Her hand reached into empty air, cold and alone. She pulled it back to her side and narrowed her eyes on him. “You aren’t a killer. You were following orders—saving lives.”
He cupped the back of his neck and moved his head around a bit. He was uncomfortable—she could see it in his movements, and in the now-blank look in his eyes. He was shutting down on her. Again.
“I can’t be with you. As much as I want you,” he admitted and took a step away from her.
“But I need you.”
She’d never said those words to any man in her life. She’d never needed to.
“And you have me—to help you. But that’s all I can give.”
“Michael, you’re not a bad guy. Please, just believe me.”
“You don’t know me,” he said with a hollow look in his eyes.
“Let me get to know you,” she begged, taking a step closer.
“I’m sorry. I just can’t.” He turned away from her and left.
She tried to fight the sick feeling that was enveloping her. She couldn’t believe her life right now. Her mother had been murdered. She had a stalker.
And she was falling for a man with a field of ice around his heart.
***
“You are not falling for him. You don’t know him,” Kate muttered under her breath as she paced back in forth in her room. “No. No. No.” Gone was her client mantra—she’d already crossed that bridge. But she needed something new—a trick that would convince her brain that she didn’t care for him. So far, she’d had very little success.
Whatever happened during his service must have screwed with his mind. Connor had been right when he’d said Michael was messed up. And why should that surprise her? He’d gone through a lot in the Middle East. He’d been shot three times. How could that not change a person?
But she didn’t want him to give up on himself. He was incredibly smart and talented. He deserved happiness, although she doubted that she would be the woman to give that to him. Then again, maybe he was just using his time in the service as an excuse not to be with her—maybe he just didn’t want her. Maybe he was happy to simply screw women.
She ruffled her hair in frustration and sat up in her bed when she heard voices. Were Jake and Connor back? She opened her door and started to walk down the hallway, but stopped at the sound of a voice—a woman’s voice.
She edged down the hall as quietly as possible and peeked around the corner.
The redhead.
Cannonballs filled with molten lava spewed into her stomach and burned her insides. Jealousy, anger, and pain. Gone was the woman Kate once knew—the woman who would never let a man break her.
“You need to leave.” Michael had his hand on her arm as he motioned with the other for the elevator.
The woman was looking up at him, but Kate couldn’t see her face.
“Please, I need to make things right.”
The woman’s voice was muffled, as though she’d been crying. Her shoulders slumped forward and shuddered slightly.
“This isn’t a good time. Please, I promise we’ll talk, but I can’t do this right now.” Michael moved to the elevator and pressed a button. “Where are you staying?” he asked as the doors opened.
“Where I always stay,” the woman responded as she stepped into the elevator.
“I’ll be in touch.”
Kate jumped back around the corner when the elevator doors shut and Michael turned around. She rushed as fast as she could with light footsteps to her room and pulled the door shut behind her. She was thankful that his doors didn’t creak upon closing.
Michael wasn’t the problem, she realized while sitting on the bed. She was. She was letting this man affect not only her confidence but her ability to think rationally.
“You need to eat.” Michael was knocking on her door a few minutes later. “I have a sandwich for you.”
Kate twiddled her thumbs, not sure whether she wanted to face him. She forced herself to stand up and open the door. “I’m okay, but thank you.” She turned away and sank back down onto the plush bed.
He approached her and placed the food tray beside her on the bed. “You need to eat,” he ordered again.
Her gaze snapped to his. He folded his arms and stared down at her. Was he going to stand before her and watch while she ate? He had some nerve.
“Please.” He softened his stance a little, but he didn’t move. His eyes shifted to Kate’s legs, and he took a step back from the bed. “I’ll let you know when Jake and Connor are back,” he said after clearing his throat. Kate watched him leave and was glad that he pulled the door shut behind him. She stared down at the sandwich and fought the childish urge to throw the plate at the door. Goddamn you, Michael Maddox.
She felt something pulling inside her, swelling to the surface.
Tears warmed her cheeks, and she wet her lips. Her emotions pushed through her mind like a tsunami engulfing the shore. She tried not to give in to the pain, but she was at her breaking point.
Chapter Sixteen
It was close to nine when Kate left her bedroom. She needed fresh air. She didn’t see any sign of Michael as she entered the living room and exited to the balcony.
She wasn’t sure how long she had been standing there, holding on to the railing and looking down at the street. But she could feel Michael’s presence even though she hadn’t heard a sound.
“I just got off the phone with Jake.”
So he speaks. Kate turned around and crossed her arms, anger still tearing at her flesh. “What did he say?”
He slid into one of the lounge chairs and gripped the arms. “Erick Jensen is out of town. And I spoke to your father, who corroborated Nathan’s story. He also mentioned knowing Erick, as well. He sees Erick in court every once in a while in New York, but . . . he got a little tense at the mention of Nathan’s name.”
“Tense how?” Kate took a step closer to Michael.
“He went silent on the phone when I brought it up. When he finally spoke, he simply said that Nathan was his old roommate, and he didn’t believe he had anything to do with your mother’s death. But I don’t know—I didn’t get a good vibe from your father about him.”
“You think my dad is keeping something from you? About Nathan? Why would he do that?” She rubbed her arms, trying to push away a sudden chill.
“I’m not sure, but Jake and I don’t want to rule Nathan out.”
She forced herself to take a seat on the chair next to Michael. She didn’t think her legs would support the weight of her body any longer.
“You cold? The temperature here drops a little at night.”
“No, I’m okay. The breeze feels good.” The coldness of her body and skin had nothing to do with the weather.
“You haven’t heard from your stalker since you came here. Maybe he or she got scared off.” He rubbed his temples and glanced at Kate.
“Regardless—”
“You still want to know who killed your mom.” He stood up and approached the railing. “Kate, I know I promised you I would find her killer, but if there’s no connection between your stalker and your mother’s death, and if her murder was the result of a robbery, then I may not be able to help.”
She tilted her head back and looked up at the starlit sky. Did she believe in heaven? God? Was her mom up there somewhere, the woman that she’d never met? Who’d never even held her in her arms? She could feel the tears brimming to the edges of her eyes. She swiped the few drops away before Michael turned around.
“Kate,” he shouted.
Kate watched with confusion as Michael charged for her. By the time she began to wonder what to do, he had knocked her out of her seat and to the ground.
He was breathing hard as he scooped her into his arms and tore inside the house. He set her on the couch and slammed the doors shut. He turned to face her after commanding the blinds to close.
“What the hell, Michael!” She pushed to her feet while rubbing the back of her neck, fe
eling a little sore from the fall.
He ignored her protests while retrieving his cell phone from the other room. “Jake, get over here now. It’s urgent,” he barked into the phone before hanging up.
“Talk to me,” she demanded in a deep voice, hoping for answers.
“You just had a sniper rifle trained on your chest.” He threw his phone on the couch and motioned for her to follow him. “The glass is bulletproof. Don’t worry.”
“I—what?” She couldn’t follow him. She couldn’t move her feet.
“Your stalker had you in his sights. A red dot sight. I know one when I see it.”
She could feel her body tighten, her skin crawl. She wanted to hide inside a shell, snap it closed, and bury herself at the bottom of the deep sea. The situation was hitting her in an all-too-real way. Her skin grew clammy, and her vision blurred.
The next thing she knew, Michael was rushing to her side and holding her upright. “You okay?”
“I think I should sit down.” He lifted her into his arms, his biceps flexing beneath his gray polo, and carried her to the couch. He sat next to her and studied her as if decrypting a cipher.
She looked down at her trembling hands, feeling like they didn’t belong to her. “I’m sorry. I’m just in shock. It feels real to me, all of a sudden. I was caught up in the drama of learning about my mom, and about us . . .” She blushed. “I never faced the reality that someone might actually hurt me.”
Michael ran his hands over his face. His body looked coiled, tight with tension. “I told you that I would keep you safe.”
“It’s not your responsibility, though. Everything you have been doing for me is above and beyond, and I have been horrible in return. Trying to get you to open up to me—to be with me. I’m so sorry.” She averted her eyes from his while standing. “I think I should leave.”
“What?” He jumped to his feet and grabbed her arm, turning her toward him. “Like hell, you’re leaving. Someone just had a sniper on you.”
“Maybe I could stay with Connor. He could watch me. I can pay Jake and Connor to help me. Or if they don’t want to, I can find someone else. I don’t need to add to your problems.” She tried to walk away from him, but he reached for her again.
“You’re not staying alone with one of them.”
“Why do you care who I stay with?” She pulled away from him.
“Call me crazy, but I don’t want to share you with either one of them.” The words slipped out before he knew it.
“Share me?” Her mouth hung open for a second. “Share me!”
“I didn’t mean . . .” He moved closer to her, but she flinched and backed away.
“You think I might—what? Sleep with them? Me?” Rage radiated from her core. But for the moment, at least, she wasn’t thinking about the fear that was bubbling just beneath.
“I didn’t mean you would . . .” He hung his head. “Kate, please,” he said, his voice throaty. “I made a promise to you, and I intend to keep it. I am going to protect you.” The muscle in his jaw twitched. “I’m not gonna lose you.”
Lose me? His words startled her. What did he have to lose? “I’m scared,” she responded, her eyes glistening as her voice broke.
“We will figure this out. But it might be good to have Jake and Connor stay here as well. You are safer here—indoors, anyway—than you are anywhere else. I promise.”
“Maybe I should just go back to New York with my dad,” she said, feeling defeated.
“No.” His answer was quick and unwavering. “I don’t exactly trust your father right now. He hasn’t been too forthcoming about everything.”
“He’s my dad. He was only trying to protect me. I’m angry at him for lying, but I guess I can understand his rationale for doing it.”
“Then we’ll bring him here and have him help us if you want. But I don’t want you on a plane back to New York, where you could—”
A flare of fury shot through her. “What? Get hurt? Because you haven’t hurt me enough with your hot and cold signals?” She sucked in her breath. Where had that come from?
“You’re staying here, and that’s final.” There was a buzzing sound from the elevator. He walked with quick steps to the foyer.
“What’s going on?” Connor had asked before Jake had a chance to.
“Someone just had a red dot sight focused on Kate’s chest.”
“Shit.” Connor ran his hand through his short brown hair and approached Kate. “You okay?”
She looked up into his light green eyes and nodded. “Yeah, I think.” She tried to convince herself she was safe with the three ex-Marines by her side.
“We might be able to peg the stalker’s location. Can you show me where you think the sniper was located?” Jake asked while approaching the balcony doors.
“No, don’t open them. What if the sniper shoots?” Kate threw her hand in the air, her face twisted with worry.
“I won’t go out there right now, don’t worry.” He turned toward Michael. “I can pull up the hotel blueprints. We should be able to triangulate the position of the shooter and go from there.”
Michael nodded and grabbed his laptop from his office before returning to the living room. “I was going to do that, but I figured you could do it without having to break the law.” He handed over his computer. “Connor, maybe we should get Kate’s father over here,” Michael suggested.
“No.” Kate took a seat in a lounge chair across from where Jake was working and smoothed her hands over her denim blue jeans. “I don’t want him to know what happened. He’ll freak out.” One minute she had been ready to fly home under the protection of her father, the next she was worried about his safety.
“It’s your decision,” Michael responded. “Why don’t you get some rest while we figure this out?”
“You think I’m capable of sleep?”
“No, but maybe you should, at least, lie down,” he suggested while glancing at the computer screen. “You’re safe, remember. Bulletproof glass.”
Thank God Michael’s paranoid. Who else would install bulletproof glass in his home, other than maybe the President? “Fine.” She tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth as she stood.
“Everything’s going to be okay.” Michael cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes on hers. For some reason, she was getting the vibe that there was some other message embedded in his words. She just wished she knew what it was.
***
“Your stalker is playing games. He never intended to shoot you.” Jake ran his hand through his cropped hair before rubbing his jaw. “Although he used a false identity that couldn’t be traced to pay for his hotel room, he left a note on the bed.”
“He what?” She looked away from Jake and over at Michael.
Michael’s mouth was closed and his lips sealed. His brows pulled together as he held the note in his hands.
Kate reached for the small half-sheet of white paper. Scribbled in black pen was a message: “They can’t protect you from me, but I’ll enjoy watching them try.”
“We dusted the room for prints, but your stalker left no evidence behind. Well, other than that note. He knew we would find the room.”
She looked up and handed the paper back to Michael, feeling numb. Numb was good, though. Numb meant no pain.
“The hotel has surveillance cameras in the lobby and halls. We’ve found the footage from around the time the laser was focused on you.”
She watched from a few feet away, hands clenched at her sides, as Jake sat in front of the laptop with Connor at his side, plugging away at his device. Jake studied the lobby footage on his computer while Connor checked the hall footage on the stalker’s floor.
Kate looked up at the time on the cable box beneath the large, flat screen television. It was past midnight. It had been three hours since someone pointed a sniper rifle at her. In what world was she living now? “How do you know who you are looking for?”
“Well, anyone who goes out of his way t
o avoid the cameras would be a good start,” Jake said before shooting her an innocent, sideways grin.
She rubbed her arms and looked at the closed blinds. Her stalker had been at the hotel across the street. For how long? And he had been in her hotel room, watching her sleep, not so long ago.
Michael’s gaze bounced back and forth between Jake and Connor’s screens. He was standing behind the couch where they were sitting. His face gave no indication of his thoughts, but Kate assumed he was almost as nervous as she.
Connor peeked over at Jake’s laptop and his mouth parted for a moment. “Stop right there.” He reached for Jake’s computer and shifted his tablet off his lap. He pressed a few buttons and zoomed in on the screen, focusing on the reflection of a man in the mirrored elevator doors. “I know him.” There was an air of confidence in his voice as his face registered alarm. “It has to be him.” He rubbed his beard and exhaled. “That’s Dustin Scott.”
“Oh my God, you’re right.” Jake grabbed the laptop. “A former sniper for the Navy Seals.”
“And he’s a fucking psycho,” Michael added.
Kate swallowed the lump in her throat and moved toward the guys to get a view of the so-called psycho. “You think he’s my stalker?”
“Probably. He’s on the FBI’s most wanted list. He’s a hired hitman.” Jake’s nostrils flared a bit as he stared at the screen.
Michael’s face was an unreadable mask.
What are you thinking? Terror threatened to bring down her entire house of cards in about two point five seconds if someone didn’t make her feel better soon.
“Dustin was in the Navy until he was discharged a few years ago. Word is he flipped sides and sold secrets to the Taliban insurgents—the kind of guy who will sell his own mother to make a buck.”
Jake’s explanation was only making Kate feel worse. She swallowed back the desire to vomit in front of everyone.
“But the government could never prove anything.” Michael straightened and moved to where she was standing. He placed his hand on the small of her back, the other hand beneath her chin. “You okay?”
Silenced Memories Page 17