8. Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
DYLAN
This was definitely not how I thought this would go. I didn’t anticipate having to answer to anyone but Hattie’s parents, since she wanted to hold off until tomorrow to tell her siblings. But as luck would have it, Rhett happened to be here too, glaring at me.
Hattie, of course, was already trying to downplay the situation.
This woman would be the death of me.
“Really. It’s probably nothing, but Dylan wants to be safe and look into it.” Hattie shrugged. “I doubt he’ll find anything. It’s hard to believe anyone would actually stalk me.”
All I could hope was that Hattie was minimizing the issue for her parents’ sake.
“Can we talk?” Rhett stepped up next to me, nodding toward the kitchen. My stomach sank at the idea that he was going to grill me about exactly why I was here with Hattie. With as easily as Aiden had seen through my denial of my attraction to her, I worried Rhett might too.
But without waiting for a response, he headed out of the room.
Once I stepped through the doorway, he spun on his heel, glowering. “Need you to do me a favor.”
“I’m already looking into it.” Obviously.
He raked a hand through his dark hair. “I know…but I want you to stay with her. Make sure she’s safe.”
“What?” My lungs seized up. The idea of staying with her was both a thrill and torture. I wasn’t sure I could trust myself to be around her that much. I could still feel her body against mine as she’d hugged me. At the moment, I was half-focused on the stalker, but now… Nope couldn’t go there. “You realize I have a job, right?”
Currently, we had no active cases—that would change once we got the official paperwork going on this one—but that didn’t mean I didn’t have other duties to see to or that another one couldn’t pop up at any time.
“I can’t be with her all the time,” I clarified. For many reasons, not just work.
He nodded. “She’s fine when she’s at work. I’ll be there. I’ll have Tyler keep an eye out too. But I don’t want her alone in her apartment, and she’s too stubborn and independent to stay with any of us.”
He made a good point, I supposed. I didn’t like the idea of her being alone in her apartment halfway across town either. Even so, if I agreed to this, then I couldn’t take lead on her case. The person who took point would need to run down any lead, no matter when it popped up.
“Besides, she’ll feel comfortable with you. She’s known you since she was, what, fifteen?”
I met Rhett shortly after I’d graduated from the police academy and moved to Half Moon Lake. The crowd he’d run with back then had welcomed me in pretty quickly, and I’d spent plenty of time around his family too. So yeah, he was probably right on that front. Though it was hard to believe that the same awkward, timid teenager I’d met when I moved here was the woman currently making my head spin.
“She probably sees you as another overprotective brother,” he added.
I flinched. God, I fucking hoped that wasn’t how she saw me. I sure as shit didn’t see her like a sister. My heart lurched at the thought. Shit. It really didn’t matter because, either way, I wasn’t going there.
“Please, man.” Rhett frowned, his face etched with concern. “She’s my little sister.”
A long sigh escaped me. “Let me see what I can do.” I’d have to talk to Aiden before I could make any promises. “I’ve gotta make a phone call first. In the meantime, do me a favor.”
“Anything.”
I smirked. “If you hear any rumors about me dating Hattie, go along with it.”
His eyes popped wide. “What?”
And that glare was back.
“Half the town saw us talking outside The Dock earlier. We were discussing the troubles she’s been having, but it seems as though the interaction was misinterpreted. And honestly, it could work in our favor if the stalker finds out that Hattie is dating a police officer.”
It could also push the guy to escalate more quickly, but I’d keep that to myself. While it was a distinct possibility, the quicker that happened, the more likely he would be to mess up.
For a long moment, Rhett studied me. Finally, he huffed. “You better not be trying to tell me you’re dating my sister.”
I scoffed. “I’m not?—”
“Good. ’Cause the last thing she needs is relationship drama.”
I raised one eyebrow. “Drama?”
“Yeah, man. It follows you wherever you go. All your relationships turn dramatic, and they never end easily.”
I locked my jaw. He wasn’t wrong about the drama, though I wasn’t the cause. The last two serious relationships I’d been in, and even the more casual ones, had come down to one issue. My career choice. I had yet to find a woman who could handle my job. The hours. The danger.
“What I’m saying is that it’s a good thing if the stalker thinks we’re dating.”
He nodded. “Okay. I’ve got some papers for my dad to sign, then I need to get home to Bella and the kids.” He stepped around me and put a hand on my shoulder. “Thanks for looking out for Hattie, man.”
“Of course.”
Once I was alone in the kitchen, I dialed Aiden.
“Hey,” he started. “The plates came back stolen.”
Irritation flared in my gut, though I wasn’t surprised. “I figured as much.”
“Weren’t you the one who said we don’t have criminal masterminds here?”
I chuckled. “Anyone who watches TV knows not to use a car registered to them to commit a crime.”
“Truth.”
“Gonna need you to take lead on this.”
“What?” He scoffed. “I assumed you’d want the lead.”
“Rhett asked me to stick close to Hattie, so I can’t be available as often as I’d need to be if I were.”
“You’re sure there’s nothing going on between you two?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
He let out a loud sigh, the sound muffled through the line. “Okay. I’ll talk to the captain before I leave and see if we can pull Ethan to help out with this one.”
That was a great idea. Ethan was a great patrolman. Eventually, he’d make detective if he wanted it. If I was watching Hattie, we would need help anyway. Aiden had a wife and kid. Asking him to do all the legwork would be a dick move. Plus, if I needed to take over for any reason, Ethan could keep an eye on Hattie.
“Okay, and I’ll bring Hattie by the station tomorrow to give her official statement. Talk to you again in the morning.”
A minute later, after I’d hung up with Aiden, Hattie entered the kitchen through the open doorway.
“Dylan?”
“You ready to go?”
She nodded, exhaustion marring her features. “Yeah. It’s late.”
The frightened woman from earlier was gone. Either she was holding her shit together and putting on a brave front, or she was back to being in denial.
Regardless, we needed to have a conversation. These next few days were crucial. The stalker was likely angry that his plans tonight had been thwarted. With any luck, he would decide I was the problem and come after me next.