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Birch stiffened, grasped her arms, and held her away from him as he stepped back. “I amnotyour hero,” he said rudely and as if he were disgusted by her. “Save the theatrics for the cameras.”
Allison ripped her hands free. She felt almost as awful as she had after the stalker had attacked her. How could Birch rescue her and make her feel so cherished by his touch and then treat her like garbage again?
“You obviously are not a hero,” she snipped. “Forgive me for forgetting your hatred of all actresses everywhere. Jerk!” She caught a glimpse of regret in his dark eyes, but it was there and gone quick.
Sirens screamed through the night and Allison stepped away from him, ignoring his large, hulking, attractive, tempting, heroic presence. How could he be so appealing to her and such a dipwad? The police arrived and asked a billion questions. A few times her gaze wandered to Birch of its own volition. He’d give her a concerned glance and a forced smile before turning away. It was obvious he didn’t care about, or even like her. He’d only saved her because that’s what military heroes did.
Detective Jones worked with the uniformed police at the scene of the crime, and then he and his partner went with her back to her apartment to take the notes into evidence, hoping for fingerprints, even though none had been found on the notes to date. They got word that they’d found a Maxima that matched the license plate number Birch had read off the suspect’s car. The vehicle was deserted and apparently stolen, so no help at all.
When they were finally done, Detective Jones said to Allison, “I don’t have the manpower to provide you the protection I feel you need and allow you to stay here in Dana Point. This stalker has been at large and eluded us for months and now he’s attacked you. I feel you should be in protective custody or at the very least I could recommend some private security.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said stubbornly. She wasn’t ready to uproot her life. Especially when her career was finally taking off.
“No. This case has bugged me, especially because many of the actresses, like you, disregard your own safety. This man has obviously been staking out your house for weeks, following you, and now he’s attacked you and knifed a man. He’s extremely dangerous, a professional as we have no fingerprints or leads, and obsessed with you.” He gave her a stern look, pushing his hand through his salt and pepper hair. “Do you understand the danger you’re in?”
She did, it terrified her, but what was the best option? She’d prefer hiring private security over going into protective custody. She had some time before her next contract would start. Especially as she hadn’t signed on any role yet. She nodded shortly at the detective.
“I won’t leave you here tonight.” He glanced around her apartment as if the masked guy were going to jump out of the shadows and hurt her. He focused his dark, steely eyes back on her. “And I’ll do everything I can to help you find some private security or go into protective custody.”
Allison blew out a breath. She was grateful he cared and would help her but he was as tenacious as her mom’s Jack Russell terrier. “Give me a second.” Pulling out her phone she pushed on her brother’s name.
“Hey. How are ya?” Abe asked in his deep voice.
“Not great. Um, where are you? Where’s Rach? Where’s your jet?”
“All three of us are currently in New York. What’s going on?”
Allison looked to the detectives, both watching her anxiously. “I have a month or two before I start filming again, haven’t decided on a role yet actually.” She fisted her dress in her hands and spit it out. “I’ve got a stalker. He attacked me tonight.”
“What?” Abe yelled through the phone. “Are you safe? I can be there in six hours.”
Ah, Abe. Her brother would always watch out for her. “Okay. Call me when you get in and we’ll figure out where to go from there.” She looked at Detective Jones to see if it was good enough.
The man shook his head. “No.” He held out his hand for her phone.
Allison raised her eyebrow but didn’t dispute him. “Abe. Detective Jones would like to speak with you.”
“Good.” Abe sounded angry and overprotective. She should’ve told him about the stalker, but it had been kind of a joke until tonight. Why had the guy chosen to attack her over all the other women he had targeted with sticky notes for months?
Allison handed over the phone, biting at her thumbnail while she listened to the one-sided conversation. From what she gathered, they were both in agreement that she needed to leave and that Abe would take her someplace safe, with private security, until Detective Jones somehow found the stalker. That all seemed really dumb to her. How were they going to find a stalker they hadn’t found in months and truly had no information about, except that he was tall, had blue eyes, and was a disgusting pervert, while she was gone?
Detective Jones hung up the phone and handed it back to her. “Your brother and his wife are on their way. He claims he has connections to get you the security you need and a safe place to take you. We will be taking you to several different locations in the next six hours, through a few wardrobe and vehicle changes, and then meet up with him at a private airport. We’ll make sure the stalker doesn’t follow you.”
“How are you going to find the stalker if I’m gone?”
He shrugged. “We’ll give him a few days to relax and then have a female officer impersonate you by living here. Hopefully he takes the bait while we stake the place out.”
“So if all goes well you’ll have him caught and I can come back home?”
He nodded, giving her what was probably meant to be a reassuring smile.
“What if all doesn’t go well?”
He spread his hands. “Let’s deal with one day at a time.”
She tilted her chin and folded her arms across her chest. “I’ll be accepting a new role soon. When I do, I’ll be coming back here or wherever the location for the movie is.”
He pushed out a breath but nodded. “That’s your choice. In the meantime, I’ll do all I can to catch the man. If you do return before he’s caught, I recommend security guards, a move to a more secure location, and some better security cameras.”
“I appreciate your concern and advice.” She tried to play the good victim, but she wasn’t ready to live with security guards flanking her everywhere she went. She wasn’t someone famous … yet.
At the same time, she knew she had to do something. The thought of that man on top of her, his disgusting body pressing her down into the ground, his perverse words, and the knife he’d pulled on Birch and cut him with. If Birch hadn’t been there … she couldn’t let herself think like that.
She’d never see Birch again. That thought shouldn’t make her sad but crazily enough it did. She pushed the military hero away in her brain. He’d protected her but he’d also treated her like garbage and didn’t like actresses. She shouldn’t think about him again.
