you moved across country to get away from the stalker.”
“I’d researched the problem and read about several cases where stalkers had hurt the family or loved ones of their victims. It disturbed me.” Her hands twisted together and her face averted to look out the side passenger window. “I started having nightmares. Then, during one of his phone calls, Nemesis mentioned seeing me with my sister-in-law and baby niece. That’s when I decided to move.”
He understood her choice, but it hadn’t been the smartest one. Moving away from the small town where she was well known had actually made her more vulnerable to her stalker.
Chapter 2
Lise smothered a yawn as Joshua led her into their hotel room. Exhaustion was catching up with her and pretty soon she’d need toothpicks to prop her eyes open.
“I’m sorry,” she said after a jaw-stretching yawn took her by surprise. “I’m just so tired all of a sudden.”
Joshua dropped his bag on the bed nearest the door and shrugged out of his coat. “When was the last time you slept a whole night?”
She crossed the room and plopped down on the end of the other bed, her legs so tired they didn’t want to hold her up anymore. “The night before the last Seahawks game.”
His dark eyes glinted with curiosity. “What happened?”
She told him about the incident on the street after the game, reliving the fear and frustration of that night while she took off her own coat and tossed it onto a nearby chair.
“You could have been killed.”
“I don’t think he meant to really harm me at all.” She’d thought about it a lot. “Traffic moves pretty slowly after a game. I think he just wants me to know what kind of power he has over my life.”
The word Joshua said was one she didn’t even use in her writing. “Did you go to the police?”
“Yes.” For all the good it had done her.
Joshua went to the window and slid an expandable bar into place so that it could not be opened; he then shut both the privacy curtain and the drapes. Each movement made her feel a little bit safer, a little more protected.
“What did they say?”
“The sergeant who took my statement didn’t believe that I was pushed, but he filed a report anyway. I insisted.”
“Why didn’t he believe you?”
He’d thought she was an ignorant country bumpkin who could not tell the difference between being shoved in the back and jostled by the crowd. It still made her angry. “There were no witnesses to corroborate my story. No one else saw Nemesis push me, even though there was a huge crowd around me.”
Joshua opened the door and put the DO NOT DISTURB sign on the outside before turning back to face her. “Probably because of the crowd.”
She nodded, trying to swallow another yawn and not succeeding. She’d been scared for so long, the relative safety of being with Joshua had released her body from the constant adrenaline rush of fear. The inertia of total exhaustion was taking over.
He dug something out of his bag and put it on the door under the privacy lock. “Has Nemesis been in your Seattle apartment?”
“Not that I know of, but he left a red rose on the seat of my car. It was locked in the parking garage at the time.”
“Did you report the incident?”
“Yes, but it was the same story as before. I didn’t have proof and wasn’t taken seriously.” The same sergeant had taken the report, and the fact that the doors had been locked had convinced him she was some kind of kook. “I think the police sergeant and the sheriff back in Canyon Rock are related.”
Her attempt at humor fell flat. Joshua’s handsome face didn’t even crack in a smile. “So, you cancelled your trip to Texas and decided to deal with this on your own again?”
He sounded less than impressed by the possibility, but she nodded. “I didn’t have a lot of choice. I’m not putting my family at risk, no matter what.”
“You’d rather face your stalker with a fireplace poker.” The derision in his voice irritated her.
“Not really, but it’s what I had on hand.”
He measured her with his eyes. “You’re pretty damn independent.”
She supposed she was. The one person she knew would not let her down was herself.
“You need my help.”
The blunt statement took the breath out of her, but she wasn’t about to deny the truth of it. She’d passed that point about when he’d disarmed her and gotten her in a headlock before she could even scream. If he had been Nemesis, she could be dead, or hurting badly right now.
Joshua watched the play of emotions across Lise’s face. Denial wasn’t one of them.
“You’re right,” she said. “The authorities won’t take me seriously and I’m afraid Nemesis will have to do something pretty awful before they do, but what can you do?”
“I can keep you safe, for a start.”
There was no mistake about the expression burning golden in her tired hazel eyes. It was relief. “Thank you.”
“I plan to nail the bastard, too.”
“Do you think you can?”
He wasn’t offended by her expression of doubt. “Maybe not alone, but I’ve got a couple of buddies who will help. Hotwire’s a computer expert and Nitro’s great with explosives, but he’s got other talents just as useful.”
“Interesting names—are they mercenaries too?”
“We were in the Rangers together.” Evading direct an swers had become a way of life for him ten years ago. “When did Bella tell you what I do?”
Had Lise run from his profession as much as she’d run from the primitively passionate man he’d become with her?
“She didn’t.”
“Then how did you know?”
That vague look settled over her, the one he identified as her writer look. “It’s the way you move, the way you are hyper-aware of everything and everyone around you. It’s just like the other mercenaries I’ve met. Special Forces soldiers are that way, too, but there are subtle differences.”
“You’ve met other mercenaries?”
“Sure.”
“Right.”
She frowned at his disbelief. “I interview a lot of people for my books. I like hands-on research. It’s how Jake and Bella met, or didn’t they tell you?”
His
