A suffocating sensation tightened Hamilton’s throat at the retching sounds filtering down the hall. Dakota’s gut-wrenching cries soon followed. He couldn’t get to her fast enough. By the time he reached the bathroom, Kenton was just covering Tymico’s body with a sheet, and Dakota was doubled over on the floor.
Careful of what he touched, Kenton snatched up a wad of tissue from the tissue box on the counter. He handed them to Hamilton, who quickly wiped Dakota’s mouth.
“Toss the bedroom and the office,” Hamilton mumbled under his breath to Kenton. They needed to search as many rooms as possible before the cops arrived, but he could already hear the sirens getting closer.
Hamilton carried Dakota out of the room. He couldn’t even imagine what type of hurt she was experiencing. When they set out that morning to check on Wesley, he never expected they’d walk in on anything like this.
“I got you, baby,” he whispered, taking Dakota into a different bathroom. Limp in his arms, he worried she wouldn’t recover from this shock. Sitting on a cushioned bench, Hamilton held her against him while he wiped her face. “I’m so sorry,” he murmured over and over, unable to come up with anything else to say.
“H—how could he? How could he do this to Ty…to me?” She cried harder. This time her sobs cutting through Hamilton like a samurai sword, and there wasn’t a damned thing he could do to comfort her. He had no idea how he would get her through this.
A short while later, Hamilton heard Kenton let in the cops and EMTs. If he thought he’d had a long day the other night when the detectives stopped by his house, it would be nothing compared to what they were about to go through now.
* * *
It was almost eight o’clock in the evening before Hamilton had a chance to debrief with his guys as they huddled in his home office. He and Kenton had filled Mason and Angelo in on some of the details, but they all were curious to learn what Kenton had dug up during his quick search of Wesley’s home. One thing was clear—Wesley and Tymico were having an affair.
“What did you find?” Hamilton asked Kenton, who pulled several folded pieces of paper from his pockets.
“I was able to go through the dresser drawers and the closet in the bedroom, as well as the desk drawers before the cops arrived.”
“And do we know for sure Wesley’s wounds weren’t self-inflicted?” Mason asked as they all skimmed over the letters that Kenton laid on the desk.
“I’m pretty sure they weren’t; besides, there was no weapon near him,” Kenton said. “I also found this photo with one of the threats.” He handed the picture, old and crinkled with yellowing on the edges, to Angelo. The letter, he gave to Hamilton.
It’s time you paid for taking her from me was spelled out with letters that were cut from a newspaper or magazine.
“That doesn’t look like Wesley. Do you know who the woman is?” Angelo asked Hamilton, handing him the photo.
He shook his head. It was hard to make out the man or the woman, but he agreed the guy didn’t look like Wesley.
“Was there an envelope or something that could give us an idea of when this letter and photo were sent or received?” Hamilton asked.
“Nope. The letters were shoved haphazardly into his bottom desk drawer, and that one was sitting on top with the photo folded inside of it.
“So, at some point, Wesley had to know who was threatening him,” Mason concluded.
“And the bastard didn’t care enough to tell Dakota. I just don’t get that guy. The moment he found out, he should’ve told somebody, especially her in light of the accident.”
Last Hamilton had heard, Wesley was in surgery. He had offered to take Dakota to the hospital, but she didn’t want to go, especially after they had to inform Tymico’s mother of what happened.
Hamilton held up the photo. “When we figure out who these people are, then we’ll know who we need to track down.”
He just hoped it was soon because he didn’t know how much more Dakota could handle.
* * *
Hours later, Dakota lay curled up in the center of Hamilton’s huge bed, feeling as if she’d just gone five rounds with Ronda Rousey. Every part of her body hurt, but it was her heart that she didn’t think would ever heal.
No matter how she played the scenario they’d walked in on that morning, nothing made sense. She had more questions than answers and it made her sick to know that her father and best friend were seeing each other behind her back.
But it was her father she was most angry with. Tymico was vulnerable to men as it was, and she would’ve been no match for the charm her father could inflict.
I love you, Brad.
The words on the bathroom mirror, written in lipstick, would forever haunt her.
I knew something wasn’t right, but why hadn’t Tymico said anything?
The door to the bedroom opened seconds later.
Hamilton sat on the side of the bed. Without speaking, his fingers sifted through her hair, pushing bangs from her face. One of the many things she loved about him was his ability to know when not to say anything. He wasn’t a big talker anyway, but she knew his silence had more to do with him not knowing what to say.
What could he say? The whole situation was jacked up.
“Thank you for being here for me,” she said, her voice strained.
“I will always be here for you.” Hamilton bent down and his lips brushed hers, and she batted away the tears threatening to fall. Dakota couldn’t remember the last time she’d cried so much, especially when she went with Hamilton to tell Tymico’s mother about what happened. The woman fainted, and they thought they’d have to take her to the emergency room when she finally did come around. Heartbroken didn’t begin to describe the pain of losing her only child. Like Dakota, she had no idea Tymico had been seeing Wesley but had heard her daughter mention a Brad numerous times.
Brad. Hearing the name had angered Dakota all over again. Tymico had shortened Bradford, Wesley’s last name, knowing Dakota would never figure out who she was referring to.
Just another way to deceive me.
“I heard from the hospital. Your father is out of surgery but in critical condition. Do you want to go and see him?”
“No.” She wasn’t ready. She didn’t know if she’d ever be ready. “You knew, didn’t you?”
Hamilton frowned. “Knew what?”
“About my father and Ty.”
Closing his eyes, he tilted his head back and sighed. “Not exactly. I watched their interaction each time they visited you at the hospital.” He looked at her. “They seemed a little too friendly. I thought maybe something was going on with them, but I didn’t know for sure. It didn’t even dawn on me to mention their behavior to you since we haven’t seen or heard much from either of them since you’ve been here.”
Dakota turned onto her back, groaning when her hip connected with the mattress.
How had she missed it? As soon as the thought popped into her mind, she remembered that day at her father’s office. There were probably other signs, but there’s no way she would’ve thought about them being together.
Hamilton kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed, pulling her to him. “How about you eat something. I’m sure you’ll feel better if you do.”
Her stomach chose that moment to growl. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast, over twelve hours ago, and was a little hungry. “Okay, but I want one of those ginormous burgers from Bad Daddy’s and I want Kenton to go and get it.”
Hamilton laughed. “Good luck with that. After you elbowed him, I don’t think you’re going to be able to ask him to do anything for you for a long time. I’m just glad it was him you hit and not me.”
Dakota smiled for the first time in hours. “Yeah, I guess I do owe him an apology. Maybe he’ll forgive me if I treat him to a burger.”
“That would probably work since there’s not much he wouldn’t do for food.” Hamilton tilted to his side and pulled something from the back pocket of his pants. A photo. “Do either of them look familiar?”
Dakota stared at it for the longest time. “That’s my mother when she was younger. I’ve never seen this picture before, but she looks younger than I am now. Who’s the guy? Considering how hugged up they are, I’d say they were pretty close.”
“We’re not sure, but Kenton found that picture with another threatening letter your father received. Actually, there have been a lot of letters, but that was the only photo.”
“I assume that once we figure out who the guy is, then we’ll know who’s been threatening him and who might’ve killed Tymico.”
“That’s what we’re thinking.”
“That means at some point, my dad knew who was behind the threats, huh?”
Hamilton nodded and placed a kiss on her temple. She didn’t have to say what she was thinking, because she was sure he already knew. This was just one more secret her father had kept from her. Had he told her, maybe then Hamilton and his team or the cops would’ve been able to catch this guy.
“What can you tell me about your parents?”
“Not much. If I remember right, they actually met in California and moved here shortly before I was born.”
“Was your mother in the entertainment industry? Maybe an actress?”
Dakota frowned. “I don’t think so. I think she was still in college when they met. You think that guy is someone in the industry?”
“I do. Wiz has a facial recognition app, but the photo is too damaged for him to do anything with. He also mentioned that, normally, it works best with digital images or video.”
“I guess we’ll have to go and see my father one day since he might be the only one who can give us answers.”
“Yeah, as soon as he’s coherent, we’ll go to the hospital.”
Dakota wasn’t looking forward to that visit, but she wanted this nightmare to be over.
She tilted her head up to look at Hamilton who was staring down at her. “The day after we’re able to put all of this behind us, I wanna get married.”
A slow smile spread across his sexy mouth. “That works for me. I’ll be ready.”