Page 10 of Jina

“The Peabody exit is in two miles,” Cole said, breaking the silence.

She swallowed a curse. Keeping her promise not to swear with Cole around was difficult. The man was beyond annoying.

As much as she hated to admit it, he wasn’t giving her much of a choice.

“Fine. There was one suspicious incident from twelve years ago.” She didn’t look at him as she spoke. “But I don’t believe Bradley Crow is the guy involved.”

“Involved in what?” He sounded irritable, and she supposed she couldn’t blame him.

“I had a stalker incident my senior year of high school.” She hated talking about her past. Having a stalker, then being nearly raped only made her appear weak. In the years since, she’d prided herself on being strong and capable, which had earned her the position as the tactical team sharpshooter. “I don’t know his name. He wore a hoodie and slinked around, popping up everywhere I went.”

There was a long pause as he considered that. “Okay, so what happened? Did you report him to the police?”

Here was where things got dicey. “Not exactly. For one thing, Peabody didn’t have a robust police department like they do now. I believe we shared a police department with Surrey. And for weeks the guy didn’t do anything other than watch me from a distance.”

Cole’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel as if he was losing his patience. “But he didn’t stop at watching you,” he finally said.

“No. He showed up one Saturday night at our house. My parents were gone, and Shelly and I were home alone.” She risked a sideways glance at him. His grim expression didn’t reveal his thoughts. “It was late, maybe eleven o’clock at night, when I heard a strange noise. I grabbed my father’s handgun and went to investigate. When I looked in my bedroom, the hoodie guy was climbing in through the window.”

“He entered your house?” Now Cole turned to look at her in shock. “What did you do?”

“I shouted that I had a gun. He didn’t move, so I fired at him.” She gripped her hands together in her lap. “That worked; he turned and ran away.”

“You missed?” Cole asked.

“Not exactly.” She cleared her throat. “I think I hit his arm or shoulder. There was blood on the right side of my window frame and another spattering on the ground outside. I followed the blood trail across the grass, then it disappeared near the road. It wasn’t nearly enough blood to indicate I’d hit an artery or anything like that.”

“And that’s when you reported the incident to the police?”

She didn’t answer, earning another scathing look.

“Unbelievable,” he muttered. “You didn’t call the police about a man trying to climb into your bedroom window.”

“No. I was worried I’d get in trouble for firing my father’s gun. Besides, I didn’t see him lurking around after that, so I was pretty sure I’d scared him away.” She forced a smile. “Mission accomplished.”

His jaw tensed, and it was a long moment before he spoke. “Are you absolutely sure this stalker of yours doesn’t look anything like Bradley Crow?”

It was her turn to battle a flash of anger. “I was seventeen, Cole. I never saw his face up close and personal. It was dark in my room, which is likely why he’d tried to get in that way. I only remember he wore a hoodie and had dark, thick, curly hair that covered his forehead.” She wasn’t going to mention the weird eyes. “So no, I can’t say anything for certain. Except that the last time I saw him, he was running away. And for sure I didn’t bash him in the head, so I doubt he’s your dead guy.”

“Someone else may have bashed him in the head,” Cole said in a tight voice. “Did it ever occur to you that you may not have been his only victim? That he might have done the same thing to someone else?”

To her shame, she hadn’t. But she did her best to squelch the flash of guilt. “I never heard anyone mentioning it, but anything’s possible. However, after shooting and hitting him in the arm, I was convinced he’d keep his hands to himself.”

Cole didn’t respond to that. After a moment, she noticed he’d taken the Peabody exit. A flash of alarm hit hard.

“What are you doing? I’m cooperating, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, but you can’t go back to your place, the gunman knows where you live.” His voice was calm. “You can sleep on my couch if you like. Or you can go to a hotel.”

“How about none of the above?” She resisted the urge to punch him in the arm. “I can take care of myself. Besides, the shooter probably won’t try again tonight. For all he knows, I’m still stranded out in the farm field.”

“Oh really?” He scowled. “You think he’s satisfied having missed you twice now? Or is it three times?”

“I’m not sure he was the same one outside my place, so that doesn’t count.” Why was she arguing with him? It was bad enough he’d derailed her plan to go to Madison; under no circumstances was she going to sleep on his sofa. Or anywhere else for that matter. “Drop me off at my place. Or I’ll just grab a rideshare to get home. I won’t use any lights, which should convince the perp I’m not there.”

There was still the possible threat to Mr. Glen, but it was late enough now that she hoped she wouldn’t have to worry about that until morning. Especially if she was able to sneak into the house in the dark.

The events of the past few hours were catching up to her. Every muscle in her body ached with a vengeance. Her soreness from the three kickboxing matches had been aggravated by rolling the Jeep. Her left shoulder throbbed from where the seatbelt had held her in place while she hung upside down.

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