Page 11 of My Favorite Temptation

I resist the urge to get out and tear my car apart looking for it. There’s no telling who put it there, and a shiver runs up my spine when I realize my dad might be back around to make good on his promise to make me disappear. If he knows my location, he could be watching me right now. Without Walker here to protect me, I can’t let whoever put this here know that I’m onto them. I’ll wait until I’m at work, somewhere with witnesses in case I really am being watched.

My blood pounds in my ears on the drive to the community health center. Would my dad really come back after all these years to follow through with something he told me in a drug-fueled rage? Josh and I are pretty sure he doesn’t even remember the conversation happening. Still, I can’t think of anyone else that would want to track me down like this.

Once I’m in the parking lot, I hop out of my car, popping the hood as I do so. I check every nook and cranny that he could conceivably get to – I never leave my car unlocked, so it has to be hidden on the exterior – but I come up empty-handed. In a last ditch effort, I check my car’s interior. I doubt I’ll find it, though. No one else has been in my car but me.

I’m about to call off my search and accept that I need to take the entire thing apart when I spot the device tucked away in the door of my car. I blink down at it, wondering how it got there. Then, in a split second decision, I get back into my vehicle and peel out of the parking lot.

I drive wildly, going faster than I should as I try to figure out who put the tag in my car. Who would want to track me other than my father? Who else has had access to the cab? As I’m pulling onto the shoulder of the highway, it hits me.

Walker.

With as much force as I can, I launch the AirTag off the overpass. As an afterthought, I turn off my cell phone just in case my location is being tracked by that. Then I get back into my car and fly to work. I let my coworkers know I’m busy with something before hunkering down in front of my computer to do some research.

Finding Walker’s case is easy, and as I’m reading, I wonder why I didn’t do this before inviting him to stay with me. He was charged with armed robbery and kidnapping, not dealing drugs like he and Josh told me. Something flares inside me. There’s an undercurrent of fear there, but mostly, I’m angry.

How could the people closest to me lie to me? How could they let me invite a kidnapper to live in my spare bedroom? Was Josh just looking out for his friend, willing to put the safety of his half-sister on the line so someone he was close with in high school would have a place to stay?

After reading through every single news article and legal filing I can find, I print out Walker’s court case. Maybe I should be afraid of confronting him, but I’m not. All I want is an explanation.

Then I can confront the fact that the idea of Walker stalking me, watching my every move without me knowing, is absolutely exhilarating.

Chapter 9

Walker

Bella found the AirTag. The only reason I know is because I’m holding it in the palm of my hand right now.

I kept a healthy distance between the two of us when I followed her to work, but right before I arrived, she sped off. There was no keeping up with her, so I routed my phone’s GPS to this little device's location. It took me to the woods below an overpass where she obviously ditched the thing.

My mind races. I wonder if she knows it’s me. When I check the location of her phone, her cell is turned off. That familiar feeling of dread eats at my insides. I have to find her, fast.

I take off on my bike, heading toward the community health center where she works. When I get there, I breathe a sigh of relief when I see her car in the parking lot. Then I position myself in the sparse trees as I try to figure out what to do.

There isn’t any indication that she knows it was me who planted the tracker, but I know she isn’t stupid. As far as I know, I’m the only other person who’s had access to the inside of her vehicle. Even if she thinks the tracker was her dad’s doing, she’ll eventually realize that he wouldn’t have been able to put it in her car door.

Will she call the police when she realizes it was me? I doubt it, even though it’s a possibility. It’s more likely that she’ll call Josh. Since I haven’t gotten any messages from him, I assume she hasn’t figured it out yet. It’s only a matter of time, though.

I can’t hang around this parking lot any longer. As much as I want to stay here and monitor her, I know that getting caught here will only make things worse.

I ride away, not sure where to go. Right now, her house is out of the question. Instead, I ride aimlessly around the streets, putting together my explanation. I’m sure she’ll understand.

She has to.

When I can’t take the wandering any longer, I go back to her house, intent on waiting for her to come home if there aren’t police already there waiting for me. What I’m not expecting to see when I ride down the block is her car sitting in the driveway.

I drop the bike in the front yard and rush into the house in search of her. Bella’s sitting at the kitchen table, multiple pages spread out in front of her. From here, I can’t see everything, but I can make out my name.

She knows.

“Bella, I –”

“You’ve been stalking me since you got here,” she says, sure of herself, leaving no room for argument.

It’s a good thing I don’t plan on denying what I’ve been doing.

“It was to keep you safe.”

“Just like you kept that girl you kidnapped safe?” she challenges, nodding down at the pages in front of her.

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