“You say we know each other.” She shivered at the thought. Was it someone she faced on a daily basis? She wanted to scream. This person had filled her life with fear for long enough. “Be a man and show yourself now. Who are you? Other than a coward who doesn’t reveal his face.”
“Not a coward,” he insisted with pompous indignation. “A careful strategist.”
She forced herself to stay calm and think, not to let fear overtake her. She could use this chance to gain information. “What have I ever done to you to warrant you hijacking my life this way?”
“I am reasonable. You will understand when we meet face-to-face.”
She wanted to shout her frustration. She’d learned nothing except that she’d met him. Although with stalkers, they could imagine a connection based on simply brushing arms in a crowd, interpreting an accidental exchanged look as having a secret code.
In essence, she’d learned nothing. “When will that be?”
“Soon. Very soon.” He went silent for a few crackly moments and she thought he’d disconnected, then he continued, “You look quite lovely in that color of green, my dear. You really should choose it more often.”
He disconnected.
Nola dropped the receiver as if it carried contamination. He knew what she wore. He’d seen her. He was that close. She raced across the room, toward the front door. She had to tell Rick and Lauren to get the hell into the house. This man was seriously gunning for her, and now she’d not only put Rick in danger…
But his innocent daughter—a precious teenager whose beautiful eyes mirrored her father’s—was in the line of fire.
Rick had longed for the days when he had people to protect and save again, but he hadn’t envisioned it quite this way. Now he had both Nola and Lauren to think about right at the time when the stalker seemed ready to make his move.
He had to keep Nola and Lauren safe as best he could. For the moment a large crowd seemed in order—and on the day after Thanksgiving, an amusement park fit the bill. As much as he hated the crutches, a full day on asphalt necessitated he use the damned things.
The hot dog stand steamed a tempting smell to his left, a definite must in the very near future. Meanwhile, he made his way alongside Nola, his eyes firmly on Lauren a few steps ahead strolling past the Tilt-A-Whirl.
Rick had thought he’d put his past behind him.
Hah.
All his honed instincts and training had come roaring back to the fore the second Nola had shown up at the garage apartment door, her face pale. Once he’d heard about the bastard’s call and threat, Rick had found his rescue training resurfacing with a speed that let him know he’d been fooling himself. Injuries be damned, he couldn’t deny who he was.
That Others May Live.
His only focus now was to keep Lauren and Nola out of the line of fire. The police had sworn there wasn’t anything more they could do. He’d stepped up the pace and spoken with Special Agent David Reis of the Air Force’s OSI. They couldn’t do anything immediate, either. The police were following up on the identity theft, but it was a slow process since the stalker was obviously more skilled than a first-time hacker.
Still, that phone call changed everything for him. The look on her face after the call had rattled his foundations, something that deeply hit home. She’d battled too hard to survive her bout of cancer to be taken down by a faceless maniac. Rick refused to let that happen.
Hell. His chest pulled tight. He hadn’t realized until just that moment how much her admission of nearly dying had affected him.
Breathe, damn it, breathe. He couldn’t afford this kind of emotionalism, not now. He’d made a promise to Nola, and he’d made a promise to his child the day she was born.
He would keep both females safe or die trying.
They weren’t staying at her place. First up, he’d told Nola to pack a suitcase and meet him in the SUV. A quick trip to the ATM machine later and he headed out. Making sure he wasn’t followed, he’d found a hotel, paid cash in case the bastard was tracking his credit cards, and checked them in for the weekend until he could get Lauren on a plane back to her mother’s. He’d had to pull strings and stay in a dive to get around using a credit card, but he’d made it work.
He’d considered staying on base, but he would have to use a credit card there. And the bastard had tampered with her car in the parking lot at a military hospital.
Lauren had cried her eyes out. Stomped her feet. Slammed a door—kicked the door. He’d told her to save her tantrums. She could come for Christmas and they would talk then.
She’d called him a liar since he’d missed out on so many holidays in the past and the truth in her words had just about broken his heart. Keeping her alive was more important than hurt feelings.
So, now he was sticking to overpopulated places. Such as an amusement park.
Hauling his exhausted butt through thrill ride central, Rick figured if he kept the two females in his life busy and in large crowds, the unpredictability would up the safety odds. He wanted Lauren home safe and sound with her mom, but her mother simply said Lauren would run again, which Lindsay deemed more dangerous.
Tough. He was putting Lauren on a plane and Lindsay better sit watch over the girl 24-7 until he had Nola safe and could deal with his daughter.
Rick gritted his teeth against the frustration and the strain of walking through the park all day, even with his crutches maneuvering around tattooed inline skaters and parents loaded down with stuffed animal prizes.