Only You (Stevens Book 12)

Chapter 13

Mave slept in the next day. She couldn't convince herself to get out of bed, but she eventually did after a very long pep-talk about letting her memories control her. After a long, hot shower, she dressed and entered the living room.

It was a very full living room.

"Is this an intervention?" Mave asked as she grabbed a juice from the fridge and then studied all the people in the room beyond.

Sam was there, along with Henry, Fiona, Aggie, Roark, and a huge man she didn't recognize.

"Would you like the good news or bad news first?" Sam patted the couch next to him, and Mave slowly walked toward the couch as everyone's eyes followed her. She felt like a specimen under a microscope.

"Good news first, this time?" Mave sat down. "Why is everyone here?"

"We'll get to that." Sam took his hand in hers. "Your Mom called and said that Allistair and Katherine are fine and engaged once Katherine's leg heals."

"Why didn't she call me?" Mave frowned.

"She did, but I turned your phone to silent last night after you fell asleep so you could rest."

Mave looked at Sam with displeasure. "That was a bit of an overstep."

"Probably," Sam grinned, not sorry in the least, and she couldn't stay mad at him.

"Fine, what's the bad news?" Mave took a sip of her drink with a shaky hand, knowing she wouldn't like what she was about to hear.

"Last night was not a coincidence, and your kidnapping has something to do with me, but we're not sure what yet." Sam's eyes looked serious, and she could tell he was already blaming himself for what happened to her.

"How can you be sure?" Mave had to clear her throat as the panic rose. If it wasn't an accident, that meant that Angel was nearby and watching. Mave felt her heart start to race, and she clenched Sam's hand tight in hers.

Sam reached up and brushed her hair off her shoulder, taking his time to play with her ear, looking into her eyes, and letting her know without words that he was with her and she wasn't alone.

"A white Jeep has been following me for a few weeks now. I didn't think anything of it because it's a small island, and it's not unusual to see familiar cars on the same route as mine every day. But last night, the music you heard was coming from the Jeep, which followed us from my parents' house, and after you went to bed last night, the Jeep was in the drive, outside the gate, playing the same song."

Angel had been that close! She had come for her. Mave's brain screamed at her to run, but common sense said she was here with family and friends, and they would keep her safe unless Angel got to one of them.

Mave took her time and looked at all the familiar faces surrounding her and bit her lip to keep from yelling at them to run and keep herself from running.

"I called Henry in to help. He has some ideas, including having Lincoln," Sam nodded to the huge man, "as your bodyguard until everything is resolved."

Lincoln stood up with a surge of uncontrolled energy and leaned toward Mave with his hand outstretched. "It is such an honor to meet you, Ms. Stevens. I've been a fan of yours for years. When Henry told me what or who I was going to be guarding, I lost my shit!"

"Reel it in, soldier!" Henry said with no real bite to the order.

Mave blushed a little at the attention.

"Umm, thank you," Mave said, unsure of herself. "Reaching up to touch the scar on her cheek unconsciously.

"You shouldn't worry about your scar. You're more beautiful than ever." Lincoln rolled up his sleeve and showed her his burn scars. "Mine reminds me how lucky I am to be alive and stronger than I think."

Mave hadn't thought of it like that before. Lincoln saw it as something gained, but she saw it as something lost. Why? What had she really lost?

"I'm glad you're here, Lincoln." Mave nodded at him, and this time he blushed.

"And I'm here for that checkup I promised you. If you'll show me where we can go, then Aggie and I can get out of the way." Roark said drily.

"Ummm, sure," Mave said, standing and leading Roark to the back bedroom.

*******

"You could have played that a little more professional, Lincoln," Henry said once Mave and Roark had left.

"No, he played it perfectly. Thank you." Sam turned to look at Lincoln. "She needs a little fawning over because she's feeling pretty low right now. Just don't steal her from me."

"Fat chance of that ever happening, Sammy Evers. Mave has loved you pretty much forever. Nothing will ever change that." Aggie said as she tried to stand up.

"Here, let me help." Lincoln stood and grabbed Aggie's hand, pulling her from the chair that had swallowed her. I'm glad to see that you and Doc are still together."

Aggie paused and looked at him and his arm. "Were we the ones that treated you?"

"Yes, I was only with you for a few days before they airlifted me to Germany, but your face was the one I saw when I woke up, and Doc's was the second." Everyone could hear the emotion in Lincoln's voice.

Aggie patted his arm, fighting tears. "I'm glad everything worked out for all of us and that Doc and I are still together, too. It was touch and go there for a few years." They watched Aggie waddle to the kitchen to get a drink.

"Do you have a plan, Henry?" Sam asked, turning his attention back to the matter at hand. Henry and Fiona had arrived only a short time before Mave had made her appearance, so they hadn't had a chance to talk.

"Fiona and I will be your guests for a few days while Lincoln stays out and about, keeping his eyes on what we can't see. If this Angel, whoever she is, knows about you and Mave, they probably know about her entire family, so Fiona and I will be recognized. She'll probably think that I was called into guard Mave and not expect there to be a third person in the shadows. That's what I'm hoping, at least."

"And you think that will be enough?" It seemed too easy.

"If we can get a plate number off the Jeep, that would be helpful, but now that I'm involved, I wouldn't be surprised if she backed off on the overt stalking. All we can do is look for white Jeeps registered in the county and see what it gets us. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it doesn't belong to her." Henry rubbed his hands together as he thought. "The key is not to let her alone until the time is right?"

"What do you mean, 'until the time is right'?" Sam asked, suddenly uneasy. The idea of leaving Mave alone at any time while someone was after her was not a move he was willing to make.

"You have to set a trap, and I have to be bait," Mave softly said from the kitchen.

Henry looked at her with an encouraging smile, knowing that it wouldn't be easy to face that fear. "It will be as controlled as we can make it. If necessary, I'll bring in twenty people and pack a location with friendlies." Henry assured her.

"It's too big a risk," Sam objected.

"It has to end, Sam. I can't worry about her indefinitely. I can't live like this." Mave shook her head. "A few hours of extreme fear in a controlled scenario is better than a lifetime of looking over my shoulder. Who knows," Mave shrugged, "maybe it will help me heal a little to face that fear."

"Now, let's plan out week minute by minute." Henry pulled out his phone and started typing. "Lincoln will start on the security system. Don't worry. It will be subtle."

Sam ground his teeth. The following week was going to be absolute hell.