Page 32 of Risk Assessment
Raleigh smiled. “Yes, that’s true. Still, I do feel awful about the whole thing. I understand her being upset Dylan is here. It can’t be easy having your ex-fiancé at your wedding, especially since it was only six—” Raleigh stopped speaking suddenly. She’d done it on purpose. Would one of them jump in and fill in silence?
Diane sighed and put down her blue water bottle. “Yes, it’s been a bit fast.” She glanced at Marielle.
“We were all a little surprised by Jenn and Andrew. I mean, he’s just not her normal type.” Marielle shrugged and patted her face with a pink towel that matched her outfit. “I was shocked when she announced the engagement. I didn’t even know they were dating.” She looked at Diane. “Did you? You see her more than I do.”
Diane shook her head as she put her racket in her bag. “No, I had no idea. One minute she was with Dylan and the next she was engaged to Andrew. It was…weird. Andrew’s a nice guy, but Marielle’s right. He’s not Jenn’s type at all.”
“Do you think it was a whirlwind romance? Andrew swept her off her feet?” Raleigh asked.
“I don’t know,” Marielle took another drink from her water bottle. “But I doubt it. The way she talks about Andrew I think it’s more likely to be a business move of some kind.”
“Nonsense,” Diane said. “Jenn adores Andrew.” Then she added, “In her own way.” She stood up abruptly and swung her bag over her shoulder. “Anyway, I’ve got to run. See you all at lunch.”
“Later,” Marielle said with a wave. She watched Diane walk away and then turned to Raleigh. “Dylan being here may have added to her stress, but you shouldn’t feel responsible. She’smore intense about everything these days. Dylan is just the icing on the cake. She’s been…off for a long time. If you ask me, Andrew is just a pawn in Jenn’s game and whatever it is she’s playing at, she means to win.”
Marielle put her water bottle into the side pocket of her bag.
Raleigh thought for a moment. “Well, hopefully it works itself out.”
“Yeah, hopefully,” Marielle said, but her voice was filled with doubt. She leaned down and picked up her bag.
Raleigh went to grab hers as well, but it was partially open. She glanced inside, and her whole body froze. Her mouth went dry as all the air left her lungs. There was a single red rose inside her bag. Her stalker had watched her play tennis. He’d been so close to her again. Dylan. She needed Dylan. She looked up but he was still on the track on the other side of the court.
“Are you okay?” Marielle asked. “You don’t look so good.”
Raleigh swallowed hard and tried to even out her breathing. “Um, I, ah—”
“Oh, what’s that in your bag?” Marielle leaned over and looked in the bag. “Dylan put a red rose in your tennis bag? That’s so sweet. He must really like you. He never did that kind of thing for Jenn. I mean, not to compare or anything.”
Raleigh looked all around the court, searching for any sign of her stalker. Besides the group playing tennis, no one. She glanced up into Marielle’s concerned face. What had the other woman said? She was having a hard time remembering. Something about Dylan being sweet to her and not Jenn. “Ah, it’s fine. No worries. I get what you mean.”
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay? You look pale. It’s hot out here, and you did all that running around on the court. Make sure you drink lots of water. You don’t want to get heat stroke.”
“Yeah. I think I’ll grab Dylan and head back to my cabin. I’ll get some more water too, maybe cool off a bit.”
“That’s probably a good idea. See you at lunch.” Marielle gave a half-wave and sauntered off the court.
Raleigh sat hard on the bench and jerked her head around, looking at her surroundings. There was a group playing tennis in the next court over. A water station at the far end of her court beyond the fence was being refilled by a maintenance worker, and beyond that was the golf course. The end of the court was lined with a hedge right up against the fence so there was no way he could reach her bag from there. How could she not have seen him then? Wouldn’t he have had to come inside the fence?
The game. She’d been so focused on the game. Her entire body shuddered at the thought of him watching her. Lurking in the background of her life. Waiting to strike. Fear still roiled in her stomach, but something else had joined it.
Rage.
She stood up, but her knees were weak. She took a deep breath and then let it out. She could do this. One foot in front of the other, she made her way off the court and went over to where Dylan was stretching.
He took one look at her. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
She tried to catch her breath. “He was there. At the tennis courts.”
“Who? Your stalker? Did you see him?”
She shook her head and swallowed hard. Her heart slammed against her ribs as her tennis bag slipped to the ground. “He put a rose in my bag.”
Dylan bent down and opened the bag. Then he stood and scanned the area. “Shit, Raleigh. I didn’t see anything.”
“Neither did I.” Her hands shook as she reached out and touched his chest.
“Okay. Let’s get back to the cabin. I’m going to call Cosgrove and see if they caught anything on the security video. Then I want to go over everything in detail with you.”
