Annabelle to say the same thing and was surprised when her sister said, “The mountain man?”
“You know him?” TJ asked as the pickup continued down the street. The truck, she saw with surprise, had a local license plate on it. How was that possible? It was the same man she’d seen in New York City earlier today. But how could that be? She was losing her mind.
“His name is Silas Walker. He moved here about six months ago,” Annabelle was saying. He’d moved here six months ago? That was about the time TJ started getting the letters from True Fan. “He keeps to himself. Has a place in the Little Rockies.”
“You can bet he’s running from something,” Chloe said. “Probably has a rap sheet as long as his muscled arm.”
“Do you always have to be so suspicious?” Annabelle said with a sigh.
“Seriously, he’s either a criminal or an ex-cop.”
“One extreme or the other?” Annabelle grumbled. “Sweetie,” she said, turning back to TJ. “You’re shivering. Let’s get you into the coffee shop.”
It wasn’t until they were seated, cups of hot coffee in their hands, that her sisters asked what was going on.
She wished she knew. Fearing that she was letting her paranoia get to her, she didn’t know what to say.
“TJ?” Chloe prompted.
“She’s finally getting some color back into her face,” Annabelle said. “Just give her a minute.”
She took a sip of the hot coffee. It burned all the way down, but began to warm her ice-cold center.
“Tell us what’s going on,” Chloe said. “Tessa Jane, you looked like you saw a ghost back there. Do you know that man?”
Looking up at them, she knew she couldn’t keep it from them any longer.
It all came pouring out about the fan that at first was so complimentary but soon became more critical, making suggestions that when she didn’t take them became angry.
“Who do you think it is? Probably some aspiring writer with too many rejections who’s angry at you because you got published and she didn’t?” Annabelle asked.
“Or maybe another writer who’s jealous of your success?” Chloe added.
TJ shook her head. “That’s just it. I have no idea. It could be just a reader who doesn’t like the direction my books have taken. I’m not even sure if it is a man or a woman. I’m not the first writer to run into this problem. Readers bond with an author. They have expectations when they pick up one of your books. If you don’t meet those expectations...”
“What? They threaten to kill you?” Chloe cried. “Have you gone to the police?”
She told them what had happened. “The officer was right. My entire life is out there in the cloud. When I was starting out, I hadn’t realized that everything I said to the press or online would be available online forever. At first I was just so excited to be published. I never dreamed...” She shook her head.
“I can’t believe the police blame you,” Chloe said.
Annabelle agreed. “Though I have to admit, it goes with the business. I ran into this with modeling. Once you’re out there, you become public property.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Chloe said.
“Don’t tell me that you haven’t run into this as a reporter,” TJ said.
“People storming in angry about something I’ve written? Of course,” Chloe said. “It’s part of the job. You can’t please everyone. But if you’re being threatened...”
“What are you going to do?” Annabelle asked.
She shook her head. “The police officer I talked to said I should ride it out. That the fan would get tired of harassing me. But I’m worried with this new book that True Fan isn’t going to like it at all. After seeing that man...”
“You think it’s him, your True Fan,” Chloe said. “The one who looks like a mountain man?”
TJ sighed and told them what had happened only that morning on the street in front of her apartment. “He saved me, but did he? I felt someone push me in front of that truck. If he hadn’t grabbed me...” She saw her sisters exchange a doubtful look. “I know it doesn’t seem likely that they are the same person, but...” She halted for a moment. “I swear it’s the same man. I...feel it.”
“Okay, it’s a stretch,” Chloe said. “But I suppose it’s possible. You were in New York this morning and now you’re here. Why couldn’t it be the same for him?”
“He could have even been on the same flight,” Annabelle said. “You flew first class, right? He probably flew coach. And since you didn’t have any luggage to claim...”
“Okay, it’s not that much of a coincidence if he is the same man,” Chloe said. “It doesn’t make him True Fan though.”
“Right, it isn’t like he followed you here,” Annabelle said. “He’s been living here for the past six months.”
“Six months,” TJ said in a whisper. “That’s how long I’ve been getting the letters from True Fan.”
* * *
SILAS DROVE TOWARD the Little Rockies, anxious to get to his cabin. As he drove, he contemplated what had happened back at the gift shop. It didn’t make a lot of sense and he was a man who prided himself on making sense out of situations.
At least he’d been right about one thing. TJ St. Clair had been headed home for the holidays. When he’d realized that, he’d been looking forward to meeting her. But after what had happened back there...
She’d run out of the shop in tears. Because of him? Or someone else she saw in the store? Odd behavior. He considered that it might have something to do with what had happened this morning in New York. A scare like that would make anyone jumpy. He frowned to himself, wondering again about her near accident this morning.
Was she merely jostled? Had someone purposely pushed her?
He shook his head, reprimanding himself for not leaving his job behind along with the suspicions that went with it. He was in Montana now. He’d bought this place outside of Whitehorse in the Little Rockies so he could get away from his stressful, dangerous, always unpredictable job.
Here, he did so much physical labor that all of that ugliness was forgotten—at least for a while. Here, he’d put that world as far away from him as he could.
And yet you still read thrillers. Not just anyone’s. You read her books.
He laughed as he drove toward the mountains. That’s because she was the reason he’d moved here. After reading TJ’s books, he’d been curious about Montana, curious about the wild prairie, the endless sky, the wide-open places that she talked about in her books. Once he saw the area, he was hooked. She had always mentioned the Little Rockies so of course that’s where he went when he was looking for land. While
