All good things must come to an end.
Becca struggled to shove the thought away as Chase drove her and Ryder back to the Colington house after dinner. She didn’t want this to end. This safe, happy bubble in the midst of all the chaos that was her current life.
“That restaurant was something else,” she said. The whole group of them had gone to eat at a place called The Jolly Roger, a quirky, eclectic spot on the beach, decorated with a pirate/vintage/Christmas theme. She’d been reluctant to go out in public at first, but they’d closed ranks around her and shielded her like her very own security detail.
“Yeah, it’s one of a kind,” Ryder said from the back. “By the way, been meaning to ask you, have you hired any private security yet?”
I can’t afford to hire a bodyguard. She turned in her seat to look back at him and put on a friendly smile. “Not yet. Why, you available?”
He blinked in surprise. “I might be, at least for a while. They haven’t given me an official assignment yet, but I’m going to be working in the LA area. I can put you in touch with them if you want.”
“Yes, please.” Wouldn’t hurt to look into the process anyhow. Maybe another job would come through for her and give her some financial breathing room, allowing her to hire private security. “As long as you’re comfortable with working with me that way.” Her being with Chase, or not being with Chase soon, might affect his decision. He was loyal to his friend, and she understood and respected that.
One side of his mouth kicked up, amusement in his dark brown eyes. “Yeah, I think I can handle it.”
She smiled. “Good.” She’d held off on hiring a bodyguard and living as low key, normal existence as possible for as long as she could. That wasn’t an option anymore. While she still didn’t love the idea of being forced to change everything, she knew Ryder and trusted that he would have her best interests at heart. If Chase considered his friend to be solid at his job, then he was.
Back at the house they all worked together to give Bowie’s boat a good cleaning, then sat on the dock while Chase started the fire pit sitting on the lawn. She listened intently to the stories they told her about their time in the military together, enjoying the insight and their easy camaraderie.
“How did you two first meet, anyway?” she asked them.
“Ryder was the first guy I met when I stepped off the bus at Parris Island,” Chase said. “We clicked right away, and that was that.”
Ryder squinted at him. “We did? I don’t remember clicking.”
Chase shot him an offended look. “Whaddya mean? You know it’s true.”
Ryder shook his head at her. “Nah. He grew on me over time.”
“Whatever,” Chase said with a laugh.
“And on that note, time for me to turn in,” Ryder said, rising and stretching his arms over his head. “See y’all in the morning.”
“Night,” Becca murmured, hoping he wasn’t going inside because they made him uncomfortable, but also glad to be alone with Chase again. Glancing at him, she found him watching the closed door Ryder had just gone through, concern in his expression. “What’s wrong?”
He shook his head once. “Little worried about him, that’s all.”
“Ryder? Why?” He seemed fine to her.
Chase’s eyes slid to hers. “He’s…not the same guy he used to be.”
Oh. “Because of his military service?”
He nodded. “I don’t know what happened to him, and he won’t tell me. Won’t talk to anyone about it. But whatever it was, it must have been bad. He’d wanted to be a Marine his whole life, planned to stay in long term. Then, about eight months ago, some shit went down while he was overseas. He cut all contact for a while, and not just with me. Everyone. His mom, his former superiors, even the guys he’d served with.”
She frowned, wondering what Ryder could have gone through that would make him pull away from Chase. They were closer than most brothers. “I’m sorry.”
He nodded. “Took a couple months for him to finally respond to my messages, and he wouldn’t say what happened. Pretty soon after that, he told me he was getting out once his contract ended.”
So that was why Ryder had decided to do private security work. “How is he different now?”
“He’s…I dunno, subdued, I guess is the right word. Quieter. Doesn’t laugh or joke around as much as he used to. I mean, war changes everyone who experiences it. I’m not the same as when I first joined up either. But for him it’s more serious, and the hell of it is, I don’t know how to help him.”
He couldn’t, if Ryder wouldn’t confide in him. Just like Chase couldn’t help her until she’d told him what was going on in her life. “He knows you’re there for him.” There was no way Ryder could doubt it. “When he’s ready, he’ll tell you.”
His lips lifted in a sad smile. “Hope so.” He stretched his long legs out in front of him, his hands stacked on his flat stomach, and sighed. “So. Have a good day?”
“It was a great day.” The best she’d had in forever, between the boating trip and dinner with the group in a private room in the back. No one else had noticed her except the staff serving them, and they’d been extremely professional, not even asking for an autograph. “I texted my mom some pictures from today. She loved them.”
“Still want to drive down to see her tomorrow?”
“I’d love that.” A series of beeps came from her phone, signaling a chain of texts as Becca fished it out of her pocket. “That’s probably her now. She and the others were getting ready to do a fundraiser for veterans earlier.”
“I like her already.”
Smiling, she opened up her messages. But it wasn’t her mom, the number unfamiliar. And the first image made her suck in a breath, all the blood draining from her face.
A picture of her mom and two men, all naked, in a horrifically graphic pose that made her cringe.
You don’t think I’ll do it? the next message read.
“What is it?”
She ignored Chase, too busy deleting the horrific image. Unfortunately, she couldn’t scrub it from her memory as easily.
“Bec?”
Her fingers were locked around the phone, every instinct telling her to flee into the house. Hide in her room until she could get rid of all the evidence so Chase wouldn’t see it.
He crouched in front of her and put a hand on her arm. “Bec, tell me.” His voice was low. Quiet.
She looked up from her phone, focused on him and took a shaky breath, willing her jerky pulse to slow down. “It’s him.”
He went for the phone, but she snatched it away and held it out of reach, pushing to her feet and backing up a few steps. Chase stopped and held up his hands with a startled expression. “Okay, I won’t look.”
A sick feeling filled the pit of her stomach. And her phone just kept on buzzing. Message after message, and she could feel Rick’s rage coming through each one.
I’ve got hundreds like them. And video.
I’ll leak them if you don’t pay up by the deadline.
See you found a boy toy to play with. You’re just like your slut mother.
He must have seen the pictures of her and Chase. She dragged her palm over her mouth, frantically trying to think what the hell to do.
“Becca, look at me.”
Chase’s low, calm voice made the rising panic recede slightly. She made herself look at him, standing a few yards away, his eyes full of concern. “What’s going on?”
“He’s upset that I couldn’t get all the money he demanded. He’s threatening to leak photos and video of my mom, and—” Her throat closed up. Shit, what was she going to do?
Chase pulled her into a hug, his arms locking around her. “He won’t do it.”
She shook her head, frantic. “Yes, he will. He hates me. Blames me for my mom leaving him,” she choked out, fear flooding her. She couldn’t let this happen. Couldn’t risk her mom ODing again. Just couldn’t. Her mom was all she had left.
“Shh,” he murmured, his hold strong and reassuring. “Just stop for a sec and breathe. Just breathe, sweetness.”
The way he held her, his concern and that sweet endearment, almost broke her.
She pressed close to him, squeezed her eyes shut and struggled to pull in a slow, deep breath, on the edge of tears. This couldn’t go on. She was at her breaking point, beyond embarrassed and angry and disheartened. But she was trapped, with no way out.
After a few moments, the sharp bite of panic eased enough for her to get control of herself. Chase eased his hold slightly and ran a soothing hand up and down her back.
“We have to put an end to this,” he said quietly, his mouth at her ear. “You can’t let him control you like this anymore.”
He was right, she knew he was. She just didn’t see a way to make it stop without jeopardizing her mom.
“You’ve lived with this constant threat for too damn long. He’s slowly destroying you, sweetness.”
She nodded, agreeing with every word, yet terrified of the consequences if she defied him. “I don’t know what to do,” she whispered.
“Tell your mom what’s going on first. Then tell Rick to go ahead and roll the dice.”
She jerked back, staring up at him in disbelief. “What?” she whispered, sure she had misheard him.
His gaze was steady, his jaw set. “Tell him you’re done. Go to the FBI and let him hang himself with whatever he does next.”
“I can’t do that,” she snapped, stung. “You don’t get it. My mom can’t handle those pictures and videos being leaked. She’ll start using again. And this time, she’ll kill herself for sure.”
He held her gaze. So calm. Determined. “Maybe you need to trust her more.”
She scowled at him. “I trust her completely.”
“Except with this.”
“You’ve never even met her,” she fired back, pulling from his hold and stepping back, hurting like hell. She’d thought he was on her side. That he would help protect her. God, she never should have told him anything. When would she learn?
“Maybe not, but everything you’ve said tells me she’s a strong lady, and that she loves you more than anything in the world.” He lifted an eyebrow. “You think she’d want you paying off that asshole time after time to keep her past hidden? To let him control you, make you live in fear, ruin you financially and emotionally just to protect her?” He shook his head. “I think you’re wrong.”
Becca swallowed the hot retort ready at the tip of her tongue and made herself pause. Of course, her mom wouldn’t want any of that. But if Rick leaked any of that shit… “I can’t lose her, Chase. I can’t,” she choked out, her voice breaking.
Empathy and understanding filled his eyes. Reminding her that he’d lost his mother. “I know.” He reached out to stroke his fingertips down the side of her cheek. “But you won’t. It won’t come to that. Because if he releases anything, he loses all his leverage. I don’t see him being willing to give up his source of cash.”
She held his gaze, battling with herself. She flat out didn’t have the money Rick wanted, so it was possible he might leak the photos anyway. And she was beyond tired of his shit. This entire, fucked-up and toxic situation.
She wanted it to stop. More than that, she wanted Rick to be punished for what he’d done—and was no doubt still doing to other women. Maybe she could save a few of them if she spoke up.
“Call her,” Chase said quietly. “Or I’ll drive you down tonight so you can talk to her in person. Tell her everything first, and then decide.”
She chewed her lip, torn. What he was asking was such a huge risk. But she couldn’t do this any longer. She was angry enough with herself that she’d let it go on this long.
She had to do something. Now.
Becca drew a deep, steadying breath, fighting back the fear spreading through her gut. “Let’s go now, before I change my mind.”