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Luke’s fury built with each step. As he carefully unlocked the front door, stepped outside, and crept silently around the side of the house, his anger solidified into the resolve to kick the peeping lawn boy’s ass from here to Abilene.
When he was close enough to reach out and grab the jerk by the neck, that’s exactly what he did. He had the guy on the ground in a matter of seconds and planted a knee in the middle of his back, then slipped the handcuffs around one of his wrists. Glancing around for a place to secure the scumbag until the police arrived, he spotted a utility pole.
“Get up,” he said, tugging the guy off the ground as he spoke.
“Hey man, I didn’t mean no harm. I was just—”
“Just doing a little yard work at four in the morning?”
Luke dragged him to the pole and cuffed him to it, then stood back and took in the sight of the guy facing the pole with his fly open and his schlong still hanging out. He let out a disgusted laugh.
“You’re not gonna leave me like this, are you? I mean, I got customers around here. They ain’t gonna want me doing their yards….”
Luke turned and walked back to the house, resisting the urge to slam the door. With any luck, Jane would have slept through the commotion and he could spare her a little fear by waking her up to explain why the police were coming.
After he’d put in the call to the police, Luke went into the bedroom, where Jane was leaning on one elbow, blinking at the clock.
“What’s going on?”
He explained everything to her as she got dressed. She listened silently, her expression grim and her shoulders tense.
“You think he’s the one?”
“I don’t know. I think we should wait and see what he tells the police before we draw any conclusions. Maybe his fingerprints will match up with the ones they found on the box of porn.”
“I didn’t think it would be someone I knew,” she said, standing in the middle of the room hugging herself.
Luke went to her and took her into his arms. She stiffened for a moment but then melted into him, and he wanted very badly to tell her how he felt, to tell her that she never had to worry about being alone, because he wanted to be there with her for good. But then she pushed away and said she needed coffee, leaving him standing there empty-handed as she disappeared into the kitchen.
After the police had come and picked up the peeping lawn boy, they spent a tense morning in silence, waiting for news. Jane was in her office, and Luke was going back over his files on her case, trying to figure out how he’d missed the lawn-care guy as a culprit, when the phone rang. Luke listened to her conversation, not really getting any information until the end when she said, “Thank you, Officer. It’s such a relief to know that creep is caught.”
He went to her office and stood in the doorway. When she hung up the phone, he raised his eyebrows in a silent question.
“He confessed to making phone calls, sending a few letters, and trespassing outside my house on at least three occasions.”
“What about running you off the road, breaking into your car, sending you a box of porn?”
“He hasn’t owned up to any of that yet, but the police are fairly certain they’ve got their man.” She smiled, leaned back in her chair, and expelled a sigh of relief.
“That’s great if they do, but I think we should consider the possibility that there’s another stalker out there who’s responsible for the other acts.”
“Isn’t that a little extreme? I mean, I know a lot of men hate me, but two simultaneous stalkers?”
“Why’d he confess to some of the crimes but not all, and what’s his connection to your sisters?”
“Maybe he only confessed to the least serious ones, and I know he has met my sisters at least once when they were here.”
“Yeah, he’s probably just trying to cover his ass, but it’s my job to look at all the possibilities.”
Was that it? Was he really just looking out for Jane’s best interests, or was he letting his dick do the thinking?
No, he was definitely doing what he would do for any client, so the suspicious look she gave him felt like a blow.
“You just want to keep hanging around here to draw out this sex thing we’ve got going on.”
“No.” Yeah, sort of. But not for the reason she thought. “I want to do my job.” That part, at least, was true.
“You have, and I can’t thank you enough. But I wouldn’t be doing you any favors by keeping you away from other paying clients who need your services now. I think your work here is done.”
Her words, completely unexpected, hit him in the gut. “You’re firing me?”
