But Brian wasn't stopping, and she wasn't letting go of his hand.
Webb didn't move. He watched them approach with that same infuriating calm, like he'd been expecting this, like he'd planned for it.
Brian stopped three feet away, his body angled to shield Tessa. "You've been following her for weeks. It ends now."
Webb tilted his head, studying Brian with clinical interest. "You must be the new boyfriend. The firefighter. Or is it EMT? I've heard conflicting reports."
"I'm the man who's going to put you in the hospital if you don't walk away."
"Violence." Webb's smile widened slightly. "Interesting choice for someone in the helping profession. Does that response work for you often? The intimidation, the threat of physical harm?"
Tessa stepped around Brian, putting herself in Webb's direct line of sight. Her hands were shaking, but her voice came out steady. "What do you want, Marcus?"
His eyes shifted to her, and something flickered in them. Something that looked almost like pleasure. "Dr. Callahan. It's been a long time since we've spoken face-to-face. How long has it been? Eight months? Nine?"
"I know who you are," she said. "I know what you've been doing. The police know too."
"Do they?" He seemed genuinely curious. "And what exactly have I been doing? Walking? Looking at the scenery? Attending a public concert?" He spread his hands. "I'm a free citizen enjoying a beautiful coastal town. Is that a crime now?"
"You followed me from Chicago."
"I relocated. Many people do. The cost of living in the Midwest is quite reasonable, but the winters..." He shook his head. "I needed a change."
Brian's voice was a low growl. "Cut the bullshit. We know about your brother."
For the first time, something shifted in Webb's expression. The pleasant mask cracked, just for a moment, revealing the rawness underneath. Then it was gone, smoothed over so quickly that Tessa might have imagined it.
"My brother," he said quietly, "died on a table in Chicago General's emergency room. The trauma surgeon on duty decided he wasn't worth saving."
"That's not what happened." Tessa's voice shook now, the old guilt rising up like bile. "His injuries were catastrophic. No one could have saved him. I tried. I did everything I could."
"Everything you could," Webb repeated the words like they tasted bitter. "That's what they always say, isn't it? The doctors, the nurses, the administrators. Everything they could. And then they move on to the next patient, the next shift, the next paycheck. While families are left with nothing but a body and a bill."
"I am sorry about your brother," Tessa said, and she meant it. She'd carried the weight of every patient she'd lost. They all stayed with her, ghosts that lived in the quiet moments, in the space between sleeping and waking. "But stalking me won't bring him back. Terrorizing me won't change what happened."
"Terrorizing." He laughed, a hollow sound. "Is that what you think this is? Terror?" He stepped closer, and Brian shifted, ready to intervene. Webb held up his hands in mock surrender. "I'm a psychologist, Dr. Callahan. I study human behavior. I was curious about you, that's all. The woman who held my brother's life in her hands and let it slip through her fingers."
"We had a patient in common once," he continued, his voice taking on an almost academic tone. "Your patient. My brother. And now I've had the chance to observe you in your natural habitat. To see how you live, how you cope, whether you show any signs of the trauma you inflicted on others."
"That's enough." Brian's hand closed around Webb's upper arm. "You're going to walk away now. You're going to leave this town, and you're never going to contact her again."
Webb looked down at Brian's hand, then back up at his face. "Or what? You'll hit me? Right here on Main Street, in front of all these witnesses?" His smile returned. "I don't think so. You're too smart for that. You know how it would look. The violent boyfriend, the crazy accusations, the poor grieving brother who just wanted answers."
"I don't give a damn how it looks."
"You should." Webb gently removed Brian's hand from his arm. "People get hurt when they stop thinking clearly. When they let emotions override judgment. It never works out the way they think it will."
He turned to Tessa, and the mask slipped again, just enough for her to see the grief and rage that lived beneath it. "I'm not done studying you, Dr. Callahan. There's still so much to learn. About guilt. About consequence. About what happens to people who walk away from the damage they've caused."
"Is that a threat?" Brian demanded.
Webb's expression smoothed back to pleasant neutrality. "It's an observation. I'm a scientist at heart. I observe, I document, I draw conclusions." He checked his watch, a casual gesture that seemed deliberately designed to infuriate. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment. Lovely to finally speak with you, Dr. Callahan. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again."
He turned and walked away, unhurried, his footsteps steady on the pavement. Just a man going about his day. Nothing to see here.
Tessa realized she was trembling. Her whole body was shaking, the adrenaline that had been holding her together suddenly draining away.
Brian's arms came around her, pulling her against his chest. "I've got you. I've got you."
