Page 21 of Archer

I suddenly wanted to lie down and sleep until everything else was over.

“Sorry.” I met Archer’s eye. “I’m really tired.” I forced myself back onto my feet. “Thank you for coming out. I’ll be in touch. Right now I should see if I can get some sleep.”

He didn’t move.

I walked to the door and opened it.

He watched me without following. “What if I stay?”

I studied his face, searching for the reason he’d changed his mind. All I found there was steadfast certainty. I wanted to apologize, to ask if my threat of leaving caused the pivot. Or maybe his company just needed the work. But I wasn’t sure I cared.

So, I chose to be thankful instead. “Thank you.”

Archer pulled out his phone. “I need to call my team so we can get started on this.” He paused. “Is that okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Why don’t you look like it’s okay?”

Jeez. Did he have to see everything I didn’t say?

I dropped my arms to my sides, trying to look less angry or guarded. Whatever it was he saw when he looked at me. “I was thinking that I didn’t mean to bully you.”

He made a crazy face. “What?”

“I can make it home if I need to. I can drive or get a ride to the airport and fly home. This isn’t your problem, and I’ve dumped it in your lap. I probably shouldn’t have left Nashville, but I thought I’d been so careful. I thought I was safe here. Now, I’m right back where I started, just in a new location, and that doesn’t help anyone. Except maybe the horrible person who’s stalking me. Because now I’m alone.” I pressed my lips together to stop ranting and rambling.

My cheeks heated under the weight of Archer’s disbelieving stare.

“First of all,” he said, swinging around to face me directly. “You did not bully me.”

He looked so offended, I smiled.

“Second,” he continued, “driving home alone will put you in all sorts of unnecessary danger. And flying home just keeps you on the run. This thing needs to end.”

I couldn’t disagree with that. But it was tempting to stay on the move.

“You came to us because you need help,” Archer said. “Let me help. Stop trying to talk me out of it.”

He held my gaze for another moment. When I didn’t protest, he dialed.

“Hey.” His voice was low and tense when the call connected. “We’re taking the job on Shore Drive. We need a full assessment. Bring Knox. He gets back at—” His gaze fixed on me as he listened to the person on the other end of the call.

I shivered at the intensity.

“Good. Sooner is better. I’ll fill you in on the specs when you get here. Yeah.” He disconnected and pocketed his phone. “They’ll get everything they need and head out as soon as they can.”

“That was fast.”

“We don’t waste time.” Archer moved to the front window and scanned the driveway.

I joined him, wondering if we saw the same thing when we looked outside, and knowing we didn’t. I saw Gram pruning bushes and picking flowers for the vase on her kitchen counter. I saw ghosts of my younger self, running past in my bathing suit while Gram sprayed me with the garden hose. And I saw her absence everywhere. “What happens now?”

“Now we wait. When they get here, I’ll introduce you, then we’ll walk through security options and start building a protection plan. The guys and I will sort that out, but when we talk about an investigation strategy, we’ll have more questions for you.”

“Investigation?”

He turned to face me. “You want to stop who’s doing this. That begins with finding out who it is.”