Free Vengeance (Oak Grove Suspense Book 1) by Reese A Stephens

but that’s not all. He left an origami fox on his bunk.”
    My heart sinks. That’s his calling card. He left it with his victim as a clue before he’d kill his next victim. I almost don’t want to ask, knowing the implications of the answer but I do anyway.
    “What was in it?”
    “A hair. Forensics ran it, but there’s nothing in the data base. We have nothing to go on. We’ve got uniforms on him, watching, but he’s being citizen of the year.”
    “Keep me posted.”
    “I will. He was ordered to stay put and check in with a parole officer, not that that will stop him if he wants to leave.”
    “Right, I’ll do what I can, but I don’t know what good I’ll be.”
    “They have your testimony, but you might have to come back in once the case is back in court.”              
    “Yeah, anything. I have to get going. I’m meeting Shay and Dylan for dinner.”
    “You guys back together already?” he asks with a chuckle.
    I can’t help smiling. “Nah, but it’s only a matter of time. She wants me. I can tell.”
    He guffaws. “Oh, there we go with your Rico Sauvé ways.”
    I laugh with him. “Nah, it’s not like that. I love her. Always have. I’m tired of messing around. We messed up as kids, we wasted sixteen years without each other, I’m done. I want her and Dylan.”
    “I get it. That’s awesome. I’m happy for you.”
    “Thanks. And thanks for calling. Keep me in the loop.”
    “I will. Later, Jacobs.”
    “Later, Marsh.”
    I shake my head, trying to wrap my head around the news that Mathis is out. Jason Mathis was my biggest case. I was undercover in the Mathis Crime Organization for almost a year. That was what I was doing when my dad died. We had so much evidence, it should’ve been impossible to turn over. Something is very wrong here. My initial thoughts are that it’s an inside job, that some official is pulling what should be un-pull-able strings. I slam my hand down on my desk. I have a sinking feeling he’ll be coming for me. He sees me as his nemesis. I don't think he can find me, but I’ll be damned if I let him get to me or my family. I grab my things and head out of the office, ignoring the wave May gives me as I pass her.
    My mind is everywhere as I travel to Shay’s. I can’t even process what would happen if Mathis came after me. Shayla and Dylan are my priority now. I won’t let anything happen to them. When I finally arrive at Shayla’s, she calls out to me to just take a seat, that dinner is almost ready.
    “Will do,” I say as I do what she tells me.
    I’m happy that dinner is a simple affair, but a happy one. I want more days like this with them; this natural day-to-day conversation has already lightened my mind and put Mathis’ release on the back burner for now.  This is what I never knew I needed, my family.  
    ~*~
    Sunday comes quicker than I would have imagined. It’s afternoon as I watch my son pace back and forth in the living room while we wait for Shayla to finish getting ready. We are set to head over to my grandma Penny’s house. The whole family will be there, well, all that can be at least. Dylan seems uneasy about something, but I can’t imagine what he would be nervous about.
    “Son, you’re wearing a hole in the floor.”
    He stops and turns towards me. “Sorry. I’m just worried. What if they don’t like me?”
    I snort. “They love you already.”
    “How’s that even possible. They’ve never met me.” He finally sits down in the chair across from me.
    “You’ve talked to my mom on the phone, you know she’s head over heels for you.”
    This, of course, is an understatement. Sure, my mom has other grandkids, but Dylan is the oldest. She’s seen him over the years and always suspected he was mine, but every time she brought it up to my dad he shut her down quickly. She was relieved to know she wasn’t crazy and that Dylan did indeed look like me, because he was mine. It caused a big rift between my mom and