Stalked. Beverly Long

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СКАЧАТЬ make a call.

      He knew there was some chance that he could lose her if she decided to run out the back door but it was a calculated risk. He was confident that she didn’t realize she was being followed.

      Wedding dresses, nail polish, now the accessories. He could feel his masculinity eroding. He needed some scratching and spitting.

      It was a good thing he owed Brody Donovan a call. The two of them were going to throw Ethan a hell of a bachelor party, but first Brody needed to get back into the country. He’d been working on the front lines for a long time, patching up soldiers who had the misfortune to lose limbs to roadside IEDs. The last time Mack had spoken to Brody, just after Chandler had surfaced in Ethan’s capable hands, the man was looking forward to getting back to the States. He intended to join the trauma team at one of Southern California’s most prestigious hospitals.

      The three of them were going to have some fun in Vegas first. Mack had seen the movies. He could do better.

      But now, his only real responsibility in life was following a woman intent upon spending her daddy’s money.

      When she walked out of the store fifteen minutes later, she was carrying just one bag that, by the shape, appeared to be shoes. It made him think of her pretty pink toes again. Shame to cover those up.

      She went to three more stores and the pattern pretty much repeated itself. She went in, spent about twenty minutes and came out carrying another bag. Their shapes were not as definitive as the shoe bag, but given the types of stores, he suspected she’d purchased jewelry, dark chocolate and clothing. She was just about to enter a huge toy store when she suddenly detoured from her path and headed toward a bus stop at the corner. There was a group of people but she sought out a woman who was standing with a stroller in front of her and two other young children, one on each side. The woman wore a fast-food worker’s uniform. Mack suspected she was either just getting off or just going to work.

      He couldn’t figure out what Hope had in common with the woman. But it didn’t take him long because suddenly Hope was handing the woman all her packages. The woman appeared hesitant to accept them, but Hope must have said something to convince her because she finally accepted the bundle.

      He wished he could hear the conversation but he couldn’t afford to get any closer. In fact, when Hope turned quickly, retracing her steps, he had to jump behind a group that was waiting for the crosswalk light to come on.

      What the hell? She’d spent two hours shopping only to give away the merchandise? He was confident the woman with the children hadn’t been expecting to meet Hope.

      He followed her as she headed in the direction of her car. They were still two blocks away when she pulled her cell phone out of her purse. She glanced at the phone and answered. Then she walked and talked, an animated conversationalist, shaking her head, even waving an arm. The call continued all the way back to the parking lot and for another ten minutes after Hope was in her car. When she finally put her phone down, she slumped over the steering wheel for a few seconds.

      Even from a distance, he could tell that she seemed defeated, and he had the most insane urge to storm the car and demand to know what was wrong. He wanted to fix it. Why, he wasn’t sure. She’d snubbed him, kicked him out of her car and made him waste two hours of his life on Fifth Avenue.

      But before he could make the decision to show himself, she straightened up, started her car and pulled out of the lot. He got in his own car and followed her back onto the highway, dropping off when she turned the corner to return to her home.

      He called Bing again. “She’s back, safe and sound. The only thing that was in danger was her wallet.”

      “I was just about to call you. I’m out to an early dinner with Patsy and Archie before we catch our plane. Patsy called Hope while she was shopping and they had a long conversation. She’s agreed to have you provide security.”

      That explained the phone call.

      “Why the change of heart?”

      “I could only hear Patsy’s side of the conversation. At first, it didn’t appear as if Hope was going to give in. But Patsy kept insisting, almost begging her. I guess she finally agreed.”

      “When is she expecting me?”

      “Tonight. But don’t expect her to cook you dinner.”

      He’d be lucky if she didn’t throw her dinner at him.

       Chapter Four

      Hope had just finished her salmon and asparagus when Mack McCann walked up from the backyard. She’d eaten outside because the weather forecasters had been wrong. The rain had held off.

      Mack carried an expensive leather bag with a strap over one shoulder and held something else in his hands. When he got closer, she could see it was lightbulbs.

      That seemed like an odd thing to pack. He had changed into worn jeans, T-shirt and sandals. He had the job. Obviously no need to dress to impress.

      But oddly, he still did impress. It was the confidence he moved with, the assurance that every step he took was exactly the right one.

      She envied that. She’d been waffling for months, not able to make a decision about her next steps.

      “We have a front door,” she said when he got close enough to hear. “Most people use it.” She stared at the gun that he holstered at his hip. Of course he was armed. She should have expected it but she’d never been all that fond of guns, especially after her father had demanded that she go with him on a deer-hunting expedition when she was about thirteen.

      She shifted her eyes, determined to focus on something else besides the black gun. She frowned at the package of lightbulbs. “You didn’t have to bring your own,” she said. “We provide them for our guests.”

      He shrugged. “When your father took Bing and me for a tour this morning, I noticed there were some lights out on the other side of the pool house. Light is one of the simplest and best deterrents to unwelcome activity.”

      She should probably appreciate his attention to detail. But it was hard to appreciate somebody who was interrupting what would have been ten days of peace. Almost two whole weeks of not pretending to be something that she wasn’t. At least while she was in her own home.

      “I still think it’s ridiculous that you’re here,” she said.

      He nodded and pulled out a chair. He angled it and she realized he did that so he could see both the house and the backyard. He evidently was still buying in to the fact that the threats were real.

      “If you think it’s so ridiculous, why did you agree to the protection?”

      “Because my mother asked me to,” she said, blurting out the truth. “She said it was the one thing that I could do to ensure that she enjoyed her trip.” She tapped her index nail against the side of her dirty plate. “My mother has wanted to go to Europe for many years. A year ago, when she was so sick that she couldn’t even lift her head off her pillow, she had accepted that she was never going to get there. And it broke my heart. Such a simple thing to ask for, but time had run out.”

      “But she’s getting to go after all,” he said, “and you’re not going СКАЧАТЬ