She sighed and settled back into her seat as he merged onto the road.
“Want to tell me what’s been going on with you today?” He gave her a pointed look.
“Want to? No.”
“But you will,” he said more demanding than he should have been, but he needed to know what was up with her if he was going to protect her.
“I’ve got a headache. A little nausea. ”
“It’s been bothering you all day, right?”
She nodded.
“You sure it’s a good idea to go to the gym tonight?”
She held up the bottle. “This should help bring me back to life.”
He would have continued to argue the point, but his phone chimed a text from Jake. At the next stoplight, he grabbed it from the dash and read the message.
“Text is from Jake. Nantz’s prints are back. They don’t match the ones found at your apartment or in your car.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised. I honestly didn’t think they would.”
Brady glanced at her. “You know this doesn’t rule him out, right? The prints that were lifted might not be related to the break-ins at all, and Nantz could have worn gloves.”
“Again, I doubt it, but I know he remains a suspect.” She sighed.
He didn’t know if it was because she didn’t want to consider Nantz a suspect or because she was tired. “I’ll try to get Eckert’s prints at the gym, too. Plus, I want you to interact with him. Try to learn his whereabouts when the roses and other items were left.”
“Which means I have to be nice to the guy.” She mocked a shiver. “If he asks me out again, you’re going to have to rescue me.”
“I’ll keep an eye on you. If necessary, I can pretend I’m your boyfriend.”
“We’ll need a signal, then. Like spies use on TV.” A cute grin brightened her face as if she found the idea of an undercover mission fun. “How about I take the clip out of my hair?”
“Sounds good,” Brady said and concentrated on possible scenarios he might encounter with Eckert.
When they actually met up with the guy, he was standoffish and terse. Brady expected Morgan to give up on talking to him, but instead she started flirting. Putting her hand on his arm. Batting long, long lashes up at him.
It’s all an act, Brady kept reminding himself. An act Eckert obviously bought. He smiled and stepped closer, eliminating the personal space Brady instructed Morgan to maintain. Eckert started touching Morgan’s arm when he spoke. Her shoulder. Leaning even closer. Whispering.
Mine. The word shot through Brady’s brain and he immediately pushed it away. She wasn’t his. He didn’t even want her to be his, did he?
Morgan suddenly stepped back and jerked out her hair clip. Brady charged across the room. He put an arm around her shoulders and drew her closer for protection. “Ready to go, honey?”
She smiled up at him, sincere relief shining in her eyes. Her obvious joy at seeing him sent a surge of warmth through his body and made him want more of it. Much more. This was exactly how it would feel if they were together. The ache for such a relationship was palpable and regret surged over not being able to act on it. She rested her hand on his chest, an expensive ruby ring on her finger bringing him back to reality. She was used to the finer things in life. Things he couldn’t provide until he got his degree and had a better paying job. He’d stay his course and not risk hurting her when there was no place in his life for a relationship right now.
She looked at Eckert. “This is my boyfriend, Brady. He might be joining the gym, too.”
Eckert scowled at her, his eyes filled with fury. “Then what was with all the flirting?”
“Flirting?” she asked innocently.
“Look, lady, I’m not someone you can play with and get away with it.” He grabbed for her arm.
Brady stepped forward, pulling Morgan out of Eckert’s reach and blocking the man’s access to her.
“If you ever—” Eckert’s voice rose and his face reddened as he fired a threatening look at Morgan “—ever, lead me on like that again, you’ll pay. Got that, lady?”
He marched away, his strides swift and angry. A man passing by gawked at Eckert.
“What are you looking at?” Eckert barreled into the other guy, knocking him to the floor.
Morgan trembled under Brady’s arm. “I’m glad you were here.”
“I won’t let anything happen to you, honey. Ever.” He resisted the urge to charge after Eckert to teach him a few manners and hugged Morgan close. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”
On the way out, Brady grabbed Eckert’s disposable water bottle for prints and escorted Morgan to the locker room. Brady hated letting her out of his sight for a minute. Eckert was volatile. Out of control and a foe to be reckoned with. A man who clearly possessed stalking characteristics, making him the perfect suspect.
* * *
Morgan leaned closer to the door in Brady’s truck and clutched her stomach. After her altercation with Eckert, her stomach continued to heave and roil. The bumpy ride didn’t help and she could tell that throwing up was imminent.
“Can you pull over?” she asked. “Quickly. I think I’m going to be sick.”
Brady swung the truck to the side of the road.
She pushed her door open and hung her head. The freezing air helped stem the nausea, but her stomach still churned. Brady came around the front of the truck and squatted in front of her. He gently moved her hair from her face and looked up at her with concern darkening his eyes.
“I wouldn’t squat there if I were you,” she said trying to make light of the embarrassing moment. “You’re in the tsunami zone.”
He chuckled, then immediately sobered. “You haven’t been feeling well for days. Maybe we should have Darcie come check you out.”
Morgan started to shake her head, but the world spun and she stopped. “It’s just stress. It was like this during the trial, too.”
“Must have been hard to win the case when you were barfing on the judge’s feet.”
She gave him a wan smile. “It never got this bad. I think Eckert’s threats really brought things home tonight.”
“Maybe you’ve developed an ulcer or something. Darcie could help.”
“I don’t need to see Darcie. I just want to go home.”
“You okay for me to drive, then?”
“Yes,” she said and laid her head back on the seat.
He got back in and merged into traffic. Each bump, each stop, sent her stomach churning, but she swallowed hard and willed her stomach to behave.
Thankfully, he found a spot near her building and parked. “I want to check out your apartment before you go inside.”
“You think someone’s been here again?”
“I have no reason to think so, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.” He didn’t sound like he believed his own words, making her more anxious.
He reached out as if to take her hand, then let his arm drop. “I don’t want to leave you out here. Can you make it inside and wait for me in the lobby?”
“Yes,” she said. “Just be quick.
She let him help her up the steps and over to a seat before he boarded the elevator and disappeared. She’d never admit it to anyone, but she liked leaning on him. Liked having him want to care for her like this.
Where had all her independence gone?
The room suddenly spun and her stomach clenched. She leaned her head back on the richly covered wing-back chair and waited for the moment to pass. Maybe he’d been right. Maybe this was more that stress. Maybe she had a virus. There was one going around. Several of her clients’ children had been sick.
Please, Father. I don’t need to be sick, too.
The sound of the old elevator descending to the groun
d floor brought Morgan’s head up. Thinking Brady was on his way down, she sat up to hide her wooziness before he arrived and insisted on bringing Darcie over. She sure hoped he didn’t find anything in her apartment, as she just wanted to sink into her bed and go to sleep.
He stepped out of the elevator. His gaze went straight to her. His eyes and jaw were tight.
Her heart plummeted.
He didn’t have to say a word. His expression said it all. Something terrible awaited her upstairs.
TEN
Morgan stood in her doorway, staring at a trail of rose petals leading down the hallway like a trail of blood. Their sweet scent, a smell she’d once loved, was cloying. She felt her stomach lurch again, and she swallowed back the urge to hurl on her wood floors.
“Remember,” Brady said from right behind her. “Don’t touch anything. Rossi will want to see the scene just as we found it.”
She followed the trail inside. Though Brady had told her what to expect, she gasped and jerked back from the red votive candles in small glass holders burning on almost every surface in her living room. They’d obviously been lit for some time as many of the wicks had been swallowed by melted wax that extinguished the flame. On the sofa sat a large poster board covered with photographs. Photos of her engaging in her daily activities. At work in the resource room. On the MAX. At the theater. The gym. The grocery store. Pharmacy. On and on. Her every movement.
Her stalker had been close to her. So close. All this time.
She shivered and couldn’t stem the tears that had been threatening for days.
“Aw, honey, it’ll be okay.” Brady gently tipped her head up and looked into her eyes. “I promise.”
She saw compassion, caring and warmth in his gaze and didn’t want to look away. To move away.
He swiped a thumb over her cheek and despite knowing she should take a step back, she rested her forehead on the solid wall of his chest and felt herself relax. He drew her closer. Pressed her cheek against his chest and stroked her hair while she cried.
“Shh,” he whispered. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
She didn’t know how long she let him hold her, but the sound of Rossi calling out from the open door brought her to her senses and she backed away. Brady’s eyes narrowed as if she’d hurt him. If she had, she regretted it, but despite the urge to lean on him, she couldn’t do so. Not for more than a moment. Not now when she’d just begun to taste life on her own.
She dragged her gaze away from him. He went to greet Rossi in the hallway where she heard Brady bring the detective up to speed, but the collage beckoned her to take a closer look instead of joining them. Her stomach convulsing once again, she studied the pictures and tried to recall the dates of the activities. Just how long had she been watched?
She heard Brady and Rossi enter the room, then a swift indrawn gasp of air, probably from Rossi. If a hardened detective thought the collage was gasp worthy, she should be even more concerned.
“He’s been following me for months,” she muttered. “Three months, to be exact.”
Rossi moved next to her. “How do you know?”
She pointed at a photo where she stood outside the Keller Auditorium. “This production was in October.”
Frowning, Rossi moved closer to the collage. “Can you identify the timing of any of the other pictures?”
“Yes.”
“Then I need you to write down the date for each picture you can match.”
She peered at him, the throbbing in her head intensifying. “It sounds like you believe me now.”
“I apologize for ever doubting you,” he said sincerely. “But the evidence just didn’t support your claim until now.”
“Now?” she asked. “I’m surprised you didn’t think I set this up before I left for work this morning.”
“It’s the candles.” Brady gestured around the room. “You’ve been with me all day. There’s no way you could have lit these.”
“Oh...right,” she managed to say. She should be glad that Rossi now believed her, but the thought of a man spending all that time lighting these candles in her apartment sent terror to her heart, and she felt like she might drop to the floor.
“I suppose you could have arranged for someone to do this for you,” Rossi continued. “But I’m more inclined to think you’re telling the truth.” Rossi met her gaze, his assessing for a moment. “I’m going to bring in forensics for this. I’ll just step outside to call them, and then we’ll go through the crime scene together.”
Morgan settled in a chair and waited until he left the room before looking at Brady. “Why is he so suspicious?”
“He’s in law enforcement. We’re all suspicious.” Brady grimaced. “If you saw what we do on a daily basis, you’d understand.”
“What exactly do you do every day?” she asked, trying to think about anything other than the evidence of a stalker surrounding her. “I mean you can’t be called out to hostage situations with the FRS all the time.”
“Actually, I wear three hats.” He leaned against the wall. “In addition to the FRS, I’m on the sheriff’s Search and Rescue Squad. When I’m not dispatched for either of these teams, I work patrol. Since the county can’t afford for the FRS to sit around and wait for a callout, everyone on the team but Jake has a secondary assignment.”
“Do you like being a deputy?”
Brady hesitated. “It can be the best job in the world and the worst, but yeah, I like it.”
She looked up at him, this man who was so different from the men she’d known in her sheltered life. He was earnest and hardworking. Kind. Compassionate. Smart and funny. The kind of guy a woman could settle down with and be happy. Truly happy.
“Is something wrong?” Brady pushed off the wall and took a step closer. “I mean, other than the obvious problems surrounding you?”
“Wrong? No.”
“Your stomach isn’t bothering you?”
“Oddly enough, it’s a little better.”
“Really? This situation had to take you to the top of the stress meter, so maybe it’s not stress after all.”
“Maybe.” She suspected feeling better had more to do with Brady’s strong embrace than anything, but she wouldn’t tell him that.
He nodded at the collage. “Why don’t you get started on that list for Rossi while I take pictures of the collage?”
“Pictures? Why?”
“Rossi will take the board as evidence. If we want to find this creep, we’ll need to study the photos to see if there’s a pattern.”
Right. Study pictures of her taken by a crazy man. Just what she wanted to do, but it couldn’t be helped. Not if they were going to put an end to this reign of terror.
She grabbed a notebook from her small desk in the corner of the room and returned to the chair. She forced herself to review the board, picture by picture, and note any dates she could remember. With the use of the calendar on her phone, she located exact dates for ten events and jotted them down. That still left twenty pictures without any precise date information, though she still listed locations when she could.
“Let me snap a photo of your list, too.” Brady took it from her hands.
“Forensics is on the way,” Rossi said stepping up to them. “FYI, I’m not sure if you noticed, but there’s no sign of forced entry.”
“That’s even more significant this time, with the locks changed.” Brady looked at Morgan. “Did you leave your keys unattended since we talked about it?”
“Nowhere unsecured.”
“Which means what, exactly?”
“In the gym they were in my locker. At work and at the job fair, they were in my purse. So no, they weren’t anywhere anyone could get to them.”
“Then we’re looking at someone who’s skilled
at picking locks.” Rossi frowned. “Not a skill that a run-of-the-mill guy possesses.”
“And not a skill the people I know would possess,” Morgan said vehemently.
“People hide things all the time.” Brady leveled a long stare at her. “Between our suspects Nantz and Eckert, I’d have to choose Eckert. His mechanical background seems more logical for someone who learned how to pick locks.”
“We just don’t have enough information to know,” Rossi said. “Now, about the collage. Did you finish the list for me?”
Morgan handed it to him.
“I took photos of the collage so we can continue to study it,” Brady said. “If we figure out any other locations or dates, we’ll get the information to you.”
“Good.” Rossi’s focus drifted to the door where footsteps sounded outside. “That will be our forensics tech. I need to give him instructions.”
“Before you go,” Brady said, “I grabbed a water bottle with Eckert’s prints, and I can either have my team run it like they did with Nantz’s prints or give it to you.”
“I’ll take it and rush the processing.”
“It’s in my car.”
“No hurry. Just grab it before I take off.” Rossi offered a rare smile. “You should know, I’ve talked to two of the four people who sent the threatening letters. Both of them have alibis and of course, Shaw was in jail. I’ll get to the other guy ASAP.” He started to walk away, stopped and turned back to look at Morgan.
She didn’t like the way his gaze had intensified and prepared herself for bad news.
“The DA will be contacting you about testifying at Shaw’s trial,” he said. “I’m assuming you’re willing to do so.”
Thoughts of seeing Craig Shaw again sent her pulse racing but she nodded.
“Okay, good. I’m glad we can count on you.”
A tall forensic tech wearing a white Tyvek suit stepped into the room. He carried a large case and he looked focused and determined, giving Morgan some comfort that they might find evidence this time.
“Excuse me,” Rossi said, and went to join him.
Brady held up his phone. “Since Rossi is still here, I’d like to run out to a copy place and have large prints of the photos made so we can get a better look at them.”
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