Page 82 of Deathtoll
Did she really see him as a stalker? Was she this desperate to push him away? Was what he felt completely one-sided?
He wanted to be with her. But if her answer was no, which it was, loudly and emphatically… A no was a no.
Hell, if one of the staff at work came to him, told him an ex wouldn’t let go, wouldn’t walk away, kept stopping by almost every day to check on her… Murph would have had a talk with the guy, explained to the asshole that stalking was a crime.
And in this case…
Hewas the asshole of Kate’s story.
Shit.
If this was how she felt, then itwastime for him to go. And not just for her sake, but for himself too. He was tired of the two-step distance. He was tired of holding his breath, waiting for her to decide she wanted him. He was tired of walking on his knees.
He was tired period, exhausted from a long night of guard duty, short on patience due to the lack of sleep.
He held up his hands, palms out. “Okay. You know what? You’re right. I haven’t been giving you space. But I’m going to do that now. I’m going to give you all the space you want.”
Then he turned and opened the door, looked over his shoulder and held her gaze. “This is me, walking away.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Kate
There it was. Murph mad at her. Really, truly mad.
Kate hadn’t thought anything could make her feel worse, but she’d been wrong.
Her throat burned with repressed emotions as she stood in her foyer and stared at the closed front door.
God, it was a shit day. After a sleepless night, a call from Cirelli had woken her, to let Kate know that the FBI still had no idea where Asael or Emma were. Then a call from Captain Bing with an identical update.
Emma had been missing for over twenty-four hours.
Kate knew what that meant.
She’d cried in the shower. Coming out to find Murph looking through her freaking bedroom window was more than she could take. She’d lost it. And he walked away.
Murph finally did what she’d been asking of him for months. Left her alone. Gave her space.
Kate couldn’t breathe.
Hunter came back from the bathroom. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” Kate held on to her emotions with an iron grip as she turned. “I didn’t get much sleep last night. I think I’ll go back to bed and lie down for an hour.”
She wasn’t going into work. Her house was easier to secure than the rehab center. Also, ultimately, Asael wantedher. She had no doubt the assassin was behind Emma’s disappearance. The police and FBI could have their doubts, but Kate had none at this stage.
In the end, Asael would come for her. And she didn’t want to draw him someplace where others could get hurt; she didn’t want him anywhere near her patients.
She avoided Hunter’s eyes. “Could you please wake me up if there’s any news?”
“Of course. Go get some rest.”
She closed her bedroom door behind her. Then she stood there, her back pressed against the wood. She couldn’t hold the tears back, or the pitiful choking noises that escaped her throat.
She hurried into her bathroom and closed that door too before she gave her emotions free rein.
She cried in big, heaving, ugly sobs.
