The text exchange last night plagues my mind. It’s all I can think about. I’m worried about Jake more than anything. With Bryan being able to hide for this long, there’s no telling where he is, or when he’s watching us.

“Ellie, you still there?” Vikki asks.

I clear my throat. “Yeah, I’m here. Sorry, I was a little distracted.”

“I know. I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind handling everything on your own for a few days? I hate not taking on new orders, but I just don’t have the time to decorate elaborate cakes right now.”

She scoffs. “I’ve got it handled. I may not do the fancy stuff like you, but you know I can decorate cakes.”

I smile. “I have faith in you.”

“I’ll be by the hospital this afternoon. I’ll bring Jake some of these chocolate-covered strawberry truffles.”

Jake is still asleep and hasn’t spoken since those few words last night. “He’ll like that. He spoke a little bit last night, but he’s been quiet ever since. I’m hoping he wakes up today. The police are going to stop by and ask questions when he does.”

Vikki blows out a breath. “This is insane, Ellie.”

“Tell me about it. I thought I knew Bryan. He was never violent or anything like that when we dated. I mean, yes, he always said we were meant to be together, but I never thought he’d try to kill my husband to make that happen.”

“Exactly,” she agrees. “What do you think set him off?”

I shrug, even though she can’t see me. “Hell if I know. Maybe there’s something wrong with him? Jake has a friend who has multiple sclerosis, and then one day, out of nowhere, he decides to stop his meds and leaves his wife and kids. No warning, no nothing. All they know is that he’s living on the coast and not coming back.”

“Wow. I can’t imagine if my husband did that. I’d probably hunt him down and beat the shit out of him.”

Taking a seat beside Jake, I stare at him. My heart would break in half if he left me like that. “We’ve seen the news though, Vik. People can flip in a matter of seconds. All it takes is a trigger.” I can hear the bell ding in the background and Vikki gasps.

“I’ve got to go, Ellie. We have customers. I’ll see you tonight.” We hang up and I focus on Jake’s face. His breathing is steady, and everything looks good on the monitors.

I move closer to the bed and rest my head against the mattress. I’m exhausted, but I can’t relax enough to sleep. The second I feel fingers in my hair, I bolt upright.

Jake’s eyes are open and his lips tilt upward slightly. “Hey,” he murmurs.

“Oh, my God, Jake.” I grab his face and kiss his lips, making my way over to his cheeks. “It feels like forever since I’ve heard your voice.” I want to fling my arms around his body, but I know he’s in pain from the bruised chest.

He takes my hand and doesn’t let go. “I heard your voice though.” The nurse had brought in a pitcher of water earlier, so I pour him a cup and hold it to his lips.

“Drink. It’ll help your dry throat.” It takes him a few minutes, but he gets it all down. “How do you feel?”

Moving his body around, he grunts a few times and shrugs. “Other than a headache, not too bad.” He rubs a hand over his side. “I feel a little bruised around here, but that’s it.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. “You’re bruised from the seat belt, and you had some bleeding around your brain from trauma. The doctor said you’ll be fine.”

Gently, he places a hand on his head. “I’m ready to get out of here.”

“What all do you remember?”

His eyes blaze. “There was a man in the road, just standing there. When I took the curve, I reacted when I saw him, and swerved away. It all happened so fast. I don’t even know what he was doing there.”

“Did you see who it was?” I ask curiously. He has never met Bryan, but he knows what he looks like.

Jake shakes his head. “It was snowy and dark. His face was hidden behind a hood.” I nod and look away. It sounds like Bryan was wearing his Arrow costume again. “You’re not telling me something, Ellie. What is it?”

“The man in the road was Bryan.”

A low growl erupts from his chest. “Did the police tell you this?”

I turn back to him and pull out my phone. “Not yet, but I know it was him.”

“How?” he snaps.

Handing him my phone, he reads the texts from last night. His blood pressure skyrockets and the monitors beep. “I’m going to kill that fucker. I don’t want you texting him again, Ellie. Can’t you tell he gets off on it?”

“I know,” I say. “But at least he didn’t deny anything. We have more proof.”

“I don’t care. When I get out of here, I’ll get an alarm system on our house and I’ll work from home. I don’t want you going back to the bakery until he’s found.” He squeezes my hand so hard it hurts. “You’re mine, Ellie. He’s not going to take you away from me.”

“Or you from me,” I counter. “We’ll get through this, together.”

He nods. “Let’s call the police. I need to tell them what happened.”

---

Now that Jake’s allowed to have more than two visitors at a time, I sit across the room while his parents visit with him. His boss has already left, promising to have boxes of groceries on our front door step when we get home. It seems a bit much, but I’m grateful. Sometimes I think he likes to show off how much money he has, as if to impress me.

His mother loves on him and offers to stay in town for a few weeks, but he politely declines. The last thing I want is his mother staying with us all that time. There’s only so much time I can handle being around the in-laws.

He doesn’t tell them about Bryan and I don’t blame him. His father already has heart issues, and any amount of stress added to that could be detrimental to his health. They’re going to stay at a hotel tonight and fly back home once Jake is back at home. Luckily, they leave before the police show up.

Detective Bradshaw knocks on the door and walks in, followed by Officer McGee. I stand, and they nod at me. “Good morning, Mrs. Kingston,” Terry says. “Thanks for calling us.” He marches over to Jake and extends his hand. “Glad to see you’re awake, Mr. Kingston.”

Jake shakes both his and Charles’ hands. “Happy to be awake, Detective.”

“He remembers the accident,” I say, joining them by Jake’s bed.

Terry nods and I can see the turmoil in his brown gaze. “We have some information for you regarding that. First,” he begins, turning to Jake, “what all do you remember?”

Jake tells him everything, from seeing the man to running off the road. Terry and Charles take notes, but it’s obvious, they’re just passing time before dropping the bomb. Jake can sense their unease as well. “What is it? You obviously have something you need to tell us.”

Terry and Charles stare at each other and Charles nods for Terry to continue. He rubs a hand over his face. “We were at the scene all night, searching for any bit of evidence we could find. We analyzed the footprints, and it turns out, they could very well be Snyder’s. The prints are the same size and style of boots he usually wears while on duty.” He clears his throat. “We traced the footprints to a set of truck tires that disappeared once they hit the main road. The tires are the same as what’s on his truck.”

“So, it is him,” I state.

Terry nods. “It’s a possibility, but we don’t know for sure. At this point, he is most definitely our top suspect. Although, there are a ton of men around this city with the same size foot and same truck as Snyder. I tried tracing the phone numbers to him, but came up blank.”

“Bryan texted her last night,” Jake adds.

Both men focus on me. “What did the messages say?” Terry asks.

I show him the messages.

He shakes his head. “Out of all the years I’ve known Bryan, I never would’ve believed he could do something like this.” Charles looks at the messages and shakes his head in disgust.

I look at both officers. “What do we do now?”

Charles is the one who speaks up. “We can always put you two in protective custody, until Snyder’s found.”

“Fuck that,” Jake growls. “I’m not hiding from that cocksucker.”

It’s exactly what I knew he’d say. Terry doesn’t look surprised. “We can always put your wife in protective custody.”

Jake looks to me, but I shake my head. “I’m not leaving my husband. We’re going to get an alarm system at the house and work from home for a while. Hopefully, Bryan will be found soon.”

Terry shakes my hand. “We’ll keep you updated on everything we find. Right now, we have men searching for Snyder, so we can bring him in for questioning.”

When they walk out, Owen stops them in the hall. Once they’re done, he hurries into the room and goes straight over to Jake. “Look who finally woke up,” he teases.

Jake snorts. “I’ll trade places with you.”

Owen chuckles. “Not interested, buddy. So, I hear they found footprints at the scene. Hopefully, they can find his sorry ass sooner than later.”

“They mentioned having us go into protective custody,” I say.

Jake cuts in. “But I turned it down.”

“What about your wife?” Owen replies, brows furrowed with concern. He looks over at me and then back to Jake. “Bryan wants you dead and Ells for his own. Do you really think her staying in town keeps her safe?”

“I’ll be fine. You both need to stop talking about me as if I’m a porcelain doll that’ll break the second she falls. I know how to take care of myself.”

Both look at me, and Jake nods, trying his best to hide his fears. “She’s right. She can take care of herself. But,” he reaches for my hand, “if things get too crazy, I want you to get as far away as you can.”

I shake my head. “Jake . . .”

He squeezes my hand. “Promise me, Ellie. If things get bad, I need you to be safe. When it’s all over, we’ll see each other again.”

Tears fill my eyes. “I promise.” I look over at Owen. “In the meantime, I need your help. We need to get an alarm system put in.”

Owen nods once. “On it. It’ll be done today.”