Page 46 of Risk Assessment
Dylan nodded. “I know and I owe all of you an apology. But honestly, I couldn’t face you or the guys. It…It was my call, and I’m still not sure I made the right one. I didn’t want to know if the guys— if you—didn’t agree with me. And you know Lieutenant Collins, if he sides against me and you were still close to me, he’d find a way to make you suffer too.”
Matt shook his head. “You made the right call. All of us believe that. We will always have your back, brother.”
“Thanks. It means a lot.” And it did. He just wished he felt the way the guys did. Even after all this time, he still wasn’t sure he hadn’t made a huge mistake that got a little boy badly hurt.
Matt clapped him on the back. “Come on over and say hi to the rest of the guys. They’d love to see you and catch up.”
“Ah, I’m…” Dylan stopped speaking. He wasn’t sure he could deal with facing the rest of the guys just yet.
“No worries but…just stay in touch, okay?”
“Will do.” They shook hands and Matt walked off down the path.
Dylan’s glance traveled back to Raleigh, who was still sitting at the table. He was glad he wasn’t marrying Jenn. There was no doubt in his mind that he was over her. Raleigh made him see that. She was so much more than Jenn could ever be. He smiled and headed in her direction. He sat down in the chair next to Raleigh. “Hey, I talked—”
Her face was pasty white, and when she looked at him her eyes were full of fear.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
She handed him the piece of paper clutched in her hand. He read the note and then looked back at her. “Nothing is going to happen. I’ve got you. I promise.”
She didn’t respond. He reached over and took her hand. It was icy. “Raleigh, do you hear me? You’re going to be fine. This is all going to be over soon.”
She hauled in a shuddering breath. Then she closed her eyes for a minute.
“Raleigh, are you okay?” He grabbed her other hand and squeezed her small hands in his large ones, trying to warm them up. “Raleigh, honey, I need you to talk to me.” God, he shouldn’t have left her alone for so long, but he’d been watching her. Throughout his conversation with Matt, he’d made sure she’d never left his sight. No one had approached her, so where had the letter come from?
“I’m fine,” she croaked out. Her eyes opened. “I’m just so damn angry that I want to find Clark and tear him limb from limb.” Her hands vibrated under his touch. What he had read as shock and horror was actually rage. “How dare he threaten me? Who the hell does he think he is?”
Dylan glanced around. People were starting to turn in their direction. It was becoming obvious something was wrong. “Raleigh,” he said in an undertone, “we need to leave and go back to the room. We have lots to talk about, and I don’t want to do it out here in the open.”
“Okay, let’s go.” She hopped up off her chair and gathered her things.
Dylan grabbed the note by the corner and dropped it into her bag. Then he took her hand and made a point of not letting go as they left the pool area. He wanted to offer her a feeling of safety.He wanted her to know he was there for her. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
CHAPTER TWENTY
After dropping her stuff in the living area, she crashed down onto the sofa. Dylan was checking the place over, making sure Clark hadn’t been there. She didn’t think he had because the temperature was toasty and nothing appeared to be amiss in the front room. Still, she really appreciated the gesture. It made her feel so much less alone in this.
“All clear,” he announced as he came around the corner. “You want some water?” He disappeared into the kitchen.
“Yes,” she called out as she put her feet up on the coffee table.
He came back and tossed her a bottle. Then he lowered himself into the chair opposite her and opened his own water. She watched him take a long swallow, then opened her own and did the same.
“So, how are you feeling now?” he asked as he leaned back in the chair.
She willed the anger to drain out of her fingers and her toes. Yoga wasn’t her thing, but she worked on being Zen. It helped free her of the fear and anger, which she would not let rule her life. “Better.”
She had buried her anger at her parents when she was younger. They trotted her out like a championship pony. She’d hated it, but she’d learned that fighting had done no good. It was easier to roll along. She’d known that one day she would be able to escape and live her own life. Not be under their thumb constantly.
She had dreamed of finally being free to be a writer, maybe travel to places she wanted to see like Mumbai and Amman instead of Monte Carlo and Aspen.
It had taken ages, but finally she learned to let the anger go. It only hurt her, not her parents. She wasn’t a writer yet, well not a real one. But even writing puff PR pieces sure as hell made her happier than she’d ever been in her parents’ world.
If she was going to catch Clark, she needed to do the same thing. Forget the anger and concentrate on using her brain. She needed her smarts to trap her stalker. “I just need to relax. The letter surprised me, shook me up a lot, but I think I’m getting back under control.”
Dylan sat up in his chair. “He’s escalating, your stalker. The letter is the next step in his progression. We have to be careful.”
