by Amy Vastine
“No,” Donovan and her uncle replied at the same time.
“At a hotel, you have people coming and going all the time. It would be harder for me to have someone watch over you,” Uncle Hal explained.
“It’s fine if you stay with me,” Donovan said. “Knowing where you are all the time makes things easier on me.”
Then it was settled. She would stay at Donovan’s until she could have some reassurance that no one could get into her apartment again.
They called the landlord about getting the locks changed. He didn’t think they could get it done until Monday. Uncle Hal offered to have someone go in and sweep the whole place for any recording devices the stalker may have left behind. That was something she hadn’t even considered until he mentioned it and agreed to let him do it.
Donovan drove her to work and all she could think about was that someone could have put cameras in her apartment. How could she feel safe there? The answer was she couldn’t.
“I need to find a new place to live. The landlord can fix the door lock and Hal can tell me there are no bugs or video cameras hidden in my vents, but I am never going to feel completely safe, and isn’t that what home should be? Your safe haven from everything else going on in the world.”
“We’re going to find this guy,” Donovan said with confidence. “Eventually, he’s going to show himself. He wants to be with you, so he’s going to step out of the shadows at some point. I will be there when he does and that will be the end of it.”
As much as Kelly liked being independent, having someone looking out for her right now felt better than it ever had. Maybe it was because of who was doing the looking. “I hope you’re right. Until then, I guess we have lots of time for you to teach me how to knock this guy out if he ever steps out of the shadows and you aren’t around.”
Donovan cracked a half smile. “There’s the Kelly Bonner I’ve come to know. You’ve got this. No one messes with you.”
That little vote of confidence did her wonders as they got to the station. They pulled into the parking garage and Donovan parked his truck. “Thank you,” she said as they walked to the elevator.
“You don’t have to thank me. This is my job, remember?”
“It’s not your job to house me and teach me how to protect myself. It really isn’t even your job to be my bodyguard. I know my uncle is stretching the rules by having you do this instead of making you sit at your desk all day.”
“Well, see? Then I should be thanking you because there is nothing worse than being stuck at a desk all day. It’s like caging a lion, cruel and unusual punishment.”
He placed his hand on her lower back and ushered her through the doors of the elevator. The physical contact made her stomach do a flip. When he was close like this, she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to let him wrap his arms around her and hold her tight, the way Avery did this morning or Graham did last night.
He took her by the hand, concern emanating from his eyes. “Are you okay?”
She stared down at their connection, wishing she didn’t like it so much. He had just said this was nothing more than a job to him. But these kinds of gestures gave her hope that maybe he was willing to let there be something more to what was happening between them. She was definitely softening to the idea.
“I’m fine. Just thinking about how awesome your kids are. They both made me feel like I wasn’t a weird stranger coming into their home. When Graham gave me a hug last night, I thought I might totally lose it. That was so sweet of him.”
“He is a really sensitive kid under all that attitude. He’s very empathetic. Strongly takes after my sister on that one.”
“I think I would have liked your sister.”
“You would have.” He pressed his lips together and stared up at the ceiling. “I think she would have liked you, too.”
Kelly felt like Jessica’s blessing would have meant a lot to Donovan. “Maybe we could pick Avery up after school and bring both kids to the farmers market this afternoon. They could help pass out promo stuff for the station. We could grab dinner there—my treat.”
Donovan let go of her hand and the elevator doors opened to their floor. She wasn’t sure if she had overstepped some boundary or not. He exited and waited for her to follow. “My sister would like you as a person, but she would be concerned about there being any mixed messages about our relationship. It’s not good for the kids to think that this is something that will go on after this stalker is gone.”
From butterflies in her stomach to a good punch in the gut. Kelly felt like a fool for thinking that maybe there was a possibility of something more. “Right. Of course. I don’t want to confuse them. I just thought they might like to see how you’re helping me with my job.”
Donovan’s jaw was still tense, but he nodded. “I see what you’re saying. It could be good for them to see this is work, not personal. Let’s do it.”
Not personal. Kelly needed to remember that.
* * *
WHO WAS DONOVAN KIDDING? He was keeping things between him and Kelly about as professional as a carnival worker who let pretty girls on the rides for free. This relationship definitely had one foot in personal and the other in professional.
He needed to refocus his attention on the work side of things. The other detectives would be looking into people like Trey, the neighbor who apparently had some intense interest in Kelly, and Hunter, the delivery guy who might have been amping things up after the jealousy trap Donovan had set early in the week. Donovan was going to check out Lucas. The best place to start to get more information about someone who worked there was his favorite receptionist who never forgot a face.
“Juliette, I need your help this morning,” he said, leaning against her desk.
“For you, anything.”
“Last year, you guys had an intern named Lucas. What do you remember about him?”
Juliette thought about it for less than a second. “Lucas Kimball. He was from Franklin. His parents are friends with Caroline. Nice kid but didn’t think he had to do as much as everyone else would have liked because his family was friends with the boss.”
“He was a slacker?” The fact that he wasn’t eager to help like the current intern made his supposed willingness to go out of his way to get Kelly’s passport suspect.
“Always tried to get out of things. Never wanted to work on the weekends unless he was getting free tickets to some show.”
“Do you remember if he seemed more willing to help some people over others? Particularly, do you know if he was interested in Kelly at all?”
Juliette took a little longer to think that one over. “Honestly, I don’t remember that. I mean, a lot of people are quickly won over by Kelly. She’s beautiful inside and out. Makes it easy to want to be around her.”
Wasn’t that the truth? Donovan experienced it firsthand. He would probably do anything she wanted him to do because disappointing her seemed wrong.
“Any chance you remember him having to help her get her passport before she went on a trip to Mexico?” he asked, hoping she had a tiny bit more insight.
Juliette shook her head. “I don’t know anything about that. Maybe Lyle would remember. Lucas used to irk Lyle the most.”
Although not exactly what Donovan wanted to hear, having another lead was better than a dead end. Juliette also gave him a lot of little details that helped. Lucas was quite possibly nearby. Franklin was not too far away. He was familiar with the station, so perhaps that was why he had sent all of the gifts there.
Juliette let Donovan head in to find Lyle. He found him and Kelly’s friend Nancy in Kelly’s office. There were several bunched-up tissues on Kelly’s desk and her eyes were red. There must have been more tears when she told her friends what had happened.
“Everything okay?”
Kelly seemed embarrassed that he caught her
crying and wiped her face with her hand. “I’m fine. I think I get myself worked up when I talk about it. What’s going on with you?”
“I got some good info about our friend Lucas from Juliette.”
“Lucas as in Lucas the intern?” Lyle’s displeasure was clear. “Do you think he had something to do with this?”
“What do you remember about him?” Donovan asked.
“He was a whiner who thought he deserved special treatment because Mommy and Daddy were friends with Caroline. He did about one tenth of what Trish does around here.”
“I don’t remember that. I mean, I remember the part about him being friends with Caroline, but I don’t remember him giving me a hard time if I asked him to do something,” Kelly said.
“Oh, come on,” Nancy said, joining the discussion. “Remember how I asked him to help set up the conference room for a meeting with the executives and he told me that he couldn’t because Caroline told him he looked a little tired and he should take a break. His break lasted the rest of the day.”
Kelly laughed. “Maybe. I sort of remember something about that. I thought he was helpful to me but maybe that’s because what stands out the most was him running to my place to get my passport so I didn’t miss Gina’s wedding in Cancun.”
“He went to your apartment?” Lyle seemed concerned.
“I needed someone to go while I was on air. I had to leave for the airport right after work. I had to run to my terminal and was the last person on the plane as it was.”
Lyle shifted in his seat and looked up at Donovan. “So, it could be him. He knows where she lives. He had access to her keys. I never liked that guy.”
Being lazy was not exactly a strong trait for a stalker. “What do you two remember about how he acted around Kelly? Did he seem to have a fascination with her? Did he flirt or treat her differently than anyone else around here?”
“I just remember him being such a pain. I don’t recall him being flirtatious with anyone,” Nancy said.
“He used to come around your office, Kelly, to waste time. I remember finding him in here when he was supposed to be somewhere else,” Lyle said in contrast.
Kelly shook her head. “I don’t remember that. Was I in here when he was in here? If he’s stalking me, maybe he liked to snoop around.”
Lyle shook his head. “You were in here. He was talking and acting like Mr. Know-It-All.”
“I’m going to pass his name along to the detectives in charge. They can talk to him, get him to account for his whereabouts last night. Is there anyone else around here, past or present, who stands out to either of you as someone who might have an unhealthy fascination with Kelly?”
“Everyone loves Kelly,” Nancy said, smiling at her friend.
“Everyone loves you,” Kelly said back.
“Yeah, right,” Nancy said with a laugh. “Kelly looks like she should be on television, not radio. She has a ton of fans, but no one stands out as being as creepy as this guy.”
“If you think of anyone, let me know. I can have the detectives interview anyone we think is suspicious.”
“Thanks for looking into things,” Kelly said as Donovan moved to leave.
“It’s my job, remember?”
Her smile faded and she nodded. “I remember.”
Donovan needed to contact the detectives in charge, but he had left his notebook with all of his notes from this morning in his truck. He headed down to the garage, passing the valet station as he went.
“You’re that guy who’s always with Kelly Bonner, right?” The same guy from yesterday was working. He raked a hand through his hair.
“Miller, right?”
The young man seemed a bit taken back by the fact that Donovan knew his name. “Yeah. Did something happen to Kelly’s car again? I noticed she didn’t drive today.”
“No, nothing happened to her car. I drove her to work this morning.”
Donovan’s phone rang. It was one of the detectives in charge of Kelly’s case. He apologized and explained to Miller that he needed to take the call.
“Detective Walsh? This is Detective Hermann. How’s it going?”
“It’s been a wild night and morning,” Donovan said.
“We’re going to need to interview Ms. Bonner, but I can’t get ahold of her.”
“She’s about to go on-air. She won’t be available until three o’clock.”
“That’s fine. We can stop by then. Did she end up going to her uncle’s last night?”
“No, Kelly spent the night at my place. She’ll be staying with me indefinitely. She’s not feeling real safe at her place.”
“Well, I don’t blame her for not wanting to stay in that apartment. Does she have any ideas who could have gotten their hands on her key? We have a call in to the landlord and plan to talk to him face-to-face today.”
“You might want to check in with a guy named Lucas Kimball. He was an intern at the station last year. Had access to the key and knows where she lives.”
Hermann didn’t want to look into Kimball until they spoke with Kelly. Donovan didn’t understand why they had to waste time and ask the same questions he’d just asked, but this wasn’t his case.
“We’ll see you at three?” Donovan asked to confirm.
“Around then,” Hermann answered. He was annoyingly noncommittal.
“She needs to be at the farmers market at four. If you don’t get here by three, you’ll have to go there.”
“Thanks for the heads-up,” Hermann said before letting Donovan go.
These guys were not making this case their priority. They could have a lot going on. He couldn’t judge; there could be more pressing cases. Donovan was simply frustrated that he had all the time in the world but couldn’t do anything about it.
He sat in his truck and spent the next little while on his phone, searching for Lucas Kimball. He had a Facebook account, Twitter and Instagram. He didn’t post regularly and mostly posted memes about sports and dogs.
Scrolling through his Instagram, Donovan saw that he did post a bunch when he was working at the station. There were two pictures of Kelly. The first one was of her at some event and he was more focused on the event in the caption than Kelly. The second picture was more concerning. It was a candid shot of her. He had zoomed in on her face and she didn’t seem aware that she was being photographed. His caption for the photo was, “Most beautiful DJ in Nashville” and tagged her. The photo had over five thousand likes.
Donovan took a screenshot of the picture and caption to show to the detectives. It wasn’t much, but it was something. He felt this enormous pressure to solve this case. To give Kelly some reprieve from her worry. It would also help rid him of his obligation to her. He could cut ties and go back to the way things were.
Once Kelly had finished her time on the radio, Donovan went inside to be with her when the detectives interviewed her. When he walked into the lobby, Juliette looked relieved to see him.
“Detective! Finally. Where have you been?”
Donovan’s stomach dropped. “What happened?”
“The delivery guy—he was here. He had a note for Kelly. I couldn’t stall him. He wouldn’t stay.”
“Give me the note.” Anger with himself flashed through his body. If only he had come back inside instead of sitting in his truck.
Juliette handed him the folded piece of paper. “No envelope?” he asked. She shook her head. Donovan read the note.
I tried to do something nice for you and you ruined it by bringing that man home. I don’t know what you’re thinking or why you won’t give me a chance to prove to you that we belong together. I don’t know why you want to hurt me. You’ve always been so kind. Do you want to hurt me, Kelly? Because if you do, I might hurt you back.
There was no signature. Just the threat. Donovan had to restrain himself from tea
ring it to shreds. It was evidence. The guy knew Donovan brought her home last night. He didn’t know Donovan came to the radio station or else he wouldn’t have risked delivering the note. Given Juliette’s description of his mannerisms, it had to be the stalker who gave Juliette this note. That much Donovan knew for sure.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
KELLY WRUNG HER hands in her lap. The man had been here, according to Donovan. He had walked into the station office and handed Juliette a note. A note that said he was going to hurt her if she hurt him. All Kelly wanted to do was hide out at Donovan’s until someone caught this guy.
“Do you have any questions for us?” Detective Hermann asked. He and his partner were waiting for her when she got off-air.
“Not that I can think of,” she answered. She had a bunch of questions, only not for them. She needed to talk to Donovan alone.
“Is there anything we should be doing to keep Kelly safe?” Caroline asked. She had joined the discussion with the detectives after hearing about what happened. Her concern was appreciated.
“She’s got private security. You could have visitors and delivery people sign in as an extra layer of office security.”
“She’s supposed to represent the station at the farmers market tonight. Should she do that?”
Kelly didn’t want Caroline to think she couldn’t do her job. “It’s fine, Caroline. Like they said, I have private security.”
“We aren’t going to tell Miss Bonner where she can go,” the detective answered.
Caroline nodded.
They walked the detectives out and Kelly checked her watch. She was due at the farmers market in a few minutes. Luckily, Trish and Lyle agreed to go and set up. Donovan wore a grim expression.
“Thanks for your concern, Caroline.”
Caroline placed a hand on Kelly’s shoulder. “No one messes with my employees. Plus, think of the terrible press we’d get if something were to happen to you.”
Not surprising, she seemed more concerned about the ramifications for the station than about Kelly’s well-being. Compassion didn’t come easy for everyone.