Chapter 62

Xander

“Why would I send a threatening email to Mitch?” Cami seemed just as irritated as I was by the questions. When I saw two police officers on my front porch, I immediately worried something horrible had happened to one of my friends. For that reason, hearing that Mitch was being harassed was almost a relief. It wasn’t nearly as much of a relief when I learned we were suspects.

“Is this your email address?” One of the officers slid a paper across the kitchen table.

Cami shook her head. “No, it’s not. Someone has been pretending to be me.”

“Mitch may have sent the emails to himself,” I suggested. It sounded just as crazy as when I’d first thought it, but so did the idea that someone was sending Mitch emails while pretending to be Cami.

“There was also a substantial amount of damage done to his car,” one of the officers stated. “Do you have alibis for yesterday between four and eight in the evening?”

“I had patients in Fremont from three until eight,” Cami replied.

“And I was in Los Angeles most of the day for a publicity shoot,” I explained. “My flight landed around eight. I think it was about nine when I got back here with my security detail.”

Cami nodded. “You got back just after nine, and Jared was with you.”

One of the officer’s asked, “We’ll need to confirm your alibis.”

“You don’t think Mitch is really in danger, do you?” Cami asked.

“We’re not sure,” one officer replied. “We may need to contact you for more information.”

“I’ll be out of town soon. My band has a three-month tour scheduled.”

The officer nodded. “We have your number. In the meantime, can you think of anyone who would want to place the blame for something like this on you, Dr. Shaw?”

Cami shook her head.

“What about his ex-wife?” I asked.

“Do you know his ex-wife?” one officer asked Cami.

“I didn’t even know he’d been married until recently,” she replied.

That prompted another twenty minutes of questioning. It seemed whoever had sent the emails to Mitch before was still sending emails, and he believed they were from Cami.

After the police left, we headed into the living room where only Gage, Austin, and Piper were waiting. The others had headed home since it seemed our evening plans were ruined.

“What’s going on?” Gage asked.

“Someone spray-painted die on the windshield of Mitch’s car,” Cami explained. “It seems I’m the prime suspect.”

“Not true,” I argued. “I’m pretty sure I’m the prime suspect. The gist seems to be that I’m jealous because you can’t get over Mitch. We both have alibis, so we’ll be in the clear once the police confirm them.”

Cami let out a frustrated sigh. “I should just call Mitch.”

“Absolutely not,” I practically snapped. “That could be what he wants. We don’t know that he’s not the one sending himself emails. Maybe he even vandalized his own car.”

“Xan makes a good point,” Austin chimed in. “Mitch would know when his garage at work is unmanned.”

“That’s not hard to find out,” Piper added.

“It wouldn’t make any sense for Mitch to do this,” Cami argued.

“The attention from the press has been fading,” I pointed out.

“He really took to the interviews,” Gage agreed.

“It’s not Mitch,” Cami insisted. “The only way we’re going to figure this out is if I talk to him. I’m going to call him.”

“No, you are not,” I ground out. From behind Cami, I saw Austin gesturing for me to shut my mouth, which was probably a good suggestion—one I ignored. “Mitch might be dangerous. You will stay the fuck away from him. No calls. No emails. No visits. I’m leaving soon, and I don’t want to worry that you’re in danger.”

The room fell silent for several heartbeats before Piper spoke. “We’re all going to wait in the kitchen while you work this out. I recommend pulling your head out of your ass before you start speaking again, Xander.”

Cami spoke after the others were out of the room. “Don’t tell me what to do. We’ve been through this more than once. I’m not going to take orders from you. If you think it’s a bad idea for me to contact Mitch, you are more than welcome to tell me so, but you don’t decide what I’m going to do.”

I took several deep breaths, trying to get my temper under control. The bigger part of me knew I was acting like a dick. Cami was right about my approach. At the same time, I couldn’t get over my fears that Mitch was a danger to her. Even if he wasn’t dangerous, his past actions suggested he’d misconstrue her intentions and assume her call meant she was open to dating him again. I just wanted him to disappear from our lives.

“I’m trying to protect you.” It was all I could think to say that wouldn’t get me in more trouble with Cami.

She nodded and grabbed her purse. “I know, and that’s why I think I should go home.”

“Home? Why are you going home?” I asked.

“It’s for the best.” She sounded angry and sad. “We’re both pissed. If I stay here, we’re just going to fight.”

I caught her arm before she could leave the room. “We’re already fighting, and it’s okay. Couples fight. It’s not the end of the world. We need to work through this.”

She shook her head and pulled away from me. “No. We aren’t fighting yet. Stop trying to give me orders.”

“Stop hiding every time there’s a conflict.” It was a low blow on my part.

She turned to glare at me. “If I was hiding from conflict, as I’ve done in the past, I would have pretended your asshole orders didn’t bother me. Actually, it would have never gotten to that point, because I would have never suggested talking to Mitch. I’m leaving because I don’t want to have some ugly fight. At least, that’s what I was trying to avoid until you decided to turn this into an ugly fight.”

She didn’t give me a chance to say more before storming out of the house.