Page 36 of Coming Undone

“No.” Swallowing hard, she squeezed her eyes shut for a long moment, hating the past for coming back to haunt her over and over and over. “Everything is not okay.”

Chapter Twelve

An hour later, back in the privacy of the gatehouse on his parents’ property, Danny thought he had most of the story straight. Some color had returned to Stephanie’s cheeks as she sat on a high barstool pulled up to a breakfast bar in the kitchen. He’d made her hot tea to warm her up since she’d been icy cold when he’d found her on the outskirts of the homecoming party.

And it was no wonder she’d been chilled.

She received hate mail with regularity, her book apparently targeted by some fringe groups that suggested her plea for peace was anti-American. She’d pulled up her email on his laptop and shown him a sample of the letters her publishing company had received in the last three months, along with the file forwarded from her mother. What he didn’t understand was this group that supposedly vetted her “fan” mail.

He would tread carefully though, knowing she was upset with her mother’s interference. It was all he could do not to call a private protection agency right now to ensure no one came near her. Sure, he could fill that role for her for a couple of weeks. But what about when he left?

“I’m surprised the publishing company doesn’t send the mail straight to the agency you hired to screen the reader responses.” He’d love to know what qualified this group to look out for her safety. The agency sounded more like a p.r. firm than anything.

“They’re supposed to,” she said wearily, unfastening the clip from her hair so the silken mass fell forward over her shoulders. “It’s a low priority task though, and they’ve routinely sent the emails directly to me. Who knows why they ended up in my mother’s inbox this time? Someone probably saw the same last name and just attached my mail to hers since we write for the same publisher.”

“In the past, what has the vetting agency done about threatening notes you’ve received?” He added more hot water to her tea and then joined her at the breakfast bar.

“They send anything overt to the local authorities.” She peeled off a heavy ring and set it on the counter near the salt and pepper shakers.

“Have the police ever contacted you about it?”

“No. I have a friend who works at the vetting agency though, and he explained that the police log the threats so they know where to look if any action is taken toward me. But as long as there is no reason to suspect the sender knows my whereabouts or anything personal about me, the threat is considered less credible.”

“That’s bullshit.” And not just because she’d dated the guy. Although he didn’t like to think about that either. “The postal service needs to know about threats received through the mail and there are internet crime divisions that will investigate threats by email.”

He stopped short of telling her to switch vetting agencies, but he hoped it would be obvious this organization was filled with people who sucked at their job.

She gripped her tea mug with both hands and hovered over it while the steam rose.

“Okay.” She nodded slowly, calmer now that she’d shared the story.

He, in the meantime, wanted to find whoever was scaring her and tear them apart.

“Maybe we can make a trip back to your place in D.C. this week to check on things.” He couldn’t wait to read the riot act to her local cop shop, assuming they’d really ever gotten copies of the letters from this joke of an agency she used. “I could help bump up your security system… You do have a security system?”

“My apartment has a buzzer on the front door. Everyone has to be admitted who doesn’t live in the building.”

“I mean a dedicated system just for your apartment.” He tried biting back his frustration but couldn’t. “Steph, I can understand that you want to put the past behind you, but as long as these jokers are out there, you’ve got to protect yourself.”

Lifting the cup to her lips, she took a sip and nodded.

“But there will always be ‘jokers’ like this out there. This is simply the fallout for anyone who takes a stand these days.”

“I’m worried about today and what we can do to protect you here and now.”

“All right then.” She nodded slowly. “I’ll look into that when I get home. But I don’t think we need to visit D.C. during this time we have together. In fact…”

She put her cup back on the counter and slid off the chair to stand next to him.

“… I feel better now,” she continued. “It’s not that I want to forget about the past and I promise I’ll investigate all the avenues you mentioned to ensure I’m protected. However, tonight-since no one is going to find me here with you- couldn’t we get back to what we were feeling out on the dock after we danced?”

She looped her arms around his neck and he wanted- hell yes, he wanted- to forget about everything else. Yet hadn’t he done that five years ago and lived to regret it? He didn’t tell her not to go overseas. He didn’t wrap her up tight and admit he was crazy about her.

Was he honestly going to let her distract him again now when her safety was in question?

“Depends.” He thought fast, knowing he’d only scare her away if he started outlining plans to keep her safe. He’d begin small. Build from there over the time they had left. “Will you give that vetting agency their walking papers and find a group better suited to protect your best interests?”

He’d tackle the security alarm tomorrow. Right now, he wanted someone besides her incompetent ex-boyfriend handling her reader mail.

---