We're Stronger As A Team

I felt slight relief as Damon came in through the garage door. I had been on edge ever since the man had left the store. I tried to remain calm as Damon had asked but it was hard. The encounter had been too suspicious. I had a gut feeling I had met the man who turned Damon's life upside down.

The only reason for him to return was to finish the job. At least that's the only reason that made sense. But why did he come to my store? He didn't seem threatening at all until I had seen that tattoo. He had to have come to Amethyst just to prove a point to Damon. To try and get under Damon's skin.

"Daddy!" Sterling smiled as he greeted Damon.

"Hey buddy." Damon greeted back. He usually had an upbeat tone in his voice when he greeted the children. But not today. "Why don't you and Scar play with Rose while I talk to mommy alone."

Sterling nodded. "Okay."

I got up from the couch. By his demeanor I could tell this wasn't exactly a good conversation we would be having. That only seemed to confirm my suspicions. This Zach, whoever he was, must be our culprit.

"Come on." Damon spoke as he led the way to the study and opened the door.

I had overcome the anxiety this room in particular gave me over the last few months. Dr. Gordon had given me some help to help get over it. But suddenly all the anxiety was back. The memory of finding Damon on the floor flashed in my mind.

Damon grabbed my hand and his icy blue eyes looked into mine. "It's okay Love." His voice was soothing. "If you'd rather talk elsewhere we can go to the bedroom."

I shook my head. "No. Let's go." I pushed past him and took a seat at the front of the desk.

He took the seat across from me and began to pull things up on the computer. He seemed so calm about the whole thing. I was surprised as I had expected him to be at least angry. I knew this was just the calm before the storm though and that seemed even scarier. Deep down though I knew there was a hurricane brewing within him.

"After your call I received an email today." Damon spoke as he turned his attention over to me.

"I'm going to go ahead and assume this email you received probably wasn't work related." he wouldn't bring it up unless it pertained to the topic at hand.

"Correct." He answered. "It was a threat. They said they had returned to finish the job"

I could feel the anxiety in me worsen. My breathing began to get a little heavier. "So the man at the store wasn't a coincidence then?"

Damon noticed I was getting more anxious. "Take a couple deep breaths Love." He directed.

I did as he advised. I took a few deep breaths in and let them out. I could feel myself get a little calmer with each breath. I still felt a little anxious but I was taking back control over the feeling. I needed to make sure I approached this like Damon. Calm and collected. Freaking out was exactly what this person would want.

"It was no coincidence the man at the store came in." Damon spoke up again after he noticed I was calmer. "I reviewed the tapes of the store and the tapes from that night."

I gulped down the lump that developed in my throat. "And?"

"I realized I missed something when analyzing the footage from here. Something the cops had to have missed as well. For a split second, not even that you can see a reflection." Damon explained. "I had it cleaned up and compared it to the footage from the man in the store. It is indeed the same person."

I took another deep breath in and let it out. "So what now? What do we do?"

Damon looked down in thought for a moment. "I'm still trying to figure it out to be honest. I need to find out who exactly this man is first off but I don't have anything but his face."

"He said his name was Zach." I gave him the name I had gotten from the man himself. "He also said that he lived out of town and was just stopping in because his girlfriend loves the brand."

"Still doesn't give me much to work on. But I guess something is better than nothing." Damon responded.

"I'm sorry, I should've tried to get more information." If I had known who he was I would've tried to get any and all information out of him.

"No." Damon spoke in a serious tone. "It wasn't worth putting yourself at any more risk to try to get information. You handled it well and if he happens to come into the store again you'll handle it the same way but alert me immediately."

"I understand." I nodded. This was a matter I needed to listen to Damon completely on.

"Love, I'm going to go all in on this again. Justin and I are going to meet up in the next two days and I'll be reviewing everything he has found over the last few months." Damon's eyes looked me over. "I promise I won't let this put me back into the downward spiral I was in."

"I want in too." My green eyes looked into his icy blue orbs.

I could tell he was slightly surprised by my response. "I don't think that's a good idea Love. I would rather you stay out of this and focus on the children"

"No." I protested. "I want in on this Damon."

"Kaydence." He sighed. "It's not up for debate right now. Don't fight me on this please."

"This person didn't only affect you Damon. This has taken a toll on me as well. They turned our lives upside down and we almost lost each other in the process." I wasn't backing down on this. "Let me support you in this and let's work together. You know we're stronger as a team."

He seemed to be actually thinking about the points I was bringing up. "Fine. You can work on this with us, but I have one condition that I expect you to obey me on no matter what."

"What is it?" I asked.

"You are only involved with finding who this person is and why they've done it. That's it." His tone was stern and held a hint of darkness to it. "When it comes to how they'll be punished, that's all on me. I need to keep your hands clean of the mess that will be made. Deal?"

I could see that storm inside him in his eyes. I could see he was out for blood with this matter. I wasn't going to stop him either. There would be no escape from the wrath of Damon Tipton. There was a reason Damon was feared and his punishments were one of them, Justin knew firsthand. This man deserved everything that was coming to him.

I could feel the determination grow inside of me. "Deal."