"No, you shouldn't have." Sergeant Diaz's tone was matter-of-fact, not scolding. "But I understand the impulse. Just don't do it again. If this man is escalating, confrontation could push him to do something dangerous."
The word escalating hung in the air. Tessa felt Brian's hand find hers on the couch cushion between them, his fingers lacing through hers.
"I'll have a patrol car come by a few times tonight," Sergeant Diaz continued. "And I'll personally check in with you tomorrow to update you on what I learn from Chicago." She stood, tucking her notebook into her pocket. "Do you have somewhere else you could stay? Just until we get a better handle on this?"
Tessa opened her mouth to say no, but Brian spoke first.
"She's staying here," he said. "With me. I've got the motion lights, the locks are solid, and I'm not leaving her alone."
Something flickered across the sergeant's face, approval or understanding. "All right. But if anything changes, if you feel unsafe at any point, you call me directly." She handed Tessa a business card. "My cell's on there. Day or night."
"Thank you," Tessa said. "Really."
Sergeant Diaz's expression softened slightly. "I know this is scary. But you did the right thing, reporting it. A lot of people don't, and that makes it harder to help them. You gave us a head start."
Brian walked her to the door, and Tessa heard them exchange a few more words in low voices before the door closed. When he came back to the living room, his face was set in hard lines.
"She's good," he said. "Thorough. She'll do right by this."
"I know." Tessa was still holding the business card, her thumb tracing the embossed letters of the sergeant's name. "It's just... I thought I was done with this. I thought coming here would be a fresh start. And instead, I brought him with me."
Brian sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms. She went willingly, pressing her face into his shoulder, breathing in the scent of him.
"You didn't bring him," he said against her hair. "He followed you. There's a difference. And now we know who we're dealing with. That's more than we had yesterday."
"If it's even him. You said you weren't sure."
"I'm not. But my gut says it is." He pulled back enough to look at her face. "And your gut has been saying the same thing since the fair, hasn't it?"
She nodded slowly. "I didn't want to believe it. I kept telling myself I was being paranoid."
"You weren't paranoid. You were paying attention." He brushed a curl back from her face, the same gesture from last night that had preceded their first kiss. "That's not the same thing."
She caught his hand and held it against her cheek. "About last night..."
"Which part?"
"All of it. The chase, the bathroom, the..." She felt heat creep up her neck. "The kiss."
His eyes searched hers. "You regretting it?"
"No." The word came out firm and sure. "Do you?"
"Not even a little." He leaned in and pressed his lips to her forehead, a kiss that was tender instead of urgent. "Whatever happens with this Marcus guy, whatever comes next, that part was real. That part matters."
"It matters to me too," she whispered.
They sat there for a long moment, holding each other in the morning light. Outside, the bay sparkled like nothing was wrong, like the world wasn't tilted off its axis. A boat motored past, trailing a white wake. Gulls cried their endless hunger songs.
"I should call Julia," Tessa said finally. "Get her to send those documents."
"And I should check the fence. See if he left anything behind this time."
Neither of them moved.
"Five more minutes," she said.
"Five more minutes," he agreed.
