“Do you want some of the crackers.”
“Nah, I’m good. I feel okay.” As if to verify it, she yawned. “Can we shut the light off and go back to sleep?”
“Sure can. Do you still want me to stay?”
“Yes, as long as you don’t mind. I’m sure it’s not very comfortable for you. But just having you here makes me feel safe.” He wasn’t sure whether she realized how much she revealed with that one sentence but he would remind her when the rest of this mess was settled.
This time he didn’t fall asleep as quickly. He wondered if her dream meant that somehow she recognized the stalker on a subconscious level. He didn’t like the idea of pushing her to try to remember, but it might be their best chance of catching him.
Chapter Seven
Where was she? She was lying on something warm and hard. After hearing a low snore, her eyes popped open. At first, nothing was in focus, that’s what she got for sleeping in her contacts. The room was dimly lit, so it had to be early still. When she was finally able to focus, she recognized the white business shirt. Chase. What was he doing in bed with her?
Pulling away, she hoped she didn’t wake him. She’d prefer to slide out of bed and brush her teeth without having to talk to him first. That’s when she saw remants of her makeup on his shirt. Ugh, how embarrassing. After that, the whole night came racing back, and she cringed. She’d gotten drunk with Caroline, or she’d gotten drunk while Caroline stayed sober was more like it. Then she’d begged Chase to stay with her. Double, ugh. This wasn’t the way to keep her distance.
“How are you feeling?”
“Okay. Good. Did I wake you?”
“Kind of. I’m not used to sleeping with anyone either and after all my years as a SEAL I don’t sleep very soundly. Seems you can take the man out of the SEALs but not the SEAL out of the man.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I enjoyed having you in my arms.”
“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it.” She needed to reset the boundaries she’d blown out of the water last night. It was why she rarely drank except when she was alone with her friends. They were safe, and if she ever said or did anything off the wall, it was kept between them. She couldn’t remember most of what she’d said to Chase the night before, and that was never a good sign.
“I won’t, at least not yet.” She could hear the grin in his voice, but she could just imagine how bad she looked and no way was she meeting his eyes. She had some pride left.
“Do you know what time it is?” He shifted beneath her, she guessed to check his watch.
“Six forty-five. Early still. Do you want to try to get some more sleep? You didn’t get much.”
“Neither did you. But I don’t think I can, but you go ahead. I’ll just get up.”
“I’m awake too, but then I’m used to getting up early, this is late for me actually. I’m usually running on the beach around five a.m. It’s the best time.”
“You run at five? You are crazy. That’s just too early.”
“No, it’s habit. Ten miles every morning when I’m home. If I’m on assignment, I still try to do it, but it’s harder to find the time depending on what I’m working on.”
“I can understand that. So do you want to go for a run now?”
“No, I think I’ll skip it this morning, I can always go later on. But I could go for a cup of coffee. How about I make some?”
“Sounds great, thank you.” He rolled away from her and sat on the edge of the bed. After running his hands through his hair, he put on his shoes. “Still take it the same?” he asked with a smile.
“Yup, two sugars and some milk or cream or whatever they have. I’m easy.” He smiled again. Damn, he was sexy, and she couldn’t help admiring his butt as he climbed the stairs.
He’d slept in his clothing and still looked like he should be on the cover of GQ. She was afraid to go to the bathroom and see what a disaster she was. Especially since she just remembered the nightmare and crying. Gee, Faith, home run girlfriend. You probably look like something left over from the zombie apocalypse.
Jumping out of bed, she almost fell as her legs got twisted in the quilt. So much for graceful, good thing she didn’t do that crap on stage last night. Up until that point, she’d managed to forget the whole mess from yesterday. But it came flooding back in all its glory. This morning they’d have to figure out what to do. Hopefully, the partial license plate number that Chase had gotten would help them figure out who the asshat was that decided to wreak havoc with her life.
Pulling some clothes out of one of her suitcases, she grabbed her comestic kit and headed into the bathroom. A quick shower would help put things in perspective or at least make her presentable.
By the time she emerged from the bathroom, Chase was back with their coffee. He was set up in one of the chairs, his laptop open and he was typing away. Where had that come from?
“Feel better?”
“Much, thank you. And thank you for the coffee.”
“You’re welcome. I figured I’d check some things while I was waiting for you. Since I always have my latop with me it was easy, I’d forgotten it in your car when we got here. I got it this morning when I remembered. It’s easier on the computer than the phone.”
“I know. It’s crazy that people use their phones for everything now. If I had to do all my work on the phone, I’d be blind.” She was too chatty. It wasn’t like her. Nerves were not her friend, and she needed to get herself under control. Where was her usual persona? It was always there when she’d needed it before, and she’d wrap it around herself like a cloak. Maybe she was off from the wine or sleeping with him. At least, she knew they’d only actually slept, and not messed around since they’d both been fully dressed.
“Do you want to talk about yesterday?”
She’d just taken a sip of her coffee and almost choked when he asked that question. Did she want to talk about yesterday? Hell no. Wait, what part of yesterday? Really, if she was honest, they’d have to talk about all of it. There was the stalker crazy stuff, but also their feelings for each other. She couldn’t deny them even if she wanted to. But it didn’t mean she had to give in to them either. She could be strong. She’d done it before. She’d been miserable for the last three years too. So much for time healing everything.
“What part of yesterday?”
“Either, but I was thinking of your stalker issue.” Whew. Not going to be pleasant but definitely the safer of the two discussions.
“Okay, unless you want to wait for Matthew and Caroline?”
“I have a few questions if you’re up for it.”
“Go ahead.”
“Do you remember your nightmare?”
“Yes, I do. It scared the heck out of me.”
“Your subconscious is a powerful thing, and you’d know better than I would about that. But for you to dream about him almost touching you makes me wonder if you know who it is.”
“I don’t.”
“Wait, hear me out. Okay?”
She didn’t want to, but if it would help she had to try. She took another sip of her coffee and nodded.
“Let’s go over things we know for sure.”
“Okay, but if we wait for Matthew and Caroline, we won’t have to do this twice.”
“You don’t have to wait, we’re up. Why don’t you come upstairs? Caroline is whipping up some pancakes as we speak,” Wolf said from the stairs.
“Homemade pancakes? Hell yeah.” They said the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, she couldn’t ask for more proof than that.
“Great, we’ll be right up.”
“Oh and whoever made the coffee, thank you,” Wolf said as he disappeared up the stairs.
*~*~*~*
He didn’t want to push her, but if there was something in her subconscious that might help them figure out who was stalking her he had to try. They’d used the process successfully a number of times. Hopefully, Wolf would agree with him.
The aroma of pancakes and bacon made his stomach growl. Faith wasn’t the only one who hadn’t eaten dinner the night before. With all the stuff going on at Aces he’d never gotten around to ordering any food.
“Morning.”
“Good morning. I hope you both slept well?” Caroline’s intonation told him he’d better not have done anything he shouldn’t have. It was almost like having your parents checking up on you. Except he knew they were doing it out of love for Faith, and worry that he’d hurt her. But only time would prove to them all that he wouldn’t.
“Yes, I did. Thank you again for letting me stay here for a while,” Faith said as she poured another cup of coffee.
“And no hangover?”
“No. I’m all good. Well as much as I could be under the circumstances.”
“Thank you, too. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, I behaved myself.”
“Good. Glad to hear it,” Wolf remarked with a grin. “I wouldn’t want to have to take you out back and beat you to a pulp this early.”
“Gee, thanks. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.” If they’d been children, they’d probably have stuck their tongues out at each other. The silliness was fabricated though, and all for Faith’s benefit. Both of them knew how stressed she was, it was apparent in every one of her movements.
“Breakfast is served.” Caroline put a plate of pancakes and bacon on the table. Everyone must have been hungry because they dug in, and no one said anything while they ate. Food definitely helped and the headache he’d woken with dissipated, hopefully for good.
Faith helped Caroline clear the table and do the dishes, Wolf and Chase went into the livingroom to talk. Chase’s team had emailed him about the car and come up empty. Tex had more success and came up with a few options. The best part, there were no records of cars having been stolen with that description or partial. They were on the right track.
She’d been through six months of hell. He wished she’d talked to her friends sooner, but if she had, he wouldn’t be there with her now. She hadn’t been phsycially hurt and was back in his life. He’d have to say it was a good thing on both counts.
The women came in as Wolf was telling Chase about the list Tex had sent. There were four names on it. Hopefully, Faith would recognize one of them. If she didn’t, it might take a bit longer to figure it out, but they would figure it out, of that he had no doubt. What they weren’t sharing with Caroline and Faith was that Wolf’s team was already checking out each of the men. Tex gave them a good start but hadn’t had the time to deep dive into each of their backgrounds yet. But Benny, Abe, Dude, Cookie and Mozart were working on it. Wolf had put in the call to his team as soon as he’d heard back from Tex, and that hadn’t surprised Chase.
“Okay, so Tex came up with a list of four names who might own the car Chase saw by your house last night. We don’t know for sure that it was your stalker, but it’s definitely a likely option.”
“Exactly. The car drove past the house really slowly. Normal traffic doesn’t behave that way,” Chase said. He knew in his gut it was the stalker. Besides, as soon as he ran outside, the car had taken off.
“Okay. I guess you’re hoping at least one of them sounds familiar to me, right?”
“Yes. And even if you do recognize one of them, we still need evidence before we can go to the police. But at least we’d be able to keep an eye on him.”
“Are you okay,” Caroline asked Faith, concern evident on her face.
“Yes. I’m just frustrated. If Tex was able to come up with names so fast, just think if I’d come to you guys sooner. This could have been over a long time ago.” Chase didn’t know what to say to make it better. What she said was true.
“It’s okay. We’ll get this taken care of, and then you can put it behind you, right?”
“True. Thank you, Matthew.” Faith took a deep breath and seemed to center herself. There was his doc, the one he fell in love with. She met his eyes, and he winked. She smiled slightly and nodded her head. “Okay. what are the names?”
Wolf double checked the message from Tex. “First name is Roger Benning? Does he sound familiar?”
“No. Not even a little bit.”
“Harold MacPhail?”
She hesitated and thought about it, but then shook her head no.
“How about Frank Peters?”
“Definitely no.”
“Are you sure? You’re around a lot of people. Remember, it doesn’t have to be a patient, it could be another doctor or even a volunteer at the VA or on base. Hell, it could be someone you come into contact with at the grocery store.”
Neither of them thought the last option was much of a possiblity. It was most likely someone she saw on a daily basis.
“I know, and I’m trying. But I don’t know anyone named Frank Peters.”
Chase was frustrated, there was only one name left, and if it didn’t sound familiar, they’d be back at square one. He’d been sure that she’d recognize one of them and it had triggered the dream. He’d wondered how many other nights she’d woken up terrified from the same or similar dream.
“Okay. The last name on the list, at least for now, is Melvin Iverson.” They didn’t need to wait for her answer this time, the look on her face was enough. There was no doubt she’d recognized that name.
Chapter Eight
Could it be Melvin? It sort of made sense in a weird way. A doctor at the VA Hospital in San Diego, he’d been the one to refer most of the patients to her volunteer group sessions. He’d always seemed a little off, but she’d chalked it up to overwork. They all had their hands full over there. It was one of the reasons she’d started volunteering. Her colleagues on Base thought she was crazy, that she had enough with her regular patients. She could understand their point of view, but these men and women gave everything for their country, and if she could make a difference in their lives she was going to do it.
But Dr. Iverson was a definite possibility. Now that she thought about it, she remembered asking about him when she’d first met him. No one had known much about him since he’d transferred from a VA hospital in Washington a few months prior.
They’d had coffee a couple of times, but she wouldn’t call them dates at all. They’d always discussed work. Her training told her it didn’t matter what she thought, it only mattered what was in his mind. And if he was her stalker, it was a dark and scary place.
“What are you thinking, Faith? Obviously, you recognized that name,” Chase asked. When she focused back in on her surroundings, they were all staring at her, waiting.
“I do know him unless there is more than one Melvin Iverson. He’s a doctor at the VA Hospital in San Diego. I met him when I started volunteering over there. In fact, he was the person who helped me get the group sessions started.”
“When was this?” Wolf asked.
She had to think. Craptastic. “About seven months ago.”
“Coincidence? I think not,” Chase responded. She had to agree with him, it was looking more and more like Melvin was her stalker, but she wasn’t ready to convict him yet. It would be too easy.
“Maybe, but it doesn’t mean he’s my stalker.”
“No, but it’s good enough for us to dig deeper. In the meantime, be careful around him. Don’t give him any reason to think you suspect him,” Wolf said, and Chase nodded in agreement.
“But, won’t it be better if he knows I know. Isn’t that what he’s looking for? Validation of his feelings?”
Chase grinned. “Oh yeah, the doctor is in the house. But no, you don’t want to give him any encouragement. He’s escalating enough on his own.”
“Okay.”
“When is your next group session?” Caroline asked.
“Monday. We usually meet Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays at four p.m.”
“That doesn’t give us much time,” Chase said.
“It’s okay, now that we have a suspect, I’ll redirect the team’s attention to Dr. Ive
rson, and we’ll get Tex on it too.”
“See, aren’t you glad I made you tell Matthew?” Caroline said with a smile. Faith knew she was trying to reassure her. And for the first time in a while, she actually thought it might be. She’d been lucky he hadn’t hurt her up until now. Hopefully, they’d be able to stop him before anything else showed up dead on her doorstep.
They spent the next few hours planning and investigating. By the end of the day, they’d know if he was the one. Faith wasn’t sure how they’d know for sure without proof, but she trusted them. Chase had been by her side all day. Having him next to her was like a security blanket, except whenever they touched every nerve ending burned with a desire she had forgotten existed. She was the moth to his flame. If she got too close would she be burned?
After spending the better part of a day with him, she realized he was right about one thing. Three years hadn’t made one bit of difference in her feelings either. The love that had grown over the months they’d known each other back then had been brought back to life. It wouldn’t matter if she ‘allowed’ him into her life again, he was already there, had been there, and had only been hidden by sheer force of will. When he left this time, she’d be a worse mess than before.
The plan was set in motion. Chase called the rental car company and let them know about this car. What he hadn’t told her and Caroline last night was that all four of his tired had been slashed. She didn’t have to even try to guess who’d done that. But now that Chase was in the picture would Melvin, if it was him, turn his wrath on him instead of furry animals? She couldn’t bear the thought of being the cause of anyone getting hurt, but especially not Chase.
There was nothing left to do but wait for Monday. But if she had to sit and make small talk she’d lose her mind. She needed to get out and do something, rehearse her new act, walk on the beach, anything other than sit and wait. Waiting had never been her thing. Thankfully, Chase must have sensed her unease.
“I can pick up a new car in about an hour. They’re going to take care of the other one. I’m glad I automatically sign up for the insurance or I’d have been pissed. The only hitch is they need me to file a police report. Who would like to drive me down to the station?”
Protecting Faith Page 6