Page 23 of Nica
“They’re gorgeous,” Leila said admiringly.“From a secret admirer?”
The innocent question felt like a knife twist.“Seems so,” Nica murmured, forcing a smile.
“You’re lucky.Wish I had somebody who liked me enough to send flowers.”Leila shrugged nonchalantly and headed back to her seat.
Nica moved through the library on autopilot, offering suggestions and answering questions while her mind raced.This wasn’t the first strange occurrence.Over the past few days, she’d received the unmarked envelope containing newspaper clippings about Gabe’s past at the hospital in Stanford.The secrets Gabe had kept affected them both, because whoever was threatening him, making anonymous calls with veiled threats to expose the scandal that almost ended Gabe’s career in California, seemed to be amping up their game.Then there were the small things in his apartment, objects moved, a missing earring, a bedroom window unlocked when she knew she’d secured it.
After the break-in at her College Station apartment three years ago, Nica had become almost obsessive about security.Gabe had teased her gently about it but never dismissed her concerns.While she’d made light of the burglary to her family at the time, she’d become almost OCD about checking and double-checking locks.She’d even gone to a few counseling sessions, to help overcome her fear of feeling helpless.
Gabe.She needed to talk to him.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket.Speak of the devil.She excused herself from a student’s question and moved to a quiet corner of the library to answer.
“Hey,” she said softly.
“Hey yourself.”His deep voice usually calmed her, but today it only heightened her unease.“How’s your day going?”
Nica hesitated.They were still in the honeymoon phase of their elopement—still basking in the relief of finally telling her family about their marriage on Sunday.She didn’t want to burden him with what might be nothing more than paranoia.
But the roses.The journal entry.This is beyond paranoia.
“Someone sent me roses.”
“That’s nice,” Gabe replied, sounding distracted.“Wait—it wasn’t me.Should I be jealous?”
“The card had a line from my journal, Gabe.”Her voice dropped to a whisper.“My personal journal.The one I keep locked in our bedside drawer.”
The silence that followed felt endless.
“That’s not possible,” he finally said, his tone sharpening.“Are you sure?”
“Word for word,” Nica confirmed, the fear she’d been fighting all day finally breaking through.“And I think I’m being followed.I keep seeing the same man—tall, dark hair, dark clothes.He was at the coffee shop this morning, then at the gas station, and now Mrs.Henderson says someone matching that description delivered the roses.”
“Where are you now?”The casual warmth had vanished from Gabe’s voice, replaced by something tense and urgent.
“The school library.I have class for another five minutes.”
“I’m coming to get you.”She could hear him moving, keys jingling.“Don’t leave with anyone else.I’ll call Rafe too.”
Nica’s stomach tightened at the mention of her brother.“No, don’t.Not yet.It could still be nothing.”
“A stranger quoting your private journal isn’t nothing, Nica.”The edge in his voice cut through her hesitation.“Someone’s been in our apartment.”
The confirmation of her fears made her legs weak.She sank into a chair, keeping her back to the wall and her eyes on the library entrance.
“But why?What do they want?”
“I don’t know,” Gabe admitted.“But this connects to the other things—the letter and files you got, my taunting phone calls…”
Nica closed her eyes briefly.“And the break-in at your clinic.”
“Maybe.”
The bell signaling the end of the period rang, making her jump.Students began packing up around her, oblivious to her distress.
“My last class just ended.The students are leaving,” she said.“I’ll meet you at the front entrance in ten minutes.I need to let the front office know that I’m leaving.”
“I’ll be there.Don’t stop for anything.”He paused.“And Nica?I love you.”
