Chapter 18
Sterling
Her soft breaths on my bare shoulder soothed my inner rage slightly.
I couldn’t believe the balls on this mother fucker.
E-mailing her all of those pictures. I knew as soon as she opened her inbox that something was wrong.
She has a few physical tells. She sits up a bit straighter, her breath catches in her chest, and she gets this wrinkle in between her eyes.
Almost like she is trying to concentrate.
As soon as she tensed up I stopped what I was doing. I was marginally concerned about the random person walking by the house a few minutes before. I had made a mental note to have Carter background check all the owners in the neighborhood when he got here.
Sitting down next to her, I saw the shit ton of unread e-mails, all from the same address.
I recognized it immediately. At first she seemed afraid to open them.
I wish I could have taken her laptop and just looked at them myself.
I knew she wouldn’t let me keep the emails from her though.
So, I figured we could look through them together.
I didn’t expect each one to be a picture of her from yesterday, completely oblivious of the danger near her. The last email was the icing on the shit cake. I should have gone with my gut this morning, and that e-mail just confirmed what I already knew.
Whoever it was that was taunting her, knew where she lived and had been here this morning. Just minutes before. Proving it to us by taking the picture of her making coffee in her pajamas.
While we were opening the e-mails I kept an eye on Meg, I noticed that with each one she became more and more agitated.
Her legs bouncing. Her teeth biting that plush bottom lip that I wanted to suck on.
Her breath becoming shorter and shorter.
The last e-mail was the straw. As soon as she saw it, the color drained from her face.
She looked panicked and trapped. For the second time she reminded me of a wild animal.
She didn’t even realize that she was having a panic attack.
I jumped up right after she did to help her regulate her breathing and calm her down.
Hugging her tightly I coached her through a few rounds of breathing.
When it seemed like the worst had passed, I pulled her with me to the couch and sat her down in my lap.
Realizing that her hands were clenched into fists up under her chin, I set to work manually opening them. I was happy for the distraction, because what I wanted to do was to destroy something. This was a much better use of my time.
Slowly, the focus began to return to her eyes.
I knew when she started to try to put distance between us that she her awareness was coming back.
When she tried to get up I decided I would try to keep her in place.
To my surprise, it worked. She must be tired.
Her apologizing for her reaction earlier, really pissed me off.
She shouldn’t be apologizing at all. I wasn’t lying to her either when I told her that this guy would pay.
He would, and I would gladly dole out the punishment.
I’m content to rub her neck and hold her.
I breathe her in. She smells like a mix of citrus and tangerine.
This is the longest she has let me near her.
After a few minutes, I break the silence.
“I think that we should think about getting dressed. The guys will be here soon, and we have a lot of ground to cover when they get here. Why don’t you jump in the shower first,” I offer.
She jumps up like a jackrabbit and nods. It is like she is afraid to speak. Before she runs off I grab her hand and squeeze it. She looks down at me almost confused. I grin at her slowly. Her mouth tilts up as if she wants to smile but can’t. I understand. We will get there, I silently vow.
While she is in the shower I call Holt. I know he will be here in a bit, but I think we need to change the plan. When he picks up, I briefly update him.
“Shit, this gets worse and worse. Carter didn’t have much to go on either when I spoke to him last night,” Holt surmises on the other end of the phone.
“I know, I think we need to confuse this guy a bit. Throw him off. I think she needs to stay with me— but we need to make it look like she is here,” I explain.
“It couldn’t hurt to get her to another location, I think that is smart. We can leave your truck there and you both can ride back with me today. I’ll drop you off,” he plans.
“We will still install the cameras and change the locks, that way we can monitor from afar. We can also stop by so it looks like its being used,” I say as I go into the kitchen to pour a mug of coffee. I heard her shower shut off a couple minutes ago.
“I’m going to get dressed. See you in 45 minutes,” I end the call abruptly. I don’t have time for chitchat.
I turn around with full mug in hand and head towards her bedroom door. I listen quietly to see if I hear movement. It sounds like the closet door is being closed. I knock on the hollow door.
A few seconds later I hear a muffled, “come in”. I push open the door and see her sitting cross legged on a made bed with a hairbrush in her hand. I didn’t notice how tired she looked earlier. I’m sure she is not feeling the greatest.
It dawns on me that she had a migraine the night before last, and last night she didn’t sleep well. Add to it her panic attack and the stress of having a stalker overnight, and she must be on the edge. Walking into her bedroom, I scan the room quickly.
It is neat, but lived in. A few books stacked on the nightstand. A couple of receipts on the dresser. She has a small basket of clothes on the floor next to her dresser. I hand her the mug with steaming coffee and she automatically sighs and smiles.
The smile doesn’t have a lot of energy behind it, but I’ll take it just the same.
She is dressed in a pair of black leggings, and a long sleeved shirt.
A sweatshirt lays next to her on the bed.
Her chin length hair is still wet, but has just been brushed.
Her face is devoid of make-up, which seems to be the norm for her.
I realize that I’m inspecting her and it makes her uncomfortable. Part of me enjoys making her nervous, but the other part of me knows, now isn’t the time. Soon. Just not this morning.
“Thanks,” she says as she takes a big gulp of the black coffee. It had a couple of minutes to cool, but I am still impressed. She takes another big sip and sets the mug on her nightstand.
“No big deal, I’m hopping in the shower. Don’t answer the door, don’t go outside for any reason. I’ll be out in 5 minutes,” I order.
She has a slight frown on her face as if she wants to argue. All of a sudden she smirks and gives what I think is a salute. “Sir, yes sir,” she says sarcastically.
I can’t help but chuckle at her sense of humor. Part of me wants to punish her in the most delicious way for being such a smart ass. Later, I think. The other part of me is thrilled that she bounces back so quickly.
Shaking my head I turn around. I can feel her eyes on me as I walk into the other bedroom. By the time I come out she is focused on her phone and clutching her cup of coffee. I slide into the bathroom with the intention of taking the fastest shower possible.