Page 121 of Unlawful Seduction

As the ride started to slow, I laughed at myself for being out of breath.

The cups were still shifting back and forth and I took a deep breath, glancing out at the crowds of people.

And something caught my eye.

The same man who’d been in my clinic. Was he staring at us? It was just getting dark enough that I wasn’t one hundred percent positive. However, my instincts were almost never wrong.

Almost.

A cold shiver trickled down my spine. I said nothing to Beckett as we were allowed off the ride, moving away from what I’d seen. With Beckett holding Brady’s hand, I found myself pushing my way through the crowd, attempting to see if I was correct. The odds of the man being in the same place, same time as the three of us seemed slim to nil.

I continued pushing, finally making it to a clearing close enough to where I’d thought he was standing I could get a better look.

He wasn’t there.

“What is going on?” Beckett flanked my side, his hackles instantly raised. I could smell it on him.

“Nothing. I just thought I saw someone.”

“Mommy! Mommy! Can we play a game?”

“Sure, honey. Just a couple minutes.” I remained breathless.

Beckett moved in front of me, keeping his voice low. “Talk to me. What did you think you saw?”

“Nothing really. Just a guy, but he’s nowhere.”

“Just a guy.”

I nodded. “He was scarred all over his face. I don’t know. I think I’m just jumpy, which is ridiculous. Come on. Time for you to win a teddy bear or two.” While I linked an arm with his, I continued to have very bad feelings.

He didn’t take kindly to what I’d said, immediately turning around in a full circle, but to his credit, he didn’t force us to leave.

The bad feeling remained pooling in my stomach.

The past was never going to leave us alone.

CHAPTER 30

“Afool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

—Shakespeare

Beckett

What the fuck was wrong with me? I’d been an absolute fool to think I could have a normal life or that those around me wouldn’t pay the ultimate price. Mallory was scared, her chest was rising and falling from her difficult breathing. While she’d been through a lot in her life, she wasn’t prone to panics or seeing things.

“Let it go,” she said as both she and Brady pulled me toward the rows of booths.

“What else did you notice about him?”

“I don’t know. I think I was just manifesting nerves and nothing more.”

“Look! I want dat one!” Brady pointed to a huge bear stuck on a wall behind the shooting range. Toy guns as opposed to the one I had in my jacket pocket.

I continued scanning the area as we waited in line.

“I don’t know. He was dressed in all black, but he seemed nice enough, very polite.”

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