Page 54 of Winds of Danger

Don’t do anything stupid or your friends might get hurt.

“Mia? Are you okay? You’re white as a sheet.”

It never occurred to her not to show him. Later, she’d question the wisdom because after reading the texts there was no way he would believe that nothing was going on. But clearly, this person was threatening Grant, Lane, and Mike. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to them. Never in a million years.

With shaky hands, she gave him her phone. He scanned the contents quickly, his jaw tightening in anger.

“Fuck that,” he spat out, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Whoever had sent the message had royally pissed Grant off. “He’s moved to blatant threats now. This is no coincidence.”

She couldn’t fool herself any longer. Someone was stalking her. Her feeling of being watched had probably been accurate. She’d ignored that little voice in her head, and that was a mistake. Not too many years ago, that little voice had kept her alive. Somehow, she’d come to the point of blowing it off. She needed to respect her instincts, those warning lights in her brain telling her to back away from a dangerous situation.

At one point, Mia had dubbed it her “ancient survival” mode. The voice that kept her ancestors alive while hunting thousands of years ago when life was a hell of a lot more threatening than it was today when all she was doing was stopping at Starbucks for a fancy coffee after hitting the gym.

“Why is this person doing this? And if it’s Kevin, why after all of this time?”

“He’s up for parole at the end of the year,” Grant pointed out. “Or maybe he’s bored. Shit, guys like him don’t need good reasons.”

“And if it’s not him?”

“You don’t think it’s Kevin.”

It wasn’t a question from Grant. It was a statement.

“This just doesn’t seem like him,” Mia admitted. “This isn’t how he operated. He wasn’t the type to stand back and watch. He was more of an in-your-face type.”

“He might have learned a few new tricks in prison. Or it might be someone else. That’s why we’re going to run through your day. To see if anyone is watching you.”

“You’re going to follow me and see if someone else is, too?”

“Yes, because I’ll be looking for people who are watching you. I can stand back as an observer.”

“What if you don’t see anyone?”

“Then we move on to Plan B which is actually already in motion. Plus, Plan C as well. We have several lines in the water. Let’s see if we catch anything.”

Grant appeared confident that it was only a matter of time before he figured out who was doing this to her. She wanted to be as optimistic and believe.

Was this Kevin reaching to her present from the past, trying to screw up the happiness she’d worked so hard for? Or was it a stranger? Someone she didn’t know that thought she was their soulmate? In the end it didn’t really matter.

She had to tap back into her “ancient survival” mode and protect herself. It was lovely that Grant wanted to make sure she was safe, but ultimately, she had to be the one that saved herself.

She was no damsel in distress.

* * *

Mia was shaken. It was clear as day to Grant, although she was trying to act like the recent text wasn’t as big of a deal as it was. He could see that the guy was escalating, slowly moving closer and closer, circling, wanting to be in Mia’s life.

It could work to Grant’s advantage, if he played his cards right. When a stalker escalates their behavior, it opened up the opportunity for mistakes to be made. The bigger the escalation, the bigger the mistake. Mistakes were when criminals were caught. This guy was running on emotion which also made him vulnerable. If he was obsessed with Mia, then his logic would be clouded. His number one goal would be to get close to her.

Grant was there to make sure that didn’t happen.

“You’re just going to walk behind me? Like you’re not with me?”

“I need to step back and observe,” Grant explained as he opened her car door for her. “I can’t do that right next to you. Don’t worry. I won’t lose you. I’ll be right behind you. Just go about your usual day and forget I’m even back here.”

Mia rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath, but she was smiling.

“Okay, but this seems weird.”

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