Chapter 9 Lori #2
She turned back to Mitch, her smile returning but not quite reaching her eyes. “Well, I’ll pop by later this afternoon with lasagna then. I know how much you love my lasagna.”
“I have appointments this afternoon,” Mitch said quickly. “And Sally, you really don’t need to bake us any more lasagna. We still have one in the freezer from the last time you brought some over.”
“Of course,” Sally said, her voice tight. “Well, I will call you later then.”
Before Mitch could respond, Sally leaned down and kissed his cheek. Lori didn’t miss the way Mitch stiffened at the contact, his whole body going rigid for just a moment before he forced himself to relax.
And there it was again. That feeling of winning something. Of being chosen. Lori tried to fob it off, tried to tell herself it didn’t matter, but the warm glow in her chest refused to be dismissed.
Sally walked past Lori toward the door, and Lori had to step aside quickly to avoid being bumped. It wasn’t quite aggressive, but it wasn’t quite accidental either.
“It was nice seeing you again, Lori,” Sally said, her voice perfectly pleasant but her eyes carrying something dark. A challenge. A warning. Maybe both. Making Lori suppress a shudder as she realized just how angry Sally was. That wasn’t just jealousy in the woman’s eyes. It was hostile.
“Goodbye, Sally,” Lori said, keeping her own voice polite and neutral. “It was good to see you again, too.”
Sally’s heels clicked sharply against the tiles as she walked away down the corridor. Lori waited until the sound faded before turning back to Mitch.
“I’ll wait outside,” she said, suddenly feeling awkward. She really didn’t want to risk running into Sally in the hallways.
“Thanks,” Mitch said, and the gratitude in his voice was evident. “I really appreciate this, Lori.”
A nurse walked in at that moment, greeting them both cheerfully and carrying a handful of paperwork. “I just need you to sign some discharge forms, Mr. Brandon, and then you’re free to go once you’re dressed.”
Lori slipped out of the room and closed the door behind her. She looked around the corridor, making sure Sally was truly gone, and then moved to sit down in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs that lined the hallway.
She was about to sit when something caught her eye.
At the far end of the corridor, standing near the elevator bank, was a man in a tan windbreaker.
Lori’s breath caught in her throat. It was him. Windbreaker man. The one who’d been following her in town. The one who’d been lurking around the cottages. The one who was probably responsible for Mitch’s injury.
An emotion she couldn’t quite explain surged through her. It was part anger, part fear, part sheer frustration. She was tired. Tired of being watched. Tired of feeling unsafe. Tired of living in fear during what was supposed to be a healing, peaceful summer. And now Mitch had been hurt.
Enough was enough.
She slammed her coffee cup down on the chair so hard that the lid popped off and coffee sloshed onto the seat. But Lori didn’t care. She was already moving, stalking down the corridor toward the man with single-minded determination.
“Hey!” Lori shouted, her voice ringing out in the quiet hospital hallway. “What do you want? Why are you following me?”
The man froze for a split second, his head turning toward her. Even from this distance, she could see the surprise on his face, the moment of calculation as he realized she’d seen him and was heading straight for him.
Then he swiveled on his heel and headed down another corridor at a fast walk that was just short of a run.
Lori, now filled with adrenaline and pushed forward by weeks of accumulated fear and frustration, rushed after him.
Her sensible flats slapped against the tiles as she moved as quickly as she could without actually running.
Hospital staff turned to look at her in surprise as she passed, but she ignored them.
Lori rounded the corner where the man had disappeared, her heart pounding, and found herself in a longer corridor that led toward the emergency department. There were more people here. Nurses, doctors, patients in wheelchairs, visitors. But no man in a tan windbreaker.
He was gone.
“Shoot,” Lori breathed, stopping in the middle of the hallway to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears, and the blood was zinging through her veins with the aftereffects of adrenaline.
She’d lost him.
Frustrated and angry at herself, Lori turned and made her way back to Mitch’s room. When she got there, she found him walking out, dressed in his own clothes and carrying a small bag with the belongings he’d had when he was admitted.
He frowned when he saw her. “Lori, what’s wrong? You look flushed.”
She moved closer, her words tumbling out.
“Earlier, when I went to get the coffee from the vendor, I saw the windbreaker man in the hospital parking lot,” Lori paused, and took a breath.
“Then I saw him again when I came out of your room a few minutes ago. He was standing at the end of the corridor. And I just... I couldn’t take it anymore.
Something exploded inside me, and I went after him. ”
Mitch’s expression shifted immediately to alarm. “You chased him? Lori, that could have been dangerous. We don’t know what he wants or what he’s capable of.”
“I know,” Lori said, frustration bleeding into her voice. “But I’m tired, Mitch. I’m tired of being intimidated. I’m tired of looking over my shoulder every minute. I’m tired of being afraid in what’s supposed to be my safe haven for the summer.”
Mitch’s expression softened with understanding. “I get that. I really do. But what if he’s working for the Stansteads? What if this is bigger and more dangerous than we thought?”
That made Lori pause. She hadn’t really considered that possibility.
The Stanstead case had seemed like a dead end, something from Florida that couldn’t possibly be connected to what was happening here.
But what if it was? What if Trevor’s involvement with Richard Stanstead had somehow put a target on her back?
“I promise I won’t do anything reckless again,” Lori said quietly. “I just... in that moment, I saw him, and I snapped.”
Mitch nodded, then his gaze shifted past her to the corridor beyond. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully, and Lori saw the exact moment an idea struck him.
She followed his gaze, and her eyes widened. He was looking at the security cameras. Mounted in the corners of the hallway, their lenses pointing down the corridors in multiple directions.
She turned back to Mitch, excitement building. “Maybe we can identify him?”
“You saw which way he went,” Mitch stated.
“I did.” Lori nodded. “If we can get the security footage...”
Mitch smiled, and it was the first genuinely happy expression she’d seen on his face since he’d been attacked. He grabbed her hand, his fingers warm and strong around hers.
“Come on,” he said.
They left the hospital together, and Lori was acutely aware of his hand still holding hers as they walked out into the afternoon sunshine. It wasn’t until they reached her car that he let go, and she felt an odd sense of loss at the absence of his touch.
“We need to look at the security footage,” Lori said as she unlocked the doors and they both climbed in. “Can we request it from the hospital?”
She started the engine, and Mitch turned in his seat to look at her, that smile still playing around his lips.
“Don’t worry, we will,” he said, and then he winked at her, pulling the phone from his pocket. “I know a guy.”
“From where?” Lori asked, pulling out of the parking space.
“The days I worked in intelligence,” Mitch told her. Then, before she could respond, he leaned over and kissed her cheek.
It was just a brief press of his lips against her skin, nothing more than a friendly gesture. But Lori’s heart went absolutely wild. Her pulse kicked up as if she’d just run a marathon, and her mind basically went blank except for the tingling awareness of where his lips had touched.
“You are amazing, Lori,” Mitch said softly, his voice warm with genuine admiration.
She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t think. Could barely remember to keep her eyes on the road as she pulled out onto the main street.
“Now let’s get back to the bay,” Mitch continued, his fingers flying over the keys as he typed a message to someone.
Lori nodded, not trusting her voice. Her cheek still tingled where he’d kissed it.
Twenty minutes later, she was in Mitch’s kitchen waiting for him so she could put a new bandage on his head after his shower. He had left his phone on the counter when it beeped, and a message flashed on the screen:
Mitch. I’ve found out who the windbreaker guy is. His name is Elias Dane. I’m still looking into him. But he used to be in the military and now works for a rather shady private security firm, Barstow Security, that also does PI work. But, Mitch, I have his client list, and you know one of them.
The client’s name popped up on the screen, and Lori froze —her heart stilled—no way! Surely it couldn’t be! But there it was as clear as day: Sally Lane!
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