by Alana Terry
Maddison sent her a bored look. “He’s shorter than me.”
Shauna thought it best to keep quiet about what she thought about that.
Maddison smirked and seemed to consider her for a moment. “Come on. We’ve spent enough energy on him for at least a week. Let’s get that coffee, so you can tell me why you were hugging the sink when I walked in on you.”
Thoughts of the cause for Shauna’s panic came rushing back to her, and she looked over her shoulder and through the windows of the few rooms with their doors open. What she had tried to write off as coincidence had just shown itself to be a whole other animal. She stepped a little closer to her friend for support and began counting down the minutes before what little freedom she’d gained would be taken from her.
Chapter 2
“YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE police!” Maddison stage-whispered as she set her cup aside and dug into her purse.
Her friend’s voice broke into Shauna’s coffee haze, cheating her of the euphoria she’d been seeking in the smell and first foamy taste of her extra-hot vanilla latte.
“I don’t think it’ll do any good,” Shauna said as she looked around her to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation.
“Why?” Maddison paused in her rummaging.
“Because until today I just chalked it up to coincidence, and I don’t see how a report or piece of paper will keep him from coming near me when he wants,” she said with an exasperated sigh. “Maybe...” She paused, knowing what she was about to say was a long shot. “Maybe he works there, and I’m just making too big a deal about this.”
“Look. I’ve never known you to be overdramatic about anything. If you want to know the truth, I think you’re way too resigned.” Had Shauna worked so hard to stifle her responses that she came across as uncaring about her welfare?
“What did your dad say?” Maddison asked.
Shauna stared into her cup as if it held the answers to the universe.
“You didn’t tell him?” Maddison’s voice became a little shrill. Shauna thought about shushing her but knew that would only make it worse. “You said you’d tell him a couple of weeks ago!”
She shrugged. “He’s been busy, and it’s not something I want to leave on his voicemail.”
Maddison leaned in. “You have a man stalking you, and your father is up for a high-profile job with the CDC. What’s the holdup? I’m sure he can call in a favor and get you some security.”
Shauna remained quiet. She couldn’t tell her friend that it was the same high-profile position that caused her hesitation in telling her father. During her freshman year of college, he was up for a different promotion but declined the offer after an extremely harrowing ordeal landed her in the hospital for two weeks. At first she welcomed the constant security and her father’s heavy-handed type of protection, but after a few years it became stifling and debilitating.
He’d since continued up the ladder, and she’d learned how to cope with the debilitating anxiety and panic disorder, vowing that she wouldn’t put him in the position again of choosing between her and his career.
“Shauna?” Maddison’s insistent voice pulled her from her thoughts.
Shauna refocused on her determined expression and the shiny new phone in her hand. Oh no.
“What’s it going to be?”
“What?” she asked, stalling.
“Either I call the police or your father.”
Shauna relaxed. “You don’t have my father’s number.”
“Remember Xander’s surprise party?” Maddison waggled her phone from side to side. What did her father’s number have to do with her brother’s party eight months ago?
“You needed me to pick him up from the airport because you were stuck in traffic with Nicolas,” Maddison said as if she’d read her thought.
She squirmed at the sound of her ex-boyfriend’s name, almost taking her focus off the point her friend was making.
“You gave me his number so we could find each other,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows.
Shauna’s thought process splintered. The pieces were spread out all over her psyche like landmines. Not wanting to choose any line of thought, she tried to hedge. “I’ll call my dad and let him know later this evening.”
Maddison retrieved her phone and pressed a button. “Even better: you can do it right now,” she said as she placed the phone to her ear. Panic shot through Shauna at Maddison’s words, and she reached for the phone, only to have it pulled out of reach when Maddison leaned back and began speaking.
“Dr. Nathan? Hi, this is Maddison Bayer. I’m a friend and colleague of Shauna’s. I picked you up from the airport last year.” She paused. “Yes. Hello.” Her voice went smooth. If Shauna wasn’t strung so tight, she might have found the thought of her friend flirting with her dad... well... nauseating.
“Everything’s good. I’m calling because I’m sitting across from your daughter and she has something important to share with you.” She paused and slowly stretched out the phone toward Shauna.
Shauna had a mind to just let it hang in her hand and force her to take it back. She couldn’t believe her friend would do such a thing. She took a deep breath to try to calm her heart and reached for the phone like it was a live wire.
Hoping she’d have enough breath to speak, she put the phone to her ear, bracing herself for his concern-filled voice. “Weather patterns show two storms coming in from the eastern seaboard and the south...” Confused, she looked at the phone as it lit up, showing that she was listening to an audio version of the Weather Channel. She blinked as she came to terms with the fact that her friend had just sent her through the emotional wringer for nothing.
She looked up at Maddison and saw her expression shift from mischievous to concern to contrite. She stood, mortified by the constriction in her throat as her overwrought emotions sought release. She loosened her purse strap from the back of her chair and turned to leave the shop.
“Shauna, I’m sorry,” Maddison pleaded. “I didn’t mean to make you so distraught.” She heard her friend call after her right before she felt her hand on her arm.
Shauna pulled back to avoid the woman’s touch so she could escape the coffee shop, before the tears now clouding her vision embarrassed her.
“I just wanted to show you how easy it would be to call him and tell him what was happening.”
Shauna would’ve laid into her if she thought she could deliver it without breaking down. She sent Maddison a scathing look right before walking through the door.
“Shauna, please. It was a poorly executed attempt to get you to see you were overanalyzing and not acting.”
Shauna stopped on her way to the parking lot and turned toward Maddison in the middle of the sidewalk. The anger that ignited in her chest, relaxed her throat muscles. “Does this look like overanalyzing to you?” she hissed as she pointed to her face.
Maddison had the decency to look ashamed. “I didn’t know.”
She interrupted her. “Didn’t know what, Maddison? Didn’t know I’d be horrified by the fact that my best friend would call my dad on me? Didn’t know that I may have other reasons for not contacting my dad and scaring the mess out of him?” she said, her voice growing in volume as the heat rose in her chest.
Maddison’s open mouth closed then tightened before she continued. “I’m sorry that my need to make a point nearly sent you into a panic. You’re always so well-controlled and focused, but I guess with your earlier bout, you’re still raw. I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.” She reached for Shauna’s wrist, but instead of using the touch to subdue her, she rubbed her fingers along Shauna’s pulse point in a soothing gesture. She stepped close but lowered her head so their eyes were level. “You need help. You have an unknown man with unknown intentions, watching and following you. You don’t know his intentions because he hasn’t approached you in a safe setting like normal people do, which means he’s unpredictable. He has been doing this for at least two weeks, which als
o means he’s not going anywhere.”
Shauna was still angry, but what Maddison said rang true to her. She quickly wiped at the tears that had spilled over her lashes. “I’m so mad at you right now.”
Maddison gave her a wan smile. “I know, and I deserve it, but I’m scared for you. You live alone. If you think your call would scare your dad now, what do you think a call from the police would do to him?”
The thought of someone getting through the security in her home made her blood run cold. Did he know where she lived? She’d only ever seen him around the market and restaurants close to her job. Maddison had finally found the right argument. If Shauna was honest with herself, she wasn’t sure just how long he’d been watching her. After years of watching over her shoulder and looking for exits as soon as she walked into an establishment, she’d finally found a therapist who helped her find what he called her ‘safety net.’ She was able to bring her level of awareness down to a place that didn’t make her feel like a paranoid basket case. She was able to concentrate on the people sitting across from her in cafés now instead of wondering who’d just walked in the door.
Her father didn’t help. He had a tendency to overreact which only fed her paranoia, thus debilitating her. Maybe she had taken it too far and become too lax? She wasn’t as aware of her surroundings when she was in the midst of a project. Though it had been at least two years since her father let her last guard go, she wouldn’t put it past him to have someone watch her from time to time.
The man had only caught her attention a couple of weeks back when she’d looked up from a packaged sandwich-and-salad plate in the corner market and saw him duck around the end of the aisle. She hadn’t seen his face, since he wore a hood. After a minute or two of feeling watched, she left the market without buying anything. Since then, she’d only thought she’d gotten glimpses of him when she went out to lunch with coworkers. Today was the first time she’d seen him right outside of her job site's gate. True, the conference room they used was closest to the outside gate, and the wall of windows that allowed her to see out without others seeing in, made it hard to distinguish one office space from another. It was a heavily guarded industrial area. People were rarely seen walking outside of the gates or between the buildings due to the sensitivity of the plant equipment. Though he never stopped his slow stroll along the gate to the corner, the boldness of his presence was enough to throw her into a state of panic and anxiety during a presentation she’d worked on for the last two weeks.
“Shauna?” The feeling of Maddison’s hand squeezing her arm pulled her back to the present. “Please, call your dad.”
Resigned to the fact that it could no longer be avoided, Shauna nodded her head in acquiescence before continuing to her car.
Chapter 3
SHAUNA SET HER GLASS on the coffee table next to her Italian-style TV dinner. She knew she was stalling, but once she called him, there would be no privacy and no going back. Her father was the epitome of overprotectiveness. She still remembered the 3 months she argued with him five years ago, regarding her living on her own. They’d come to a compromise when the apartment she now lived in became available in the complex he owned. She promised not to move out if he promised to treat her unit like anyone else’s in the facility. She paid rent on the first like everyone else. She called the super when her toilet started flushing without her assistance, and her father called before he came over.
After finishing her meal and washing her dish, she did a small breathing exercise and dialed his number.
“Hi Dad.”
“Hey pumpkin. You’ve been on my mind all day.”
Really? Had he sensed something was wrong?
“You had the presentation today, right?”
She laughed at her paranoid thoughts. He sounded a little distracted.
“Um, yes, I did.” How was she going to introduce this?
“And?”
“And it went well. Maddison said Dr. Schuster almost cracked a smile.”
“Wow. So, you didn’t just do good. You did exceptionally well.” She could hear the pride in his voice.
“Yes. Yes, it went very well.” She let out a breath.
“I thought you would be a great deal more excited. You and Maddison worked really hard on that project.”
“I know.” She sighed. Might as well get it over with. “Dad, I need to tell you something.”
THREE HOURS LATER, Shauna softly closed the door on her new security detail. She wished she was five years old again so she could throw a tantrum about now having a guard stationed in a car across the street from her apartment at night. Not to mention having another follow her to the gate of her job every morning when she went to work.
At least her father didn’t order her to come back home until they could identify the man who was following her. He did suggest it, firmly, and she just as firmly refused. After relaying every incident involving her stalker, Atherton Nathan asked her the question she’d been dreading.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I, uh.”
“No lying, Shauna.”
“I know you’re up for a high-profile position, and I didn’t want any attention directed toward me or this issue. You’ve given up so much for me in the past. I didn’t want to give you any reason to do so now.”
“I can get another chance at just about any position I want. I can’t get another daughter.” Even as the words made her glow, her conscience laid into her. The conflicting emotions irritated her.
“Yes, but you shouldn’t have to.”
“That’s irrelevant when it comes to you. You don’t know how incredibly proud I am of you and your accomplishments.
“I think I have an inkling,” she said, unable to keep the irony out of her voice—since he’d done everything short of buying her a chemistry lab when she was younger to encourage her to follow in his footsteps.
She heard him chuckle over the line. “I might have been a little overzealous, but in the end, you picked right.”
She laughed.
“Seriously, Shauna, there is nothing more important to me than you, your sister, and brother. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to guarantee your safety and happiness, but you can’t fight me at every turn, and that pride of yours...”
“...Is just one more thing I got from you,” she said, interrupting him. She was all too aware of the person not included in his list of important people. He was one of the most stubborn men she knew.
The phone was silent for a moment.
“I’ll accept that if you seriously consider my proposal.”
“Enough, Dad. I’m not leaving my job nor the city because of some man with a fetish.”
“You’re not running away. You’re taking a vacation out of town until we find out who’s following you. When was the last time you took a vacation?” he asked.
She mumbled something incoherent into the phone.
“What? I didn’t hear you clearly.”
He knew what he was doing. She wanted to accidentally disconnect the phone—accidentally. “Three years ago.”
“Three years,” he said in his I told you so voice. “Give it some consideration, Pumpkin. You work so hard. You need to take some time to rest and relax as well, and I don’t mean those five-hour visits to the stables.”
“Two hours,” she mumbled, unable to keep from defending herself. Even so, her words went unanswered.
If Shauna had a dollar for every time her father gave her his opinion regarding her need for balance in her life, she could’ve hired her own private investigator and security team.
“I wouldn’t even know where to go. Not that I’m giving going anywhere serious consideration,” she finished firmly.
“Indulge your old man. Give it some thought.”
She wanted to groan. She hated when her dad got all sweet and soppy. She had a hard time denying him anything when he did, and he knew it. “I’ll give it some thought.”
SHAUNA WOKE UP FEELIN
G a little brighter about the upcoming few days. After hanging up with her father, she figured she might as well prove his accusation true regarding her time spent with horses. She called her favorite stables which were farther out than the place she usually rode when she could only get away for a couple of hours. She reserved an early, two-hour session, which was nothing but decadent on a Thursday, when she’d otherwise be elbow deep in paperwork.
She quickly got showered and dressed, feeling lighter as the minutes ticked by. With her purse and hat in hand, she opened her door and let out a squeak at the unexpected sight of the man standing on her doorstep. Her bright mood dimmed at the memory he evoked.
“Hello, Michael,” she deadpanned as she stepped through the door and locked it behind her.
“Dr. Nathan.”
“I guess you plucked the short stick, huh?” she said, walking to her car to retrieve the riding bag, equipped with crop and gloves, that she’d left in her trunk. There was no need even voicing her objection. The drive to the stables was out of range for what her father considered a safe driving distance alone. If she were going to work or the store, she’d just be followed. The thirty miles to the equestrian center was out of the question as long as her stalker was walking around.
She handed Michael her bag and followed him to his car as she gave him the name of the stables. He merely nodded and opened the back door to an unmarked black sedan for her. “For the record, Dr. Nathan, I volunteered.”
Surprised, she looked into his dark-brown eyes. In her opinion, Michael had nice but unremarkable features. He could be considered handsome with his close-cropped hair, sharp, high cheekbones, and clean-shaven, angular jawline, but he was so broad she usually felt dwarfed by him. It made her feel like a very small younger sister. “Why is that?”
“I just can’t get enough of your sparkling personality,” he said with just as much passion in his voice as she had.
She smiled in spite of herself and climbed into the car. One thing she could say about Michael, he didn’t take any mess from her, and he didn’t mince words. His humor was drier than hers and tended to lean toward the darker side, but his wit was sharp and biting when his full focus wasn’t needed on his assignment.