Page 11 of Obsessive Stalker

I frown.

“Only two?”

“And the detective assigned to protect the target, here in Tahoe,” he replies.

“I’m sitting right here,” Kristen says. “I have a name and it’s not ‘the target.’”

We continue to ignore her, though I can’t help but smile a little at Kristen’s smart mouth. Just as feisty and resistant as I remember her being the first time we met. The cut on my chest still burns, reminding me that she’s still very much untamed, the wild woman with a backbone of steel that I’ve been obsessed with since I first laid eyes on her.

And now, she’s mine.

“I just don’t understand,” I mutter. “Why would he make it this easy? What could be the purpose?”

“Don’t know, boss,” he says. “But we’ve got new information on his finances. The man has drained two accounts in the last year alone, over forty million dollars.”

“Where did it go?”

“It’s not clear,” he replies. “We suspect gambling debts.”

“I want more on that,” I say. “Find out who he owed. Find out whether he’s still gambling.”

“Leave my family alone!”

“Quiet,” I growl to Kristen.

“Fuck you!”

I direct my attention to the driver.

“Thank you for the update,” I say. “Now, I’d like to have a private conversation with my fiance while we wait for the helicopter.”

Without another word, he pushes a button and lifts the partition between us again. Satisfied that it’s sealed, blocking out all noise, I turn to Kristen.

“You have a lot to learn,” I say to her. “One rule that you won’t cross is that you don’t interrupt me when I’m doing business.”

“Your business involves me,” she replies, her eyes aflame. “And my parents, too. What next, you’re tailing my sisters?”

“Your sisters aren’t of interest to me. Only you.”

“Why are you following my parents?”

“Because they’re of interest to me,” I reply. “Most of all, your dear old dad. I knew that he wasn’t keeping his nose clean, even prior to my meeting you. But since he insists on this annoying investigation into my affairs -”

“Because youkidnappedme,” she interjects.

“- I decided to investigate him, too,” I continue. “And we’ve found some interesting things. You might think I’m a bad man. But I could tell you some things about your father that would make me seem like a saint.”

“Like what?” she asks. “He gambles? Big deal. My mom’s known about that for years. He even went to treatment for it. He loses money, but he always earns it back.”

“Yes he does,” I agree. “Ever wonder how?”

“How what?”

“How he earns it back,” I reply.

She’s quiet.

“He works,” she says after a pause, but her voice has lost its confident edge. “He works in finance.”

---