Always Watching by Lynette Eason Read Free Book Online

was just a baby at the time, but her mother’s abandonment and eventual death still had an effect on her. On us.”
    â€œOf course it did.”
    â€œI wanted to help parents and kids who found themselves in that situation. Fortunately, I had a father and the funds to make things easier on me. The majority of single parents don’t have that. This charity makes a difference for them.”
    â€œIt’s a much-needed organization. I applaud you for founding it.” Her eyes never stopped moving. He knew she was listening to him, but her alert status never wavered. For some reason that comforted him. Made his respect for her slide up a notch.
    She held up a finger when her phone rang.
    â€œPut it on speaker, will you?” he said.
    She lifted a brow but did so.
    â€œI have something, Liv,” Katie said, her voice strong and concerned. “Let me finish clearing the house.”
    â€œWhat is it?”
    â€œSomeone left a gift on the front steps.”
    Olivia glanced at him and Wade narrowed his eyes. “What kind of gift?” she asked.
    â€œA package. Stay put until I know whether or not it’s rigged to go boom.”

[8]
    Wade flinched. “Go boom?” He sat, tension threading through every muscle. He could feel his heart beating in his temples and had to remind himself to breathe.
    It seemed like hours before Katie’s voice came back on the line. “The house is clear, you might as well come around to the front porch and see it. One thing I do know: it’s not going to go boom.”
    â€œWell, that’s a comfort,” Wade muttered. In the rearview mirror, he saw his sister-in-law pull in behind him with Amy and Amy’s friend Stacy Abbott. He’d forgotten all about Stacy staying the weekend.
    He climbed from the vehicle, anxious to see what his stalker had left. He was grateful Olivia didn’t try to stop him from entering the house, she just followed him.
    Into her phone, she spoke to someone else. “Keep everyone out of the house for the moment. Did you check the guest house where the sister-in-law lives?” She cut the speakerphone off and listened. Spoke again. “Good. I’ll let you know when it’s clear to allow them to come in.”
    At the door, Wade paused and glanced back at his daughter. The frown on her pretty young face said she wanted to know what was going on and would pit bull him until he told her. She might have anxiety issues, but she also had her fair share of his stubborn genes. He sighed. And maybe it was time to talk to her. This whole situation seemed to be snowballing at a rate that would bury them all under an avalanche of danger if he didn’t do something to figure out who was stalking him and put a stop to it.
    He stepped inside the short hallway. To his right was a room his sister-in-law often used for scrapbooking and other craftwork. To his left was his office. He bypassed that and his dining room and stepped into the foyer. He opened the front door and found the person Olivia had been talking to. Katie. She was bent over an object on his front porch.
    His father had pulled around to the left side of the horseshoe-shaped drive while Wade had been distracted with Olivia and the call. The man now stood next to Katie, his eyes on whatever she was also looking at.
    His father’s pasty-white face sent dread skittering through Wade, but he didn’t falter in his steps. He wanted to know. Had to know.
    Katie sat on the top step, looking down into a box that probably measured three feet long by two feet wide. It wasn’t the box itself that caused his breathing to quicken, but the shape.
    He skidded to a stop. “Seriously? A coffin?” His heart thudded, beating a painful, heavy rhythm in his chest. “How do you know it’s not going to ‘go boom’?” He identified another emotion surging through him. Anger. Pure white-hot rage that someone would dare violate his