“In the kitchen with your mom. There must be something about the Armstrong genes that makes him happy. I had to bribe him to go for a walk with me.”
“Mom and I are a novelty. Once this is over, he’ll be happy to go anywhere with you.”
Gabe’s smile disappeared. “Only if you leave.”
Natalie looked at the truck’s engine. She’d never promised him she’d stay, in fact she’d told him the opposite. His life was in Brooklyn and she didn’t want to live anywhere near a big city.
She lifted her eyes to Gabe’s serious face. “I haven’t told mom what the stalker has been doing.”
“I guessed as much. I half expected her to take you back to Indianapolis with her.”
“She wants to, but I’m staying in Sapphire Bay.”
Gabe crossed his arms. “I don’t want you to get hurt. The stalker is looking for me, not you.”
“We’re living on opposite sides of the same house. If the stalker did break into the cottage, he’s already found both of us. Have you called your agent to let him know we’re here?”
“Not yet. I called Kevin from the NYPD and Russell Jameson in Polson. The rest of the world still thinks we’re at the cottage. As of seven o’clock this morning, no one had posted anything on social media about either of us.”
“I guess that’s a good thing.”
Gabe ran his hand around the back of his neck. “I really am sorry about everything. I didn’t think any of this would happen.”
“I know you didn’t.”
The garage door opened and Sherlock pushed his way around Natalie’s mom.
“There you are,” Kathleen said. “I thought I heard voices coming from the garage. Are you ready for breakfast, Natalie?”
“I am.” She sniffed the air and sighed. “Did you make apple pie pancakes?”
“How did you guess?”
“I can smell the cinnamon and mixed spice. It’s making my tummy rumble.”
“You’d better come through to the kitchen, then. What about you, Gabe? The coffee pot’s still hot.”
“Sounds good,” Gabe said from behind them. “We can work out what we’re doing today while Natalie’s eating breakfast.”
Natalie patted Sherlock’s head, trying to get the sense of impending danger out of her system. She was overreacting to what happened yesterday, that’s all. But somewhere, deep inside, she knew something was about to happen. It was just a pity she didn’t know who would be involved.
