Page 29 of Stalked

“Nope. We were never going to Miami. I was just hoping to mislead whoever might be listening to our conversation.”

“Oh. So you really are from Colorado?”

“Yep. And that’s where we’re headed. That’s the best place for me to keep you safe.”

CHAPTER TEN

“We’re driving to Colorado Springs? Won’t that take like three days?”

They were on their way, via rental car, and were already out of Florida.

“A day and a half at most. Barely more than it would have taken to fly, given the stopovers.”

When Steve’s assistant had sent him the flight list, they’d all looked pretty miserable: late starts, long layovers. When he’d found the transmitting device on Rosalyn’s sweater, he’d known he had to get her out of there right away. Waiting ten hours for a flight wasn’t an option.

He glanced over at her. “It’s the best way, I promise. It got us out of Florida the quickest. Hopefully your stalker thinks we’re on our way to Miami.”

“That’s how he’s known where I was.” Rosalyn shook her head. “I thought he might have some sort of tracker in my car, so I ditched it a couple of times. But he always found me.”

“I don’t know how you’ve kept away from him for the past few months.” The thought of Rosalyn—alone and pregnant—trying to stay ahead of a killer sent ice through Steve’s veins. It was all he could do to stop from grabbing her hand, which sat in her lap.

Hell, it was all he could do not to pull over the car at the first hotel and make love to her for a few days. Away from all the crazy surrounding her life and the fanatic trying to hurt her.

“Actually, I haven’t heard from him since I last saw you in Pensacola. He left a note under your hotel room door and that’s why I left.”

He looked at her.“What?”

She shrugged. “For six months I haven’t heard anything from the Watcher.”

Steve brought his eyes back to the road. “No, go back. The Watcher left you a note at my hotel six months ago?”

“He slid it under the door that second night.”

“Do you remember what it said?” Now Steve could appreciate why she wanted to keep the notes so badly.

“No, I try not to remember, because it would drive me a little crazy. That’s why I write them down in my notebook.” Rosalyn reached down in her bag and pulled out the notebook she’d begged him to let her keep. She turned to an entry. “It said ‘If you like Steve so much, I guess I’ll need to meet him soon.’” She closed the notebook and laid it in her lap.

Steve’s hands gripped the steering wheel tighter. “When did this note arrive? What time?”

“At around three o’clock in the morning. You were asleep. I heard it slide under the door.”

The Watcher had been at his door. For him to have been so close and Steve to have known nothing about it infuriated him. “So you opened it, right? When you saw what it was, why didn’t you wake me up?”

He understood why Rosalyn wouldn’t run after a stalker, but Steve wouldn’t have any qualms whatsoever about doing so.

She stared at him for a long minute. “I thought you were some businessman. I had no idea you were in law enforcement.”

“I didn’t have to be in law enforcement to help you. Any decent human being would’ve wanted to help you deal with a maniac who was tracking your every move.”

“I had already lost two decent human beings for that very reason! I couldn’t go through that again. Couldn’t drag you into my own personal hell.”

Steve gritted his teeth. Logically he could understand why she hadn’t wanted to tell him about the Watcher, but he still wished she had. This could’ve already been settled by now.

“Two? Someone else tried to help you? What happened?”

“A mechanic in Memphis named Shawn. It was before I knew better. And certainly before I knew he had some sort of bug transmitting everything I said.”

“He died?”

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