She smiled. “Thanks. I’ll give you a call.” She rushed out of the eatery.
When Diablo came back to the table, Goldie shook his head. “Man, what a fucking small world. Imagine you seeing your sister in Alina of all places.”
Diablo scowled. “Yeah… imagine that.” He didn’t believe a thing Taya had said. She was up to something, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. He was pretty sure whatever it was involved money.Maybe she moved here so she could be closer to me to get money out of me more often.
“Maybe she’s been missing you and wanted to get closer to you.” Goldie motioned the waitress for the bill.
“Maybe.” He didn’t think that was it, but she seemed happy and clean; he hadn’t seen the scabs and sores indicative of crank.Maybe she’s telling the truth. Maybe she left Salt Lake to get away from her pimp.It seemed plausible, but he didn’t trust anything she told him. He’d never forget how she’d betrayed him when he’d only been trying to help her out.
I’ll see if she calls me. I wanna check out this boyfriend of hers.
***
When he andFallon arrived home from the restaurant, they walked up the sidewalk to the front doors of her building. From his peripheral vision, he saw something in the distance. A form. A shape. Something that triggered his internal warning system.
“Go inside. Lock your door. I’ll join you in a minute.”
“What’re you talking about? Where’re you going?” Fallon gripped his hand.
Gently he shrugged it away. “I thought I saw someone. Go on, do as I told you.”
He waited until she went into the elevator, hating that precious time had slipped away. When the doors closed, he sprinted across the grass to the semiwooded area across from the complex. He didn’t see anyone so he walked around, his ears alert to any sounds: footsteps, car door closing, car engine, snapping of a twig. Nothing. He walked back around and stood behind the lilac bush, a sliver of his body partially exposed. From that position, he could see the front of Fallon’s apartment building perfectly.
The faint scent of smoke curled around his nostrils. He looked down and saw several cigarette butts on the ground. Bending over, he picked one up; it was still warm. He smelled it, noting it’d been recently extinguished. Someone had been watching them. He waited in hopes the person would come back, but after a long while, he crossed the street and went back to the front of Fallon’s building. He buzzed her apartment and she let him up.
When he got off the elevator, she was waiting for him in the hallway.
“Did you see anyone?” she asked.
“No, but I know someone was out there.”
“You’re right.” She followed him inside her place.
Stopping in the middle of the room, he spun around and looked at her. “What do you mean?”
She told him about the man with the dreadlocks who’d been spooking her for the last couple of weeks.
“Why didn’t you tell me this?”
“At first I thought he was just a random nut and it wasn’t a big deal, but when he followed and came after me a couple days ago, I knew that wasn’t normal. I didn’t want to spoil your homecoming, but I was planning to tell you about it tomorrow morning.”
Fire coursed through his veins. “He tried to attack you? Fuck! I’m gonna find this sonofabitch and teach him some respect. It won’t be too hard to get this fucker. There aren’t many guys with dreadlocks in Alina. Sounds like he’s stalking you.”
“I don’t know why. I first noticed him at the bookstore a couple of weeks ago, and like I said, it didn’t seem like a big deal. I mean, I thought he was creepy and all that, but it seemed like it was an isolated thing. But then I started getting a feeling like he was following me and watching me even though I didn’t see him a lot of the time. It was like I knew he was there. Then I would see him at places I went, and it ended with him coming after me. That time it was different because it felt like he not only wanted to hurt me, but that he wanted to do something nasty to me too.” She shivered and he drew her in his arms.
The thought of another man even touching her made his blood boil, and the fact that the asshole scared his woman put him over the top. He’d make sure to find him and make him pay for what he’d done. He rubbed her back. “I’ll find him. In the meantime, I’m installing GPS on your phone and picking you up from work. I’m also moving in.”
She smiled. “Yes, sir.”
Nodding, he led her to the couch and turned on the television, but his mind was on the man with the dreadlocks. Chances were high he was the one watching them earlier. He wished he would’ve caught him. He’d do anything to take the worry out of his woman’s eyes.
I’m gonna find this bastard and tear him from limb to limb.
He had to keep Fallon safe.
She was his world. His life. His love.
And there was no way he was going to lose her.
