Olivia knew they didn’t mean to, but everyone there made her feel like a freak show. “All I wanted to do was take care of my patients,” she mumbled more to herself than Jake. Then, she added, “The few girlfriends I occasionally hung out with were even worse. They constantly treated me like they were waiting for me to break or something, you know?”
Jake nodded with sympathy. “So, you moved.”
“Not at first. I thought it would die down. I mean, it had only been a week at that point, so I figured they’d all lose interest. Then, the reporters found out I was still living in the city and had returned to the same hospital I’d worked at before. They started hounding me. I couldn’t leave my apartment or the ER without a camera or microphone being shoved into my face.”
Olivia took a sip of coffee, mainly to give herself a second to regroup. “People started leaving me stuff, too. I got hundreds of letters in the mail, most wishing me well and offering prayers. I’d come home from work and find flowers, stuffed animals, and other gifts by my door.”
She looked across the table at Jake. “I know the gestures were meant to be nice, but it creeped me out. Knowing all those strangers, knew where I lived. Apparently, Jason’s idea to release my public statement the way we did hadn’t work as well as he’d thought it would.”
“Jason?” Jake asked as if he’d never heard the name before.
Confused, Olivia said, “Jason Ryker. The guy you work for, or with, or whatever.” Olivia moved one of her hands in the air as she explained.
All of a sudden, Jake almost looked angry, though she didn’t understand why.
“I know who he is,” Jake grumbled. “I just didn’t realize the two of you were on a first-name basis.”
Interesting. If she didn’t know any better, Olivia would think Jake was jealous. That was impossible, though. He’d actually have to want her in order to be jealous of another man.
She shrugged, “He helped me out. After.” She looked around at where she now called home. “He was actually the one who found this place for me.”
Jake rested his elbows on the table, his fingers intertwined in front of him. “Ryker found you a house?”
Olivia understood his skepticism. She’d called the Homeland agent merely looking for advice. Instead, the guy had stepped up in a pretty surprising way.
“The reporters calling and following me, the letters and gifts...it became overwhelming. I wanted to leave, but I wasn’t sure where to go. I figured the guy worked for Homeland, so he’d be able to suggest someplace quiet. Safe.” Although, Olivia understood now that safety was just an illusion.
She took a sip of coffee and backtracked a bit. “After my statement was released, I asked him to take me to see you, but he said you’d already left.”
A flash of pain crossed Jake’s eyes. “Liv, I—”
Not ready to hear whatever excuses he wanted to throw at her, she talked over him. “Two agents took me from the building where we were questioned that day. They drove me to an apartment they called a ‘safe house’. It’s where my statement was recorded, and where they kept me for the few days after. My last day there, Jason handed me his card. Said to call him if I needed anything while you were away. So, I did.”
She chuckled at the memory. “I was only looking for his advice, but in just a few short days he’d found this place and secured a job for me in the ER at Northern Falls Memorial. He even arranged for a moving company to bring all my stuff here, and paid the guys extra to set up the furniture so I wouldn’t have to.”
Jake’s face was deadpan. “Ryker did all that. For you.”
Olivia shrugged it off. “Trust me, I was just as surprised as you are. I think maybe he felt guilty for putting me through the ringer the way he did that day. Whatever the reason, I’m grateful.” She glanced around her little home. “I like it here.”
Jake looked like he wanted to say more about his agent friend. Instead, he asked, “And the reporters? Did they follow you here?”
Olivia shook her head. “None have come by so far. And the letters stopped. I didn’t fill out a forwarding address with the post office. That was Jason’s idea. He even went so far as to have every hospital employee, including the CEO, sign non-disclosure agreements to prevent any of them from sharing the fact that I work there with anyone.”
Jake’s brows went up at that. “And did it work?”
“Seems like it. The people there have left me alone as far as any of that goes, and I haven’t gotten even one request for a statement or interview from anyone.”
Olivia took another drink. “The people here...they’re different. I know we’re only an hour away from the city, but this really is a tight-knit community. They care about each other, but at the same time, they seem to be focused on their own lives rather than getting into everyone else’s business. At first, I got a few stares, or the old, ‘Hey, aren’t you the girl who’ bit, but nothing compared to what it was like in the city. These people live their lives and let me live mine.”
Jake’s gaze became more focused. Narrowed. “So what aren’t you telling me?”
“Jake, really. I’m—”
He leaned forward even further. “Swear to God, Olivia. If you say you’re fine one more time, I’m going to put you over my knee and spank that sweet ass of yours.”
Heat instantly flashed through her system, and that familiar ache began building low in her abdomen.
