Page 47 of Stalked

Andrea looked at him, eyebrow raised.

“When the attacker showed up at the gas station, just a couple of hours after she’d made what I deemed to be a suspicious phone call, I was positive she’d played me again.”

“Again?”

Steve realized this all came back to when Rosalyn had left him at the hotel six months ago without a word.

“She fooled me. Snuck out in the middle of the night. Took all my cash.”

Andrea studied him. Steve knew he wouldn’t like whatever it was she was going to say.

“She hurt you.”

“My pride, sure. Personally and professionally. I’m the head of one of the most prestigious law enforcement agencies in the world. If I can’t tell when I’m being set up as a mark, maybe I don’t deserve to run this place.”

Andrea shook her head, the tiniest of smiles on her face. “No, it’s a lot more than that. You opened yourself to her and she hurt you.”

Steve thought of that time in Pensacola before Rosalyn had fled. He had known she was scared of something, that something was happening in her life. He’d planned to ask her to stay with him the rest of the week. Hell, if being outside made her nervous for whatever reason, they could stay in the bungalow.

He’d planned to keep her there, to make love to her, to talk to her and listen to her until she realized she could trust him. Then they could solve whatever scared her together. Maybe he’d even see if she needed a fresh start in Colorado. She’d mentioned the beautiful mountains.

Steve ran his hand through his hair. He couldn’t deny it to himself any longer. He, jaded law enforcement officer who saw the worst of humanity on a daily basis, who hadn’t been on more than a handful of dates since his wife died, had fallen in love at first sight. Or at the very least had been willing to try a relationship with Rosalyn, invite her into his life.

But she’d bailed before he had the chance.

So yeah, she had hurt him.

And evidently he still hadn’t forgiven her for any of it. Because he’d put cuffs on her, for God’s sake, and had her dragged into their least comfortable interrogation room like she was a terrorist or murderer or something.

“Damn it.” He ran his hand over his face again. “I’m an idiot. I’ve got to get her out of there.”

Andrea touched him on his arm. “Let Jon and Brandon finish talking to her. It’s helping her, Steve. To go through the details. To talk about it with someone else.”

Steve watched through the mirror again and saw Andrea was right, as she most always was. Rosalyn was sitting up straight, had unwrapped her arms from the protective stance around herself. Her shoulders weren’t hunched. She had more color in her cheeks.

Brandon had asked for Rosalyn’s notebook when she’d mentioned it, and it had been brought to them. The three of them were now poring over it.

Obviously Jon and Brandon believed Rosalyn, and were trying to help her make sense of it all. To discover the pattern in the Watcher’s actions concerning her.

Exactly what Steve should’ve been doing rather than worrying about whether she was in on her own terrorizing.

Derek Waterman entered the room. “Some more info for you, boss, about the Ammonses in Georgia. Seems like they don’t have a phone in their house, but they do have one at their café, for orders and such.”

Of course they did.

“We checked, and there was a record of a call from Dalhart, Texas, made to them this morning at ten o’clock Eastern time. I think that would line up with the call Rosalyn was making.”

“Yep, it definitely would. Thanks, Derek.”

And just like that, Rosalyn was cleared. Although he’d already cleared her in his mind anyway.

Derek turned toward the mirror. “She looks a lot better than she did when I brought her in there.”

“That’s because the idiot quota surrounding her has dropped significantly.” Steve grimaced.

Derek chuckled. “Hey, only my wife is allowed to call me an idiot.”

“Your wife is a certified genius. She’s at liberty to call everyone an idiot.” Derek’s wife, Molly, was the head of the Omega forensic lab. “But in this case, I was referring to myself.”

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