“So, do you have any friends who can come and give you a hand?”
Gracie frowned. “Do you read minds now?”
“Huh?”
“I was just sitting here thinking about that.”
He smiled and kept his gaze on the road. She took a second to admire his profile. If only her life wasn’t such a mess she could do more than admire. She squashed that wayward thought. “My neighbor, Mrs. Swinson. She’s one of the sweetest ladies. A little nosy, but a dear.”
“Think she’l be up to helping you?”
Gracie nodded. “She’s sixty-three, but the woman is a dynamo. A rather loud, one-hundred-pound powerhouse actual y.”
He laughed. “I real y need to meet this lady.”
The thought made her cringe. Gracie could wel imagine what Mrs. Swinson would say to a gorgeous man like Wade. She definitely wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. Come to think of it, she wasn’t sure she even wanted the two to meet. She didn’t need Wade any more involved with her life than necessary. Gracie’s mind turned to the meeting they’d had with the police detective after they’d left the hospital.
“So, what do you think the cops wil turn up?”
Detective Henderson had promised to have her car looked at personal y and to let her know if it appeared to have been tampered with. His attitude toward her wasn’t quite so patronizing this time around. She suspected her bruised face and having her arm in a sling had forced him to take her much more seriously. Of course, Wade’s commanding presence hadn’t hurt either. He’d snarled and growled like a grizzly.
“I think they’l find a totaled car and not much else. That S curve is damn secluded. The chance of a witness is pretty slim.”
She mul ed that over in her head before saying, “He picked the ideal spot, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, which makes me think he’s been down this road a few times.”
A chil ran down her spine. “You think he’s been to my apartment?”
“Yeah, Gracie, I do.”
“Oh, God, I didn’t even think of it. I just assumed . . . Oh, God.”
“You aren’t alone now, sweetheart. I’m your shadow now, remember?”
She liked the use of the endearment. It wasn’t the first time he’d cal ed her sweetheart or honey, but it never ceased to send a little zing of excitement through her. “How do we catch him? He’s like a ghost, coming and going without being seen.”
“We start with the e-mails.”
“What wil you do with those?”
“Jonas wil take care of that end. He’s a whiz at computers. He might be able to figure out who’s sending them. A location, anything would be better than what we have right now.”
“What if it’s a dead end?”
“Then we start working backwards. I’l need to know your habits, your schedule, the people you interact with on a daily basis.”
Seeing where he was headed, she frowned. “You think I know this guy?”
“Maybe, or maybe he just knows you. It could be someone you work with or even someone you’ve come into contact with at the bank, grocery store. Maybe al you did was smile at him, but whatever it was he took it personal y. He thinks he’s part of your life now.”
Frustration wel ed up, and she slammed her fist against the passenger window. “This is just crazy. Why me? I’m not that exciting!”
Wade reached over and patted her thigh. “Calm down. Beating up my truck won’t help. Don’t try to make sense of this. The guy’s warped. We start with what we know. The e-mails. The way he talks to you in them. His use of your first and middle name. We’l look at each sentence and see if something rings any bel s for you.”
The stroke of Wade’s thumb over the back of her hand soothed her. The way he talked, so methodical y, made Gracie wonder if he’d seen this type of thing before. “This isn’t new for you, is it?”
“Stalker cases, no. Being personal y involved with the client, yes.”