Chapter 10 #2
Nora had been kissed before. Had been in relationships. But nothing had ever felt like this. Like every nerve ending was alive, like her whole body was tuned to his frequency.
Carson’s mouth moved from her lips to her jaw, trailing kisses down to the sensitive spot below her ear. Nora gasped, her fingers digging into his shoulders.
“Still okay?” he murmured against her skin.
“More than okay.”
His hand slid under the hem of her sweater, palm warm against her ribcage. Nora arched into the touch, wanting more, needing—
Carson’s phone rang.
He froze, then swore viciously against her neck. “I have to check it. It could be about Dan.”
“I know.”
He pulled back reluctantly, and Nora immediately felt the loss of his warmth. Carson grabbed his phone from his pocket, checking the screen.
“It’s Finn.” He answered, his voice still rough. “This better be important.”
Nora watched his expression change as he listened. Watched the tenderness fade, replaced by hard detective intensity.
“When?” A pause. “Are you sure it’s him?” Another pause. “I’m on my way.”
He ended the call and looked at Nora with regret and frustration warring on his face.
“Dan was spotted at a gas station three miles from here,” Carson said. “Security footage shows him asking the clerk questions about hotels in the area.”
Ice flooded Nora’s veins. “He’s looking for me.”
“We don’t know that for sure. But I need to go meet Finn, coordinate the search. Euton is outside your door. He won’t let anyone past. But, Nora—” His hands cupped her face firmly. “Stay inside. Don’t open the door for anyone except me. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
Carson stood, and Nora could see him shifting, the man who’d just kissed her disappearing behind the detective’s armor. It should have scared her. Should have made her feel like what they’d just shared wasn’t real.
But she understood. This was who he was. Someone who compartmentalized. Who did what needed to be done.
And right now, what needed to be done was catching Dan Morrison.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Carson said, moving to the door.
“Carson?”
He turned.
“Be careful.”
Something softened in his expression. “Always am.” Then, quieter, “We’re not done here. You and me. We’re going to finish this conversation when I get back.”
Then he was gone.
Nora sat on the bed, still feeling the ghost of his touch, still tasting him on her lips. Her body hummed with interrupted desire, but her mind was already spinning.
Dan was close. Looking for her. Asking about hotels.
She stood and moved to the window, looking down at the street below. Cars passed. People walked. Everything looked normal.
But somewhere out there, Dan Morrison was hunting her.
And despite what Carson said, despite the officer outside her door, Nora couldn’t shake the feeling that danger was getting closer.
***
Three blocks away, Dan Morrison sat in his car, staring at a photo on his phone.
Nora Bell. Smiling in the picture, unaware she was being photographed. Looking happy and carefree and completely oblivious to the pain she’d caused.
Just like her father.
Daniel Bell had started the investigation that destroyed their family. Had been so righteous, so determined to do the right thing, that he’d never considered the consequences. Never thought about Robert Whitmore’s wife and son and nephew who would lose everything.
And Nora was the same. Getting people fired without thinking about the fallout. Destroying lives with her meticulous audits and moral superiority.
She’d gotten Dan fired five years ago. Reported him for a mistake—just a mistake—that had cost him his job and his reputation. He’d had to change his name, start over, claw his way back into the firm under false credentials.
All so he could be close to her. Watch her. Wait for the right moment.
Eugene had been sloppy, let his emotions get the better of him. Had attacked too early, gotten caught, ruined everything.
But Dan was smarter. More patient.
He knew where Nora was. Had followed the detective’s car from the station to the Grandview Hotel earlier. Had watched them go inside.
Room 814. He’d bribed a housekeeping staff member to get the information. Easy when you knew how to charm people, how to make them trust you.
And tonight, when the detective left—and he would leave, because cops couldn’t stay glued to victims forever—Dan would make his move.
He’d finish what Eugene started.
He’d make Nora Bell pay for every life she’d destroyed.
Starting with her own.
Dan started his car and drove past the Grandview one more time, noting the cop car outside. The security cameras. The doorman.
Obstacles. But not insurmountable ones.
He’d been planning this for five years. He could wait a few more hours.
By morning, Nora Bell would be dead.
And the debt would finally be paid.
***
Nora paced the hotel room, unable to sit still.
It had been an hour since Carson left. An hour of checking her phone, checking the locks, checking the window, checking everything because sitting still meant thinking.
And thinking meant remembering Eugene’s hand around her throat. The knife. The certainty that she was going to die.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Lila: Please call me. I’m worried about you. Whatever’s happening, I want to help.
Nora stared at the message. She’d been keeping Lila at arm’s length, not wanting to worry her, not wanting to admit how bad things had gotten.
But maybe Lila deserved to know the truth.
She dialed.
Lila answered immediately. “Nora! Thank God. Are you okay? Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you where I am. But I’m safe. The stalker—his name was Eugene. He’s in custody now.”
“Was? Is he—”
“There might be someone else. Someone he was working with. The police are looking for him now.”
“Oh my God.” Lila’s voice cracked. “Nora, I’m so sorry. I should have believed you. Should have listened when you said something was wrong.”
“You didn’t know.”
“But I should have. You’re my best friend. I should have trusted you.” Lila took a shaky breath. “Can I come see you? Bring you anything?”
“No. It’s not safe. Just...stay where you are. Stay away from my work, my apartment, anywhere someone might be watching.”
“You’re scaring me.”
“I’m scared too.” The admission came easier than Nora expected. “But the detective—Carson—he’s keeping me safe. He’s going to catch the other guy. It’s going to be okay.”
“This detective. You trust him?”
Nora thought about Carson’s hands on her face. His promise that they’d finish their conversation. The way he kissed her like she was something precious.
“Yes,” she said. “I trust him completely.”
They talked for a few more minutes before Nora ended the call. She felt better for having told Lila the truth. For letting someone else carry a piece of this burden.
A knock at the door made her jump.
“Ms. Bell?” Officer Euton’s voice. “Detective Black asked me to check on you. Are you okay in there?”
“I’m fine.” Nora moved to the door but didn’t open it. “Has there been any news?”
“Not yet. But the detective should be back soon.”
Nora returned to the bed and pulled out her laptop, trying to distract herself with work emails. But she couldn’t focus. Every sound in the hallway made her tense. Every shadow made her pulse spike.
She was safe. Carson said she was safe.
So why did she feel like she was being watched?
Why did every instinct in her body scream that something was wrong?
The lights in the room flickered once. Twice.
Then went out completely.
Nora froze in the darkness, her heart hammering.
“Euton?” she called toward the door. “Did the power just go out?”
No response.
“Euton!”
Still nothing.
Nora fumbled for her phone, using the flashlight to navigate to the door. She looked through the peephole.
The hallway was dark. And Euton was gone.
Terror flooded through her. She grabbed her phone with shaking hands and dialed Carson.
It rang once. Twice.
Then the connecting door to the adjoining room—the one Carson had left unlocked—opened.
A figure stood in the doorway, backlit by emergency lighting from the hallway.
Not Carson.
Dan Morrison smiled at her in the darkness.
“Hello, Nora,” he said. “It’s time we had a talk about your father.”