Protecting Melody

by Susan Stoker

  Feeling Tex’s hard body underneath her move slightly, Melody turned her head. He was laughing. “What’s funny?”

  Tex didn’t answer out loud, but instead used his chin to gesture off to the left. Melody turned her head to see Baby sitting nearby. Her head was cocked and her tail was swishing back and forth along the floor. Melody dropped her forehead on Tex’s chest and groaned. “Oh my God, we’ve corrupted my dog.”

  “So much for doggy voyeurism being out.” Tex only laughed harder when Mel groaned against his chest again. “Come on, Mel, shower, by yourself, or we’ll never get anything done. Breakfast first and we’ll take a look at the results of my searches. Then we’ll head out. We need to hit a grocery store and see if we can be seen around town some more.”

  Melody raised her head and propped herself up on Tex’s chest. She looked at him for a moment before saying softly, “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me,” Tex scolded immediately. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be than here with you. I don’t care if you had three stalkers, an escaped murderer was at your door, and Baby was rabid and attacking. This is what I’ve waited my whole life for.” When Mel’s eyes teared up, Tex sat up, holding tight to her so she didn’t fall. He kissed her eyes, one at a time. “Don’t cry, Mel. This is the start of our beautiful life together.”

  Tex urged Mel to stand up, and when she did, he turned sideways on the couch and buried his head in her stomach, holding her to him. He felt her hands in his hair and on his head. He inhaled deeply, then tilted his head back to look up at her. “You smell amazing.” Tex’s hands gripped her backside and kneaded. “You smell like us.”

  “Tex.”

  Tex took one hand and cupped her sex, then brought that hand up and smeared her wetness on her belly. Without taking his eyes from hers he said seriously, “A beautiful life, Mel. I’m going to do whatever it takes to give that to you . . . to us. Now, as much as I want to spend all day naked with you, we’ve got things to do.”

  Tex caressed her belly one more time, then turned her and smacked her lightly on the ass. “Go shower, woman.”

  Melody giggled and took a step toward the hallway and her bedroom. She looked behind her at Tex still sitting on her couch. Baby had walked up to him and he had one hand on her head and the other was on his knee. His eyes were glued to her though. Melody put a bit of a sway in her step as she continued toward the shower. She heard him groan behind her and she smiled. Somehow Tex had made coming home fun . . . when it should’ve been nothing but terrifying.

  Melody knew some people would claim they were moving way too fast. That having Tex basically living with her was crazy, that she only knew him for around a week, but she knew that wasn’t true. She’d known Tex for over six months. Yes, she’d just met him in person, but the groundwork of friendship had been laid for months now. They’d danced around the sexual tension they felt while they were talking online, but had never done anything about it.

  She had no idea where they were going or what her crazy stalker would do now that she was home, but Melody hoped like hell in the end, when the dust was all settled, she could find a future with Tex.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Melody sat at her kitchen table with her head in her hands as Tex continued to type as he spoke with her.

  “Nothing really stands out on the guys whose names you gave me. Your high school boyfriend, Robert, is married like you said he was, but it also looks like he’s had a couple of affairs as well, so he’s not as devoted to his family as he might make it appear. All of the men you told me about have debt, but Lee is in to it to his eyeballs. It’s a good thing you ditched him when you did, Mel. He has three credit cards that are maxed out and it looks like he has a couple of speeding tickets that haven’t been paid yet either. Not only that, but the cops have been called to his house at least twice for domestic violence issues.”

  “Bastard,” Melody said with feeling. “Poor Diane. I know I’ve been gone, and I don’t really know her that well, but no one should have to live with that crap. I hope she dumps his ass.”

  “Yeah, it looks like she’s been hospitalized twice in the past at Saint Albin’s hospital.”

  “Saint Albin’s?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s a mental hospital.”

  “Yup.”

  “Is she okay?”

  Tex sighed. “I can find out exactly why she was there and what her diagnosis was if I dig, but it looks like she was hospitalized before she started dating Lee.”

  “Well, he can’t be good for her, that’s for sure,” Melody sympathized.

  “Can I send this stuff to Wolf and his team to look over?”

  Melody looked at Tex in surprise. “You’re asking me?”

  “Yeah. While I’m good, sometimes it helps to have another set of eyes. And I’m a bit too close to this whole situation to be completely unbiased. So I’d like to get your permission to show this stuff to my friends.”

  “Then, yeah, you can show it to them. I’m not sure what good it’ll do, but it can’t hurt.”

  “Thanks, Mel. You’re right. It can’t hurt.” Tex immediately began tapping out a message on his keyboard. “I’ll encrypt it before I send it so it can’t be traced back to me, and so the information stays secure. Once I’m done here we need to go to the police station. We should’ve done it before now, but I got distracted . . .”

  Tex looked up at Melody with a look so hot, she thought she’d melt in her seat.

  Tex continued his thought, “I’m assuming you went to them before you headed out on the road?”

  “Yeah, there wasn’t anything they could do. They took the notes I’d received and made a report, but otherwise they told me just to be careful.”

  “That’s what I thought. Well, we’ll bring them the note you got in California, just to get it logged, and to let them know you’re back in town. They might not be able to do much, but if anything does happen, at least they’ll have a head’s up.”

  Melody shuddered at the thought of her stalker catching up with her. “Do you think he’s going to do something? I think I’d rather he just did it and got it over with rather than having this drag on and on.”

  Tex stopped typing and turned to Mel. “I don’t know. My gut says he’s not going to be happy I’m here with you. I’m guessing it’s going to escalate things, and probably quickly. But I could be wrong. It could be he’ll just hunker down and try to wait me out. But if that happens, we’re good Mel, because I’m not going anywhere. He’ll have a hell of a long ‘hunker’ if that’s his plan.”

  Melody couldn’t say anything. The intense look in Tex’s eyes floored her, and made her yearn to reach for all the promises she could see in his eyes. Eventually, he looked down at his laptop and broke the sexual tension between them.

  “Okay, I’ve sent the email. Let me get the note and we’ll get out of here. If Baby will let us, we’ll leave her here today and head to the police station first. Then we’ll go to the mall and walk around. If there’s any other places you usually hung out at before you left town, we’ll stop there too. We’ll call to meet up with Amy again today as well, if you want. I know you want to see her kids, but it’s probably best at this point to leave that for later. But Mel, I know how much Amy means to you, if you want to see Becky and Cindy, I’ll figure it out.”

  “I’d love to see Amy again today, but yeah, it’s probably best if we left the kids out of it for now.” Switching the topic, because it hurt to think of Amy’s kids and not being able to see them, Melody said, “Let me talk to Baby. I’ll see if I can’t get her to agree to stay here for the day.”

  Before Melody moved to have a heart to heart with her dog, Tex pulled her across the short expanse separating them with a hand on the back of her neck. “You’re so fucking cute. Tell Baby that if she stays here, I’ll bring her home a nice juicy bone.” Then he kissed her roughly, nipping her bottom lip as he pulled away.

  Melody smiled at Tex, and put her hand on h
is cheek briefly. She got up and went over to sit on the couch with Baby. The dog jumped up next to her mistress and immediately demanded pets. “Okay, Baby, here’s the deal. I need you to stay home today.” Baby started whining before Melody could finish. She knew it was weird that she was talking to her dog as if she could understand her, but Melody figured that deep down, maybe Baby could recognize the emotions and feelings behind what she was saying. So while she wouldn’t understand the words, per se, she could tell that something important was being said.

  “I know, I know, I’ve missed you too, but we’ve been together for like six days straight now. I have to do some things today and you can’t go with us. I don’t want to have to leave you in the car. It’s not safe or healthy for you. So if you stay here today, and be good, Tex said he’ll bring you back a nice juicy surprise. You’d like that wouldn’t you?” Baby tilted her head up and licked Melody’s face and she giggled.

  “Okay, Tex, we’re all set.” Melody said the words semi-loudly, turning her head only to screech in surprise when she saw Tex resting his elbows on the back of the couch right next to her.

  “Jesus, Tex, stop sneaking up on me like that!”

  “I wasn’t sneaking, Mel. I was right there. Baby knew I was here, you were just concentrating too hard on her to notice me.”

  “No, Tex, even with that fake leg, you walk like a Native American in the forest hunting rabbits. You’re completely silent and it’s almost eerie.”

  “Habit, Mel. Habit.”

  Melody sighed. “I know, you can take the man out of the SEALs, but you can’t take the SEAL out of the man.”

  “Hey, I like that!” Tex told her standing up and running his hand over Mel’s hair. “Come on, let’s get going.”

  Melody kissed the top of Baby’s head and gave her one last pat. “I’m ready.” She grabbed her purse off the counter as they headed out of the apartment.

  Baby whined once as they were about to leave, but Tex merely turned around and said sharply, “Baby, stay.”

  The dog huffed once, then turned and trotted to the couch and climbed on. She settled onto the cushions, resting her head on the back of the couch so she could see them leave.

  “She’s good at the guilt trip thing,” Melody commented unnecessarily.

  Tex just chuckled and put his hand at the small of Melody’s back to lead her out of the apartment. He locked the door behind them and thankfully Baby was silent as they headed to the parking lot.

  Melody looked up at Tex and said, as they walked to his truck, “How do you get her to obey you so well? She’s a hound, she doesn’t obey anyone.”

  He didn’t answer and Mel looked at him in confusion. His face had gotten hard and he moved his hand from her back, to grip her elbow. “Looks like the cops will come to us today, Mel.”

  “Huh?” Melody turned to look in the direction Tex was facing and gasped. His truck had been vandalized. All four tires were flat and both headlights had been smashed and broken. “Oh Tex, your truck.”

  “It’s only a machine. It can be fixed.”

  As they walked closer to the truck, Melody could see the words that had been spray-painted on the truck. She ignored Tex as he called the police to report it and concentrated instead on the ugly words, the hate, sprayed on Tex’s truck.

  Bitch. Whore. You’ll pay.

  Melody realized that Tex hadn’t taken his hand off of her elbow and she curled her arm through his and pressed up against his side. She looked around, as if expecting someone to spring from the bushes and attack them.

  Tex put his arm around her, but after he hung up with the cops, turned his cell phone around and started clicking pictures of his truck and the area around it. Without looking at her, Tex tried to reassure Mel. “This is actually a good thing. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but it is. It means that after only a day, we’ve gotten to him. He’s emotional and pissed. He’s seen me with you and he can’t stand it. The more emotional he gets, the more mistakes he’ll make.”

  “But your truck.”

  With her words, Tex lowered his phone and turned Mel in his arms so she was plastered against him. “It’s only a truck. I couldn’t give a flying fuck about it. Honestly. I’ll rent a car today so we’ll have transportation.”

  “We can use my car. It’s parked over at Amy’s.”

  “No, I’ll rent something. Call it a man thing, or a SEAL thing, or even a boyfriend thing, but I’d prefer to stick close to you until this is done. Let me drive you around, Mel.”

  “Fine. It doesn’t make sense for you to spend money on a car when I have a perfectly good one at our disposal, but whatever.”

  Tex continued as if they didn’t have a side conversation about renting a stupid car. “I’m pissed at myself though. I should’ve already set up security cameras around your apartment. If I had, I’d have more to go on, but if he’s done this now, already, he’ll do it again. I’m going to catch him, Mel. I swear to God.”

  “I’m scared.”

  “I know, and I hate that. But, Mel, look at me.” Tex tipped Mel’s face up so she had no choice but to look at him. “I’ve just found you after all these months. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Whoever is doing this is emotional and uncontrolled. That’s much better than methodical and calculated. He’ll make a mistake and this’ll be over. Trust me.”

  “I do. You know I do. But I still hate this.”

  “I know. I’m not that fond of it myself. But we’ll deal with it . . . together.” They both looked up when they heard sirens coming their way. “I’m going to send the pictures to Wolf, we’ll deal with the cops, I’ll call a tow truck, then we’ll do what we were going to do today before this.”

  Melody nodded. She tried to control the shaking of her body, and snuggled into Tex as he held her tighter to him. She could do this. She’d been dealing with it alone, just because she had Tex here now to help her didn’t mean she wasn’t the strong woman that had been on her own for months. She had to suck it up and really analyze everyone around her. She had to help Tex figure this out, not sit back like a pathetic woman who needed protecting.

  * * *

  Melody sat on a bench in the city park with Amy. She’d called and Amy had agreed to meet them there. Cindy and Becky were still in school and her husband was at work. Amy left work early and came straight to the park after hanging up with Melody.

  Tex had stayed with Melody until Amy had arrived. Then he’d kissed her on the forehead and said, “Visit as long as you want. I’ll be over there.” He’d pointed to a bench about a hundred feet away and left her alone with Amy.

  “How are you holding up?” Amy asked Melody, holding on to her hand tightly.

  “I’m okay.”

  “Hashtag seriously? Mels, this is me. I know you better than that.”

  Melody sighed. She loved Amy, but sometimes hated that she couldn’t lie worth a darn with her. “I’m scared out of my mind. Tex tells me not to worry, but I can’t help it.”

  Amy looked down at their clenched hands and bit her lip. Then she looked up at Melody and squeezed her hand. “I love you like the sister I never had, Mels. And I know you enough to know what I’m going to say is most likely going to piss you off, but I’m saying it for your own good.”

  “Fuck,” Melody said under her breath.

  “How much do you really know about Tex? I mean, you started talking to him online and now he’s living in your house and if I read you right, you’re sleeping with him. I had him checked out with my connections at work, but what if he’s your stalker? What if he’s the one doing this to you? He found you in California right after you received that note. It looks bad and I wouldn’t be a good friend if I didn’t bring it up.”

  Melody stiffened on the seat and wanted to wrench her hands away from her best friend and storm away from her. But she knew Amy loved her and was looking out for her as best she could. Hell, if their roles were reversed, she knew she’d probably think the same thing. Tex had even thou
ght Amy could be the stalker. It was an interesting coincidence that Amy also suspected Tex.

  Melody looked up at Tex who was sitting across the way and saw he hadn’t taken his eyes off of them. He was staring intently at her, always conscious about what she was feeling. She took a deep breath.

  “It’s not him, Ames.” When Amy opened her mouth to interrupt, Melody continued quickly. “Please, let me explain how I know. Okay?” Waiting for Amy to nod, Melody squeezed her hand when she did.

  “I was in some hellhole in Mississippi the first time Tex messaged me online. I’d been on the run for a few weeks and was tired and scared. The stalker had already found me in Florida and I was running. Tex messaged me and said he liked my username. He didn’t say anything sexual, and he made me laugh for the first time since I’d received the first note. He didn’t put any pressure on me, didn’t make me feel as if he wanted anything from me. I wasn’t going to talk to him again, but when he messaged me again, I couldn’t help but respond. He was just as funny, and non-threatening. Amy, I chatted online with him for months, and not once did he overstep any bounds. He never asked me where I was, he never asked me for my picture, he never tried to sext me. Six months, Amy. Six. How many guys do you know that would do that?”

  When Amy stayed silent, Melody continued, “Exactly. He talked to me about his life. He told me about his fears. He told me about how he felt about losing part of his leg. Not one guy I’ve met in my entire life has opened up to me like that before.”

  “That doesn’t mean he didn’t do it to gain your trust, Mels.”

  Melody knew Amy was just trying to play devil’s advocate, but she was getting frustrated with her. She’d have to prove it to her. “He’s not like that, Amy. He wants to protect me. He shields me from anything that might be painful. This morning when he saw his truck, the first thing he did was put his arm around me and pull me to his side. His eyes shifted back and forth to search out any threat that might be lingering. He doesn’t want to hurt me, Ames. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Watch.”