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“I told you, Private Security International is the best in the business.”
“I’m not talking about the security company. I’m talking abouthim. He’s like final boss-level dangerous. He could find outeverything. Everything about your dad, HEG… Shit, he could find out aboutyou. Can’t you see that?”
Of course I could. But I had to believe that I was as much a final boss as Luke ever dreamed of being. “Can’t you see that there are more important things to worry about than one sharp-eyed profiler?”
“Like what?”
“Like death threats and dick pics.”
At that Kels seemed to deflate, and with a resigned grimace he grabbed for his coffee. “Okay, yeah. I’ll admit that’s a pretty wicked combination.”
“It’s an insane combination, my brother, and it’s gotten even weirder since I last saw you.”
His coffee cup froze halfway to his mouth. “Fuck me. I’m legit afraid to even ask what that means.”
“It means it’s possible my violent-minded stalker has developed—wait for it—a crush.” Briefly I told him about the rose left on my windshield and what that possibly indicated, while Kels’s expression grew darker and darker. By the time I finished my tale of woe, half my pumpkin spice latte was gone and the banging upstairs had turned into drilling. My life was falling apart to the sound of power tools, but a shellshocked Kels didn’t even seem to notice. He kept shaking his head and looking at me in a way that could only be described as freaked.
“This is too fucking much,” he blurted as if announcing a declaration of war against my unseen foe. “This sick twist of a guy has gone way overboard. He just has to… shit, I don’t know. Juststop.”
“Yeah, Captain Obvious, he does.”
“I’m serious, Eden.”
“So am I,” I said, almost laughing despite my stomach tying itself in knots just talking about it. “Don’t get me wrong, though. I haven’t given up on trying to find this nutjob myself, and I’ve got some ideas of my own when it comes to figuring out who it is.”
What does that mean?”
“It means I have a theory about who’s doing this, and while it might sound a little odd I want to show you why I’m thinking what I’m thinking.”
“I’m braced. Wait, hang on.” He took a massive belt of coffee like it was whiskey, then gave me a grim nod. “Right. Now I’m ready. Lay it on me.”
“I’ve now come to suspect that my stalker is actually two people working together.”
Kels stared at me. Then he opened his mouth. No sound came out.
“I know that sounds insane,” I said, holding up a hand. “But hear me out, because I can explain how I got to this hypothesis.”
He made a dubious sound. “Eden—”
“Just listen, okay? You remember that this guy was all about terrifying me with over-the-top death threats and promises of all sorts of violence?”
Kels nodded, still staring at me like I was speaking in Tongues. “Right.”
“Then I almost caught up with the guy when he came to my house and slashed my tires. I know I got him good with my pellet gun—easily four or five hits as he ran off. The very next day, I got my first dick pic. Complete change of character, wouldn’t you say?”
“Yeah.” But he sounded doubtful as his brows pulled together. “Are you sure about the date?”
“Positive. Remember, you were there when I told Cap Fogelmann about the footage I’d harvested that night from my security camera. Well, guess what? That footage is timestamped. I still have it on my phone in case you don’t believe me,” I added, pulling my phone out to waggle it at him. “I know I shot that guy, and even though it was just a BB gun, I imagine he wouldn’t want to cross my path again in case I decided to have something bigger than a BB gun the next time around.”
“Or, it could be that after he got hit by a bunch of pellets from a crazy woman who tried to run him down in nothing more than a nightgown while shooting a child’s toy at him, he decided to scare you in a different way.”
“That could be,” I admitted, nodding. “Maybe I did put the fear of God into him. But I don’t know if a BB gun-wielding woman can scare someone enough to change them completely, and that’s what the dick pics are, Kels. The dick pics, and the awkwardly poetic pictures of flowers. They represent a complete change of character, and they started showing up only hours after I chased my stalker down the driveway. You know people almost as well as anyone, so you tell me. Can someone change their character that much just because they got shot with a BB gun?”
Kels looked at me for so long I thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then, with a storm churning in his eyes, he looked away. “No. I can’t imagine that they would.”
“So it’s possible it could be two people,” I said, trying not to sound too triumphant, because honestly, there wasn’t one damn thing in this conversation to be triumphant about. “That’s why I’m sticking with the PSI guys, Kels. I can’t stop this madness on my own. I tried, but it didn’t work. All I did was chase down an innocent mother and child, and got thrown up on for my efforts.”
“Wait, what?”
