to you. He will not stop until he’s got you. And he’ll start by picking off other people we love. No one is safe. Not my parents, your sisters or your mom. No one.”
I knee-walked across the bed until I could reach him. Then I tugged his shoulders until he slumped back in a sitting position, his elbows to his knees, his head in his hands.
I plastered myself against his back, wrapping my arms around him the best I could. When I got my hands in front of him, he grabbed them and kissed them repeatedly before pressing them to his heart.
“What do you need me to do?”
“I don’t know. Just don’t leave me. You’re not to be out of my sight until this man goes down. Understand?”
I nodded against his neck. “What do we need to do to keep our families safe?”
“Get them the hell out of town. Maybe out of the country.”
“Sonia won’t go. She can’t and I’m sure the media storm is going to hit big time when they find out that the Senator’s ties to this serial killer just got more complex.”
He sighed as the door to his room opened and Ryan held it open.
“Senator Wright is here with her entourage in the living room. The media are crawling all over the front of the house and I need to get on this. Brother, I want to be here for you, but you need me working this, for you.” He glanced at the floor and noticed the mess. “I’ll pour you another glass before I go.” He moved to leave.
“Ryan?” Jonah called out, his voice hoarse.
“Yeah?”
“Find this motherfucker.”
Ryan’s face twisted into one of extreme confidence and true grit. He lifted his chin. “I’ll do my best.”
“I know you will. And thank you.” He reached his hand out.
Ryan took hold, yanked Jonah up, and clapped him on the back in a brotherly man hug. “Take care of our boy, eh?” he said to me.
“Absolutely.”
Jonah reached for me and I stood up and he held my hand as I walked to the other side of the bed where the glass hadn’t spread and put on my mother’s slippers. “I’ll clean this up after we deal with Sonia and her team.”
He held my hand and led me into the living room where we only found her and Quinn. Her team must have been outside.
My sister stood, her entire face pale, her red lips and sky-blue eyes looking so bright against her skin. “Jonah, I’m…I…I’m sorry for your loss.”
He nodded. “Thank you.”
I moved over to my sister and she immediately pulled me into an embrace. Her hold was tight, and I could feel her shaking as she tried to get her emotions under control. She cupped one of my cheeks. “You okay, Sis?”
“Yeah.”
“I was so worried about you and then the media started reporting on the latest victim and tied it to Jonah and your car and I…” She didn’t finish just pulled me into her arms again.
“I’m okay, Sonia. It will be okay. Ryan is going to kick some ass and take some names and find this guy. I have to believe that.” She nodded against my shoulder but didn’t let me go.
Sonia pulled her face back and we stood nose to nose. “You’re everything to me, Simone. You know that, right? I cannot lose you. I simply can’t.”
That time I cupped both of her cheeks. “Look into my face. I’m right here. Alive. Perfectly fine. I mean, I’m not fine-fine, but I’m alive. And I have faith that the FBI will get their man. They have to.”
“SoSo, the press outside want a comment.” Quinn shuffled toward our huddle. He was impeccably dressed in a black bespoke suit, a gray dress shirt, and a shimmery green tie. His dark red hair was slicked up and coiffed perfectly to the side and out of his face. Quinn McCafferty was one hundred percent Irish from the tip of his toes to the top of his red hair and emerald green eyes.
“They can want all they want. My sister’s boyfriend’s ex-wife was just brutally murdered and placed naked in my sister’s car. The same car he planned to strangle and kill my sister in, Quinn. The press can take a flying leap off a building for all I care right now.”
“Okay, so…” He typed into a handheld mini-iPad or some type of electronic device. “Senator Wright is not currently giving any comments on the horrible events that happened today or led up