Page 51 of Risk Assessment
Finally, he broke off the kiss. “If we don’t stop now, we’re going to end up getting arrested for indecent exposure or public lewdness.”
“Hmm, might be worth it,” she whispered with a chuckle.
“Adventurous, huh? I’ll be sure to remember that, darlin’.” All kinds of interesting images shot through his brain. Oh, yeah, he had plans for Raleigh. “Why don’t we head back?” He was suddenly in a rush. He wanted this, what was between them, to continue.
“Okay,” she agreed. “But I want to say one thing first.”
He still had his arms around her. It was hard not to lean down and capture her mouth again, but he sensed what she wanted to say was important.
“Go ahead.”
“Thank you. Not just for coming this weekend, but for standing by me. I know you might have had your doubts in the beginning, but you came anyway. It’s been a long time since someone had my back.”
“I—”
She touched her fingertips against his mouth. “No, I want to finish. The fact that you stuck it out even when you doubted me says more about you than you can imagine. And telling me that you had me checked out was tough to hear but you were being honest. I can’t tell you how much that honestly means to me. I know you believe me now about the stalker and that you will protect me. Dylan, that support…it’s one of the things that’s keeping me going.”
He wanted to tell her how much this weekend had helped put everything into perspective for him. Her bravery in dealing with her stalker was one thing, but that she chose to stay when practically everyone didn’t believe her and she had no support, well, that was something else. “Raleigh, I—”
There was movement behind them at the beginning of the pier. Dylan wasn’t sure what grabbed his attention, but his instincts were screaming at him.
“Dylan?” Raleigh asked.
He didn’t respond. He studied the crowd. There were lots of people milling about. Couples like them. Families with small children and dogs. His eyes scanned back and forth. There. There was a lone man—person really—too far to tell if it was a man or not, dressed in jeans and a hoodie. The hood was up and Dylan couldn’t see the person’s face in the ebbing light but he knew, he and Raleigh were being watched.
“There’s a suspicious character at the end of the pier. I think it’s your stalker.”
“What? Where?” Raleigh craned her neck to see.
He grabbed her chin, and leaned down, as if he was going to kiss her, trying to look like he hadn’t spotted the guy. “No, don’t look. This is what we’re going to do. We’re going to stay with the crowd and work our way down the pier. We’ll see if we can get close enough to identify him without letting him know we see him. Okay? Think you can do it?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
Dylan put his arm around her and then they strolled back down the pier. He kept her pulled in close while he kept one eye on the hoodie. He silently cursed his lack of weapon, not that he could have done anything in a crowd like this anyway, but the weight of his sidearm would make him feel more comfortable.
They slid in behind a large group of tourists snapping pictures and he lost sight of the figure in the hoodie. When they finally broke free, looked around but the hooded figure was gone. He scanned the boardwalk but didn’t catch sight of his quarry.
Dylan swore.
“What?” she asked. Her eyes were wide and her hands were shaking.
Damn, he’d freaked her out. “I lost him.”
“Did you see who it was? Was it Clark?”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. He was too far away and in that hoodie I couldn’t even tell if it was a man or woman.”
Burning anger lurked in her eyes. He knew it wasn’t directed at him—she was tired of being scared. He’d seen this response in victims before. At a certain point, the anger overcomes the fear, and they start to resent being afraid all the time.
“I’m so frustrated with this. I can’t even get one night to relax and enjoy myself. It’s agonizing.”
“Hey now! We’re making progress. It doesn’t seem like it, but we are. You just got to be patient. It’s hard, I know, but your safety is the most important thing, okay?”
She scanned the pier and then turned back to him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she dropped her head to his chest. He gathered her in.
“It’s okay, honey. You’re allowed to be angry and scared. It’s normal.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything.
