Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
After dropping her stuff in the living area, she crashed down onto the sofa.
Dylan was checking the place over, making sure Clark hadn’t been there.
She didn’t think he had because the temperature was toasty and nothing appeared to be amiss in the front room.
Still, she really appreciated the gesture.
It made her feel so much less alone in this.
“All clear,” he announced as he came around the corner. “You want some water?” He disappeared into the kitchen.
“Yes,” she called out as she put her feet up on the coffee table.
He came back and tossed her a bottle. Then he lowered himself into the chair opposite her and opened his own water. She watched him take a long swallow, then opened her own and did the same.
“So, how are you feeling now?” he asked as he leaned back in the chair.
She willed the anger to drain out of her fingers and her toes. Yoga wasn’t her thing, but she worked on being Zen. It helped free her of the fear and anger, which she would not let rule her life. “Better.”
She had buried her anger at her parents when she was younger.
They trotted her out like a championship pony.
She’d hated it, but she’d learned that fighting had done no good.
It was easier to roll along. She’d known that one day she would be able to escape and live her own life. Not be under their thumb constantly.
She had dreamed of finally being free to be a writer, maybe travel to places she wanted to see like Mumbai and Amman instead of Monte Carlo and Aspen.
It had taken ages, but finally she learned to let the anger go. It only hurt her, not her parents. She wasn’t a writer yet, well not a real one. But even writing puff PR pieces sure as hell made her happier than she’d ever been in her parents’ world.
If she was going to catch Clark, she needed to do the same thing. Forget the anger and concentrate on using her brain. She needed her smarts to trap her stalker. “I just need to relax. The letter surprised me, shook me up a lot, but I think I’m getting back under control.”
Dylan sat up in his chair. “He’s escalating, your stalker. The letter is the next step in his progression. We have to be careful.”
“Careful? I don’t want to be careful. I want to piss Clark off, then at least he’ll come at me more openly, and we can catch him. Prove that he’s my stalker. I am tired of living in fear. It gives Clark too much control over my life, and I hate that.”
“Do you think it’s possible anyone else could be your stalker? Does anyone else make you uncomfortable or give you a bad vibe?”
“What? You don’t think it’s Clark?” Her chest got tight. “I thought you believed me.”
“I do. I just want to be sure we’ve got the right guy in our sights. I don’t want to overlook anything. We need to make sure you’re safe. If your stalker is as dangerous as we think, provoking him could be very unsafe.”
She straightened and put her water on the table with a thunk. “I know it’s Clark. No one else gives me a vibe of any kind. I get what you’re saying, but I’m honestly so tired of being scared. There has to be a way to get him to blow up so that he can be arrested.”
“I know you’re frustrated, but you have to hang in there a bit longer.
This isn’t the time for stupid mistakes.
He’ll get away if we aren’t careful. He’s got a lot of friends in high places.
We don’t do this right, and it could cost us both our jobs, if not something more. ” He ran his hands through his hair.
“Look Dylan, I know we haven’t known each other long but I trust you.
You’re the only person who has done anything about this situation.
You asked your friends for help. You’ve made sure I was safe.
You even let me sleep in your bed. I know you’ll protect me.
I think we are smart enough to get this done and make it stick. We just have to figure out a plan.”
“Raleigh,” he hesitated, and her belly rolled.
“I need to tell you that I had Gabrielle Risk do a deep background check on you as well as the rest of the guests.” He met her gaze.
“I want to be totally honest with you. At the time, I believed you were telling the truth, but it was the smart move. I’m sorry. ”
Her heart slammed in her chest. Did he betray her?
If she were in his position would she have done the same?
Yes. “It’s okay Dylan. Actually, it just makes me truth you more.
You did the right thing and then you told me about it.
That’s just shows me how seriously you are taking this threat and your job. ”
Relieve ran across his features. She didn’t blame him. How could she? She was practically a stranger to him and her story was truly bizarre. The fact that he was still there and he believed her was incredible. “I’m glad you’re here, Dylan.”
He smiled. “Me too. I think I’m going to call Gabe back and tell him about the letter.” He stood up. “Why don’t you go get ready, and we’ll go out for dinner. Somewhere off the resort. I think we could use a night away from all this.”
She frowned. She really wanted to go but she should be here for the barbecue. “I should stay. I need to make sure the barbecue is covered properly.”
“I’m sure Phil will manage without you. After today fiasco, I think Lydia will be taking it cool tonight.”
“Let me make a few phone calls first and make sure certain things are in place and then we can go.”
She was going on a date. Just the idea of having a normal evening out was thrilling.
It had been so long. “I’m supposed to write an article about the dinner, but I can look at the pictures tomorrow and debrief Phil.
Donna already emailed me to let me know everything Lydia wants me to focus on anyway.
Let me just make sure Phil’s okay with filling me in later. ”
Raleigh hopped up off the sofa, grabbed her phone, and headed back to the room.
Her fingers flew across the screen as she texted Phil.
Two seconds after she hit the send button, she got a reply.
He was cool with taking notes as long as she brought him back dinner from the city.
He was getting tired of the food at the resort.
Grinning, she sent him a smiley face emoji.
She gathered her shower things and headed into the bathroom in the room they were sharing.
She still couldn’t face the shower in her room.
She made Dylan use that one. Twenty minutes later, she was squeaky clean and ready to go.
She dressed in a pair of white jeans and a soft green blouse that had cut-out shoulders.
It clung in all the right places and made her eyes seem a deeper shade of green.
She could see the appreciation in Dylan’s eyes when she rounded the corner.
She’d made the right choice, not only in clothing, but to skip the barbecue.
Her lips started to tingle with the memory of the kiss from earlier.
Maybe they could repeat that later tonight.
Maybe they could share a bed again in a different way.
Sighing, she mentally gave herself a shake. What was she doing? This was no time to get lost in school-girl fantasies, even if she was sharing a cabin with a man whose kisses made her forget everything but him.
“You look amazing,” Dylan’s voice rumbled out of his chest.
“Thanks, you too.” And he did. He was wearing a snowy-white shirt that set off his tan and a pair of jeans that clung to him in a way that accentuated all his assets. And boy did he have some.
“I took the letter from your bag. I hope that’s okay.
I put it in a cellophane baggie I found in the kitchen.
We need to get it examined. See if there’s any prints besides ours.
Gabe has a lab he trusts. We’ll have to give them our prints for exclusion purposes.
We can drop it at the office on the way to dinner. ”
“I don’t mind. Anything to catch Clark and get him to stop stalking me.” She grabbed her handbag and tucked her phone inside. “Ready to go?”
“Yup. Anywhere special you want to go for dinner?” he asked as he ushered her toward the door.
“I promised Phil we’d bring him some dinner, but I’m open to any suggestions. You don’t mind heading back to the city, do you?”
“No, it’s not that far. There’s a great restaurant I like in Brooklyn. Maybe we can check it out. Plus, it’s close to Risk’s office.”
“That sounds great.”
He ushered her out the door, closing it behind them and putting the Do Not Disturb sign over the doorknob. “Would you mind waiting on the path for a second?”
She walked over to the path and then turned around to see what he was doing.
He put a matchstick at the base of the door. Then he grabbed a can of sunscreen from the little table on the porch and sprayed the floor with it. “There now. It’ll make the floor a bit sticky so we should see a footprint or two if anyone tries to get in while we’re gone.”
“What about the turndown service?”
“I already called the front desk and cancelled for the evening. I told them we didn’t want to be disturbed. I also asked Cosgrove to place a temporary camera along the path.” He pointed to a small birdhouse that was hung in a nearby tree. “If anyone comes here, we’ll know who they are now.”
“That’s great. I love the birdhouse disguise!”
Dylan grinned. “Yup. It’s pretty cool.” He grabbed her hand and led her down the path. As they walked to the parking lot, it hit her how much she’d come to rely on him in such a short period of time.
“Want to review the plan for tomorrow?” he asked
Reveling in the warmth of his touch, she was at a loss for how to answer. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I’m not comfortable sending you into the wedding alone, but I also don’t want to upset Jenn. It’s her big day.”
“That’s really sweet of you, to think of Jenn, I mean.”
Dylan smiled at her. “I don’t know if it’s sweet, but it feels like the right thing to do.”