Page 48 of The Agent
“Are you sure there is one?”
Tully raised his eyebrows at his partner. “You know how much I believe in coincidences.”
“Well, Van Houten has enough money to hire someone to figure out which internet cafés don’t have cameras and to send the messages from those. He wouldn’t do that himself.”
“No, he’ll have minions to do his dirty work. That will make it hard to pin the stalking on him.”
“If Van Houten is her stalker and he’s keeping her under surveillance, won’t he recognize you? You’ve been at her house and her salon,” Leland pointed out.
“That will make it all the more jarring for him. My appearance on his doorstep could push him into making mistakes.” Tully swiveled some more while he thought. “What is the point of stalking Natalie if you want to get your wife back?”
“Maybe he was simply angry and wanted to punish someone.”
“Or maybe he was trying to soften her up so that when he finally came to see her, she’d be upset and off-balance. That way she might spill what she knew.”
“Or both,” Leland said.
“Good point. Whether it’s physical or psychological, abusers like to beat up on anyone they think is weaker than they are just for the fun of it. No reason for him not to kill two birds with one stone.” Anger roiled in Tully’s chest. He hoped he would have a reason to punch Van Houten in his aristocratic nose.
Natalie nibbled on the buttery croissant that Dawn had set on the stainless steel tabletop in front of her as they sat in Leland’s sleek, modern kitchen. “Thank you for taking in Regina.”
Dawn gave her a dagger glare over her yogurt. “Seriously? You know better than to thank me. I’d do the same for anyone in her situation.”
“But we woke you up at an ungodly hour to do it.” Natalie glanced out the wide window, where the city lights blazed against the dark sky. “Tully enjoyed that.”
“I’ll bet he did.” Dawn put down her spoon. “So what exactly is going on with you and Tully?”
“Sex,” Natalie said without hesitation. “Very good sex.”
Dawn choked on a laugh. “Yeah, I can see the glow around both of you. But it looks like more than that. He’s spent a lot of time on your stalker investigation.”
“He’s a protector by nature and profession,” Natalie said, brushing croissant crumbs off her wrinkled white blouse. She hadn’t had time to change out of yesterday’s work clothes before Tully had herded her and Regina into his car. “And I need protection right now. That’s all.”
“You seem very sure of that.” Dawn stared into her yogurt bowl for a moment. “You know he refuses to get married.”
“So I’ve been told. What I can’t figure out is why. He would be a terrific husband.” Natalie sipped her coffee. “And father.”
Her heart gave an odd little twist as she pictured Tully with a child riding on his shoulders while a blurry, undefined wife walked next to him.
“Yeah, he loves the kid he’s a Big Brother to,” Dawn said. “But his family is really screwed up. Alcoholism, gambling, drugs.”
“Wow! That’s a lot to deal with.” No wonder Tully wanted to fight bad guys. It was easier than trying to fight all those intractable problems. “But why does that stop him from getting married?”
“Something about having bad role models and not wanting to drag a wife into his family problems.” Dawn shrugged. “He doesn’t talk about it much, according to Leland. All I know is that his father died of liver disease due to alcoholism and his sister died of a drug overdose.”
Sorrow rolled through Natalie like a gray fog, making her chest ache. Tully’s broad shoulders carried a heavy burden. “That’s crazy. He’s not like that!” Natalie objected.
“Right?” Dawn said. “But he’s made his decision and Leland says he won’t budge from it.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.” But he was depriving himself of a happiness that he deserved.
“I just thought you should know.”
“Now explain why you decided to tell me that particular piece of information.” Natalie pinned her friend with a sharp look.
“Look, you say that you don’t want to get married ever again—” Dawn began.
“And I mean every word of it,” Natalie interrupted, with all the conviction born of a narrow escape from an abusive relationship.
