Chapter 10 #3
“And that really ticks me off. Maybe he was casing the joint to see what’s the easiest way to get to you or looking for where you were staying in the house.”
She shivered once again and pulled her hand away from his. “I don’t like the fact that now I’ve brought this danger to your doorstep. The last thing I want is for you or Sammy to get hurt.”
“That’s not going to happen,” he replied firmly. “And we still need to call Dallas. He needs to know everything that happens with you.”
He made the call and while he waited for Dallas to arrive, Seth went back to check on his son. He stood in the threshold of the room and watched his son, grateful that he had fallen back asleep. Sammy was a sound sleeper and hopefully he wouldn’t wake back up when Dallas arrived.
He remained there until he heard the knock on the front door. He closed Sammy’s door halfway and then hurried back into the living room.
Dallas had three officers with him. The lawman looked exhausted, and Seth was reminded that he had his hands full with the scarecrow murders investigation.
Lady immediately started barking again. Seth excused himself, raced down the hallway and got Lady out of the bedroom.
Thankfully Sammy hadn’t awakened and once Lady was in the living room, she stopped barking.
Seth then explained to Dallas what had happened. Dallas instructed Officer Benjamin Cooper to stay inside the house with Suzanna, and then Seth led the other officers outside to show them where he had seen the Peeping Tom.
With bright flashlights the men searched the area, hoping to find something, anything, that would identify the person who had been there. However, they found nothing.
“I wish I had something to give you on the other two attacks on Suzanna, but unfortunately this person hasn’t given up any clues.
And it looks like tonight there’s no answers, either,” Dallas said in obvious frustration when they were all back inside the house.
“All I can tell you is to stay vigilant until we can identify this person and get him behind bars.”
“I definitely intend to stay vigilant until there’s no more danger to Suzanna,” Seth replied firmly.
“So you wouldn’t recommend me moving back to my house right now?” Suzanna surprised Seth by asking Dallas.
“I can’t tell you what to do,” Dallas replied with a frown. “But I think tonight was a reminder that somebody is still after you, and so far, you’ve been safe staying here.”
The lawman’s frown deepened. “I wish I had the manpower to put a guard on your house, but I don’t. However, we are still continuing the investigation into the other two attacks.”
“I understand,” she replied. “But what was the person hoping to gain by peeking in the window?” Lady sat at her feet and occasionally she leaned down to stroke the dog.
“Maybe the person wanted to make sure that that was your room. Or perhaps he was checking to see if you were sleeping alone and not with Seth.”
“So the motive for all this might be jealousy,” Seth said.
“Possibly, but we won’t know for sure what the motive is for these attacks until we get the perp under arrest and can get that kind of information.”
Minutes after that, the police were gone, and Seth and Suzanna were once again alone. He sat back down on the sofa next to her. “Are you so eager to leave me and Sammy?”
“No, it’s not that.” She looked away from him and then gazed at him once again. “But you know this arrangement can’t last forever. You deserve to get your life back, and I need to get back to my own.”
“I know this can’t last forever, but Suzanna, I don’t want you to make a rash decision that leaves you alone and vulnerable,” he replied. He reached out and gently shoved a strand of hair behind her ear. “For now, we’re doing fine here, right?”
She hesitated a long moment and then nodded. “Right.”
She looked so somber, so unhappy. Or maybe it was residual fear that made her look that way.
He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.
“Would you feel better if you slept in my room with me tonight?” That would certainly make him feel better.
He would love to cuddle her soft curves again as he fell asleep.
“No, I’ll be fine. From now on, I’ll just make sure my curtains are closed at all times,” she replied firmly.
“If the motive for all that’s happened to you is really jealousy, then I hope Dallas takes a closer look at Ray and Boone. You’ve said they’re pretty much the only men in your life.”
“I still find it hard to believe that it would be one of them, but then I never anticipated they would be so hateful to me after I gave Dallas their names. At this point, who knows about them?” she replied dispiritedly.
“I suggest we call it a night. It’s gotten late.” He got up from the sofa, slightly disappointed that she wasn’t going to sleep with him. He hadn’t wanted sex necessarily, but he would have loved to fall asleep with her in his arms.
She also rose from the sofa and Lady got up as well.
He grabbed his gun, and then together they went down the hallway toward the bedrooms. “Thank goodness Sammy is a deep sleeper,” she said when they reached Seth’s bedroom door.
“I’m grateful that he didn’t wake up again and get frightened by all the police presence here. ”
When had she noticed that his son was a deep sleeper? And it touched him that her thought was the protection of him. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?” he asked when they reached her doorway,
“I’ll be just fine. Good night, Seth.”
He watched as she disappeared into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. Quietly he walked past her room and on to Sammy’s.
He cracked open the door and Lady walked in and jumped up on the bed next to Sammy, who was sleeping soundly. Seth quietly pulled the door halfway closed. Sammy liked to have his door closed, but Seth always opened it partway when he did the final check on his son.
He released a tired sigh. Now that the initial adrenaline that had filled him when Suzanna had screamed was gone, a deep exhaustion fell over him.
For the second time that night he undressed down to his boxers and then crawled into bed. Despite his tiredness, his brain refused to turn off. Questions flew through his head, the same questions that had no answers yet.
Who was the person after Suzanna? And what was going to be his next move? There was definitely no question that Seth expected danger to come at her again. He could only hope he was there to protect her from any harm.
The only place she was really vulnerable was at work. If one of the men she had named to Dallas was the guilty party then was it possible they could kill her at school? Maybe catch her alone in the supply closet or another place and stab her to death? The very idea horrified him.
And in his horror, the earlier emotion he’d refused to analyze came into his head…into his heart. As he thought of all the time Suzanna had been in his home…the deep conversations they’d had…the shared laughter…the lovemaking…he realized somewhere along the line he had fallen in love with her.
Stunned by this sudden awareness of his own feelings, he stared up at the dark ceiling of his room. When had his deep friendship with her turned into love?
Had it been when he’d made love to her? Had that intimate connection unconsciously pushed him over the edge into uncharted territory? Had it been the first time the three of them had played games when her eyes had sparkled so brightly and she’d shown such love and caring for his son?
It didn’t really matter when it had happened, the fact was he was in love with her and he definitely didn’t want to be. He’d thought he could protect her and not get his heart involved. However, the beautiful blonde with her big blue eyes and sweet smiles had slid in right beneath his defenses.
Yes, he was in love with her, but he didn’t intend to do anything about it. As deep as his feelings for her ran, he was still determined not to give a woman, any woman, a chance to abandon him and Sammy, and that included Suzanna.
Besides, Suzanna hadn’t indicated that she was in love with him, but even if she was, nothing would change as far as he was concerned. When she was safe, then she would leave here to go back to her life, and he and Sammy would go back to living their own without her presence in it.