Chapter 36

36

Maddox

H aving the cops hot on Keith Ellis' tail has helped me on my mission to find the fucker. Those breaking and entering charges worked like a charm. The BOLO brought me all the way down to San Diego, where this rat has been hiding since the wedding.

CCTV footage placed him at a couple of gas stops and a local mart. He bought a new phone from the latter, and with a generous cash donation, I managed to get his phone number. I've yet to notify the police that I've already found him, though.

Keith and I have some unfinished business.

As night falls over San Diego, I sit in my car, waiting. The traffic down this narrow road dwindles into the occasional cab darting by every once in a while. Across the street is the Sundown Motel. It's a two-story building with moderately priced rooms and a Coca-Cola vending machine right outside the office.

I spot Keith's car in the parking lot. The lights are on in his room. He's bound to come down soon enough. He's got to be getting hungry at some point.

A text comes in from Reed. Mission accomplished on his end. Good. I hope he rattled Callie to the bone. It's a good thing he's the one who went after her. I would've forgotten my manners and done a whole lot worse.

Archer is getting closer to finding Dakota; Chelsea finally reached out. I am riddled with muted anxiety over this entire situation. The clock is ticking. Christmas is in two days. Maybe there's still a chance for Dakota.

If there isn't, we'll figure something else out. We have to.

The door to Keith's room opens. He comes out, squirrely as ever.

"There you are, you little shit," I grumble and get moving.

Light-footed, I leave my car across the street and enter the motel's parking lot. I have already spotted the cameras, and I know where to walk in order to avoid them. Keith is about to put some money into the ground-floor vending machine when I snatch him, lifting him straight off the ground.

"What the fu—"

He struggles, but he can't wriggle out of my grip. I put one hand over his mouth and haul him up the stairs. His screams are muffled. He bites into my fingers, and I hiss from the pain.

I throw him through the door of his room. Splinters jump out from the frame.

He lands on his side and rolls across the floor with a pained grunt. "Fucking hell…"

"We meet again, Keith," I calmly reply, then close the door behind me. The lock is broken, but the chain still works, so I put that on, never taking my eyes off the weasel as he scrambles back up into a standing position.

"What the fuck, man? Are you crazy?"

I smile. "Did you really think I wouldn't find you?"

"You set the cops on me, you crazy bastard!"

"You broke into our house," I reply. "You planted cameras. That's illegal, you fucking idiot. What did you expect? No consequences for your stupidity?"

"I had to find out the truth."

"No, you just wanted some dirt on your ex-wife."

"I'm trying to protect my daughter!"

That gets my blood boiling to the point where I start moving toward him. "You don't give a shit about Maisie. You're just pissed off that Dakota moved on, that she wouldn't take your sorry ass back."

"No, I— what are you doing?" He pauses, eyes bulging with horror as he realizes I'm too close for his comfort. "Stay the fuck away from me!"

I show him the phone he'd dropped in church. "You left this behind."

"My phone."

"Not anymore. But here's my offer. You get to stay alive in exchange for you deleting every single second of footage from our house, including any copies, in any and all formats."

Keith blinks a few times, terrified but still looking for a way to save his sorry ass. "What are you talking about?"

"Let me say it again. You will delete everything, including whatever account you used for the hidden camera software. Whatever data exists on this phone, access to the cloud, emails, files, etc. All of it."

"I will do no such thing. That's evidence," he snaps.

"Yeah, evidence in court against you, you dumb piece of shit."

"I don't care! It's evidence that Dakota isn't a fit mother to our daughter."

"Excuse me?"

Keith straightens his back, suddenly overconfident. Dumbasses are way too easy to handle, and this guy is making the whole operation feel like a walk in the park. It should be illegal to be this cocky and foolish. "Dakota banging three men at once? That's a whole new level of depravity. There's no way I'm letting her keep custody of our child."

"Your ex-wife's sexual prowess pisses you off that much? Is that why you're dragging Maisie into it?" I scoff, shaking my head slowly. "Your daughter has a new family now. She even has an older brother. She's happy and well cared for. And what Dakota does in the privacy of her own home is her business and hers alone. You walked out, Keith. You don't get to waltz back in with this righteous bullshit."

"I'm just looking out for Maisie—" I take my gun out before he can finish yet another garbage statement and point it at him. "Wait!"

I remove the safety and take a step forward. He can tell from the look on my face that I am more than ready to empty the entire magazine in him. I'm not one to shy away from bloody violence if that's what it takes to protect my family. Dakota and Maisie are my family.

"This weapon is untraceable," I calmly reply. "Take this phone, log in, and do what I asked. If you don't, I will end you. Right here, right now. And nobody will ever know what happened to you."

"Dude."

"Time to make a choice, Keith. Keep being stupid and find out what comes after death or get to live another miserable day without dragging your ex-wife's name through the mud or traumatizing your only child for life. I'm trying to give you a chance here because, personally, I'm itching to fill you up with lead for simply having the audacity to break into my home and threaten my family."

Keith needs a moment. His gaze darts across the room. He's looking for a way out but I'm blocking the only one there is. And I am big and strong enough to crush him, even without a gun. Maybe I'm oozing confidence, or maybe he just decided to be smart for once in his life, but Keith ultimately concedes, his shoulders dropping in defeat.

"Give me the phone," he mutters.

"Good choice," I reply and hand him the device.

His fingers tremble as he struggles to log in. He manages, eventually, and I keep my eyes on the screen as I watch him go through all the video files, deleting them one by one. "The account, too. All of it," I say.

"Fucking prick," he grumbles, but he continues to do as he's told.

Five minutes later, his phone and all of his online accounts have been scrubbed clean. The cache is cleared, and the trash folder, too. There's nothing left. I snatch the phone from him and take out the SIM card, crushing it beneath my fingers before tossing the phone on the floor and stomping it with my boot until it's in tiny, shattered pieces.

Once that's done, I take a step closer, and Keith is shaken to the core.

"You said you'd let me live!" he bawls.

I press the gun to his forehead, prompting him to break into a cold, pathetic sweat. "Remember this moment," I say, my voice low and deadly. "This is the moment you forget you ever had a wife. You forget that you ever had a daughter. You're Keith Ellis, some mediocre bartender from Shithole, California. That's it. You don't know me, you don't know Dakota, and you certainly don't know Maisie."

"Okay… Okay…"

"You're going to get in your car, leave California behind, and find somewhere else to start anew, far, far away. You do that, and I will have the charges against you dropped. Am I clear, Keith?"

He nods slowly.

"I didn't hear you, Keith."

"You're clear," he shouts, his lips quivering as he struggles not to cry.

He's scared out of his mind and pliable enough to do as he's told. I wouldn't mind accidentally discharging my weapon, but I've got one hell of a woman to get back to, a family to bring back together, and children to raise and protect. This prick's life is pitiful enough. He's doomed to what's left of it. I doubt there's a worse punishment than that.

"I'm glad we're in agreement," I say, then walk away.

I hear him exhaling sharply as I open the door and step out into the night. This man's cowardice is something else. At least it's done and over with. I put the fear of God in Keith Ellis. He's no longer a problem.

And he knows what will happen if he tries to become one again.