If I was a stalker, what would I do?
The structure was a standard townhouse design with three units in each building. Mallory lived on the end so it was easy to go around to the back where the neighborhood butted up against a small city park and a jogging trail. Anyone could easily cut through there to get to her without being seen from the road. While it might look like a selling point to a buyer, security-wise it was rather a nightmare.
Stepping around her folded-up lawn chairs, he knelt down to get a good look into the distance. From here he could see into the park, almost all the way to the children’s playground. Mallory needed to plant some shrubbery or tall plants back here to get more privacy.
A blinding light and the sound of footsteps had him whirling around, his heart freezing in his chest. Adrenaline surged through his veins but then he went limp with relief. Mallory was standing there in a pair of flannel pajama pants and a t-shirt, holding a baseball bat over her head.
She did not look amused.
“What in the hell,” she hissed as he slowly stood, holding his hands up in defense. The little tornado was still holding that bat in a threatening manner. “My God, you almost gave me a heart attack.”
Funny about that… He’d only begun to breathe again seconds ago and his heart was hammering against his ribs as if he’d run a marathon.
“Right back at you,” he said, pointing to the bat. “Do you mind? I don’t want to get my skull bashed in accidentally. What are you doing out here?”
She looked at the bat and then slowly lowered it to her side. “I heard someone walking around. I wasn’t asleep yet. What are you doing out here? I thought you’d left.”
He straightened his shoulders and cleared his throat. “I did leave and then I came back. And as for what I was doing, I was checking the perimeter, of course.”
“The perimeter?” she echoed. “Why? Oh wait, you think an ax murderer might come break into my house.”
He didn’t want to argue with her again. But damn, she was a stubborn one.
His gaze rested on the bat. “Apparently I’m not the only one who is worried.”
In the light of the back patio, he could see the color rush to her cheeks. “Okay, maybe I am a little jumpy, but you’re worse.”
Sighing, he reached for the bat from her now limp fingers. “I don’t want us to fight again. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”
“And?”
“And I might be more affected by what happened than I originally thought, but let’s face it, we both are. This is strange and creepy though. I’m not backing down on that opinion.”
Her nose wrinkled but she nodded in agreement. “It is kind of creepy. So I have to ask, just what was your plan in coming back here? Were you going to sleep on my lawn chairs?”
“If you were awake I was going to apologize for stomping out. Since I thought you were asleep, I was planning to check around your house and then go sit in my car.”
That seemed to take some of the steam out of her. “All night?”
“I was worried. I have a bad feeling about this. Not that I hope I’m right. I actually want to be wrong. Very, very wrong so you can say I told you so.”
“I’m sorry, too,” she said softly. “I know you were just trying to protect me. It’s really sweet that you came back here to check on me even after we argued.”
It was nice of me. I’m a nice guy.
He saw her shiver and it was then he realized she wasn’t wearing a jacket. Or shoes. She had to be freezing. Her breath was coming out in a puff of steam.
“You need to get inside before you catch pneumonia. It’s cold out here. Why didn’t you wear a coat?”
She snorted but led the way into the kitchen. “Because I heard someone sneaking around my house in the middle of the night, that’s why. I didn’t have time for things like shoes and coats.” She lifted up the toes on one foot. “I wore socks.”
He flipped the deadbolt on her back door and set the baseball bat beside it. “I am sorry I scared you.”
“I almost cracked your skull.”
She had and he wouldn’t forget that lesson. Mallory had a bat and she wasn’t afraid to use it. “I have a hard head, at least that’s what my family says.”
She eyed him, trying to look tough but there was a softness in her gaze. She wasn’t mad or angry or anything else. In fact, she might be glad that he came back.
“If you’re that worried about me, you can sleep on the couch.”
Ouch. Okay, she wasn’t super glad. It was better than a cold, uncomfortable car, but not nearly as nice as her warm, soft bed which he might have been in right this moment if they hadn’t argued.
If she wouldn’t stay at his house, then he’d have to stay here. He might be overreacting based on his heightened emotions from seeing a man die or he might not. Either way, he couldn’t walk out when he thought she needed him. If anyone came for Mallory, Carter would be standing in front of her.
She thought he was crazy, and maybe he was.
But she’d walked outside with that bat… She wasn’t as confident as she acted. She had her doubts about those gifts, too.
Chapter Seventeen
‡
Carter didn’t bother to sit in the guest chair in Jason’s office, instead perching by the window so he could see outside. He’d been on pins and needles since finding that box of chocolates on Mallory’s front porch last night. Hopefully, his resourceful cousin would have the information he needed to settle the question once and for all.
Harmless secret admirer or creepy stalker admirer?
“You’re not going to like it,” Jason warned, rounding his desk to pull a piece of paper from a drawer. “I wasn’t able to find out the identity of who ordered the flowers.”
Carter’s cousin wasn’t a world-class hacker but he had a few who worked for him. If there were bits and bytes with this asshole’s fingerprints, Jason and his organization would find them.
“Yet? Or ever?”
Grimacing, Jason lowered himself into his leather chair. “It depends on how you look at it. The order was placed in person and paid for in cash, so there’s no credit or bank details to go on.”
“Who the fuck pays for an expensive bouquet of flowers in cash?” Carter asked more so to himself than Jason. “I don’t know how much flowers cost but it couldn’t be cheap.”
Carter rarely carried around more than twenty or thirty bucks in cash. He hardly used it anymore.
“I ordered roses in a vase for Brinley’s birthday last month and they set me back a hundred bucks with delivery,” Jason replied. “So it is very possible that the person that ordered these was trying to hide their identity. Or it could be that they hate credit cards. I can only give you facts. I can’t tell you their motivations.”
“So that’s it? I just have to give up?”
Leaning forward in his chair, Jason rested his elbows on the desk. “Before I answer that question, you have to answer one of mine. Are you sure about all of this? I’m not saying this is innocent but it could be.”
Twisting away from the window, Carter strode over to Jason and looked him in the eye.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, and if you’re honest, you’d do the same if it were Brinley.”
Jason sat back and smiled. “That’s different. Brinley is my wife. Mallory is a lovely woman but you’ve only had a few dates. Perhaps the trauma of what happened Friday–”
“Knock it off,” Carter demanded, waving away whatever lame ass excuse Jason was about to give. “You all are worried about me. I get it. Noah let the cat out of the bag that the family is having secret meetings behind my back since I’m such a fuckup in the romance department. I didn’t realize we were so desperate for another wedding in the Anderson family. We just had Dizzy and Easton’s not too long ago but apparently that wasn’t enough.”
“If there are meetings, then I haven’t been invited.” Jason shook his head. “Jesus, I’ve never seen a man so torn up a
bout people actually giving a damn about his life. It must be awful to have so many people love you. The horror.”
Carter grinned, remembering his cousin when he’d returned from being held hostage by a drug cartel. “You’re one to talk. You’re worse than me.”
Chuckling, Jason admitted defeat. “You’ve got me there. None of the Anderson men, or women for that matter, are known for how easygoing we are. Well, except for Noah. He’s almost comatose. But seriously, I am worried about you. You’ve been through some shit and you need to deal with it.”
“You think I’m avoiding it by making this secret admirer thing a bigger deal than it is?”
“Only you can answer that. Now here’s the decision you need to make and you don’t have much time to make it. Memories fade and they do it quickly. If you want me to send a man into the flower shop to ask about who ordered the flowers and try and get a description, I will. But–” Jason held up his hand when Carter would have answered. “You need to think about this. Seriously, that’s a step in a direction you may not want to go. I need you to be absolutely sure. It was one thing to run a quick transaction, but this is questioning people when this anonymous person hasn’t done anything wrong. Creepy? Yes. Illegal? No.”
Jason sounded a hell of a lot like Mallory. It might not be against the law to drop off gifts but it certainly wasn’t welcome. All Carter wanted to do was make it stop.
“I’ll think about it,” he finally replied. He was sure about what he wanted but Jason wouldn’t be happy unless he thought that Carter was taking his time. “I’ll call you later.”
“Sounds good. I’m sorry I didn’t have better news for you.”
Carter turned to leave but paused in the doorway. “I am grateful for your help even if I don’t sound it.”
“I know you are. You’ll know I’m grateful too when you come over next weekend and help me remove that tree stump in my back yard.”
“I don’t know how Brinley puts up with you. You’re a jackass.”
Jason simply laughed and took a sip of his coffee. “This jackass broke about a dozen local, state, and federal laws to get you that information. I do have one more question, though. I haven’t seen you this intense in a long time, maybe ever. Is she worth it?”
The answer was out before Carter could even blink. The question was easy. He hadn’t known Mallory long but it was as clear as day even to his stupid ass.
“She is.”
“Then I’ll help you all I can. We all will.”
* * *
This was a nightmare. A living, breathing nightmare and all Mallory wanted to do was wake up. All day at school people had either stared at her or badgered her with questions about what she’d experienced Friday night. The day had lasted so long she was afraid she was reliving it over and over in some weird parallel universe. Finally, the last bell had rung and she’d gratefully headed out only to find her home had been broken into. The front door was wide open and of course she hadn’t had the good sense to stay outside and call the police. Instead she’d walked in when the burglar could have still been pilfering through her belongings. Thankfully he had been long gone.
He might have escaped but it was as if he was still here. That feeling of being violated. Some…person…had come into her home when she wasn’t here and clearly rifled through her belongings. There were drawers open, contents strewn about along with books and DVDs scattered on the floor.
Why didn’t he just take the television and leave?
Now only three days after dealing with the police at the rest stop she was doing it again, only this time walking around her home with an officer looking for anything that might have been taken.
“I don’t see anything missing,” she finally said with a sigh of defeat. “Maybe I interrupted them.”
What was amazing was that someone was able to break into her home when she had the nosiest neighbor in Montana just across the street. Apparently, Dara had been at the mall near Tremont so she didn’t witness any strange happenings. She did, however, find a way to annoy one of the police officers until he asked her point blank if she had anything to add to the investigation. When she admitted that she didn’t, he told her to go home until they were done with the crime scene. Mallory had almost cheered out loud.
The young officer had been extremely patient with her, slowly walking through each room to inspect the contents. “It’s possible. Did you see or hear anything when you walked into the house? Someone going out the back door perhaps? They could have easily disappeared into that park.”
A little factoid that Carter had pointed out to her last night. When she’d purchased her townhouse the park had been a selling point. She would never have neighbors behind her and she could easily hop onto the jogging path for a little exercise. Now she looked at it in a whole new, much more sinister way.
“I didn’t hear anything but then I was so shaken up by the front door being wide open.”
The policeman gave her a chiding look. “You shouldn’t have come in here by yourself. Next time, call us and wait.”
“Hopefully, there won’t be a next time,” she replied shakily, kneeling down on her bedroom floor to stuff her items back into the drawers. She’d sort it all out later. Right now, she simply wanted the room to look like a strange man’s hands hadn’t rifled through it. In fact, she might just replace it all. There wasn’t enough detergent in the world to make her feel better. “So what happens now?”
“We’ll fill out a report–”
“Shit,” she groaned, interrupting the poor man who was only trying to do his job. “Sorry, I just realized something is missing.”
This is bad. So very bad. And icky. Gross and icky.
The officer nodded and shuffled the paperwork on his clipboard. “No problem. We’ll note it on the report. If you have the serial numbers we can keep an eye out for the items at the local pawn shops.”
Covering her face in her hands, her stomach twisted in her abdomen, threatening to bring up lunch. “I don’t have serial numbers for my panties and bras.”
His eyes widened and then he swallowed hard, nodding silently. “Oh…yes…I see. Uh, well…I need to be specific on the report. Can you…uh…tell me exactly what you’re missing?”
Sure she could and then they could both never make eye contact again.
What has happened to my life? It used to be so boring.
“A matching set of pale blue silk and lace panties and bra. It was a Victoria’s Secret set.”
The officer cleared his throat, his cheeks bright red. “Size?”
The word came out squeaky and high. This was beyond mortifying.
Blessedly the sound of boots on her wood flooring, saved her from having to answer. Carter stood in the doorway to her bedroom with a fierce expression. His hair was practically standing on end and his teeth were bared in an almost snarl.
“What in the hell?” He stomped forward, barely giving the officer a glance. He rested his hands on her shoulders and pulled her closer so he could look her up and down. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
The cop frowned and tried to take control of the situation. “Sir, you are not supposed to be in here. Are you a resident of this house?”
Carter wasn’t but she didn’t want him to leave. That’s why a lie slid smoothly from her lips. Her mother would have been appalled.
“He’s my houseguest.”
Mallory sucked at lying and by the look on the cop’s face she hadn’t improved any since the last time. But he didn’t contradict her, letting Carter stay in the room and not kicking him literally to the curb.
“I’m fine,” she said, addressing Carter. “He was gone when I got home. Looks like he only took two things. At least that I’ve found so far.”
Frowning, Carter glanced around the messy bedroom. “What did he take?”
She closed her eyes and then reluctantly opened them, taking a deep cleansing breath. This was just disgusting.
“My bra and panties.”
/> A look of distaste crossed Carter’s face and even the policeman appeared queasy.
“Fuck, that’s awful.” He wasn’t done and she should have known this was coming. “I’d like to talk to whomever is in charge of this investigation. They need to know about Friday night at the rest stop and the gifts you’ve been getting.”
The cop who had been scribbling notes on a piece of paper immediately perked up. Perhaps her case wasn’t going to be completely boring after all.
“Friday night? Gifts? Is there more to this, Ms. Cook, that you haven’t shared?”
Carter was assuming that all of this was connected. That the murder at the rest stop, her appearance on the news, the gifts, and now the break-in were all intertwined in some way. That simply couldn’t be possible. She was having a run of really shitty luck. That’s all it was.
Another police officer stuck his head into the bedroom, his gaze darting from Carter, to Mallory, to the young cop, and then back to Mallory.
“Uh, Ms. Cook? Can you come outside, please? You’ve just received a flower delivery.”
Her luck wasn’t improving. Carter was going to explode like a volcano.
Chapter Eighteen
‡
After a long day on a troubled construction site, Carter hadn’t been in the best of moods when he’d pulled up in front of Mallory’s house. He was having issues with one of the subcontractors and it might affect the project schedule. If there was one thing Carter hated, it was putting a deadline in jeopardy. It pissed him off, although he usually found ways to avoid it.
But his mood had gone downhill on a sled when he’d seen two police cruisers parked in front of her house, a group of neighbors watching from across the street, and yellow crime scene tape around her front porch.
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