"He's killed two humans. I'm not weak like a human."
"That doesn't matter if he catches you off guard. He can still get you."
"He won't sneak up on me, but I want him to come after me. I want to take him out. He's scaring my girl."
"Maybe you should move her here until you can find her stalker."
"Have you met Frankie? The woman is stubborn. There's no way in hell she'd go for that."
Yin shrugged. "Just a suggestion. Watch your back, brother," he said and left.
"Like a motherfucker," Yaeger replied and watched him go. He knew the rest of the crew would know by nightfall and every last one of them would have his back.
Chapter Ten
Frankie
It was getting to the point where she didn't want to leave her house. If she didn't leave the house, she couldn't get the flowers. But one thing she wasn't was a coward. So she got a shower, got dressed, and headed off to work.
"Hey, Frankie. How's it going?"
"Hey, Tara. It's going," she replied as she entered the Tasty Skull.
"Sounds like you'd rather be anywhere but here," Tara said.
"You'd be right. It's just one of those days," Frankie replied. "But I couldn't leave Frank to tend bar by himself, so here I am," she added.
"Well, on the bright side, your daily flowers are here. You're so lucky," Tara said with a sigh. "You have one guy sending you flowers, and another who comes in and sits here all night just to walk you out at the end of your shift."
Frankie looked at her. "Getting flowers from a stranger isn't as romantic as it seems. Oh, sure, when it first starts it seems sweet, but after a while it just gets creepy."
She took the card and read it.Soon we'll be together. Forever. She had to suppress a shiver. Not in this lifetime, loser. She took the flowers out back to the dumpster and tossed them just like she did every night, but she kept the card to show Yaeger later. The lion was going to flip his shit. She wondered if he'd had any luck at the florist.
As the night got busy, she put thoughts of her stalker aside. They were too distracting, and she needed to focus.
Frankie knew the moment Yaeger sauntered into the Tasty Skull. She looked over and couldn't help the way her pulse sped up at the sight of him. He was one fine specimen of a man with those dark, soulful eyes and black hair she liked to run her fingers through.
"Hello, darlin'."
And that Southern drawl, damn did it get her panties wet. "Hello yourself, bover Boy. Your usual?"
"You know it, beautiful." He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. Too quick, in her opinion, but she was at work.
She poured him a lager and watched him go to what had become his regular booth. It was uncanny how it was always available when he arrived. It was like the locals knew to steer clear of it. If this was tourist season, it would be a different story. He'd be lucky to find a place to sit, much less the same place every night.
She watched him as she worked, trying to gauge his mood, but he was a hard one to read. He kept everything close to the cuff.
"Penny for your thoughts," she said as she sat down across from him at the start of her break. "You've barely touched your food," she added, snagging a fry off his plate.
"Sorry, darlin', it's nothing against the cook. I've been trying to figure out which one of these assholes might be your stalker."
"So I take it you had no luck with the florist?"
"No, I struck out. She wanted a warrant to release the name," he growled, and she could tell he was annoyed.
"Back to the drawing board," she grumbled.
"We'll figure it out, darlin', and stop him."
