Chapter 25

25

A week had passed and we'd had seven days of normal.

I found I fucking loved normal. The day I'd signed my separation papers from the Navy, nerves had set in. I wanted to be home with Delaney and my family but I was still apprehensive.

I'd spent my adult life regimented. Uncle Sam had a clear set of rules and schedule for me to follow. I thrived on ordered discipline. I'd had a purpose, I'd been necessary. If I wasn't deployed then I'd been working on sharpening my skills.

Then there was the adrenaline rush. The thrill of the jump, the chase, and ultimately the kill. Knowing that I had a small part eliminating bad men had been the ultimate high. Until it wasn't.

I'd never been immune to anxiety, I'd just been taught to control it and use it to my advantage. However when the day came I was faced with turning in my gear and my badge, it hit me. The finality. I was no longer a SEAL, I was a former SEAL. And for a minute that cut deep.

However, the day I'd driven home, the closer I got, the knowledge I was gaining more than I was losing had settled me. I could finally start my life with Delaney. I could watch my nieces and nephew grow up. I could spend more than a few days every few months with my brother.

I'd also talked to my dad. He'd been Delta, he knew what I was feeling leaving a high-stress, high-achieving environment. His wisdom had gone a long way. His transition into civilian life had led him and Jasper, Levi, and Clark into forming Triple Canopy. They had hard-earned skills they'd acquired over the years and had found a new purpose—training.

Me joining the company had been a no-brainer. It had always been their hope the next generation would take it over. Nick, Jason, Ethan, Jackson, Liberty, and myself all had our own specialized skill sets. Delaney, Quinn, Adalynn, and Hadley did, too. Those four would be vital to the success of the company, the brains behind the operation.

So now I was living a normal life, with a normal nine to five, and home every night for dinner. Brilliant.

And Delaney was moving forward. She hadn't slipped back into the past since the night we'd had my family over and she told me she could be pregnant.

I hadn't lied, I was fucking thrilled at the thought. Not so thrilled that she'd said no to my marriage proposal. It had never occurred to me she'd turn me down. Chalk it up to me being a man or simply being stupid but I'd thought it was a given. I knew we were meant to be together; I knew she knew it, too, so the next step would be marriage.

But when I asked, she'd flat out told me no.

I wasn't happy about that. I wanted my ring on her finger, my baby in her belly, and our lives to be cemented in a way Delaney would always know the promises I'd been making were real and true and I'd never go back on them.

I wasn't some wet-behind-the-ears, eighteen-year-old who thought a baby would fix a relationship or trap a woman into staying. But I did know, I wasted too much time.

I'd spent years doing all of the wrong things and it was time for me to start doing the right ones.

Tonight, we were having our second date. Third if dinner out with my friends counted, though I didn't think it did and wisely I wasn't going to ask Delaney her thoughts on this. I was taking her to this hole-in-the-wall restaurant that was widely known for having the best jazz bar in the area. Looking at the place, you'd never guess. It was small and dimly lit, the décor was from a time gone by still stuck in the thirties. The joint was classy, men wore slacks and women always a dress.

Tonight a sax player known as Tommy Feels was playing. And when he played the blues, if you closed your eyes and felt the music, you'd swear Coltrane himself was on stage.

I was almost home when my cellphone rang, my dash display told me it was Laney calling so I hit connect to answer.

"Hey, baby."

"Where are you?" Trepidation and fear filled my truck. The first was coming from her, the last from me.

"What's wrong?"

"Just… where are you?"

"Almost home. Five minutes, but I can make it there in three if you need me to."

"Drive careful but please come straight home."

Fuck that. I pressed down on the accelerator and wove in and out of traffic.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll tell you when you get home."

Not even her calling her house ‘home', something I normally loved to hear, made the dread in my gut lessen.

"No. Now. Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine, Laney. You gotta give me something. Are you safe?"

"I'm not hurt and I'm safe. I'll show you when you get here."

Show me?

I didn't have the chance to question her further because she'd disconnected. I'd caught two lucky breaks, both stoplights I hit had been green and I'd made it home in the three minutes I'd told her I would. I pulled into the driveway and scanned the area. Her car was next to mine unharmed, no vandalism to the front of the house.

I hopped out of my truck and jogged to the front door, opened it, and didn't hear the beeping I should've. Normally I'd remind her she needed to keep the alarm armed when she was home alone but one look at Delaney standing across the room had me rethinking my statement.

"What's wrong?"

She was next to the kitchen table, arms wrapped around herself, and she was squeezing her biceps. Protecting herself against whatever she was staring down at.

Without words she lowered her chin and gestured to the table. There was a piece of lined paper obviously face down because the side I was looking at was blank. The envelope was sitting next to it, addressed to her, no return address but the cancelled stamp was from Virginia. It was also dated ten days ago. Next to it was a large stack of what looked like junk mail and local flyers.

"I forget to check my mail until the mailman comes to the door and leaves one of those sticky notes telling me the box is full."

"Say again?"

I didn't know why she was telling me about her mailman.

"All of my bills are paid electronically. I don't get paper bills."

"I know that."

And I did, I'd been the one to set everything up for her, because during the school year, she often forgot when her bills were due. It wasn't because she was irresponsible, but she was busy, grading papers, and organizing lesson plans. Not even her triple calendars helped remind her, especially during testing months when she was focused on her students.

"So I didn't collect the mail until today when the mailman knocked on the door and told me he couldn't shove anything else in. That was in there. I opened it."

"Okay."

She was silent for a moment then said, "I shouldn't have. I should've called you or Ethan."

Ethan? Why would she call my brother?

Done waiting, I picked up the paper and the moment my eyes landed on the angry block letters I understood why she'd mentioned Ethan. Him being my brother wasn't why she should've called, being a police officer was the reason.

I scanned the note and with each sentence my blood boiled.

"Call Ethan," I clipped.

"But we touched it."

"Doesn't matter. This is fucked. We need to file a police report."

"Okay."

Her defeated whisper was my undoing. "Come here, Laney."

I tossed the vile message back on the table and she stepped into my arms, wrapping both of hers around my middle.

"Everything's gonna be okay."

"But it says—"

"Don't give a fuck what it says. You're safe. I'm safe. Nothing's gonna happen."

"But—"

"Laney baby, listen to me. No one is going to hurt me."

I heard her sniffle and felt her nod. She didn't believe me.

I pulled my phone from my back pocket and called my brother. He told me he'd be right over and I made one more call.

"Yo," Jasper answered.

"Listen, I need you to come over. Call my dad, Levi, and Clark. Need all four of you."

"Delaney safe?"

"Yes, need you all on the double."

"Be there in ten."

I shoved my phone back into my pocket, not having the opportunity to say goodbye because all I had was dead air. Jasper was a man of few words, fewer when shit needed to get done.

"I don't even know what to say." Delaney fisted the back of my tee, stretching the material. "Who would send me that?"

"Don't know, but we're gonna find out."

"It says they're gonna kill you."

"I read it, baby. I know what it says."

"And I'm gonna watch." A sob tore through her and I didn't know how to make this better for her. I didn't think now was the right time to make promises that no one was going to kill me, therefore she'd never watch anything. She wasn't in a place where she'd believe me.

I twisted her in my arms, squatted, my forearm going under her knees, the other behind her, and I hefted her into my arms and walked us to the couch. I sat and adjusted her in my lap so I was cradling her. She shoved her face into my neck and I felt wetness from her tears hit my skin and my anger flashed.

Someone had scared her so badly she was shaking. Fear leaked from her pretty blue eyes and burned a path down my flesh.

Neither of us spoke. I held her while she cried, trying to tamp down the urge to kill the asshole who sent the letter. Old habits die hard. I'd led a life of action, where threats were met with bodily harm. Now, I didn't have the authority to strap on my kit and hunt down leads. I couldn't act swiftly and methodically to new intel. I had to sit on my ass and wait for Ethan.

I had no choice but to take the back seat while he worked the system. He had his own set of rules he had to follow, and he did, always. There had only been one time when he'd stepped out of bounds and that was when Honor had been kidnapped. An infraction that was overlooked because the call he'd made had saved a life, and the only person who'd been left to rot in the ground was the man who'd deserved it.

The front door opened and Laney jolted in my arms.

"It's your dad, baby," I whispered to the top of her head, then to the rest of the guys who'd walked in. "On the table. We already touched it."

Jasper, my dad, Levi, Clark, and Ethan all walked by eyeing me holding Delaney. All had matching pissed-off expressions and they didn't even know how bad it was.

The message was fucked. It was clear. And it was detailed.

The person said they were going to kill me, do it slowly, and Delaney was gonna be forced to watch but she'd be left breathing. The author of the note said they wanted her to live the rest of her life with the memory. What she'd been forced to see and the knowledge she couldn't stop it but it was her fault.

"Fuck. Goddamn!" my dad boomed.

"Came through the mail. Virginia Beach, VA," Jasper growled. "You have any enemies up there?"

His question was directed to me, therefore I answered. "None that I'm aware of. I can call my old team, see if they've heard anything or received any threats. Though they may be MIA, they were leaving for training."

"Someone from overseas?" Ethan asked.

"Too many to count. But I find it doubtful ISIS would send a handwritten warning."

There was a beat of silence and I knew without looking they were all studying the letter.

"Nick," my dad clipped. "I just sent you an email. A letter that was delivered to Delaney's house. I need you to take a look at it." There was a pause then he continued. "Yeah, I'll wait. I'm putting you on speakerphone."

"Pulling it up now," Nick's voice came over the speaker.

"I'm really scared, Carter," Delaney spoke softly.

"I know, Laney. But everything's gonna be okay."

"What in the fuck?" Nick sounded much like the other men. Angry and unbelieving.

"Lock it down, son," Clark waded in. "We need you to focus. Read it again as an FBI profiler, not as Carter's cousin."

"Christ," he muttered. "First read it seems to be about an enemy of Carter's wanting him dead. But if you pull out the marker words, the motivation behind killing him is Delaney. The person is using Carter as the tool to hurt her."

"What does that tell you?" Levi asked.

"The person is enraged with Delaney, a perceived wrongdoing against the unsub. I'd focus on Delaney's enemies, not Carter's. He's simply the means. Read the line, ‘You'll know my pain.' Delaney will, not Carter. Also, where it says, ‘You're going to live your life like I do.' Again referring to Delaney. If this was about Carter, everything would be in reverse. Delaney's life would be in danger. The wording would be different, Delaney would die and Carter would watch. I want a list of every person in the last three years that has looked cross-eyed in her direction. Anyone who's given the smallest hint they're pissed at her. Kids who got a bad grade and voiced their displeasure, a parent, a teacher, a friend, every last person. I'll go from there. If I have to go back ten years I will."

"FBI doesn't handle threats like this," Ethan reminded Nick.

"We do today. I'll brief Unit Chief Gonzales here at my office and make a call up to Virginia to the director. The second I mention Delaney Walker and Carter Lenox, they'll give my offices full support."

I had no doubt about that. My dad, Levi, Jasper, and Clark had worked with the Director of the BAU a lot over the years and the man thought very highly of my family.

"That'd be appreciated," Ethan returned.

"I'll have a preliminary workup sent to the station, E. As a matter of fact, I'll personally deliver it tomorrow."

"'Preciate it. See you tomorrow."

"Anything else I should know?" Nick asked.

"Yeah. About two weeks ago, Delaney's tires were slashed," I added.

"Nothing left? No note?"

"No."

"I'll be in touch."

"I'm gonna take this in." Ethan stopped in front of me on his way to the door. "Watch yourself."

Delaney whimpered and I wanted to kick my brother.

"Will do."

"Guys, I'm gonna take Laney to the bedroom, I'll be right back."

I stood and Delaney struggled to stand. "I don't want to go into the bedroom."

"We'll all be right here, nothing's gonna happen."

"You think I'm weak."

"No, baby, you're the strongest woman I know. I think you've had a shock and you've heard enough. I think you need to take a breather and rest. Once the initial terror of the threat wears off, you'll remember who I am and what I do for a living and you'll come to believe me when I tell you, no one is going to kill me. But you need a minute to process. That's what I'm giving you."

Delaney didn't relax in my arms but she was no longer fighting me.

Someone's head was going to roll for putting fear in Delaney's eyes.