Olivia really,reallyhated how well he could read her because she didn’t want to share the rest with him. Didn’t want to appear any crazier than she already did.
Focused intently on her coffee, Olivia quietly answered. “Sometimes I feel like someone’s following me. I haven’t actually seen or heard anyone, but...I’ll be walking down the sidewalk or to my car at work, and out of nowhere, the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up.”
That same, funny look from before crossed his face. “Did you go to the police?”
“And say what? That I think someone might be following me? There’s nothing they can do about afeeling, Jake. Besides, I’ve already been down that road, and I’m not too keen about repeating the trip.”
He looked at her questioningly, so she said, “After you left, I...talked to someone.”
“A shrink?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
His response took her by surprise. Sensing this, Jake went on to say, “That was some heavy shit that went down, Liv. Anyone would need someone to talk to after going through all that. So, what did the doctor say?”
Olivia lowered her chin a bit and broke eye contact, thankful that he at least didn’t seem to judge her for having gone to counseling.
“Mild paranoia resulting from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. The doctor said what I was feeling was normal.”
“And what are you feeling?”
She was quiet for a few seconds, terrified of what he would think of her after all she was revealing.
“It’s like my body knows someone’s there, even though I can’t see them, but—” she paused, shaking her head, and he took advantage of the silence.
Reaching out, Jake’s large hand covered one of hers. “You went through hell, Liv. There’s absolutely nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of.”
She pulled her hand away. “I’m not embarrassed,” she bit out.Liar, liar.
Jake studied her for a moment, and Olivia assumed he was trying to decide on her level of mental stability. It irritated the hell out of her.
“I’m not crazy, Jake,” she said defensively.
He shook his head. “Never said you were, sweetheart. Actually, I think I might be able to shed some light on this for you.”
“Okay,” she drug the word out, not sure she was going to like what he was about to say.
“Before leaving with the team, I...”—he gave a slight hesitation—“I told Ryker I wanted eyes on you. I pretty much ordered him to assign someone to watch you while I was away. To make sure you were safe.”
He at least had the good graces to look guilty.Well, that’s something at least.For a second, Olivia thought about making him dangle a little longer, but decided against it.
“I know.”
Surprise flashed across his face. “You know?”
“Ryker assigned Mansfield and Brunor, the two agents I originally stayed with to be my protection detail. They followed me everywhere I went for the first couple weeks after you left. Jason told me it was at your request, but he wanted to make sure I knew the agents would be following me so I wouldn’t freak out if I noticed them.”
Rather than commenting on Ryker’s sharing of that bit of information, Jake asked, “So, where were they the night Norman Rogers was waiting for you?”
“They were there. They stayed back, just as I asked them to.”
“You didwhat?”
“I didn’t want them scaring him and making the situation worse.”
With disbelief, Jake shook his head and moved back into his chair. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
