Page 17 of Unstable

Finally, he could no longer stand it. “Hey.” He waited until her gaze lifted to his. “They’ll find him, you know.”

Her eyes immediately dropped back to her lap, where she picked at a loose thread on her leggings. “I just don’t understand. Like…” She peered helplessly at him. “Did I do something to encourage him?”

“I seriously doubt it. And even if you did”—he locked eyes with her—“no one deserves this.”

She tried for a little smile but failed miserably, her eyes sad. “I’ve been racking my brain, trying to think of who it could be, but…” She lifted her hands, fingers splayed wide. “I just don’t know who would do something like this.”

“It may not be anyone you know,” he replied. “There’s no specific definition for obsession.”

He’d been reading up on it over the past few days, ever since that last note had arrived. It’d been particularly gory and graphic, citing various ways in which he planned to kill her. Whoever was behind this had obviously done a lot of research, because the letter was incredibly detailed. It still made his stomach turn thinking about it.

“You may have met him once, or it could be someone you’ve known your entire life. Who knows?” He shrugged. “It’s up to the police to figure out the who and why of it. It’s my job to keep you safe in the meantime.”

“I know.” She sighed, then leaned one elbow on the arm of the couch and propped her head on her hand. “And I appreciate it—really. I just wish they could hurry up and find the guy.”

“Maybe he’ll slip up, and they’ll catch him.”

“Maybe.” She didn’t sound convinced, though, and for several minutes, they lapsed into silence.

He sneaked peeks at her from time to time, but she just stared off into space, seemingly a thousand miles away. He checked his phone and noticed the time. The next patrol should be coming through soon, and he wanted to do a perimeter check of the property just in case.

He pushed to his feet. “I’ll be outside if you need me.”

Rina nodded but didn’t respond, and he headed out the front door, locking up behind him. His truck was parked in Rina’s driveway once more, a bright red beacon to let everyone know he was there. He made a sweep of the yard, checking for anything out of place, any evidence that someone had been there recently, but there was nothing. He checked the windows accessible from the outside again, but everything was locked up tight, just as it had been that morning.

The locksmith wasn’t able to come out until the next morning, so he’d blocked the side entrance to the garage in the meantime. Rina had changed the code for the front door, and as of right now, she and he were the only two who had access to it.

He was still livid that someone had bled her brakes. The more he thought about it, the more he believed it had been done in her garage. If someone had opened the bleeder valve while she’d been out somewhere, fluid would have drained from the lines each time she’d pressed the brake while driving.

She couldn’t have made it very far without running out of fluid completely and losing all stopping power. More than likely, she would have remembered a change in pressure the last time she’d driven her car, but she remained adamant that everything had been fine. And he believed her. Which sucked even more, because it meant that her accident was his fault.

Just as he rounded the side of the house, the sound of a car cruising slowly up Rina’s street caught his attention. He saw the distinctive light bar of the cruiser approaching, and he headed out to the street to meet the officer.

The officer slowed to a stop and rolled his window down just as he stepped off the curb. “Are you with Ms. Sterling?”

“I am.” He held out a hand. “Roman Incardona with Vantage Security.”

“Reimer.” They shook hands, then the officer pointed to her house. “Nothing yet?”

“Nope, everything’s been quiet.” He didn’t truly expect anything less. Unless the person lived close by, he had a feeling he wouldn’t strike again until he’d heard news of her accident.

Reimer bobbed his head. “I’m on ‘til eleven, so I’ll keep an eye out.”

He stepped back. “I appreciate it.”

Reimer eased back into the street, and he turned to head back inside. There, he checked the garage and all of the windows and doors. Her ranch was a little over a thousand square feet, and it didn’t take long until he was back in the living room seated across from Rina. It was going on dinnertime, and he couldn’t remember her eating anything that day, with the exception of a pre-workout smoothie that morning.

“You hungry?”

She gave her head a little shake. “I’m good.”

He eyed her. “You need to eat something.”

Her gaze flicked to his, the blue depths stormy and shadowed. “I don’t know if I can,” she finally admitted. “I still feel kind of sick to my stomach.”

He understood, but she didn’t need to pass out on top of everything else. “Something light, then,” he said, pushing from the couch. “Got any salad mix?”

He was sure she did, since it seemed to be the only thing she ate half the time. He had chicken breasts stashed away, and he was already pulling them out by the time she walked into the kitchen behind him. They never actually sat down to eat dinner together, instead keeping to themselves. He had no idea if she was a vegetarian or not, because he’d never seen her eat meat of any kind.