Chapter 23 - Exposing a Snake
Trey felt his body heating up, and Atlas was growling in his head. He wanted to rip the man's head off his body. Cat reached up and made him turn toward her.
"Look at me and calm down. You can't do anything to him." Cat pushed her fear aside to keep Trey calm. She didn't want them both to be unstable.
He looked into Cat's eyes and focused on her voice. He'd been so close to shifting into Atlas that it scared him. Trey knew she was right; he couldn't do anything in public. He looked toward Ellie, who was watching them with concern.
Trey quickly pulled out his cell phone and texted Ellie with the description of the man. He told her to follow him to see where he went. He then looked back to Cat. If he looked at the man again, he wouldn't be able to control himself.
"Ellie is going to follow him. Let's take a walk and see if he follows us or goes somewhere else. I don't want you to worry. I promise I won't let anything happen to you, okay?" Trey was speaking quietly, but she could hear the fury in his voice.
Cat was terrified of letting the man follow them, but she trusted Trey. She nodded as he left cash on the table to cover their bill. She took a deep breath before standing up and grabbing his hand.
Trey felt Cat squeezing him tightly, and he pulled her close so he could put his arm over her shoulders. He knew she was scared, but he meant what he said about protecting her. If anyone even attempted to touch her, he wouldn't care who was around. He would let Atlas out to kill them.
As they walked down the street, Trey felt his phone vibrate with a message. Ellie was telling him that the man was following him and Cat. She said he was staying about half a block away.
Trey didn't say anything to Cat. He wanted her to act as casually as possible. He could tell she was close to her breaking point and refused to push her any more than he had to.
Cat tried to breathe normally even though she felt like she was close to hyperventilating. She saw Trey get a text message, but he didn't share it with her. She assumed they were being followed, but she was too chicken to ask him. She wrapped her arm around his waist as they walked.
After they had been walking for about thirty minutes, Ellie texted him again, telling him they were still being followed. Trey didn't want to give the guy a chance to attempt anything, so he thought it best to take Cat home.
When they got to her building, she felt relief wash over her. She had been so tense the entire time they were out. They were getting ready to step into the elevator when she looked out the window. The man was passing by, and he looked at her. Their eyes briefly met, and he smirked as he walked by.
Cat began shaking with fear. Trey pulled her onto the elevator and into his arms. He stroked her hair while holding her, and she felt herself relaxing in his warm embrace.
When they got off the elevator, they ran into Caleb. He smiled at Cat, but the look in his eyes made her skin crawl, so she leaned closer to Trey.
"Hi, Cat, Trey. I am going out to help Ellie follow that man you saw. Trey, let me know if you ever need a break. I wouldn't mind staying with Cat for a while." Caleb licked his lips as he looked at her.
Trey felt Cat move even closer to him. He didn't like the way Caleb stared at her. She was right; there was something about him that caused him concern. He decided to talk to Roger and see if Caleb could be kept far away from her.
"I will stay with her, Caleb. She's my girlfriend, and there's no place I would rather be. Now you better go catch up with Ellie." Trey led Cat the rest of the way to her apartment.
After they were inside, Cat locked all the locks on the door and slid down onto the floor. Her body felt like jelly, and she couldn't take it anymore. Trey sat down with her and pulled her onto his lap.
"Are you okay?" He leaned her against his chest and had Atlas purr.
"Is there something about me that makes these men come after me? Why is this man here after all this time? Why is Detective Pierce looking at me like he's a monster? I don't understand." Cat tried to hold back her tears, but she couldn't.
She leaned against him and cried silently. Trey held her, trying to soothe her as much as he could. He hated that his mate was so scared, and he wasn't helping by having her act as bait.
"It's not you. These men are evil. I don't know why that man is here looking for you now, other than Leo must have called him. I don't know why Caleb is looking at you the way he is, but I will ensure he stays away from you. Let's stay in for the rest of today, okay? You've done enough for one day." Trey raised her face to his and kissed her softly.
Cat let the heat from Trey's kiss seep into her body. She opened her lips, meeting his tongue with hers. She put her hand in his hair, pulling him down even further to her. When they pulled apart, they were breathless.
"I'll never get tired of how alive your kisses make me feel." Cat leaned up and kissed him again. Just as she was going to tell him to take her into the bedroom, someone knocked on the door. She jumped and held onto Trey tightly.
"Who is it?" Trey asked, agitated. He wanted to be alone with Cat.
"It's Roger. I need to talk to you both." Trey groaned under his breath, but they got up off the floor. He opened the door, letting Roger in, and they all walked to the kitchen table to sit down.
"Okay, what is it?" Trey asked, letting his irritation show. Roger ignored him and looked at Cat.
"Ellie said she saw your reaction when you saw that man today. Can you tell me how you know him?" He spoke to her gently, trying to ease her fear. Cat looked over at Trey, and he nodded.
"He was one of Leo's friends that I remember from Indiana." She really didn't want to tell him more unless he pushed. Trey took her hand under the table and squeezed.
"There's more to it than him just being a friend, isn't there?" Roger saw the shame in Cat's eyes and knew she was keeping something back. He felt he knew what it was but couldn't be sure unless she told him.
"When I lived with Leo, he forced me to be with his friends." She left it at that. She wasn't going to go into details.
"I'm sorry you went through that, especially as a child. I'm glad you recognized him, though. Ellie and Caleb are still following him." Roger saw something flash in Cat's eyes at the mention of Caleb.
"I need to tell you something, but I would rather do it with the cameras off." Cat spoke quietly. She wanted to tell him why she didn't trust Caleb, but she didn't want it to be recorded.
"Okay, hang on just a minute." Roger took out his phone and texted Marc to turn off the cameras temporarily. Once he got the okay, he checked the live feed on his phone to ensure they were all off.
"All cameras are off Cat. Please talk freely." He smiled kindly at her. She really did remind him of his wife, Valerie. He saw Cat take a deep breath.
"I have a favor to ask. Can you please keep Detective Pierce away from me? He makes me uncomfortable, and the look I've seen in his eyes is what I've seen many times before. He may be a detective, but I can tell he's not a good person." Cat looked down at her hand in Trey's. She hoped that Roger wouldn't be upset by her request.
Roger felt the anger building in him, not at what Cat said, but at Caleb. Ellie was right; he was abnormally obsessed with Cat. He decided he would have Caleb work from the station from now on. He couldn't fire him without cause, but he would make sure to find a reason to fire him as soon as possible.
"You don't have to worry about him anymore. From now on, I'll have him work from the station. He won't have a reason to even be in your building."
Cat looked up at him in disbelief. He would do all that just because she was uncomfortable around one of his detectives?
"Thank you." She felt Trey squeeze her hand again.
"Do you have a phone?" Roger asked her, and she was taken by surprise. She did have one, but she never used it. It was still in her locker at the hospital.
"Yes, I have one, but it's in my purse that's in my locker at the hospital. When I left with Trey, I didn't bring anything besides my car keys." Cat wondered why they needed her to have a phone. If Trey was always with her, they could reach her on his.
"I'm going to send Ellie to the hospital tomorrow to get your purse. I want you to keep your phone on you at all times. Leo or one of his contacts may try to reach you. We'll tap your phone, so every call will be recorded." Roger hoped he wasn't scaring her any more than she already was, but she shrugged.
"That's fine. I never use my phone for anything other than work anyway. Speaking of the hospital, has anyone told them why I'm not working?" Roger was staring at Cat in shock. He could tell she was stronger than she appeared. With everything going on, she seemed to be taking it in stride for the most part.
"When you and Trey left the hospital, we told the news stations and the hospital that you had a family emergency. When Ellie goes over to get your purse tomorrow, she'll tell them it's a police matter. Do you have any other questions?" Roger looked over at Trey to see how he was doing.
Trey stared at Cat. He couldn't believe how resilient she was. Not long ago, she was sitting on the floor crying, and now she was talking to Roger like they were having tea. He was proud of his mate.
"No, I don't have any questions. Just let us know what happens with the man that followed us. I'll do whatever is necessary to catch Leo and those he's working with." She looked Roger in the eye. She wanted him to see that she wasn't scared. She may break down sometimes, but she was a fighter.
"Alright. I'll get out of your hair and keep in touch. I'll turn the cameras back on when I return to the other apartment." Roger stood up to leave, and there was a knock on the door.
Trey opened the door, and it was Ellie who appeared to be angry. Trey walked over to Cat putting his arm around her shoulders.
"What's wrong?" Roger asked in concern.
"We lost him, Roger, or better yet, Caleb lost him. We followed him to Old Sacramento, and we split up. Caleb stayed behind him, and I waited at the end of the street for the man to come out. I stood there for half an hour and never saw the suspect or Caleb. I called Caleb, and he said the guy cut through an alley. When he tried to follow him, he said he had lost him. Something's fishy, Roger because he never called me or let me know so I could help him look. Caleb is supposedly looking for him now, but I can't be sure because he refused to tell me where he was." Ellie glanced toward Cat before she continued.
"When he first got to me, Caleb kept going on and on about someone that was supposed to be his. I didn't know what he was mumbling about until I heard him say, Caterina. When I questioned him, he told me to mind my own business. Roger, please tell me you won't let him come back here. He can't be trusted." Ellie looked between the three others in the room.
"I've already agreed to keep Caleb from this building and away from Cat. She told me she didn't trust him either." Roger looked at his phone when he felt it vibrate and sighed.
"That was Marc. He said Leo increased the amount he's willing to pay for Cat to be brought to him." Roger looked at Cat, who had turned white.
"To what?" Trey asked through clenched teeth.
"Twenty-thousand dollars."
