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Noah clenched and unclenched his fists, feeling helpless that he hadn’t been there to keep Natalie safe and protected. “Then Mel got a good-enough look at the guy to tell me if he was Chad?”
“Probably so,” Cole said confidently. “According to her description, he had blond hair and hazel eyes, so I’m sure she’ll be able to ID him with that photo.”
“Then I need to talk to her.” The sooner the better. He scooped up his folder and stood, anxious to be on his way and to see for himself that Natalie was okay and unharmed.
“Mel will tell you everything she knows.” Cole stood, too, and walked Noah to the reception area of the offices. “What are you going to do from here?”
He glanced back at his brother, so very grateful that he had Cole’s support. “I’m going to keep Natalie in my sight at all times and keep a lookout for Chad Freeman, because the bastard’s likely closer than we all think.”
And for all he knew, the deranged stalker knew exactly where Natalie was right now, and that she was staying with him. The thought twisted his stomach up in knots of fury and frustration.
“Are you going to show Natalie the picture of her and Chad?” Cole asked.
He’d considered that idea on the flight back to Oakland, but realized it didn’t serve any real purpose to present her with something that might work her into a panic. Obviously, seeing Chad in person hadn’t jogged her memory, so it was unlikely the photo would, either.
“No. She needs to remember her past on her own, and I’m not prepared or equipped to answer the questions that would undoubtedly crop up if I show her a photo of the man who confronted her today.”
Cole nodded in silent agreement. “Watch yourself, Noah, and Natalie, too.”
“I plan to.”
* * *
“Did you get everything done today that you needed to?”
“Pretty much.” Noah glanced over at Natalie, who was sitting in the passenger seat of his car as he drove them both back to his place. “Though I heard you had a rough afternoon.”
Her head rolled against the back of her seat to look at him, a wry smile pulling up the corners of her mouth. “You’ve been talking to Melodie, I see.”
“Guilty as charged.”
When he’d arrived at Cole’s to pick up Natalie, she’d been resting in the upstairs guest bedroom, which had given him a few moments alone with Melodie to find out what, exactly, had happened during their lunch. She’d identified the man in the photo as the guy who’d confronted Natalie, which had put up Noah’s guard even more where his pretend fiancée was concerned.
He now said to Natalie, “She was worried about you after that incident with the guy who was eyeing you.”
Her shoulders lifted in a shrug as if the incident were inconsequential, but she didn’t completely pull off the show of bravado. “It was all very strange, really…”
Her voice trailed off on a note of confusion, but that didn’t stop him from prompting her for more details. “Strange in what way?”
“The way he watched me while I was eating lunch, for one thing,” she said, and visibly shuddered at the unpleasant memory. “His stare was just so…unnerving. And when I ran into him in the hallway leading to the restrooms, the way he touched me gave me the creeps.”
Every muscle in Noah’s body grew tense, and his grip tightened around the steering wheel. “He touched you?”
“I dropped my purse and he picked it up and put the strap back on my shoulder,” she explained. “His fingers kind of lingered against my neck.”
He exhaled a slow stream of breath to keep calm. No doubt about it, Noah was going to kill the bastard when he finally found him.
“But what bothered me the most is that he acted as though he knew me, or li
ke I should know him.”
As casually as he could manage, he asked, “Did he look at all familiar to you?”
“I honestly don’t know. I felt like I instinctively knew him somehow, but I definitely didn’t feel comfortable around him. It was a weird contradiction I haven’t been able to resolve in my mind.” She sighed, the sound rife with uncertainties. “Then again, I think I’ve developed a case of paranoia along with this temporary amnesia.”
He had proof that her apprehension was based in reality, so there was no way he was going to downplay the situation. Reaching across the console, he placed his hand over hers, giving it a comforting squeeze. “Do me a favor. If you ever see this guy again, let me know immediately.”
She smiled at him. “You’ll be the first to know.”
