The other option is he’s dead. Which is possible, of course, especially in his line of business.
I’ve searched for other evidence that Shane is in Boston and haven’t found any. However, I did get into an online chatroom where they were talking about a fight club. There aren’t that many, so it’s likely the same one.
I’ll keep working on it. I don’t want to make any moves until I have more information. I’ll get into Shane’s bank accounts and spend more time finding loose threads like social media, but something tells me he’s disappeared. For now.
Found you.That’s what I said when I located Callie within the library. I’m an ass. The look on her face was horrified. Terrified? But maybe also kind of into it? I’m a terrible reader of women, obviously, and I’ve learned to assume that everything I do is creepy to them. Especially showing up where I haven’t been invited.
I speed up on the road out of Portland. I cannot believe Shane screwed things up with Callie. He didn’t even seem to have good intentions to begin with. He tricked her, made her fall for him, then pulled her into his sticky, rotten web. If I could get a woman like that to marry me, I’d do everything humanly possible to get her to stay. And maybe some inhumane things as well.
“Fuck.” I hit the steering wheel with my palm. I’m getting out of control, and it’s been four days since I met her.
But I already need more.
Chapter 12
Stalker
CALLIE
“You have zero survival instinct, Cal.” Lola’s long, straight curtain of brown hair shifts as she shakes her head at me from across the booth at O’Connor’s, the cozy Irish pub three blocks from Jake’s apartment. Lola’s bookstore is only a few blocks away, so we’ve been meeting here a few times a week after she closes up her shop.
I scrunch my face and don’t try to argue. And I haven’t even told her the whole story. I left out the part where I followed him home, he drugged me, zip-tied me, and that I spent the night in his guest bedroom in a t-shirt that he dressed me in while I was unconscious after he drugged me for the second time. She’d probably insist I call the cops, which is not something that people with my kind of family ever do. Lola knows that.
Lola was fascinated when I first let slip years ago that my family is involved in the underbelly of Boston and Portland, but it didn’t scare her away. Her excuse was she’s always had a thing for bad boys, which I hate for her.
“You know, in this day and age, you shouldn’t meet up with strange men alone without backup, even in a public place.”
“Really? You’re like the queen of dating apps.” I slowly spin my half-empty glass of red wine on the table.
“Nah. I scroll through them, but don’t often meet anyone in person.”
“Okay.” I wave my hand in the air. I don’t think that’s the complete truth as I like to live vicariously through her robust dating life. “But it turned out fine. He was nice, and he said he’d help me.”
It’s not untrue. Weswasnice. When he noticed the zip ties were digging into my wrists, he (eventually) cut off the plastic restraints.
“What if he turned out to be a psychopath?”
“Define psychopath.” I let out a squeaky snort at how close we are to the potential truth about Wes.
“He showed up at your work.” Lola shakes her head.
“Yeah, but I work in a public library. Lots of people show up there.”
“Callie.” She raises her eyebrows.
“Don’t Callie me. Surely psychopaths aren’t that good-looking.”
Lola laughs at this, as if I’m kidding. I laugh with her.
Wesisgorgeous. I keep thinking about those thick forearms and the way the tattoos snake up his arms into his hoodie and onto his neck. His height, broad shoulders… the way he undressed me while I was passed out was admittedly a little creepy, but it also seemed kind of sweet. He just wanted me to be comfortable, right?
Shit, I’m fucked up.
Wes is almost certainly some kind of psychopath.Casually drugging someone isn’t normal, right? Even someone who’s watching your cabin from behind a tree?
But he fed me pie. With a whipped cream heart on it. And scraped my car. And has a cute cat that he named Sir Fluffy, for fuck’s sake.
“Honestly, I’m just glad he agreed to help. I don’t know what else to do at this point.”
