go!
Blind fury rushed through him during the ride back to his place, but Cam couldn’t allow Grace to see that. She was frightened, and rightfully so. They could set up all the security measures they wanted, but some person had come to her home in the middle of the night and stuck a knife in her door.
The message was clear. He wanted to review the footage, but he didn’t want her to know yet that it even existed. They were going to nail whoever was doing this to the damn wall. But for now, he had to keep it together.
She sat next to him on the bench seat of the truck, her arms around him, her head resting on his shoulder while he drove. He’d seen many sides to Grace Sinclair before, but this wasn’t one of them. He’d never seen her in the grip of fear.
That only served to fuel his fury. As he pulled up to his house, the lights were burning, and several vehicles were in the yard. A small measure of his anger drained at the sight of his family.
“What’s going on, Cam?” Grace asked as she looked up.
“I think there are a few people who want to make sure you’re okay,” he said as he turned off the motor.
“They shouldn’t have come out. It’s so late.”
He took her chin and looked into her ashen face. “Grace, a lot more people love you than you realize. And if you think any of them would be able to sleep when something has happened to you, you’re crazy,” he told her before leaning down and caressing her lips.
The front door opened and his family filed out, waiting for Cam to bring Grace in. Of course, Sage was too impatient for any waiting. She rushed down the steps and pulled Grace from Cam’s arms to hold her.
“I’m so glad you’re okay! I didn’t know someone was after you. I should have known. You told me strange things were happening, and I laughed it off. I’m such a fool!” she sobbed.
“I didn’t know it, either, Sage. It’s not your fault. Or mine. And it might not be as bad as it seems right now. Everything always seems so much worse in the middle of the night,” Grace said, bringing Cam’s rage back to the surface.
He managed to tamp it back down before Grace had a chance to see it.
“Well, you have all of us, and no one will get to you through this wall of muscle,” Sage assured her as they reached the doorway.
Michael, Spence, Jackson, and Martin were all standing there, their faces solemn as they each took a turn giving Grace a hug.
“Alyssa stayed home with our daughter, but she said she’ll be here first thing in the morning,” Jackson assured her.
“You’re all making way too much fuss,” Grace told them. “I shouldn’t have pulled you from your beds.”
“We’d be furious with Cam if he hadn’t let us know,” Martin informed her. “The ladies are going to be mad enough I didn’t call, but Bethel just isn’t pleasant when she’s woken up.”
“We have some hot tea ready for you,” Sage said, pushing the men aside and leading her friend into the living room.
Grace sat down and took the cup. Cam could see she was grateful to have something to hold on to so they wouldn’t see her fingers shake. But it was too late. He’d already noticed, already knew how rattled she was.
“Really, I think it’s a pathetic person trying to get a rise from me, which he did. But honestly, if he had wanted to harm me, he could have done it many times over.”
That didn’t seem to reassure anyone in the room. Cam looked at her and wondered if he was going to have to strangle her for scaring him so badly. He needed to punish someone.
“I’m going to go in the other room with my brothers while you sit with Sage,” he told her, then bent down, kissing her firmly on the lips. Her wide eyes told him she wasn’t expecting him to do that in front of his family. Well, too damn bad. She was his, and the sooner she accepted that, the better off they’d all be.
“Good. I want to visit with Sage.”
Cam brought his brothers to his den. The first thing he did was pour a double shot of whiskey. When the soothing fire burned into his gut, he felt his nerves begin to calm.
“You all know what’s been going on,” he finally said.
“Bryson has already been called. We can go over the footage and see if we can identify this person,” Jackson said as he followed suit and poured himself a drink.
“We need a plan of action. Because until this case is solved, Grace is in danger. Someone out there doesn’t want to be caught, and the more I’ve been asking questions, the more the stakes have risen.”
“Who have you been talking to lately?” Spence asked.
“Her parents.”
The room went silent with that information. The brothers looked at one another, no one wanting to ask the obvious.
“Her parents certainly won’t be getting any parent-of-the-year awards, but they wouldn’t do this to Grace, would they?” Michael finally asked.