“Haven’t there been…women?” she asks, confusion on her pretty face.
“Women? Yes. But special women? Not even one. Not in a very long time.”
“But why? We only met for a few hours…”
“It was enough for you to write about me in your diary. To be angry when I missed your father’s funeral. It was no different for me.”
Our eyes lock and neither of us seem to have anything to say, which speaks volumes in and of itself.
“It seems like we should feel silly,” she says after a moment. “We’re acting like hormonal teenagers.” She pauses. “But I don’t feel silly.”
“I don’t either,” I admit. “So how about we just keep walking and talking and getting to know each other. Maybe it’ll start to make sense, maybe it won’t, but either way, you have to admit it’s fun, despite the circumstances.”
“Definitely.” She slips her hand into mine again, and we move down the aisle.
We arrive back at my hotel late, close to midnight, and we’ve just kicked off our shoes when my phone rings.
Chains.
Who knows how late it is.
This can’t be good.
I hit the button to accept the call, meeting Shannon’s gaze worriedly. “Hey, what’s up?”
“You have a problem.”
“What?”
“Your stalker just broke into Shannon’s apartment, and this time ransacked it. I don’t know how you want to handle it since obviously it’s meant for Shannon to find whenever she gets home tonight but…”
“Shit. Are they gone?”
“Yeah. I had one of my men watching the feed, and she showed up about twenty minutes ago. He called me, and we were watching but?—”
“Wait, it’s a she?”
“Absolutely a woman. Still can’t see her face, but the body had breasts.”
“Damn. Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now, but I’m guessing tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”
Shannon is watching me with concern, but I hold up a finger, indicating she should wait until I hang up.
“It’s not the worst thing in the world for this woman to realize Shannon is no longer an easy target.”
“No, but once she sees my face, she’ll probably disappear whenever I’m around.”
“Maybe you should go home with Shannon tonight, find the mess, and call the police. Then it’ll be handled by morning.”
“Let me talk to her. Thanks.” I hang up and tell Shannon what happened.
“Sonofabitch!” She’s understandably upset. “Why is this escalating? And how the fuck is my stalker a woman?”
“Have you inadvertently dated a married man?” I ask. “I hate to ask, but that would be the number one reason for a woman to come after you.”
She shakes her head. “I only dated that one guy since I’ve been here, and I never dated anyone but my husband back home.”
“So, there’s some other reason she’s upset with you,” I reason. “Or she’s just a hired gun, and the person actually after you isn’t the one doing it.”
