Page 57 of Hero's Prize

“Apparently, I picked up a stalker over the past couple of months.”

“Is that what you’ve been talking about with Callum when I’ve seen him around Linear Tactical?”

Colton nodded, still studying the knife. “Yes. The stalker has been sending me letters, and then she graduated to pictures a littlemore recently. There was one a few days ago in the door of my cabin, similar to this one. We need to call Callum and get him here.”

Colton was already on his phone, contacting the sheriff. Ella was trying to wrap her head around all of this.

“A stalker?” she asked once Colton finished his brief conversation with Callum. “Is she dangerous? Are you safe? Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

She could feel her hysteria rising. Evidently, so could Colton. He turned and cupped her cheeks. “It’s more of a minor annoyance than anything else. An overzealous fan who has too much time on her hands. You don’t have to be scared.”

“It’s not that I’m scared as much as I hate the thought of this happening to you when you’re already under so much stress. Maybe this is part of the reason behind your panic attacks.”

“Honestly, the stalker stuff doesn’t seem to affect me that way. It has actually given me something else to focus on besides what’s happening inside my mind.”

She had to admit, he looked a lot calmer and more focused now than he had last night when he’d shown up at the bakery. That made sense if she thought about it. The thought of danger wasn’t what caused Colton’s panic. It was the thought of helplessness that brought it on.

Still, she didn’t like this at all. “But?—”

He squeezed her cheeks gently. “I wasn’t trying to hide it from you. I was wrapped up doing much more pleasurable stuff with you than worrying about this. Why don’t you go inside and handle what you need to? I’m sure Callum is going to have some questions for you.”

“For me?”

“Your mysterious person in the window with the black hoodie last night? That’s probably the closest thing we have to any sort of solid lead.”

“That’s why you asked me if I saw a woman. Because your stalker is a woman.”

“Yes. And if you can remember any details of her face, it would really help.”

“I don’t know that I remember anything at all.”

He reached forward and kissed her. “That’s okay. Like I said, an overzealous fan. She’ll eventually wear herself out. I don’t think we have any real reason to be concerned. It’s going to be fine.”

The knife stabbed through a picture of Colton’s face certainly did not make it seem that way.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE

Despite what he said to Ella, Colton was truly concerned about his stalker for the first time now.

“This picture was taken yesterday, Callum. That’s on the obstacle course. How the hell did someone get there without any of us noticing a stranger?”

Callum studied his copy of the picture from where he sat behind his desk. “It looks like whoever took it was right there with the crowd, but it’s probably just a very clever zoom.”

Colton scrubbed a hand down his face and leaned forward in his own chair. “I still don’t like it. And I particularly don’t like the fact that I was looking at Ella in this picture.”

He’d looked over and found her watching him, and he hadn’t been able to stop himself from doing a little pose and winking. It seemed his stalker had caught that for posterity. “Whoever this stalker is, I don’t want her deciding that she can’t get to me, so she’ll go after Ella instead.”

He was relieved when the sheriff didn’t blow off his concerns. “I agree. I don’t think it’s to that point yet, but it’s logical to think the stalker will be upset if she realizes your attention is focused somewhere else, particularly on another woman.”

“Do you think the sketch artist will be able to get anything from Ella?” She was in working with the county’s sketch artist right now.

Callum shrugged. “To tell the truth, probably not. Given that Ella thought it was a man until finding out you have a stalker of the female persuasion, I doubt that she actually saw enough to be helpful. A sketch artist can’t do much if the memory isn’t there.”

Colton had pretty much feared the same thing. He shifted and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t like this letter either, Callum. I know there’s nothing concrete that makes it feel more like a threat, but both this one and the one at the Linear Tactical cabin feel stronger to me.”

“A knife tip through the face can do that, too.”

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