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Leah shrugged. “Dog, if you got to know me better, you’d realize I worry about everything. I write down all the crazy details of my day because I can’t stop worrying.”
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sp; The dog cocked her head.
She knelt down and rubbed the dog between the ears. The dog licked her face and she laughed. Moments like this, she’d give anything to cut Philip from her past. She wished she could go back in time and be distracted just long enough so that their first meeting never took place. She wished.
Leah rose and guided the dog back in the front door, welcoming the heat. She took Charlie back to her crate, filled her food and water bowls, and patted her on the head before she closed the crate.
She spent the next half hour examining the other patients, who were all recovering nicely.
It was after six by the end of her shift. Gail had closed the front office, shut off the lights, and locked the front door. Alone in the clinic, Leah shoved aside a feeling of unease. Her skin prickled and her belly tightened, as if someone was staring at her. Watching from the shadows, like Philip used to do.
She went into her office, checked her cell phone, and immediately noticed she’d received a voice mail from the South Carolina detective. Her nerves jangled as she checked the message. “Mrs. Latimer.” The moniker had her gritting her teeth. “I’ve been traveling and just got your voice mail message today. Your husband’s death investigation was an open-and-shut case. We have no reason to reopen it. I received an inquiry from a TBI agent and forwarded my files to him. Again, we ruled this an open-and-shut case.”
Leah waited, expecting a “Call me if you need more information” or “I’m here to answer your questions.” Neither came. Clearly, the detective had better things to do than answer her questions.
Leah sat down in her darkened office and replayed the message. Nervous energy snapped through her as she tried to imagine, if Philip were alive, where he would be. If he’d been alive these last four years, she’d had no sign of him, or any real hint that he was out there stalking her. The creepy, tingling kind of feeling she used to get when he stalked her had returned a couple of weeks ago, but she’d chalked it up to nerves, a new home, even the New Year’s resolutions that forced her out of her comfort zone. There’d been plenty of reasons for it not to be Philip.
Unable to sit, she rose and grabbed her coat and purse. Keys in hand, she left by the back door, which locked behind her. She crossed the parking lot, glancing into the deep, dark shadows and the backseat of her car before she slid inside, and immediately locked the doors. She switched on the ignition and started driving. The idea of going home to darkness and solitude triggered more tension, so she opted to drive to the mall, full of bright lights and people.
She parked in a well-lit spot and hurried through the cold. She entered through the food court and was immediately drawn to a table of teenage girls who were laughing over a pizza and Cokes. Near them, a mother fed her two toddlers chicken nuggets, while several tables over, an elderly couple ate Chinese food.
The normalcy of it all surprised her. These people appeared to be going on with their lives, unaware that monsters like Philip Latimer lived in their world. A part of her wanted to scream a warning to them all. Philip had done a good job of toying with her sanity and making her question every creak, shadow, and bump in the night. But to behave like a crazy person now would do her no good. She held her silence.
She moved to a vendor and ordered a hot tea and a cookie. After paying for both, she chose a seat backed up against a wall in the center of the food court. She sipped her tea, watching a young couple saunter past. Their hands were linked, and the girl leaned into the boy as if she drew energy from him. She found herself searching the young girl’s bare arms, neck, and face for bruises. When she saw none, her utter cynicism struck her. She’d been hoping for a new way of living and thinking, and in the blink of one conversation, she’d regressed four years.
She reached in her purse and pulled out her journal. Carefully, she began to detail the day. She recorded the incident with Tyler Radcliff and Alex, and of course the latter’s theory about Philip. The craving for a cigarette rose up in her, so sharp and strong she wondered if there was a drugstore nearby. She caught herself before she went hunting for one.
Philip, you’re not going to keep ruining my life. You’re not.
Curling and flexing her fingers, she reached for her phone and dialed the South Carolina detective’s number. Yep, she was officially a nag when it came to the whereabouts of Philip Latimer, but she figured she’d earned the right. Though the one-hour time difference between Nashville and Greenville ensured she wouldn’t reach a live person, she made the call regardless. Ranting at a voice mail would work for tonight. After the phone rang and she waited for the away message and the beep, she said, “This is Leah Carson. I dropped the Latimer name years ago. I would like a call back in the morning regarding Philip Latimer’s case. I would like to discuss the details of his accident. So give me the courtesy of a return call in the morning or I’ll be contacting your supervisor.” She hung up, her face flushed with frustration and a bit of worry over her tone.
Leah rose, slung her purse over her shoulder, and grabbed her tea and cookie. But instead of heading home right away, she headed toward the crowds.
“Leah Carson.”
Leah stiffened just for a moment at the sound of the voice. She turned to find Alex Morgan standing just feet from her. “Alex.”
“What brings you here?”
“Just grabbing a bite to eat.” She found herself smiling. “I wasn’t interested in going home. You don’t strike me as a mall rat.”
“God, no. I come here only when I must.” He held up a bag from a sports store. “I needed new running shoes.”
“Plausible, but I don’t buy it.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve been stalked before. I’m not the most trusting person.”
His gaze held steady. “Shoes really don’t last long when you’re training. A few months at best.” He leaned forward a fraction. “No more signs of Tyler Radcliff?”
“No. No signs. I’m hoping he was just venting his anger and grief.”
“Anything else catch your attention?”
“You mean like my dead husband coming back to stalk me?”
“Exactly.”
If she weren’t so scared, she’d laugh. “No. And he wouldn’t be that careless. He was clever and knew how to turn up the heat without it blowing back on him.”
Alex frowned. “Why do you think he’d lay low for four years?”
“He was scared. Found someone else to stalk. Was bored. I don’t pretend to understand him.”
“If you had to pin one reason down?”
“He’d hate the idea of prison. He might still want me dead, but he wouldn’t want to pay the price.” She shook her head, running a trembling hand over her head. “And I think he might have been fine to leave me be as long as I stayed in the shadows. My life was fairly isolated in Knoxville. Now I’m back in Nashville. I have a good job. Friends. And I had a date; just one, but a date. He would hate that. Hate it.”
“You think another date would upset him?”
“It would.”
“Then let’s have dinner.”
She studied him. “This business or pleasure, Agent?”
He smiled. “Pleasure. But I won’t lie. If I can catch a bad guy, that’s icing on the cake.”
“You’re honest, I’ll give you that. I’ll take you up on the date after this is over. Then we’ll know for sure it’s pleasure.”
He nodded. “Do you have my phone number in your phone?”
“I do.”
“Good. Don’t hesitate to call.”
“You’ll get the first call if a crazed man with a knife appears.” The morbid joke undercut some of the fear.
“You have a ride to the running group tomorrow?”
“I can drive myself.” She rose. “So, are you going to follow me around until Philip’s status is resolved?”
He stood and moved closer until she could feel the energy radiating from his body. “Yes.”
She studied him, trying to gauge the depth of his com
mitment. One thing to say you’d help, it’s another to do it. “If you’ve done your digging, you know our anniversary is January twenty-fifth.”
“Yes.”
“He’d see a certain symmetry in killing me on our wedding anniversary.”
“I know.”
“So what do we do?”
“For the next few days either I or one of my men will shadow you.”
“This is the part where I tell you not to worry about me. I’m supposed to declare I can take care of myself. But I’m not going to do that. Follow me all you want.”
He took her arm with his hand and gently tugged her toward him until only a sliver of space separated them. He leaned his head forward to kiss her. Fear and excitement gripped her, but she held steady. Despite everything, she wanted this. Wanted to know what he tasted like.
He tilted his head and pressed his lips to hers. She raised her hand to his arm, and her fingers gripped the folds of his jacket. The kiss, tentative at first, grew a bit more insistent. She rose on her tiptoes but resisted the urge to wrap her arm around his neck. In the distance, she heard young girls giggling at their display. That thought led to another . . . was Philip watching?
She pulled back, moistening her lips with her tongue. For an instant, her voice seemed to have fluttered away and she couldn’t speak. She cleared her throat. “Was that business, too?”
Alex traced the line of her lip with his thumb before allowing his hand to drop possessively to her shoulder. His touch sent shivers through her body. “Definitely pleasure.”
He wasn’t a fan of the mall. He didn’t like the crowds or the noise. So much going on that it could overwhelm the senses. But Leah was here, so he followed. While she ate her cookie, he treated himself to a hamburger and fries across from her. A group of giggling girls at the table beside him had him remembering the first time he’d seen his wife.
She’d been with a group of her friends, and though some of the other girls were pretty, his gal had stood out to him like a beacon. He’d known from the moment he’d seen her that he wanted her. And so he’d set about following her. Not in a creepy, malicious way. He didn’t want to scare her. But he’d made a point of figuring out the places she liked, and he managed to be there. Soon he’d had her schedule down pat, so it became only a matter of time before they bumped into each other.
