In the dark quiet of night, the guilt would gnaw at her. Guilt over taking Jakob’s free time. Guilt that so many people had to make adjustments and allowances for her because she hadn’t been smart enough to identify the stalker or strong enough to deal with any more letters.
She’d been thinking about asking Jakob for a copy of the file. To read those letters and see if maybe with more materials, there might be something she could see that no one else did. Maybe she’d ask him today.
Annalise glanced at her watch. “Dr. Hayden should be here any moment.”
Jakob nodded. “You intend to help him?”
“If I can,” she said. “It’s been some time since I’ve created a profile.”
A long pause. “If you’re uncomfortable, I will make him leave.”
“I’m not,” she interjected. “I’m…” Annalise took a deep breath, not sure what to say.
I’m ready. I’m tired of being scared. I’m done hiding.
All were true.
“Brilliant.” Jakob’s word was spoken so low, she almost didn’t hear it.
Annalise gave him a slight shrug and glanced away. “It’s been a long time, but I’d like to try to help.”
Before Jakob could reply, though the taciturn man might not have, there was a knock at the door.
She sprang out of her chair, silently cursing herself for being so jumpy. Jakob, bless him, pretended not to notice her obvious nervousness.
Jakob glanced at her, and Annalise walked to the wall the door was in, leaning against it. She’d been with Jakob long enough to know there was no way in hell he’d ever let her answer the door. He’d taught her to position herself so that anyone coming in the door wouldn’t be able to see her until they were fully in the room, but not so close to the door itself that she would be hit if the door were slammed open, or be in a position where it could be used to pin her in place.
In comparison, he planted himself squarely in front of the door, one hand resting on the short sword belted to his hip. He rarely wore the sword, which was a symbol of his office, but also very out of place in modern life. He must have come from another duty. Or perhaps he wanted to throw Dr. Hayden off.
Possibly both.
She braced her palms against the wall to steady herself as he opened the door.
Annalise heard a male voice with a distinct American accent say, “Uh, Hello. Guten Tag. I’m Dr. Walt Hayden. I’m looking for Dr. Annalise Fischer. Frau Doktor Fischer.”
She expected Jakob to step back and allow the American in, so she was surprised when he remained in the doorway.
That surprise morphed to alarm when Jakob stiffened, his fingers curling around the hilt of the sword. Something in the hall had alarmed or frightened Jakob.
Annalise barely suppressed a whimper of fear, and she shoved one hand into her slacks pocket, closing her fingers around her phone, ready to call for help.
“Surprise.” This was a second voice, the accent Scandinavian. Danish, at a guess.
There shouldn’t be a second man.
Was it her stalker?
Was he holding a gun on Jakob?
Before she could fully freak out, Jakob dropped his hand from his sword—and then said the last thing she’d ever expected.
“Hello, Fleet Admiral.”
“Fleet Admiral?” Curiosity was one of the few emotions that could override fear. It was what made humans so dumb. Curiosity didn’t just kill cats. It routinely killed people who liked to begin sentences with, “I’m sure it’s safe…” and, “Let’s just take a quick look…” Or the always dangerous, “I wonder what’s in there?” or, “What’s the worst that could happen?”
A blond giant shouldered his way into her small office. Jakob backed up to make space, backing toward her so that his body was between her and the giant.
Annalise had never met the new fleet admiral, but she’d heard him described, and most importantly, knew from Jakob that the fleet admiral was missing.
Except, apparently he wasn’t.
Because he was in her office.
A second also-large-though-not-giant man squeezed in and shut the door. He leaned against it and smiled at her, raising a hand. “Hi, I’m Walt.”
Annalise nodded her head in greeting. When in doubt, maintain social pleasantries. “Dr. Hayden. Welcome to Heidelberg. I trust you had a good flight to Frankfurt?”
Walt nodded. “We did. And I enjoyed the scenery as we drove here. Though this one should have his license revoked,” Walt said, jerking his thumb at the fleet admiral.
“Annalise.” The fleet admiral tossed a grin her way, ignoring Walt’s jab. He was good-looking but intimidating, despite the friendly grin.
Jakob was looking back and forth between Walt and Eric. His shoulders were stiff but not tight as they had been. His body language said “the situation is dangerous but we are not in danger.” Out loud, he said, “Dr. Hayden is a decoy.”
“Yep,” the fleet admiral agreed.
“You wanted to speak to Annalise. In secret.”
“Well, that saves on explanations,” Walt muttered.
“I wasn’t expecting a Ritter,” Eric said. “Someone tip you off I was coming?”
Jakob didn’t say anything, and the smile melted off Eric’s face. The tension in the air ratcheted up.
Annalise took a step forward and put a hand on Jakob’s shoulder, but she addressed Eric.
“No, Fleet Admiral. Jakob is here to protect me. I have a stalker.” If he wanted to know more, all he had to do was ask. Jakob and the Germany admiral would be obliged to tell him anything he wanted to know.
Eric frowned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” He looked at Jakob. “You get the guy?”
Jakob’s shoulder turned to steel under her hand, and Annalise winced internally. She knew—though he’d never said anything—the fact that her stalker was still free ate away at his insides like a cancer. Jakob was a born protector, a man who’d dedicated his life to seeing justice done. Every single day
