AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Of course.” Dylan calmly led her away from her car with speed in his step. He gestured for a nearby mechanic to remove the reviled objects from the glove box.
Unfortunately, the stench of them would linger forever, reminding her of the worst time in her life. Every single time her college stalker had relocated her, after she’d uprooted herself to run and hide in a new place, he would torment her and announce his presence by breaking into her car to leave a lone pine tree freshener dangling from her rearview mirror.
Every single fucking time.
The innocuous shape of an evergreen tree was forever burned into her brain as a profound symbol of terror.
But that was over. She’d survived. She didn’t have a stalker anymore.
Unless Marcus had applied for the job. Bastard. Because if it wasn’t Marcus, then a ghost was taunting her.
She couldn’t stop trembling. Couldn’t operate her cell phone. Couldn’t remember Gabriel’s or Nathan’s phone number, even if she could stop shaking long enough to press buttons. Hating to feel so weak, she tugged on Dylan’s sleeve. “Can you please call Gabriel?”
“Of course.” He led her back to the office.
Her legs were only as sturdy as jelly as they walked. She hadn’t realized how worried she’d been about Marcus tracking her down and finding her until the evidence was placed in front of her. And the tracker wasn’t even the conclusive proof she believed. Perhaps the GPS had been on the car since she purchased it years before.
But the sharp scent of pine brought it all home.
The pine trees were a cruel reminder of her past.
And Marcus knew she didn’t like them.
He’d gotten particularly irritated one night when she’d ridden in his car and asked him to remove the tree-shaped freshener, but she hadn’t explained their significance. That had actually been the first fight they’d had that made her reconsider their future relationship.
The mechanic who’d accidentally dislodged the GPS transmitter was leaving the office as they stepped inside. He whispered to Dylan as they entered. But she heard him anyway. “It’s still active.”
And that meant she was being tracked.
Only Marcus would do that. Who else would care?
Inside, Dylan had her sit down. He pulled a cell from his coveralls and called Gabriel. All he said was, “It’s Dylan. Get over here pronto,” and then he hung up.
“I’m sorry to be so dramatic. It’s really foolish. I was just a little surprised by the…the…you know…the…stuff in there.” She couldn’t even say the words pine tree air freshener out loud. She inhaled a deep breath once more, trying desperately to calm herself and also clear the hated scent from her lungs.
He squatted down next to her. “No problem. Listen, I was about to panic because I thought something got damaged from a client’s car while in this shop. If something was put inside your vehicle while locked up here, that’s a totally different thing. You have every right to be upset about someone possibly tracking you and then taunting you with something that obviously bothers you so much.”
She nodded, grateful that he didn’t require a lengthy explanation of her hatred of pine-tree-scented air fresheners. “When was the break-in?” she asked.
He looked thoughtful. “Actually, the first night your car was here.”
She closed her eyes and dropped her chin to her chest. If she had been tracked since she left, it was a miracle he hadn’t found her. Was it Marcus? It had to be. Had he tracked her down to fulfill his promise to slap the shit out of her for daring to leave him? Or had her college stalker risen from the dead to resurrect his former torturous plan to drive her insane?
No. Kevin was gone. Dead. Never coming back to chase her down. She pushed out a long sigh and tried to assess her rational brain. She repeated in her mind what she knew was true. Kevin is dead. Kevin is dead. Kevin is dead. She’d seen for herself that he’d been reduced to a mangled mess on a slab in the morgue. Sad, yes. But also freeing.
Standing in the freezing room all those years ago, all she’d felt was staggering relief. The endless feeling of being hunted was finally over. Even now the feeling of guilt at her relief swept in. She tried to shake that off without result.
