Page 23 of Sachie's Hero

Sachie thought through everything that had happened since Luke’s suicide.

“It started as a feeling of being watched all the time. I’d be walking through normal places like a grocery store or shopping mall and feel like someone was watching me. When I turned around, no one was there. My phone would ring, but when I answered, no one was on the other end. Once, I walked by a building with big windows and thought I saw the reflection of someone following me. Again, when I turned around, no one was there. At first, I counted itoff as residual trauma from what happened in my office.”

“What pushed you so far that you felt you had to move?”

She closed her eyes, and she was back at her apartment building, inserting her key in the lock. It worked like it always had, and she pushed through the door. “I walked into my apartment one day, and something wasn’t right. A coffee cup stood in the middle of the living room floor. The photograph of my family and me wasn’t on the end table by the sofa. I found it in the oven. When I went into the bedroom, my pillows were gone from my bed. They were in the bathtub, and it was filled with water.”

Sachie shivered at the memory.

“Any messages?”

“No,” she said.

“So, if it’s the same guy, he followed you here, and it’s escalating.”

“Yeah.” Sachie stared out the windshield at the road ahead. “I’m tired of being the victim.”

“Then let’s turn it around.” Teller extended his hand across the console.

She laid her palm in his. “I’m ready.”

CHAPTER 6

At the gateto the Parkman Ranch, a camera in the arched gate pointed down at them where they waited in the SUV.

Teller pressed a button to notify the ranch’s security personnel of their arrival.

Sachie had visited the ranch before to see Kalea. She knew it had a first-class security system. Still, she didn’t want to be there any longer than was necessary to come up with a plan to out her stalker.

The gate opened, and Teller drove the winding road over a small hill and through a stand of trees, finally climbing a rise to a sprawling ranch house.

As soon as they pulled to a stop, Kalea and Hawk came out on the porch. Kalea wore a maternity dress covered in a bright pink and green hibiscus pattern.She’d secured her long, wavy hair in a loose bun at the crown of her head.

Her heart full of love for her friend, Sachie climbed down from the SUV and hurried up the steps to hug her. “You look amazing.”

Kalea laughed. “Amazingly big?”

“Not at all,” Sachie said and then smiled. “Well, maybe a little. You are, after all, eight months pregnant. What I meant was you absolutely glow. How are you feeling?”

“Good,” Kalea said. “But I should be asking you that. What the hell is going on?”

Teller climbed the steps of the porch, carrying her suitcase and his gym bag.

Hawk reached for the suitcase with one hand and held out the other to shake Teller’s. “Thanks for responding to my call in the middle of the night.”

“I’m glad I did.” Teller nodded toward Sachie. “We don’t want to be here more than a night, but we could use some help coming up with a plan. I was hoping we could put our heads together with you, Hank Patterson and his computer guy, Swede.”

Hawk nodded and held open the front door. “Let’s take it inside and get you two settled. I gave Patterson and Swede a heads-up that we’d be calling them after lunch. They’re on standby to help us in way they can.”

“I had our chef prepare soup and sandwiches,”Kalea said. “We can eat in the dining room or take it all to the war room.”

“Though we haven’t had breakfast or lunch, I’d like to get Hank and Swede briefed as soon as possible,” Teller said.

Sachie nodded. “Me, too.”

“Then we’ll serve lunch in the war room,” Kalea said.

“Let me take your bags up to your rooms.” Hawk took the gym bag from Teller. “I’ll show you where they are when you’re ready to go up. You both know the way to the offices and the war room. I’ll join you in a minute.”

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