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“Plump me up so I can’t pass through the doorframes?” She laughed, unsure when she’d started sounding so carefree. Ironic given the circumstances.
“Whatever works.” His smile widened, and he pushed back his plate. When she’d finished too, he cleared the dishes. “Want to talk here or in the living room?”
“That couch has been calling to me.” The chair scraped against wood as she stood up and made her way across the room. She sank down near the left arm of the furniture, sighing at how wonderful the cushions felt beneath her. “I could sleep here and be perfectly content.”
“I’d feel better having you on the second floor. The alarm system will trip the moment someone walks onto my property, then I have a house alarm for backup. I don’t think we were followed here, but we should be cautious.” The cushion beside her dipped when he settled next to her. Not so close that she was uncomfortable, but not so far away she’d miss his masculine scent that beckoned her closer. Just having him beside her soothed the tension in her muscles. If someone broke into the house, she had no doubt Easton could protect her if it came down to it. She would protect him in return. Two sets of tactical training skills were better than one.
“I didn’t see anyone, either.” She tucked her legs beneath her, angling her body toward Easton. “Were you able to trace the email account?” With white knuckles clenched tight against the top of her thighs, she waited for him to deliver the news.
“The person who contacted you used a burner account, but fortunately for us, the sender’s email didn’t self-destruct until after twenty-four hours.” He raked his hand through his hair, and the strands fell back into place. “These email sites offer more privacy protection than your average mail account, but they’re only as effective as the user’s knowledge. The sender failed to strip the metadata from the attached file, and they didn’t bother to encrypt their connection. Maybe they didn’t think it was necessary to send the email through an intermediary server. The sender either assumed the disposable email was enough to cover his trail or he wanted us to know his location.” He studied her face, and her nerve endings twisted in response. He was going to tell her something she wasn’t going to like. “The IP address belongs to a coffee shop in Grafton, about twenty minutes from here.”
She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t blink. Easton’s words were a shock to her system. It was as though every part of her paused. The fear that had once immobilized her, fear she’d thought she’d overcome, flooded into her system, bursting through a dam of denial. Horrors of the past bombarded her senses. Easton was saying something to her, but she couldn’t seem to hear. Then a hand came around her waist, another behind her legs. Strong hands lifted her. She was no longer sitting on the couch, but on Easton’s lap. He held on to her tight, pulling her into the protection of his solid chest. Nothing could sweep her downstream when she was bound in his embrace. His touch didn’t stop the panic attack but reminded her if she just held on and weathered through the crushing pain in her chest, she’d come out on the other side.
“That’s it. Breathe, Kins.”
How long they sat there, she wasn’t sure. She just knew she wasn’t ready for him to let go. His hands were still a vise around her as he murmured soft reassurances against the top of her hair. Heated breath ruffled the strands and tickled her scalp, sending goosebumps coursing down her arms. No one had ever witnessed one of her panic attacks. It had always been a fear of hers to experience such a private moment with another. Easton wasn’t slowly backing out of the room though, or telling her to get a grip. He was just there, supporting her, holding her. His compassion made her eyes sting. She’d been on her own for so long that it felt good to be held.
“I—” she tried, but her throat was dry and clogged with fear. Without a word, he stood, cradling her in his arms, and walked up the stairs to the second floor. With gentle hands, he placed her on the frilly yellow bed, pulling the comforter out from under her. He pulled the blanket up to her shoulders and tucked the material around her sides. When he straightened, new fear penetrated the depths of her soul. She didn’t want to be alone with the shadows closing in, but she couldn’t ask him to stay. Squeezing her eyes shut, clenching her teeth together, she waited for him to walk out of the room. Instead of the door shutting though, the mattress squeaked and dipped. She pried one eye open to find Easton lying on top of the comforter beside her. The weight of his arm flung over her side soothed her, and after a moment, she was able to speak the words she hadn’t been able to earlier. “Part of me can’t believe he’s so close. The other part of me knows it’s true because I have this awful dread building up inside me.”
“You were a teenager when you escaped him the first time. Imagine what you can do now as an adult. An adult who is fully trained in law enforcement and has a career dedicated to hunting down killers. We’re going to crush him, Kins, and you are not alone this time. You know he’s here. We know he’s here. By sunrise, the FBI, state police, and every local department in New England will know, too. This guy is going down.” His voice held so much conviction, it bolstered her weakened resolve.
“I can’t shake the feeling that he has a special kind of torture in store for me.” A shiver quaked through her, and Easton tightened his grip. “The thought that he could harm others trying to get to me, like that poor woman tonight, makes me more afraid than I ever was before.”
“There’s nothing we can do right now, so sleep. I’ll never let anything or anyone touch a hair on your head.”
Her eyes filled again when he pressed a kiss to her forehead. No one had ever stood up for her like this before. Guarded her while she slept. Lying with a man she didn’t really know should feel awkward. Instead, a stillness settled over her, a sense of long-awaited peace. There would never be a worse time to get involved in a relationship, but she needed the comfort he was offering. She closed her heavy lids. She might regret it in the morning, but tonight, she was safe. Tonight, she’d fall asleep in Easton’s embrace.
