Chapter 49 No Safe Place
Lara's pov
I woke up the next morning with a terrible headache. I barely slept. Maybe I only got two hours in total.
Every time I closed my eyes, the photo came back to me. The word SOON, written in red, wouldn’t leave my vision.
Damien was already downstairs on the phone with Marcus. I could hear them talking about Jake Jason.
I went to the kitchen and made coffee. Something to drink after all the chaos of yesterday. My hands were still shaking.
Ethan came downstairs, rubbing his eyes. He just woke up. I was glad he slept well.
“Morning, Mommy,” he said.
“Morning, baby. Want some breakfast?” I asked.
“Can I have pancakes?”
I made him pancakes even though I had no appetite myself. I just watched him eat. Somehow, that made me feel a little better. At least he was safe. At least he was here with me.
Around 9 a.m., Damien came into the kitchen.
“Marcus and I are going to Jake Jason’s apartment. Police are meeting us there. We need to go ASAP.”
“Do you think he’ll be there?” I asked.
“I don’t know. But we need to try.”
“Please be careful, my darling. I pray you’re safe.”
He kissed me. “I will be safe, my love.”
After he left, I tried to keep busy. I cleaned the kitchen. Did laundry. I did anything to distract my mind.
But I kept checking my phone. Waiting for updates.
\---
An hour later, Damien called.
“We’re here. At Jake’s place.”
“Is he there?”
“No. The door was locked. Police are getting a warrant to search inside.”
“What if he already ran?”
“Then we’ll find him eventually. Don’t worry.”
But I was worried. I couldn’t stop worrying.
Thirty minutes later, my phone rang again.
“We’re inside the apartment now.”
“Anything?”
“It’s a mess. Guess he knew we were coming. He left in a hurry. Drawers open. Clothes everywhere.”
“So he ran.”
“Yeah. Neighbor said she saw him yesterday around 3 p.m. Loading bags into his car.”
My heart sank. So we missed him.
“But we’re searching the place now. Maybe he left something behind.”
I heard voices. Marcus was talking to the police.
“Hold on,” Damien said. My heart was pounding.
Then he came back. “Lara, we found something.”
“What?”
“Money. A lot of it. Hidden in a shoebox in his closet.”
“How much?”
“Marcus is counting. Looks like almost ten thousand dollars.”
Ten thousand dollars. That was a lot for a twenty-three-year-old tech guy.
“Where did he get that kind of money?” I asked.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Damien said.
Twenty minutes later, Damien called again.
“We found more.”
“What now?”
“An old phone. He left it in his nightstand drawer. Must have forgotten it while packing.”
“Anything on it?”
“Marcus is checking. Police are looking too.”
I heard Marcus’s voice. He sounded excited.
“What? What is it?” Damien asked him.
Then Damien spoke to me. “Lara, you’re not going to believe this.”
“Tell me,” I said, my stomach dropping.
“Text messages. Between Jake and Veronica Ward.”
My blood went cold. “What do they say?”
“She paid him. Five thousand upfront. Five thousand after the job.”
“What job?”
“Installing a tracker on your phone. And keeping access to our security system.”
So it really was her. Veronica was behind everything.
“Is there more?”
“Yes. Photos. He took pictures of your phone while installing the tracker. Proof for Veronica.”
I felt sick. They had been planning this all along. Watching me. Tracking me.
“The police are taking everything as evidence,” Damien said. “They’re bringing Veronica and Natasha in for questioning.”
“What if they deny it?”
“They can deny all they want. We have proof now.”
\---
They came home around 2 p.m. Damien looked tired but relieved.
“The police are handling it from here. They’re picking up the sisters right now.”
“Both of them?”
“Yeah. They think Natasha was in on it too.”
I sat on the couch. Finally, we were getting somewhere.
“What happens now?”
“They’ll question them. Show the evidence. If they confess, they’ll be arrested.”
“And if they don’t?”
“They’ll probably still be arrested. The evidence is solid.”
Marcus came in behind Damien.
“I’m sorry, Lara. I should have checked Jake’s background better before hiring him.”
“It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known.”
“Still. I feel responsible.”
“Don’t. We’ll get through this.”
\---
That evening, we got a call from a detective.
“We brought Veronica and Natasha Ward in for questioning.”
“And?” Damien asked, the phone on speaker.
“They both denied everything at first. Said they barely know Jake Jason.”
“But you showed them the evidence?”
“Yes. Texts, photos, money.”
“What did they say?”
“Veronica claimed the texts were fake. That someone is trying to frame her.”
I couldn’t believe it. “She’s lying!”
“We know,” the detective said. “But she’s sticking to her story.”
“What about Natasha?”
“She cried. Said she didn’t know anything. That Veronica handles all family business.”
“So she’s blaming her sister?”
“Basically. But we have evidence linking both of them. Natasha’s boyfriend is Jake’s cousin. That’s how they were connected.”
“Are you arresting them?” Damien asked.
“Yes. They’re being booked for stalking, conspiracy, and harassment.”
Finally, Finally, they were going to pay.
\---
But my relief didn’t last long.
The detective called back an hour later.
“There’s been a development.”
“What kind?”
“The sisters made bail.”
“Already? How?”
“Bail was five hundred thousand each. They paid for it.”
“With what money? I thought Lucas’s accounts were frozen.”
“He had offshore accounts we didn’t know about. The sisters had access.”
Even from a hospital bed, Lucas was still causing problems.
“So they’re just free? After everything?”
“For now. They have ankle monitors. They can’t leave the state. We’re watching closely.”
“That’s not enough!”
“I understand, Mrs. Montgomery. But we’re building a case. When it goes to trial, they’ll go to prison.”
“And until then, they just walk free?”
“That’s how the system works.”
I hung up and started crying. Damien held me.
“This isn’t fair,” I said. “They terrorized us. Tracked me. And they just walk free?”
“Not for long. They’ll mess up. And when they do, we’ll be ready.”
But I was so tired of waiting. So tired of being scared.
\---
That night, I couldn’t sleep.
I kept thinking about Veronica and Natasha. Free. Somewhere out there. Plotting.
What if they hired someone else? What if they came after us directly?
Around midnight, I got up. I checked all the doors and windows. Everything was locked. Security guards were outside. Cameras were working.
But I still didn’t feel safe.
I went to Ethan’s room. I watched him sleep. My beautiful boy. So innocent.
I couldn’t let anything happen to him. No matter what.
I would protect him. Even if it meant facing Veronica and Natasha myself. Even if it meant dealing with Lucas when he woke up.
I was done being the victim.
It was time to fight back.