Chapter Fifteen
D aniel turned on Netflix and skimmed through the movies, coming up with a comedy they had both enjoyed before. He sat back and pulled her to his side. He didn’t comment when she stiffened at first before slowly relaxing against him.
Within the hour, he felt her settle harder against him and her breath evened out. He held her like that for a while, not paying attention to the movie, just loving the feel of her in his arms.
His thoughts came back to her problem. This sounded so much like how it started with Tammy, his ex-girlfriend. She had told him about her things being moved, things taken, only to be returned. She begged him to stay because of her fear. The thing was, the cops he’d called at the beginning never found a trace of evidence showing someone had been in the house. She said she was being watched. He made sure he scanned every place they went, but he never caught sight of anyone watching her. He’d done everything he could have at the time. Now it seemed inadequate. He didn’t know why it was happening again, but he was going to do better with Keira’s situation. It didn’t escape his notice that two of his girlfriends had the same problem.
Daniel had seen many stalking cases in his time as a cop, but never had he seen a case like this one. Who takes things from people they are trying to terrorize, only to bring them back and neatly fold the laundry or wash their clothes?
Image after image raced through his head. How had he missed this going on right under his nose? He’d been there every night for a week and hadn’t seen any evidence that anyone else had been there. Besides looking a little tired, she showed no extra stress in her that a stalking would certainly cause, or she was damn good at hiding it.
He glanced down at her. The thing she needed most was sleep, and he was going to make sure she got some. He turned off the TV and moved to stand and pick her up.
Keira awoke groggy. “What are you doing?”
“I was going to carry you to bed.”
Keira sat up and pushed her hair away from her face as she stood. “No, I can walk.”
His frown deepened. “I’ll be right in, Honey.” She continued to walk away without any indication she had heard. Daniel picked up his cell phone and walked out the back door so she couldn’t hear him.
“Yeah?”
Daniel chuckled. “Nice way to answer the phone.”
“Get over it. What’s up?”
“Conner, have there been any reports of women being stalked, window peepers, or any other weird stuff having to do with women?”
“Not more than usual on the peepers, but no stalking. What’s going on?”
“My girlfriend feels there has been someone in her house, but I can’t find any evidence of it.”
“Oh, shit, Daniel.” Conner laughed. “You found another crazy chick?”
“Shut up, asshole. Keira is awesome, and there’s nothing about her that’s crazy. I want it on record that someone is stalking her. I’ll send all her information to you tomorrow.”
Conner snorted. “Where’d you find this one?”
“It’s Layla’s sister.”
“No shit. Layla’s cool. How’d her sister end up kooky?”
“Stop fucking saying that,” Daniel growled.
“Then what would you call it, man?”
Daniel pressed his hand against the back of his neck. “She’s not like that. I believe her, Conner, and I want it on record.”
“No problem. She might have to come in so I can ask her questions. Would she do that?”
“I’ll ask her.”
“Call if you need anything else. Good luck.”
Daniel ignored Conner’s chuckle that came through the phone and hung up.
The lights had been turned off except for the one in the bathroom. Something twisted in his stomach. Keira was curled on her side, away from him, with the blankets tucked under her chin. He moved toward the bathroom, closing the door most of the way, before climbing into bed.
Daniel lifted the blankets and lay down next to her. “Come here.” He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her tightly against his chest. He nuzzled the side of her face. “Are we fighting?”
She shook her head and flattened her hand against his chest. Daniel’s hand slid from her neck to her lower back, and he felt the tension slowly leave her body.
Keira breathed in his potent masculine scent. “Daniel, make love to me.”
Daniel raised his head to look at her. “How about I hold you while you sleep? Honey, you look like you could use more rest.”
Keira propped herself up on an elbow to look down at him. “If you didn’t want me, why are you staying tonight?”
Daniel frowned. He couldn’t detect any sarcasm or bitchiness in her question. She acted like she really didn’t understand why he’d stay if not for sex. “I want to stay with you. We don’t always have to make love. Just being with you is enough.”
Keira still looked confused, but let it go. She lay back against him, resting her head in the notch on his shoulder, and relaxed her body.
“Good night, Sweetheart.” He held her late into the night. He’d do whatever he needed to protect this woman.