Page 108 of Tattered (Lark Cove 1)

“Snacks!” Charlie and I said in unison, making us all laugh.

“Okay. Water and snacks. Be right back.”

She opened the door, setting her purse on the seat as she went inside. It fell open after she closed the door, spilling her phone on the leather.

The screen was lit with a new email. I dismissed it, but then did a double take when I made out the word cunt.

I grabbed the phone.

From: anonymous743

Subject: You’re nothing but a filthy cunt.

What the fuck? Red coated my vision and I gripped the phone tight, stopping myself before I cracked the damn thing. Who would send that kind of email to Thea? Was it the first? Or had this been going on for a while?

Alice’s face popped into my mind instantly. I could definitely see her doing something like this. Her maturity level was right on par with Sofia’s and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Alice was behind this disgusting message.

I set down Thea’s phone and pulled out my own, sending Sean a text.

Me: Someone is sending Thea threatening emails. Find out who. Yesterday.

He didn’t make me wait. He never did.

Sean: On it.

When it came to my assistants, I hired the best there was. Just like Piper, there was no one as good as Sean. He managed almost every aspect of my personal life including purchases, travel and even my security protocols. As a former hacker who’d once lived in his mother’s basement, he was now comfortable on the Upper West Side. Sean would have this asshole’s information to me tonight.

A few years ago, a creep had been stalking Emmeline. Sean had tracked him down and arranged for him to get the message that she was completely off-limits. I’d been angry back then, pissed someone would want to stalk Emmeline. But having someone threaten Thea sent me into a blind rage. If not for Charlie in the back, I would have pounded my fists into the steering wheel.

I was still seething by the time Thea came back to the car. She came in with a smile, but it vanished after one look at my face.

“What?”

I tossed over her phone. All the color in her face drained away before she even opened it up.

“How long has that been going on?”

She looked at her lap. “A couple weeks. It’s no big deal.”

“He called you a c—” I stopped myself before I could cuss in front of Charlie. I took a calming breath, lowering my voice. “This is not okay. We’re going to talk about this later.”

“Fine.” She nodded, her eyes turned down.

I backed out of the parking lot and pulled back onto the highway. As much as I wanted answers this instant, I had to wait. Before we talked about those emails and before I got to the bottom of why she was acting so strangely this week, we had to get through the afternoon and evening with my parents.

Shit. Shit. Fucking s

hit.

The last thing I wanted was for Logan to know about those emails.

We had so many more important things to worry about than some asshole who wanted to send me messages. I was sure that in a few more days, they’d stop. And if they didn’t, I’d tell Jackson. If he thought there was cause to worry, then I’d go to the sheriff. After all, it wasn’t the first time a patron had called me names. I doubted it would be the last. There was always some drunk who thought cussing at a bartender was acceptable.

I dismissed the email so I could put on my game face. We needed to be all smiles and laughs today for Logan’s family.

God, this is hard. Knowing good-bye was right around the corner was miserable. I dreaded it but wanted to get it over with all at the same time.

After Logan had fallen asleep last night, I’d fought hard not to cry again, but I’d lost the battle. So I’d escaped to Charlie’s room, where I could cry into her pillow without worrying she’d wake up.