“He was holding a La Perla bag while he was in the jewelry store, Maeve.” Aspen looks at me, judging how her words affect me. “I got excited because I assumed it was a surprise for you, but then you never mentioned getting… gifts, and I got suspicious. Now with the stalker hunting you down, I thought this might be worth mentioning. Like, what if they’re related? What if he’s living a second life or some weird shit that happens in movies?”
I know it’s not true when she says it, but my stomach still drops to my feet. “There’s no way.” There is. I know there’s always a way for bad men to do bad things, but this isn’t Lincoln. “He has Turner. He’s so careful with who he allows around him.” I clear my throat. “I appreciate your sleuthing, though.”
“What if you’re the other woman, Maeve? What if this dude is married and that’s why he’s so hesitant about having you around. Why he wants to keep you a secret.”
My breathing picks up. “That’s crazy talk.” Though doubt slips in. “But maybe it could be an ex,” I admit. The woman he rarely speaks of because she ruined him. Sort of like Rexy ruined me, but different. That’s why we work. “I, I, just don’t know what to think. It’s hard for me to think straight and concentrate on my patients with this going on in the background.” Aspen asks about the investigation, and I flail because bringing it up makes me think of making love with Lincoln and having the moment destroyed.
My mind honed in on La Perla and jewelry, but I shake it off for the moment. “They haven’t found any leads. Whoever it is, has skills, or connections, or something. Everything was locked when we left the bathroom. The person was in the room with us. Listening the entire time. Locked up and left after the… finale.” I shiver and pull my closed laptop against my chest. “They’re getting braver with each incident. What will happen next?” I gulp as I try not to think of the really bad scenarios that keep me up at night. I sigh. “Maybe he was buying for Christmas early,” I offer, rounding back to the easier subject. “That’s why he was there.” Best-case scenario is he’s hiding gifts from me.
“Or maybe you don’t know him as well as you think you do. Ask him. That’s all I’m saying. It’s awfully coincidental that I see him buying chick gifts and some crazy bitch is leaving bloody lip prints for you.” I hear the chime that signals she’s closed down her computer for the night. “Do you want to go hiking soon? Introduce Chonk to our favorite trail? He’ll love it. I’ll bring Becky with the Good Hair.” Her dog has the most insane name. “We’ll see if Ramona and Shadow want to come, too.”
Is that even safe? Now my sacred, safe haven is marred by blood and bad intentions. You’re stronger than that, Maeve, I tell myself. Fear can’t control you. Nothing controls you. “Yes, he’d love that, I think. I’d love that. As long as nothing happens between then and now, let’s plan for Saturday morning. Early. Well before the snow.”
There’s a big snowstorm coming, and while I love snowstorms in general, now I think about it being one more thing trapping me inside. Walking back to my office, I open the door and see Chonk dead asleep on his back on the large bed I brought here for him. He’s such a good dog. Unlike Shadow, Chonk listens to me. Well, as long as I have snacks, Chonk listens to me.
The clock on the wall reads five and my cell phone vibrates on my desk on cue. Lincoln has checked in every day after work this week. “Hey, you,” I say, relieved when I hear his voice for the first time since this morning. “What do you have going on tonight?”
“I miss you.” His voice is hoarse. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen you, Maeve. I need you tonight. Need is an impossibly hard word for me to say, I’ll have you know.”
It’s been four days since he was last inside me, and while it feels like a lifetime, there’s been a lot of red tape involved with our situation. Only when we’re together does the stalker pounce. We’ve been testing the theory and over the course of our time apart, we’ve been proven correct. “I miss you too, Lincoln. I need you, too.”
“Maybe we approach this as an attack. You come over tonight with Chonk and we stakeout. I’ll call some friends to come over and cover the area and we’ll catch this fucker. I wanted to do this another time, but I feel like we need to move at a faster pace. Stay ahead of whoever this is.”
I sigh. “Or the fuckette?” I tease. “This could be a woman, Lincoln. Or more than one, working together.” Clearing my throat, I put files and my lunchbox into my bag and get ready to go. “Shouldn’t the police be doing this instead of your… friends?”
“Are you saying we’re less qualified for ratting out a bad guy than the police?” There’s an edge to his question.
“Of course not, the opposite actually, I wouldn’t want to mess up the case with our civilian vengeance. I trust you, but isn’t there a protocol to follow?”
“Maeve, they’re fucking with my most precious cargo, okay? That means all protocol goes out the window.”
“I do miss you,” I say, leashing Chonk. “Even if the idea is a little scary, at least I’ll get to see you. I’m going to stop by Ramona’s on my way home to hang out. When will you be ready for me to come over? Should I bring stuff to make dinner? An overnight bag?”
“Come over as soon as possible. Before it gets dark, and
