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“Agreed.”
Dane gives me a heated stare, but his attention flicks over my shoulder to the man on the sidewalk. “Don’t get out until I’m there.”
He hops down and circles the back of the truck in order to keep his eye on the interloper. I unbuckle, ready to jump out as soon as the door creaks open. Dane threads our fingers together, me on the side farthest from the man, and he keeps me slightly behind his back.
Something about the figure looks familiar. The height, and maybe the gait. I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve seen this person before. He glances in our direction before muttering something and retracing his steps.
“Bar entrance is that one, buddy.” Dane throws his hand in the general direction, though it’s not necessary. The signage and fence clearly demarcate the property from this one.
This time, when he scans us, he tugs the nondescript ballcap lower over his head, but he’s not quick enough. I recognize the deep-set eyes and the shape of his jaw.
“It was you?” The incredulity in my tone echoes above the music filtering outside from the bar.
My boss, Jason, freezes as if he’s contemplating running. I try to pull my hand from Dane’s and advance, but he keeps it firmly in place. “How could you do that to me?”
“I just wanted to talk to you.” His answer shakes, revealing him for the coward he truly is.
“So you pick up the phone and call me.” Anger strikes hot and fast. The terror he brought me over the last few months threatens to unleash. “You harassed me. You stalked me!”
Jason swipes the hat from his head and steps closer. Dane shoves me behind him with a hand to my belly. With a wide stance, he positions himself between us. “Close enough,” Dane objects.
“I didn’t mean any harm, I swear.”
“You’re sick! You’re married! I’ve met your wife.” Once I begin, I can’t stop screeching into the dark night, drawing stares from customers at patio tables. I’m beyond the ability to care as I think back on all the mornings of paralyzing fear. Of all the ways he limited my life. “I couldn’t even take my daughter to the fucking park in case you were watching me. Of course I didn’t know it was you at the time, and that makes it a hundred times worse!”
“I think it’s time you go inside.” Dane tries reasoning with me.
“How did you find me?” I demand.
“I’m going to go.” The coward begins to retreat.
“No!” I shove around Dane’s back. He grabs me by the shoulders and pulls my back flush against his chest. “Tell me. I want to know how you tracked me down across the fucking country so you can never do it again.”
“Let him go, Caiti. He won’t be a problem ever again.” Dane’s attempt to placate me falls flat.
“You can’t know that, but I do. And he’s undeterred if he’s willing to hop a plane and fly across the country behind his wife’s back. He doesn’t plan to stop harassing me.” I think of the things he knew about me. The things I told him, thinking I was confiding in a friend about my fears, and I get angrier. “Do you normally find widows with children to prey on? Is that what gets your rocks off?”
“Caiti,” Dane tries again. I’m not sure if he’s trying to drop it or if he just wants me out of the vicinity while he beats this guy’s ass, but I’m not leaving.
“He’s not scared of you, Dane. He’s not going to stop!”
The door to Dane’s loft flies open, followed immediately by a fury-filled threat. “He’ll stop.”
Law stalks across the porch, blocking me from Jason with his arms crossed over his wide chest.
My heart slams against my ribs. Nathan and Rhett follow close behind, positioning themselves the same. I can no longer see Jason through the mountains of muscles surrounding me. If I’ve had any remaining questions about where I truly belong, they vanish in a puff of smoke.
“She’s well protected here, but you’re not welcome,” Nathan says.
Jason slips on a rock as he moves back. “We can talk during work hours tomorrow and straighten this out.”
“There’s nothing to straighten out,” Rhett joins in, thrusting his finger in Jason’s face. “If you so much as send my sister an emoji, I’ll come after your ass.”
The sentiment springs tears to my eyes, but something Jason said triggers a light bulb to go off. “The laptop,” I whisper to myself. I spin on a heel and dash into the apartment, hoping there isn’t any blood shed before my reappearance.
Evie intercepts me at the top of the steps, her face etched with concern. “What’s going on out there? Are you okay?”
“Yes. I just need to take care of one more thing.” I locate my travel bag and grab the entire thing. Flipping the computer end to end, I find what I’m looking for on the bottom. “That bastard!”
Ignoring Evie’s calls for me to wait, I race back down the steps and burst into the cool evening air. With steel infusing my spine, I march straight to Jason, bypassing the wall of intimidating men. I suppress the urge to bitch slap him across the face with the sleek electronic device, and instead, I push the computer into his chest. He barely gets his hand around it before Dane yanks me back into his arms.
“I quit. It isn’t really company policy to have the equipment fitted with a GPS device, is it? You made that up to track me while I was working. That’s how you found me here. I quit. I fucking quit! I’m not coming back to your company, and I’m not returning to Colorado. Get the fuck out of my life.”
Red and blue lights flash around us as I finish my livid speech. My shoulders rise and fall so quickly that Dane places his hands on them in a bid to calm me down.
His mouth touches my ear. “Are you having a panic attack?”
I shake my head, not wanting to probe my feelings and too busy watching two officers climb out of the cruiser to respond.
