Page 88 of The One With the Mountain Man

She pulled the camera back and I realized she was there with an army of investigators. "We're checking your security footage now. Babe, I'm really glad you aren't here to see this."

My stomach flipped and a wave of nausea hit me. Cristobal. "He's pissed I did the event and he couldn't be there."

"Yeah," Charley said sadly, "that's what Detective Myers thinks too."

"Did he leave proof?" Cristobal liked it when I knew he'd been in my home or hotel room.

"Yeah, you probably don't want those details, but yes. Yes, he did."

The nausea got worse. I could feel him standing so close that his hot breath scorched my skin. The memory of his hand wrapping around my bicep.

I shot to my feet and started pacing. "Did he take anything? Destroy anything?"

When I decided to leave for the entire summer I put everything valuable into a safety deposit box. My most treasured items were stored at Charley's. I racked my brain for anything I might be heartbroken to lose.

"You need new furniture. The TVs are trashed. All the lights."

Oh no..."He knows."

"Knows what?"

"That I haven't been living there." We'd been using the TVs and the lights to make it look like I was home.

"You think?"

My brain hurt and no amount of rubbing my forehead helped. "Yep. This is what I do for a living—crawl into the heads of people. He destroyed everything we were using to trick him." And that also meant he was on the hunt for me again.

"Shit, hey Detective? Marley thinks Cristobal knows she's been gone for a while." She explained everything.

Detective Myers took the phone from her. "Is there any way he can trace where you've gone?"

My trail to Lost Creek was cold and I was careful to leave as little trail as possible in the first place. The only way he might connect me from Atlanta to Lost Creek was if he managed to figure out what hotel I stayed in, but we used Jackson's name and left the next morning, only stopping for food and gas once. I didn't even get out of the truck in order to keep my face hidden.

I did not fuck around when it came to hiding out.

A little of the blood drained out of my head when one idea came to mind.

"I've been very careful. He'd have to be serial killer levels of smart to find me." Which meant there was a possibility. James Cristobal could be very clever when he focused. "Please keep me up to date."

"Of course, Ms. Tranquill. I'm so sorry he was able to do this again."

I nodded once before he gave the phone back to Charley. "Thank you for handling this for me."

"Pffft.Like you wouldn't do the same. We've got each other's backs."

"When you come see me, you're going to have to be extra careful." Cristobal knew how close we were.

"I'm already on it, Lee."

I cringed.

Which got her attention. "Okay, what was that?"

I shrugged. "Maybe...you don't call me that anymore?" It belonged to Jackson now.

Her mouth dropped open. "The son of a bitch stole my name!"

To be fair, it wasn't really stealing. She could never say it with the same deep rumble or desperate need that Jackson did. "Sorry?"

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