Chapter 14 #2
“I just want to be careful that he doesn’t catch on to us following him. He’s not stupid.” He motioned vaguely toward the school parking lot. “The officer will follow Zoey home. Her mother will be there when she gets to her house. Let’s call it a day.”
Jules stopped at a traffic light and drummed her fingers on the steering wheel.
She was antsy to see where Chase had gone but conceded to Cal’s expertise.
An odd sort of tug-of-war in her core left her feeling unsettled.
Trust Cal or follow her own instincts? What did it say about her that she’d so easily capitulated to him?
Tears of frustration pricked her eyes, and she gripped the steering wheel so hard her knuckles blanched.
He reached over and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Jules?”
“I just want to get him off the street so bad. Abby has suffered so long. I have to make sure she’s safe from him!”
“We will. I promise,” Cal said, his tone so warm and certain she almost believed him.
We. She concentrated on that tiny word as the light changed and she headed back to the lot across from Red Grove Food Distributors.
She wasn’t in this alone anymore. Cal was doing more to help, to listen to her, to problem-solve than anyone in law enforcement or the court system had ever done.
Gratitude swelled in her, and she had to blink hard to fight back the gathering tears.
When they reached the parking lot where he’d left his Jeep, Jules caught Cal’s arm before he could slide out of her car.
He turned to her with a question denting his brow, and she leaned over to catch his mouth with hers. Just a quick kiss. An expression of her thanks. An impulse driven by emotion she couldn’t voice. An experiment…
At the touch of his lips, heat exploded in her veins, and a primitive hunger clawed inside her. She could feel him jolt in surprise, and she met his startled eyes as she drew back.
A blue flame lit his gaze as he stared into her eyes. She didn’t say anything. Couldn’t say anything, because her breath seemed to stop in her throat and back up in her lungs. Her heart thumped so loudly, she was sure he could hear it as loudly as it drummed in her own ears.
She wanted to hide. Wanted to take back the foolish and impulsive act. But mostly she wanted to kiss him again. So she did.
This time, he plowed his fingers into her hair and captured the back of her head with his palm, anchoring her. He slanted his mouth over hers and returned her kiss with a greedy one of his own.
He tasted like peppermint, like summer sun, like…sweet seduction. Her whole body craved him in a way she’d never experienced before.
But he pulled back, brushed his knuckles along her cheek and gave her one of his wide grins. “Not bad for a grandpa, huh?”
Her mind was so muddled with lust, she didn’t catch his meaning until he’d slid out of her car and closed the door.
She’d called him that when he offered her a candy earlier.
Now, her heart stumbled with a flash of panic.
She blew into her hand, testing her breath.
Did it smell of coffee? What had she eaten for lunch? Did she—
Another knock on the car window.
She gasped and felt her face flush, knowing he’d probably seen her testing her breath. She rolled down the window.
“I’ll come by to pick you up at noon tomorrow for the shindig with my family. Casual dress. Okay?”
“Uh…” Her head was still spinning from their kiss. How could she think clearly enough to make a cogent decision?
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
She still couldn’t form words but found herself nodding.
His smile brightened. “Great. See you and your watermelon then.”
She watched him stride away, her foggy brain registering that she needed to find the farmer’s market and buy a watermelon.
As she drove out of the parking lot, her phone rang, and the caller ID read, Red Grove Mental Health Clinic.
Her heart leaped. Abby!
Jules stopped the car in a small lot, snatched the phone from the seat and answered, “Is Abby okay?”
“Ms. Bailey?”
“Yes, that’s me. Is my sister okay?”
“Yes, ma’am. She’s fine. This is Sylvia at Red Grove Mental Health Clinic. There is a gentleman here who says he’s your brother.”
She shook her head, confused. “We don’t have a brother.”
“Well, I knew you hadn’t listed one in her admission paperwork,” the woman on the phone said, “but he was insisting on seeing her, and I wanted to—”
“No!” she blurted when it clicked.
Chase! Somehow, he’d tracked Abby to the mental health facility. When he’d struck out with Zoey this afternoon, he’d turned to Abby.
Damn it! Jules had thought Abby would be safe in the hospital. How in the world had Hamilton found her there? It was one thing to know she was in Red Grove, and quite another to learn she was a patient at the mental health facility. What had happened with HIPAA?
“Well, that’s why I called. I wanted to—”
“Call the police! And for God’s sake do not let any man in to see my sister!”
“The police?” Sylvia asked. “But—”
“It’s him. It has to be him! The man who’s been stalking her is here in town. Do not let anyone but me in to see her!” Her hands were trembling, and she fumbled to put the phone on speaker, so she could drive to the hospital. “I’m on my way! Call the police!”
“Well, actually, when I told him I had to call Abby’s family and get your approval, he turned and left. I only wanted to alert you.”
Another thought came to her that made her gut swoop. “Does Abby know he was there? Did she see him?”
“Well, no. He didn’t—”
“Don’t tell her. It would only upset her and…she’s been making progress. If she knew Chase was in town—” Bile reached Jules’s throat. “Oh, geez. Do not tell her! And do not let anyone but me in to see her. Alert your staff to this guy, and if he shows up again, call the cops. All right?”
“Yes. I understand.”
Jules took a deep breath and thanked Sylvia for calling as she fought down her own panic attack.
She knew she was too upset at the moment to drive.
Which meant she was also too upset to visit Abby.
Her sister would sense something amiss, and the last thing she wanted was to be the reason Abby became agitated.
Closing her eyes, she drew long deep breaths, exhaling though pursed lips.
Once she had control over her heartbeat again, she headed to her motel to recalculate.
Knowing Chase had located Abby upped the stakes.
The sooner they caught him and got him off the streets, the better.
But was this slow and painful stakeout with Cal going to be enough?
Why did the wheels of justice have to move so slowly where Chase Hamilton was concerned?
Tomorrow, she’d make it clear to the sheriff that time was not on their side. She needed action from him or she would take matters into her own hands.