“I would assume so. I’ll check in with you guys later, maybe come down and see what’s up?” He asked us.
We both nodded. We had nothing planned for the day other than patrol.
“Yeah.”
Nate and I gave each other a look as Alex left.
“So, someone was really watching Rose last night?” I asked him.
I sat on the bench next him and he nodded in response. It seemed to be weighing pretty heavy on him. “Yeah. At first, she called me when she was coming home, but she didn’t tell me why at first. Not until we were at her place and she told me she felt like she was being followed. Later on, I saw a guy on her water tank with a camera.”
“Fuck. Any chance they were on something else? Maybe some landscaping shit or something.” I was semi-hopeful, but it didn’t seem likely otherwise.
“Not likely. Just doesn’t seem so since she felt like someone was watching her earlier. I don’t know.” Nate hated the real stuff, and if he couldn’t make a joke about it, he would rather avoid it.
“I don’t know anything at this point.” I almost laughed.
“Yeah. Let’s go run patrol and then
head to the hospital,” Nate said.
We left together and tried not to talk about how worried we were about Rose.
Chapter Seventeen: Rose
I was somehow beside myself since the night before. Finding out I was being watched was still a shell shock to me.
I wished I was just overreacting at the grocery store, but I wasn’t.
There really was someone watching me, and I didn’t know how to deal with it. All I could do was go to work and pretend everything was okay. I had gotten super good at that over the years—the pretending.
I was two hours in before I took a much-needed break to the restroom. When I saw my face in the mirror, I felt almost unrecognizable. I always had a permanent tired look that I covered with concealer, but this time I could really see it in my eyes. I didn’t get much sleep after Nate took off just because I was still scared, even though he took watch outside. I wished he could have just snuggled up in bed with me and did…well, more than snuggling.
I could still taste his lips, and the tang of his tongue fighting against mine. I don’t think I had ever gotten so turned on from making out. I was practically humping his leg just to relieve some of the pressure. He was just so warm and strong, his masculinity flooded through my veins and through my core. I wanted him so badly, as much as I wanted all of them—and I still wasn’t sure what to do about it.
I left the restroom and Dina was right there to corner me. “What’s up with you today?” She was chipper, always smiling.
I hoped I could be like that one day. Truly happy, as she was with her husband. I never really thought of things like that until a few weeks ago when I fell into a shitty situation, only diluted by the three men plaguing my every thought.
“Nothing. Just tired,” I lied.
I made my way back to the nurse’s station with her on my tail. She never gave up if she wanted information from someone. Especially me. It only took me a few minutes to finally spill.
“Someone was following me last night.” I took her to our usual hideout corner. I spoke quietly but she exclaimed loud enough for everyone to hear, defeating the purpose. I managed not to roll my eyes.
“What? Are you serious?” She grasped my arm like I didn’t have feeling in my extremity. When I winced she pulled away apologetically, but her eyes were still wide with worry.
“Yeah. I was at the grocery store when I first thought someone was following me, but I thought I was just being paranoid. Turns out, I was right. When I got back home, I saw someone taking pictures of me from across the street,” I explained.
A heavy silence fell over us. It was different saying it out loud to her because she wasn’t directly involved in the situation, so it felt more real. Nate was there from the beginning, so I never had to really get into it with him. Dina just looked at me all worried and concerned, and I almost felt like I had to convince her that everything was okay. Even though I knew it really wasn’t, and I feared how things would turn out.
“Holy shit. Are you okay? Shouldn’t you be under protection or something? That’s serious shit!” she shrieked.
I almost smiled at her response. She was such a supportive person, and she didn’t even have to be. I appreciated that from her, and I wished I could show it in return. But to be honest, her life was pretty normal. I didn’t even think people like that existed anymore, but there she was right in front of me.
“I’m okay. And…the two cops and that detective I told you about have been watching me. Nate was there with me, but he didn’t say much before he left. They’re all trying to tell me as little as they can.” I scoffed and rolled my eyes.
It was ridiculous, but I understood where they were coming from. I knew they trusted me but part of their jobs, I figured, just wouldn’t let them tell me every detail of the case. There was something more, but I was still a witness in their case on the surface.