Mariana steeled her shoulders and walked into her living room, choosing the seat across the coffee table. Tabi sat in the other chair while Evan remained standing like a guard at post. “What’s in the folder?”
The sheriff set the papers on the table and flipped the folder around with one finger. “Raine Maxwell has been stalking you since you were in Dallas.”
She looked down at the top flap. “That’s impossible.” Her neck—and her thighs—were both whisker burned from the man.
“Okay.” The sheriff opened the file folder to show a picture of Raine sitting on a park bench with a blue ball cap over his thick hair. He had a latte in one hand and his phone in the other, and he looked relaxed.
A lump rose in Mariana’s throat. “That’s across from my old clinic in Dallas.” Her ears started to ring. This couldn’t be happening.
The sheriff slid the photo out of the way to show two more, one at her dry cleaners with her in the front of the line and the other when she was out with friends at a steak restaurant. There he sat at the bar, out of her line of sight but clearly keeping her within his. “I can’t breathe.” She shoved the pictures away.
Tabi took them, looking each over. “Where did you get these, Sheriff?”
“The Dallas police sent copies of all surveillance they’ve captured in the case, and as you can tell, Raine is difficult to make out as the same guy in each one. Mariana, you probably looked at some of the videos and didn’t recognize him.”
“Because I hadn’t met him yet,” she said slowly. “Not until he showed up at the anger management group.”
The sheriff winced and tugged out another piece of paper from the bottom of the pile showing ‘no records found.’ “Speaking of which, I went through all of our recent court records, and he wasn’t arrested or sent to anger management by a judge. Whatever documentation he gave to you was falsified.”
Evan leaned closer to peer at the photos. “Is that normal?” He seemed to be asking Tabi.
“Of course not,” Mariana burst out. “That’s creepy and stalkerish.”
Tabi nodded. “I agree. That is not normal behavior. For anybody.”
Mariana held a hand to her trembling mouth. Raine had watched her in Dallas, and here he was now in Indiana. She’d trusted him. Heck. She’d slept with him. “How can it be him?” she whispered.
The sheriff leaned over and patted her hand with his smooth one. “These guys are really good at what they do. Anybody would’ve fallen for his charm.”
Fallen for his charm? She’d fallen right into his bed. Her heart hurt worse than her head right now, and there was a migraine on its way. “These pictures aren’t enough to show a stalking case, right? I mean, we have to prove he sent the flowers.”
“And bombed his own truck?” Tabi asked, setting down the pictures. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would he ruin his truck?”
The sheriff spared her a glance. “Obviously to throw us off his tail as well as make Mariana feel vulnerable and in need of protection, which he was more than happy to provide.”
He’d provided more than that. Multiple orgasms to be exact. Mariana clenched her teeth together. “I feel sick.” He’d seemed so genuine and kind. “What about this disease he has? Is that false, too?” Her head was telling her to look at the evidence, but her heart was still fighting the reality. Those pictures were real and did not lie.
The sheriff snorted. “He has a disease?”
“A degenerative one,” Mariana said slowly.
“Yeah. He looks sick,” the sheriff muttered. “Not. Unbelievable.”
Mariana rubbed her hands down her jeans. “I did wonder how the guy found me here. If Raine was the stalker in Dallas, he must’ve followed me.” But it didn’t feel right. Not after the night they’d shared.
The sheriff patted her hand again. “I’m glad we arrested him.”
Tabi lifted her head. “Arrested him? Like booked him?”
“Yes.” The sheriff sat taller. “I’m sure he’s being fingerprinted right now.”
Tabi looked at Evan. “Crap. This is worse than we thought.”
Chapter 10
The only thing that kept Raine from losing his damn mind was the fact that Evan and Tabi were with Mariana. He sat in a cell for nearly an hour before the sheriff deigned to take him to an interrogation room. The human’s satisfied smile nearly got him punched in the mouth.
Apparently Raine’s thoughts showed on his face because the sheriff lost the smile and hustled them to the room, securing his cuffs to a bar across the table.
