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“Do I? Fancy that. I’m going to name it Greer.”
“That seems like it might get a bit confusing,” she told him.
“Greer, why didn’t you tell me that you had a stalker!”
“Are you talking to me or your tic?” she asked.
“Greer,” he said in a low rumble. “Explain. Now.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hack get mad,” Sunny said in a quiet voice.
“No,” said Emme. “Not even after I put that glitter bomb in his medicine bag.”
“I have to have words with you about that,” Hack said, peering over at Emme. “I’m still finding glitter in weird places.”
“Dude, too much information,” Emme replied. “We don’t need to know about your glitter balls.”
“Emme,” Reyes said. “That wasn’t cool.”
“It was funny, though, right?” Emme asked.
“Absolutely,” Reyes agreed, surprising her.
“Tell us about this stalker,” Duke said.
“Yes,” Hack said. “Tell us. And then you can tell me why you didn’t tell me before now.”
Yep, she was definitely in trouble. She clenched her ass cheeks together.
“Well, he’s not a stalker, exactly. And the reason I didn’t tell anyone is because I kind of thought I was going insane. Like . . . a stalker is meant to follow you around and send you creepy notes and flowers, right? They’re meant to be obsessed with you. The stalker is always the bad guy.”
“Wait . . . you don’t think your stalker is the bad guy in this story?” Emme asked.
Greer tried to climb off Hack’s lap, but he held her still. “Do not even think about moving.”
She studied him.
Yep, he looked pretty darn serious.
All right, then. Seemed like she was staying on his lap. He did turn her around so she was sitting sideways and could see everyone else.
“Not exactly.” She ran her hand over her face tiredly. “Which is part of the reason I didn’t say anything. Like . . . who thinks that their stalker is a good guy? I started to think that I was just imagining stuff . . . you know? Or maybe I had a nice benefactor. An older gentleman I’d somehow helped who was now watching me from afar and taking care of me.”
And yep . . . everyone was looking at her like she was nuts.
“This is why I didn’t tell anyone,” she whispered. “I didn’t think anyone would believe me.”
“So let’s get this straight,” Duke said with a frown. “You think that there is a person out there who is paying for things when you can’t. Perhaps watching over you so closely that they know when you’re robbed at gunpoint?”
“Um, well, when you say it like that I know why you’re all staring at me strangely. But the thing is . . . I don’t think my stalker or as I like to think of him, my elderly, kind, benefactor, had anything to do with the murder of that gunman. He just tends to do things like pay for car bills when I can’t.”
“And how would he know that your car had broken down unless he was following you,” Hack asked. “He’d have to have followed you from Savannah to Sioux Falls and possibly here. That doesn’t damn well sound like some kind, elderly benefactor, Greer! That sounds like a fucking stalker. One who is obsessed with you!”
“But . . . I mean . . . wouldn’t a stalker have done something before now?”
“She’s right,” Sunny said. “Surely, he would have made some sort of move on her. If he managed to get her landlord to not raise the rent, and that was a couple of years ago . . . I mean, would a stalker be that patient?”
“How long do you think you’ve had a kind, elderly benefactor for?” Emme asked.
