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Chapter 16
Another charm arrived in the mail the next day. Anger churned in Spence’s gut as he watched Zoe’s reaction to the now-familiar small brown package. The strong, capable woman he’d gotten to know and like stood with her hands curled into fists. Her jaw clenched. She glanced at Spence. “Open it.” She sighed. “Please,” she added in a softer voice.
He grabbed her hand, and since they were alone in her office, he brushed a kiss over her lips. “Don’t apologize for being upset. Shaken. Why wouldn’t you be? Davies has effectively hijacked your life.
“And he wants you upset. If you’re distraught and distracted, you won’t pay close attention. It’ll give him a better chance to grab you.”
Zoe huffed out a strangled laugh. “Yeah, well, he’s right on target about the upset part.”
“So don’t be,” Spence said, keeping his voice calm. Easy, as if they were discussing what to have for lunch. “If you know he’s trying to make you rattled, don’t give in to that fear. Tell Davies to go screw himself when you get the next package.”
He watched as Zoe stared at the brown package. Finally she lifted her head. Squared her shoulders. “You’re right. This is exactly how Ethan wants me to react. Fearful. Worried. Intimidated.” She shook her head. “No more. He’s not going to claim any space in my head.” She smiled at Spence. “I have other, more pleasant things to think about.”
A tremor of desire rushed through Spence at the need in her gaze. The want. But instead of reaching for her, as his body was urging him to do, he nodded. “Exactly right.” He grabbed a pair of vinyl gloves from the box on her shelf and tugged them on. Then he opened the package.
A tiny silver heart tumbled onto her desk. Spence glanced over at Zoe. “From your charm bracelet?” he asked.
She nodded as she stared at it. Spence picked it up, but as he began to slide it into the packaging, he noticed markings on the other side. Turning it over, he saw that the heart was engraved. And he was certain Zoe hadn’t done that as a teen.
“This wasn’t engraved when you had it, right?”
Zoe shook her head. Managed a tiny smile. “My mom told me that when I met ‘the one’, I could engrave our names on the heart.”
He held up the small silver heart so she could see the markings. “Looks like Davies took care of that for you.”
He’d had his name and Zoe’s engraved on the silver heart. Zoe stared at the ‘Ethan & Zoe’ for a long moment, her jaw working. Finally she looked up at Spence. “He’s escalating.”
“Yeah,” Spence said. “It’s one thing to send you the charms. But to engrave your names on one shaped like a heart? He’s becoming more delusional. Or he’s losing his patience. Maybe both. He probably got to Seattle thinking it would be easy to grab you. But he hasn’t been able to get close, and he’s getting impatient. Frustrated. Angry.”
“And more dangerous,” Zoe said, staring at the charm.
“Definitely more dangerous.” Spence shoved the charm into the wrapping and dialed Lindsay Woods.
When she answered, he said, “Spence Flynn here. Zoe got another charm today. A heart. He engraved this one with her name and his. He’s escalating.”
After a beat of silence, Woods said, “You’re right. You need to consider protective custody for Zoe. Talk to her about it. I’ll be right over to pick up the package.”
Spence ended the call and shoved the phone into his pocket. “Woods wants to put you in protective custody.”
Zoe frowned as she stared at him. “That’s basically what I have right now, right? I’m not living in a different place, with a police officer watching me, but I have twenty-four hour protection. And I trust you. I’d rather stay with you than someone I don’t know.”
“And I won’t trust your safety -- maybe your life -- to anyone I don’t know.” He stared at Zoe for a long moment, seeing complete trust in her gaze. And something deeper. Something he wouldn’t name and wasn’t going to think about.
“I’ll take this down to Lindsay and ask what she’s been doing. How many patrols she’s scheduled past this building and your condo. If anyone’s watching the buildings, waiting for Davies to show up. And I’ll try to light a fire beneath her.”
“Okay,” Zoe said, watching as he strode across the office and reached for the door.
Before he opened it, he glanced over her shoulder. “I will keep you safe, Zoe. No matter what.”
“I know,” she said quietly. “I know you will, Spence.”
He nodded at her and stepped out of the room.
Ten minutes later he was back, his teeth clenched together. When he walked into Zoe’s office, she was sitting at her desk, typing on her computer. But she looked up as soon as the door opened. Frowned as she pushed away from the desk. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Nothing. That’s the problem,” he said, closing the door a little too hard. “Woods told me that they haven’t added any special patrols past this building or your condo. Not enough personnel to do that. Not enough money. I was hoping that someone would spot Davies. But that’s clearly not going to happen.”
Zoe grabbed his hand and held it tight. “Doesn’t matter, Spence. I know you’re doing everything possible. And what are the chances that a police officer driving past my condo building or this one would spot Ethan? Slim to none. They’re driving. Watching traffic. They don’t have the ability to check every pedestrian walking along the sidewalk.”
