privacy. Someone took your choices away from you, and they nearly did a whole lot more. Why nothing had happened to you when I got there, I don’t know, but it’s a bloody miracle you weren’t raped.”
Horror flowed through her. “You told Tibbet.”
Paul nodded. “I had to. He thinks this may go all the way back to that incident, the fraternity party. He believes that whoever started that may be the one who is still stalking you. He thinks that inciting incident may have led Todd’s killer to murder him, and that this guy is so obsessed with you, he drives off or hurts anyone he thinks is getting too close.”
From horror to betrayal, Torie was awash with emotions. She’d come to the office so confident, so full of energy, and it had all disappeared.
Was her life ever going to stop seesawing from one extreme to another? Where would the next blow fall? Her family? Her mother?
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she finally managed to get out.
“I know,” Paul said, starting to move toward her. When she flinched, he stopped. “I didn’t want to spring this on you. I didn’t want to tell Tibbet, but he knew, Torie. He knew something had happened. Something bad.”
“What else did you tell him?”
“I told him everything.”
Shame and horror washed over her and she felt faint. From a long way away, she heard Paul calling her name. Sinking into the chair at the conference table, she wanted to vomit.
“Put your head down,” Paul ordered. “Breathe, Torie. Breathe.”
He’d seen the cop drive into the parking garage when he went out to get coffee. What was the detective going back?
Of course he’d come back, another part of his mind reasoned calmly. There’d been another incident.
Damn it, he’d
His luck, so phenomenal except for the lottery, hadn’t helped him kill Paul Jameson.
The police had nearly caught him. Instead, they’d milled around in the dark, looking for him while he sat in a tree, waiting for them to leave. He hated trees. He was still itching from something which had bitten him, as well as nursing scrapes and bruises from the fall he took getting down.
He had to get to Paul before the police talked to him again. They were digging deeper. Nothing connected him with anything in the past or present. He had no ties to Paul, or Torie.
And yet, they were his main priorities.
Now they both had to die. He’d seen them kiss. He’d seen them together.
She would never turn to him.
Knowing that, he made his plans.
Chapter Eighteen
“I trusted you,” Torie whispered, head between her knees.
“I know,” Paul murmured, crouching down to face her. “And I betrayed that trust. I didn’t mean to, not the first time. I did it deliberately this time, and you can hate me for it, but Tibbet believes that it may be the key to stopping whoever’s stalking you, killing people. If that’s true, then it might keep you safe, and alive. I can’t lose you again, Torie.”
“W-wh-what do you mean?”
A knock sounded, and Martha entered at Paul’s hail.
“Detective Tibbet is getting impatient, sir,” she said. Catching sight of Torie, she shifted from professional to concerned in the blink of an eye. “Good heavens, are you all right, Ms. Hagen?”
“Please,” Torie managed weakly. “After all this, please call me Torie. And no, I’m not okay, but I’ll get through it.”
Martha hurried to the refreshment area to get a bottle of water, pour some in a glass. She glanced at the open bottle, the napkins covered with lipstick, but she didn’t say a word. Handing Torie the glass, she went back and tidied up, pulling bottles out of a cabinet to replenish the stock.
“Drink a bit of water, it’ll help. Would you like something stronger, Torie? You look like you’ve had a shock.”
“No, the water’s fine, thanks,” Torie managed, taking a sip.
“Very well. Mister Jameson?”
“Give us a few more minutes, then send Tibbet in, please.”
“Yes, sir.” She slipped out without looking at Torie again, but Torie felt as if she’d crossed some invisible line with Martha. Finally accepted. How ironic.
“Torie, I’ll ask for forgiveness till the end of my days, but if it helps keep you safe, the secrets need to come out. That’s what Tibbet used to persuade me. Your safety. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.” He said it softly, but defiantly. “The only thing for which I won’t apologize is for caring enough about you to want you safe.”
Before she could answer that, before it sank in, Tibbet was walking in the door.
“So, you let her know?”
Paul nodded, shaking the other man’s hand and motioning him into a chair at the conference table. Since Torie was already there, it was the logical place.
“Did you find your list?”
