That same, funny look from before crossed his face. “Did you go to the police?”
“And say what? That I think someone might be following me? There’s nothing they can do about a feeling, Jake. Besides, I’ve already been down that road, and I’m not too keen about repeating the trip.”
He looked at her questioningly, so she said, “After you left, I...talked to someone.”
“A shrink?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
His response took her by surprise. Sensing this, Jake went on to say, “That was some heavy shit that went down, Liv. Anyone would need someone to talk to after going through all that. So, what did the doctor say?”
Olivia lowered her chin a bit and broke eye contact, thankful that he at least didn’t seem to judge her for having gone to counseling.
“Mild paranoia resulting from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. The doctor said what I was feeling was normal.”
“And what are you feeling?”
She was quiet for a few seconds, terrified of what he would think of her after all she was revealing.
“It’s like my body knows someone’s there, even though I can’t see them, but—” she paused, shaking her head, and he took advantage of the silence.
Reaching out, Jake’s large hand covered one of hers. “You went through hell, Liv. There’s absolutely nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of.”
She pulled her hand away. “I’m not embarrassed,” she bit out. Liar, liar.
Jake studied her for a moment, and Olivia assumed he was trying to decide on her level of mental stability. It irritated the hell out of her.
“I’m not crazy, Jake,” she said defensively.
He shook his head. “Never said you were, sweetheart. Actually, I think I might be able to shed some light on this for you.”
“Okay,” she drug the word out, not sure she was going to like what he was about to say.
“Before leaving with the team, I...”—he gave a slight hesitation—“I told Ryker I wanted eyes on you. I pretty much ordered him to assign someone to watch you while I was away. To make sure you were safe.”
He at least had the good graces to look guilty. Well, that’s something at least. For a second, Olivia thought about making him dangle a little longer, but decided against it.
“I know.”
Surprise flashed across his face. “You know?”
“Ryker assigned Mansfield and Brunor, the two agents I originally stayed with to be my protection detail. They followed me everywhere I went for the first couple weeks after you left. Jason told me it was at your request, but he wanted to make sure I knew the agents would be following me so I wouldn’t freak out if I noticed them.”
Rather than commenting on Ryker’s sharing of that bit of information, Jake asked, “So, where were they the night Norman Rogers was waiting for you?”
“They were there. They stayed back, just as I asked them to.”
“You did what?”
“I didn’t want them scaring him and making the situation worse.”
With disbelief, Jake shook his head and moved back into his chair. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“Norman never touched me or made any move to hurt me, Jake. The agents were close enough to intervene, if needed, and waited with me until the police came. Once the officers left to take Norman to the hospital, both agents cleared my apartment, and then went to their car. They watched my place from the street like they had the previous nights.”
“What about after?” Jake looked toward the window next to them that showed her front yard. “Who’s watching you now?”
He won’t like this part. “No one.”
As predicted, Jake’s teeth clamped together as he asked, “Why not?”
“Because, I called Jason a few weeks ago and told him I wanted the agents gone.”
“Why the hell would you do that?” He asked the question as if she were stupid.
“I can’t have those two following me around twenty-four-seven for the rest of my life, Jake.”
“The fuck you can’t. If they left a few weeks ago, then this feeling you’ve been having...like you’re followed? It wasn’t because of them.”
Now, she understood the funny looks he’d given her earlier. Jake had thought her fears of being followed had come from her not knowing he’d told Ryker to have her watched and felt guilty. Too bad that wasn’t it.
“I know,” Olivia begrudgingly admitted.
She didn’t want to share the rest, but decided it was best to just put it all out there now and get it over with. Like ripping off a bandage. “That’s not all.”
“Okay.” He ran an aggravated hand over his jaw. “What else?”
“One morning, about two weeks ago, I was leaving for work. When I opened the door, I found a snake on the porch. It was lying on the mat right in front of the door.”
He considered this for a moment. “Okay. Well, I know how you feel about snakes, but you do live in the country now. It could happen, right?”
“It could,” she agreed. “Except it wasn’t the kind of snake you’d find out here. Not even close.”
His brows turned in and he leaned his elbows on the edge of the table. “What kind of snake was it?”
“A ghost snake.”
Jake’s forehead scrunched. “Never heard of it.”
“That’s because the species was only discovered a few years ago. Researchers found it in the Ankarana National Park.” She let that little tidbit sink in.
A few seconds later, as expected, Jake’s brows shot up. “Madagascar?”
Olivia nodded then took a sip of her cooling coffee. “Before going, I researched the types of wildlife found there, just to be safe. I didn’t want to be caught in the wrong company with my pants down, you know?”
The joke fell flat. She could easily see why Jake wouldn’t find it amusing. She’d taken the time to research the country’s wildlife but hadn’t bothered to look at the crime statistics? Brilliant.
“Anyway, this particular article stuck with me because I remember thinking how cool it was that in this day and age we’re still finding new species of animals. Finding one on my front porch, however—” she didn’t need to finish.
Jake looked unhappy,
