Page 14 of Reckless Flames

“Why didn’t you tell me that you have a child?”

“Oh God, Sophie, there’s no quick, easy answer to that. Could we please go somewhere and talk about it? How about a beer at Grumpy’s?”

“I can’t be seen with you in public—not if I’m going to play it safe, anyway.”

“What the fuck! What do you mean you can’t be seen with me in public?”

“Well, I can see that we need to have a conversation somewhere, and I’m not about to spring you on my family right now, if ever. Can we drive somewhere—your house, maybe or just park and talk? If you really want to talk, that is.”

“Absolutely, of course,” I stuttered, and Sophie stunned me by walking out to the sidewalk and scanning the street in both directions before getting into my car.

“Sophie, what was that all about? What the…what is going on?”

“I need to show you something, so the explanation will have to wait until you’re not driving. In the meantime, why don’t you tell me about your son? What’s his name?”

As I drove home, I told her all about Caleb and how I resolved to be the best parent in the world when his mother died. I explained that I had had a government job at the time that I had quit because it required a lot of travel. I had gone into real estate as something that would give me a flexible schedule and more time at home with him. I told her about my housekeeper, about how Anna lived in my house to be there with Caleb if I did need to go out for a while.

I left nothing out. Well, except for one little detail about that government job, but I don’t share that with anyone. I hadn’t told Joe that I worked for the CIA—just that I had done some work for the government that resulted in me being more suspicious than most people.

When we got into the house, I asked Sophie if she wanted a drink, and she asked for a club soda. I gave her a minute to get settled into a comfortable chair with her soda, and then it practically burst out of me.

“Okay, Sophie, I’ll explain why I didn’t tell you about Caleb, but first I need you to tell me why you’re scanning the street and why you can’t be seen with me in public.”

“I’m going to start from the beginning. Okay, you know how you told me about the person in the hoodie that seemed to be stalking our house? Well, I wasn’t too concerned. I mean there could have been some innocent explanation for that. Then I broke my promise to stay out of the woods alone, and something scary happened there.”

I forced myself to appear calm as she told me about being followed in the woods, but when she then showed me the email she had received, I couldn’t contain the fear any longer.

“Jesus, Sophie! Did you go to the police with this?” Even as I asked, I knew what their response would be.

“I tried to phone you after I got the email, and then I drove over here to see if you happened to be home. I was hoping that you would go to the police with me to describe the hoodie stalker, because now that person looks a lot more suspicious than they did before I saw this email. That’s how I happened to see you and Caleb playing soccer in the back,” she finished softly.

I saw in an instant how I had failed her again, and I buried my face in my hands. First, I had lied by omission about having a child, and then I hadn’t gone to the police with her. Even if I had, there wasn’t enough for them to act on, but they might have begun a file, at least, if I had been there to describe the person I saw.

“I am so sorry, Sophie.”

She didn’t respond to that at all, and I was afraid that I had ended any possible chance that we could ever be together. But however that was, I was going to do every single thing possible for her safety until the threat was neutralized.

“Listen,” I began, “I’ll explain why I didn’t tell you about Caleb if you still want to know, but I’d first like to discuss some things we should do for your safety. Is that okay with you?” Getting a nod from her, I continued.

“Well then, I think you should move in here for a while, and that we should go to your parents together to explain the reason for that. Your family is welcome here to do wedding stuff or just hang out—whenever they’d like to be with you. What do you think about that?”

“I don’t know, Ben. It seems a little extreme to me. I think I’ll sleep at home tonight and give it some more thought. I really didn’t want to have to worry my parents, and I really don’t want to take any attention away from Madi.”

I didn’t like it very much, but what was I going to do—kidnap the girl and keep her here by force? If I hadn’t lost her already, that would certainly kill any possible chance of a relationship. So I agreed.

“Okay, we’ll do things your way for now. Do you want to stay and talk some more? I’m up for whatever you want to do.”

“I’m tired, Ben. It’s been a long day, and I’d like to go home now, if you don’t mind taking me.”

“Of course, no problem. But I’m going to take you home in a vehicle that the stalker wouldn’t recognize.”

I took her into the garage with me and got her up into the passenger seat of my pickup truck. Then, using the garage door opener, I raised the door, backed out into the driveway, and lowered the door before backing out into the street and turning around to head toward Sophie’s house.

It was a quiet ride, but I wanted to give her some space and let her decide if she wanted to talk or not. She didn’t.

I slowed down as I turned into Sophie’s street. I wanted to do a little bit of surveillance before I dropped her off, so I cruised past her house going about fifteen miles an hour.

She turned to me in astonishment, “Why didn’t you stop at the house?”

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