Now, I end up with two of them.
“Tristan, I have to post that video we talked about. It’ll temporarily discredit Blake and buy us some time, giving us a chance to tell Butterfly Man he can’t touch Blake, until we figure out what to do.”
My bodyguard laughs incredulously. “Tell your stalker he can’t kill your husband now? What the hell, Birdie? He’s not your personal hitman. He’s a lunatic murderer who operates on his own psycho whims. I’m pretty sure you can’t just send him a memo to reschedule.”
I’m too angry to respond to the sarcasm. “Butterfly Man doesn’t kill on a whim. He does it for me. If he finds out about Shane, about Blake’s blackmail, he won’t kill him. If anything, he may come up with something that will help.”
“You’re not meeting your stalker, Birdie. End of story.”
“Do you not realize the kind of danger I’m facing? If anything happens to Blake, and that app sends whatever fucked-up story he plans to expose, I’m done. Everything I’ve ever worked for,my freedom, my life, is at stake, Tristan. I must update Butterfly Man on the situation or I’ll lose it all.”
“I can’t put you in danger!”
“Do you have another solution?!”
Tristan runs his hand through his hair. “That app… I think I might have a way to find it, and when I do, I’ll destroy the message.”
“Mightis not good enough, Tristan.”
“I will find it.”
“How? You don’t even know where Blake is.”
“You said he’s in Florida, and he’ll stay there. A coward like him won’t come back here, not after what happened to your assistant. I’ll track him down from that prison visit. Junkies are the easiest to find, Birdie.”
“You’ll go there yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Then let me post that video and take me with you. We find both Blake and Butterfly Man and end this once and for all.”
Frustration etches across his face. “You’re asking me to put you face-to-face with a serial killer. Do you even hear yourself?”
“I hear a woman desperate enough to consider every option, even the unthinkable.”
“This is insanity.”
“No, insanity is sitting here doing nothing while my life implodes!” I push past him and walk deeper into the woods.
“Where are you going?” Tristan demands, following close behind.
“Away from here. Away from you telling me what I can and can’t do.”
“Birdie, wait.”
My steps widen. “Don’t follow me.”
“I’m your bodyguard. Following you is literally my job description.”
I spin around, fury shaking my voice. “Then guard me from a fucking distance.”
I head down the narrow footpath that leads away from the clearing. The afternoon sun filters through the dense canopy of trees surrounding our hideaway, creating dappled patterns on the forest floor. The thickets close in around me as I walk, wild berry bushes catching at my clothes. I push deeper into the woods, away from the cabin that has become both sanctuary and prison.
Tristan’s footsteps crunch behind me, maintaining a distance but never straying too far. His persistence only fuels my anger. I take a deep breath of the pine-scented air to calm the storm inside me.
The ocean’s distant roar grows louder as I unconsciously head toward the hidden beach cove. Maybe the crashing waves will drown out the noise in my head, the constant fear that has become my unwanted companion.
I pause at a fork in the path, the trees opening slightly to allow more sunlight through. A flutter of movement catches my eye—something out of place among the static green of the forest.