Page 148 of Until the Sea Runs Dry

“His real name is Paul Lyman. Born and raised in Chicago. After several of his previous girlfriends filed charges against him for assault and battery, he disappeared before he could be arrested. He must have resurfaced a few years later as the man you knew, Jane. He’s been targeting women all of his life, and when he saw you reappear from the dead, he wanted you back. Men like him never let the women go. Losing their control over you sends them over the edge. He came to force you to go back with him.”

“That’s ridiculous! The bastard tried to kill her!” Logan’s jaw clenched tight. He radiated fury.

“We’re logical people, so we can see how it really is. But, Marko, rather, Paul, isn’t like us. He’s very disturbed and belongs behind bars.”

“But how did he even know about Clare?” Jane had been running this through her mind but couldn’t come up with any answers.

“He saw several pictures of the two of you together. The first time, outside the Armani store, and then again, on the set of Logan’s movie. He must have used facial recognition software to locate her somehow.”

“I’m on the Nordstrom website.” Clare’s green eyes were stricken. “They did a story recently about its staff and they used a photograph of me on the main page.”

Summers nodded, the final missing piece falling into place.

“He simply walked into the store when you were working and chatted you up.”

“One thing I still don’t understand,” Jane brought up, not wanting Clare to feel a second more of guilt. “How did you tie him to me in the first place? How did you find us?”

Logan cleared his throat. “When you started to recall pieces from your past, I hired a private investigator. I needed to protect you… a great job I did of that.” His laugh was bitter.

“I’m only here now because of you. You saved me, in more ways than one. All of you.” She glanced at each of the caring faces that surrounded her. “Because you all cared about me… I still have breath left.”

A striking woman came into the room, tall and lithe with the kind of face and body that stopped even Jane in her tracks. It took a moment before she could place why she looked so familiar.

“You’re the woman Logan was having coffee with.”

The ‘woman’ flashed a brilliant grin at her, reaching over to shake her hand. “I’m Westler, PI. Really great to meet you. I’m so glad you’re safe, now. Logan has been out of his mind with worry.”

“Thank you,” Jane replied simply.

“I barely did anything. Not for nothing, this man you have here didn’t think twice about leaping out of a helicopter some thirty feet in the air, into the depths of the ocean to save you. Turns out, he’s a real-life action hero after all.”

Logan looked at her with such love in his eyes that Jane felt suddenly incredibly foolish.

“I told you there would be a logical explanation,” Clare winked.

A wave of exhaustion hit her hard then, leaving her reeling. She swayed against Logan and only managed to stay upright because of him.

“If we’re done here, I’d like to get her home. We can follow up with everything else once she’s had a chance to recover.” His tone gave no room for argument. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind who was calling the shots now. Summers stood up, nodding.

“Of course. Jane, we’ll be in touch later for your statement but for now, get some rest. You too,” he turned to Logan. “You’ve more than earned the right for some R&R.”

“Clare, will you stay with us for now? We’ve plenty of room. I don’t like the thought of you being home by yourself,” Logan surprised them all with his offer.

Jane’s heart swelled with love for him. He really was the perfect caretaker.

Clare smiled a warm, wobbly smile. “That’d be great. Thank you.”

He was right: the thought of going home alone was beginning to fill her with dread.

They said their goodbyes. The four of them stepped out of the station, only to be blinded by a row of paparazzi and their cameras.

Logan grabbed Jane’s hand, shielding her from view with his jacket as he escorted her into the waiting car. Clare and Loki followed closely behind. The little puppy growled and snapped at the photographers, not liking or understanding all the attention.

When everyone was in the car, Logan rapped on the partition to let Daryl know he could go. There, nestled in his arms, Logan held onto Jane as if he would never let her go.

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