The Next Step – 1

Thea’s POV

“How have you been, Thea?”

Contact between us had been limited at best. Mostly just occasional messages; usually him telling me he’d sent a package, and me texting back a quick thanks. I knew it was dangerous, but right now he was the only person I could think of who might help me. I won’t lie, that second threatening note had scared the absolute shit out of me.

“I need your help, Graves,” I said bluntly. No point in small talk, and from what I knew about him, he didn’t appreciate bullshit anyway.

Asking him for help was a calculated decision. After weighing my options, I’d chosen the most practical solution. When Kane’s people kidnapped me, the police were completely fucking useless, but Graves knew everything about the situation. As the lord of the city’s underworld, he might be able to help me find who was tracking me, who wanted to hurt me.

“Sure, what’s up?” he asked, curiosity in his voice, probably because I’d never asked him for anything before.

“Someone seems to be stalking me.”

“Oh, about those notes you’ve been receiving?”

I was shocked, but not entirely surprised. See? This is why I thought he’d be the best person to approach. He was always one step ahead of me.

“Yes,” I answered. “Do you know who’s behind them? How did you know about the notes?”

I crossed my fingers, hoping he had answers. Better yet, if he was already handling the situation. After all, hadn’t he promised to protect me and the baby?

“I have my sources… I don’t know who’s doing it, but my informant told me,” he paused, “the person leaving the notes is being careful, always wearing a long coat and a mask. He thinks it’s a woman, judging from the build.”

The Next Step – 1

I tried to think which woman would want to harm me, but couldn’t immediately come up with anyone. I’d pissed off plenty of people in the past few months, Aurora being the most recent. It was hard to say who would hold a grudge strong enough to threaten me.

“Why didn’t your guy just stop her?” I asked.

It seemed logical. If you see a stranger leaving these kinds of notes, you should intervene.

“He didn’t think much of it until he saw the second note. That’s when he started getting suspicious.”

I couldn’t really blame him. I hadn’t taken it seriously myself until the second note.

“What did the notes say?”

“Give me a second, I’ll send you a photo.”

I took pictures of both notes side by side and sent them to him. He studied them in silence.

I couldn’t help thinking that Graves was still a wanted criminal, and how much trouble I could get into if people from the police station found out I was in contact with him. I might end up in jail for being his accomplice and concealing his whereabouts. To be honest, I didn’t know where he normally hid, and we rarely communicated, but I didn’t think that would be enough to convince a jury of my innocence.

“This person has a deep hatred for you,” he finally said, “not just trying to scare you.”

“How insightful,” I couldn’t help the sarcasm, “I couldn’t tell from the ‘have you said goodbye to your loved ones’ part.”

I didn’t mean to be bitchy, but I was really fucking nervous. It’s terrifying to know someone’s planning to kill you. Even more terrifying when you’re pregnant. If I died, my baby would die too. I couldn’t accept that.

“Beyond that, I can’t tell much more for now,” he sighed. “Who have you pissed off in the last few months? Who do you think would be angry enough to want revenge? Let’s start there.”

“Honestly, I don’t know, Graves. You seem to know everything that happens around me, so you should know I’ve pissed off a lot of people these past months.”

“Alright, make a list of these people and send it to me, and I’ll see what I can do. Okay?” he asked.

I nodded, then realized he couldn’t see me. “Okay.”

“Don’t worry, Thea. We’ll catch this fucker. I won’t let them hurt you.”