Page 15 of Gatling
Cupping my face in his hands, he tilted my head up until I met his gaze. He searched my face, touched my arms and torsoin a brisk manner, all-business, searching for bruises or broken bones.
“Do you feel any pain?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“Just shaken up,” I croaked. “I want to go home.”
Ryker exhaled hard.
“Ain't doin' that, Kelsie. Not after this. Shit just got serious.”
I said nothing. My stalker had never made contact with me before. Leaving those sunglasses in my apartment was the closest I came to actually meeting him face-to-face.
But this was different. This was aggressive, violent.
What if Ryker hadn’t shown up when he did? What would have happened if my stalker succeeded in running me off the road?
“I’m takin' you to my place,” Ryker declared. “No one will get to you there. And you’re goin' to tell your brother everything.”
Damn it.
Chapter five
Gatling
After stopping by the police station to give her statement, Kelsie followed me out of town to my cabin. Nestled in the forest, surrounded by a perimeter of dense pine trees, it was secluded up here near the mountains. Private. If anyone tried to get to Kelsie again, they would have to go through me.
As soon as she parked, I was there, opening her door, scooping my hand around her elbow. Partly for support, since shock was still rattling her system. And partly to keep her close, just in case.
“How did you know?” Kelsie asked.
My gaze scanned the area. I knew these woods like the back of my hand. If anything was amiss, I would notice. Now that someone obviously wanted to hurt Kelsie, these same woods that were my sanctuary might become a battleground if that fucker refused to let her go.
“How did I know about what?” I replied.
“That someone was trying to run me down. You came out of nowhere. Were you following me all day?”
Well, technically, no, I wasn’t the one doing the following. That job was assigned to Crash. And for exactly this reason.
“Nope,” I said with a shrug. “Just a hunch, I guess.”
When Crash called, I had been in Kelsie’s apartment. Using my illegal copy of her key to let myself in again. This time, I wasn’t there to search the place.
I had tucked a tiny camera atop her kitchen cabinets, hidden behind a Santa Claus cookie jar that she wouldn’t be using for the holidays yet.
Since I didn’t put it in her bedroom, I reasoned it was a practical measure to catch this stalker on camera for video evidence. If he broke into her apartment again, maybe we could get a look at his face and identify him. Track him down. Break a few bones and run him out of town.
After that, Kelsie could finally rest easy.
I had a perfectly logical explanation for that video camera. But deep down, I knew it was an egregious breach of her privacy. Total creep behavior.
Especially since I had no intention of warning her about it.
Then Crash called, saying that some truck was following Kelsie after she got off work. I told him to stay close. And by the time I caught up to him, that damn truck was ramming her bumper.
The windows were tinted dark, so I couldn’t see the driver’s face. But Crash got the license plate number and passed it along to Credence.
That bastard wouldn’t be able to escape us forever.
