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“Hearing and understanding are two very different things.” I finally managed to shut my gaping mouth, and I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “In fact, that was just about the last thing I expected you to say. You think I have a… what? A damaged amygdala or some sort of Urbach-Wiethe disease that prevents me from feeling fear?”
“No, my genius,” he said softly, and the name wasn’t said mockingly, but rather like a term of endearment, and it filled me with all the warm fuzzies. “I think you have an overpowering fight instinct when it comes to the fight-or-flight response when you do feel fear.”
“Overpowering fight instinct? What does that even mean?”
“You have a degree in psychology, Eden, so I know you know what I’m talking about.”
“I don’t actually.” But for some reason my heart began to thud.
“Have you never heard of front-line vets coming home with wildly violent reactions to stressful situations?”
“Of course.” Those stories often ended in tragedy, so it made no sense that he was linking them with me.
“Wildly violent reactions to stressful situations,” he repeated, watching me. “Don’t you see it? That’s you in a nutshell.”
“Me?” I couldn’t stop a scoff, even as my heart pounded all the harder. “You’ve got to be joking.”
“Not even a little. I finally figured out that you have the same kind of fight response that’s usually the result of combat-level PTSD.” Slowly, with his hands held loosely at his sides, he began to close the distance. Never before had I felt more stalked than I did at that moment. “I’ll admit, your response stumped me at first. I mean, it stuck out like a sore thumb the first moment I saw you at PSI, talking about taking video of the parking lot where you found the first note. Most people would have freaked the fuck out, but not you.”
“Iwasfreaked out,” I said with all the power of the truth behind me. “And Ihatebeing freaked out. The only way to not be freaked out is to find the answers to whatever is freaking me out. That’s why I was so proactive in trying to get those answers. Maybe from your point of view I should have simply huddled in my car, shaking and wailing helplessly for some strong man to come along and fix all my problems. but I’m not that kind of woman. I did all I could to get the answers I needed, because I’m as capable of taking care of myself as any man.”
“And you did that by taking video of the parking lot and all its occupants,” he said, not rising to the bait of implied misogyny.Crap. Apparently he really meant business. “You know, I’ve watched that video you shot in the grocery store parking lot over and over, and I noted a few things about it.”
Annnd, there he was, back in monster-mode. Outstanding. “Did you note the identity of my stalker? Because that’s what I’ve hired you to do, if you’ll recall.”
“I noted that your breathing rate increased,” he said, clearly ignoring me. “Twice you can hear it hissing in and out from between your teeth. Your teeth are perfect, no gaps or anything that would cause a whistle, so that tells me you must have had them clenched together with your lips curled far back. You had your teeth bared, Eden, as if you were enraged.”
“Enraged, or terrified.”
“You also growled a little, though the sound had to be enhanced by our tech guy for me to catch it. Do you remember growling while you were filming? Or were you suddenly surrounded by wolves?”
Smartass. “Excellent guess.”
“But the most interesting thing about that video is how it cuts off abruptly half a second after hearing the same sound we heard earlier today—tires peeling out double-quick.” He stopped right in front of me, staring down at me in that unnerving, unblinking way that made me want to punch him. “Did you chase them, Eden?”
I held his gaze through sheer force of will. “I can’t believe you’re focusing onmeright now rather than—”
“Answer the fucking question,” he cut in, so savagely he might as well have roared it in my face. “Did you chase after them?”
Fuck it. “Yes.”
He closed his eyes for the briefest of moments. “And?”
“And it turned out to be a sweet, stressed-out mom hurrying home with a sick baby, who ultimately barfed all over me while I helped them get into their house. I got hit with a case of strep a few days later because karma hates me with a burning passion. Then again, it was probably the least I deserved for scaring that poor woman in the first place.”
“Did she recognize you?”
In an instant I recalled his assertion that my stalker was from HEG. “Luke, don’t be ridiculous.”
“Answer the question.”
“Take my word for it, that woman is not my stalker. For starters, as a child-bearing female, she doesn’t have the equipment to send me dick pics.”
“You can get dick pics anywhere, and you’re not answering my fucking question. Did she recognize you?”
“Goddamn it, yes,” I all but shouted. “It took her a while, especially since it was raining, her baby was screaming and I looked like a drowned rat, but she recognized me. Lots of people recognize me on a daily basis. Trust me, it’s not the red flag you think it is.”
“It means she may be a current or former devotee of HEG, and that’s the basic profile of the person who’s out to get you. I need her name and address, and don’t tell me that you didn’t make note of it,” he added on a dangerous growl. “We both know you make note of every goddamn thing that comes into your world, so you need to stop holding this kind of shit back, as of now.”
