“I’m sure.” The last thing I wanted to do was put pressure on Griffin to name what this thing between us was. To promise me things he wasn’t ready to give. I gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll see you after work.”

I started down the hallway and pulled open the front door. “Tiny terrors, I’ll meet you in the car.” A chorus of agreements met my ears, and I started towards my SUV parked in the drive behind Griffin’s truck.

I came to a stop as I saw a paper fluttering against the windshield, held in place by only the windshield wiper. A chill skittered up my spine. It was probably just a drawing Mia had made me. I told myself that over and over as I walked slowly towards my SUV. There was no way someone had gotten onto the farmhouse property. There were locked gates and cameras and alarms.

My hand shook as I pulled the paper free. The blood drained from my head. There was a photo tacked to the note, one of me and the kids two Christmases ago in our matching PJs, but Will, Ava, and Mia’s faces were all scratched out. And written in block letters was: You stole my life from me. Now I’m going to take yours from you.

45

Griffin

I chuckled as footsteps thundered down the stairs. You would’ve thought a herd of elephants was heading off to school instead of three kids. “Got everything you need?”

“Yep!” Mia called. Ava nodded, smiling. And Will offered me a fist bump.

I met his gaze. “Remember what we talked about?”

“Avoid Drew whenever I can.”

“Good man.”

Mia pulled open the front door, but was met by Caelyn barreling into the house as soon as she did. “No, go back inside right now.”

Her sharp tone had Mia scrambling back, colliding with my body. I wrapped my arms around the little girl. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Caelyn slammed the door, locking it. “Are all the other doors locked?”

I quickly passed Mia off to a worried Will, who wrapped her in a hug. I strode to Caelyn. “I don’t know. Tell me what’s going on, right now.”

She was pale, trembling, and her gaze jumped from child to child and then around the entry as if someone might pop out at any time. “We need to lock the doors.” Her hand shook as she handed me a piece of paper. “It was on my car.”

I scanned the page, my body locking. “Come with me right now.” I hurried them into my office, pulling open the bookcase and heading for the panic room. I entered the code in a flash and turned on the lights. “Go downstairs. I’m going to lock you in until the sheriff’s department can get here. Don’t come out unless Parker or I come get you. Do you understand?”