Page 38 of Stalked

“I will. Bye.”

Rosalyn put the phone receiver back in its cradle and leaned her head against it. It was nice to know she had someone who cared about her. That she had options. But she wondered if she was opening up the Ammonses to the Watcher’s clutches. What if he found her again? If she went back there, would she be leading him to them? She couldn’t stand the thought of the older couple falling victim to him.

Maybe she’d done the wrong thing by calling them at all. But surely with the transmitters gone, no harm would come to them.

She looked up to find Steve staring at her, eyes narrowed. She gave him a little wave as he walked over, but all the easy camaraderie they’d had at lunch, the closeness they’d shared last night seemed to be gone.

“I would’ve let you use my phone if you needed to make a call. You didn’t have to pay for it.”

“That’s okay. I didn’t want to bother you. And I didn’t want to waste time. I know we’re trying to make it to Colorado Springs as quickly as we can.”

Rosalyn was still a little overcome with emotion after talking to Cheryl. It must be pregnancy hormones or something. But the thought of Jim agreeing to put a phone in his house just because of her had tears rushing to her eyes again. She turned away so Steve wouldn’t see.

“Ready to go?” she asked.

Steve grabbed her arm. “Who were you talking to, Rosalyn?”

The anger behind the words took her aback. “Who do you think I was talking to?”

“I don’t know. All I know is I leave you alone for the first time in twenty-four hours and you’re making mysterious phone calls.”

“I was calling Cheryl and Jim Ammons. The people in Ellijay with whom I had been staying. I wanted to let them know I was all right.”

“And you couldn’t wait to do that in the car on my phone?”

He was still holding her arm. Rosalyn snatched it away. “I didn’t think of that, okay? I’ve been on my own for a while now and I’m not used to having other people around or their resources.”

Steve’s eyes narrowed more, so she turned and walked out toward the car. Let him believe whatever he wanted to.

It was going to be a long ride to Colorado Springs.

* * *

THEHOURSONthe way to Colorado Springs were tense at best. Rosalyn never told him exactly who she had been contacting, but he didn’t believe her when she said it was the Ammonses, the couple in Ellijay who had taken her in. After all, hadn’t she already told him the husband didn’t trust the government and they lived off the grid?

No computer, no phone. So how exactly had she called them?

Steve didn’t want to let it, especially after last night, but true doubt about Rosalyn crept in. He was trained to see evil in innocent actions, to question all possibilities.

He had to face the fact that Rosalyn could be using him right now. That she had initiated contact with him in Pensacola for a particular purpose that had nothing to do with the baby or the Watcher.

To what end, he didn’t exactly know. But he had to admit she could be working with some sort of partner to get something from him or maneuver him in some way. Maybe she knew who he really was in Omega. He had access to top secret information on a regular basis. Maybe she was hoping to obtain something through him.

He just couldn’t get out of his mind how sad she’d looked when getting off the phone. How guilty.

Like she’d done something distasteful and wished she could take it back.

Why would she feel that way after talking to a couple she’d been close to for half a year? And for that matter, why wouldn’t she just have used his phone to contact them? It would’ve made a lot more sense.

Or was it just like Rosalyn had said? She wasn’t used to depending on other people. She hadn’t had a cell phone in a while. Maybe she hadn’t even considered it. She’d just seen the pay phone—a rarity these days—and decided to make the call while Steve was doing other things.

Certainly not nefarious when thought of that way.

Steve’s hands gripped the steering wheel tighter. It wasn’t often that he called his own judgments and gut feelings into question.

But when it came to Rosalyn, he had to admit that he was not neutral.

He decided to try to talk to her. They couldn’t spend the rest of the five hours in silence.

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