Walker watched her step into the coffee shop and memories pounded his brain and his body. He remembered the first time they’d seen each other. He’d been paying for his coffee and she was just putting in her order. They hadn’t been able to look away from each other. By the time she had her cup of coffee, he’d convinced her to sit down with him and they’d talked for hours that morning. It had been a fall day, just like now. The sky was almost painfully bright since the summer humidity had dissipated and the winter cold not yet here. She’d been so beautiful that day. Her long hair had sparkled in the sunshine, her lips red because she’d bitten them repeatedly during their conversation.
He remembered wondering if she’d done it just to torment him, to bring his attention to her lips, or because she’d been nervous.
Probably both.
Shaking his head
and focusing on the present, he pushed open the door to his truck and got out, following her inside. She already had his coffee ready and he hesitated to accept the cup.
“It isn’t poisoned,” she snapped and shoved the cup into his hand, starting to walk away. Then she remembered that she’d called him, asking him to meet her. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.” She took a d
eep breath, closing her eyes. “Can we sit down? Just for a moment?”
Walker didn’t respond, but he moved over to one of the tables by the window so he could keep his back to the wall and still watch the other customers.
Amy smiled gently when she realized what he was doing. “Always the cop, right?” she asked, both pride and admiration in her eyes. And relief?
She stared
at her coffee cup, her fingers wrapping around the cardboard circle that would protect her hands from the heat of the cup. “Were you able to find out anything about this guy?” she asked.
Walker heard the quiver in her voice and his mind was instantly alert. “You saw him again.
Where?” he demanded, furious that she was in imminent danger.
“I haven’t,” she shook her head, her fingers tightening on the cup. “I haven’t seen him…it’s just…”
Walker waited, knowing she had something to tell him but was nervous. He was trying to treat her like he would any other victim, with patience and understanding, letting her tell the story in her own time. But this was Amy. The longer he was around her, the more he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her.
Dammit! She was doing that lip biting thing again. He wanted to reach over and rub his thumb against her full, lower lip, to taste her lips with his and feel her tremble as the desire swamped up and overwhelmed them just like it always had in the past. It was still there, still simmering even though both of them were trying to ignore it, and just as strong, possibly even stronger, than it had been before.
“I was just hoping for an update. If you’ve had any progress.”
Walker watched her carefully and knew that something else had happened. “What’s going on, Amy. Tell me,” he commanded but in a gentler voice, wanting her to trust him with whatever was bothering her.
She took a deep breath, looking down at the table. “It might be nothing,” she said. “It might not even be connected to the case.”
He waited but she bit her lip again, her long, dark lashes fanning out against her pale cheeks, making him look at those adorable freckles again. “Amy, what happened?” he prompted.
She started to pick at the cup nervously. “I found a letter on my windshield when I left the grocery story yesterday.”
That perked up his attention.
“Where and when?” he demanded.
Amy was initially startled by the vehemence in his voice but she should have anticipated it. She hadn’t even meant to tell him about the note. She wanted to ignore it herself, but this stalker guy was becoming bolder, scarier. She didn’t want to even think about what would happen if he…her house…she shook her head, trying to clear the panic that threatened to overwhelm her with the possibilities.
“It was on my windshield this morning when I came out to get something from my car. I was at the school and it was there. There were maybe five or ten minutes before school started, so I guess it was about seven forty-five or seven fifty when I found the note. I arrive at school each day around seven thirty, so there was maybe a fifteen or twenty minute window where the guy could have dropped off the note.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I asked the other teachers that were in the parking lot if they’d seen anyone come close to my car but none had. So I couldn’t even guess if it was the same guy or not.”
He gripped his coffee cup in his hand, fighting the urge to race out of the coffee shop and
bash something, anything. He didn’t understand the anger he was feeling simply because Amy was in trouble. He should feel nothing more than what he normally felt when dealing with a criminal case.
“Let me see it,” he commanded, ignoring what he should be feeling and going with what he knew he was feeling. If his anger meant he would solve this problem faster, it was all good.
Amy took a deep, shuddering breath, then pulled a plastic baggie out of her purse, placing it on the table between them.
“Good job on not getting your prints on it or disturbing anyone else’s possible prints,” he said a
s he looked down at the words. As he read through the text, written out with magazine letters which would obfuscate a person’s printer and handwriting style, it said only, “U R a BEAuTIful WoMAN. I luv u!”
Walker’s stomach tightened as he read the words again, trying to decipher what they meant other than that the stalker had made personal contact and was trying to communi
cate; a definite increase in the threat level. “The person obviously understands text shorthand, so he’s technically savvy but I can’t determine the level.”
Amy took a breath, hiding her shaking hands under the table. “Is there anything you can do?” she whispered, then cleared her throat, trying to pretend like she wasn’t scared out of her mind.
Walker heard the fear and looked up from the note, seeing the terror in her pretty, grey eyes despite the fact that she was trying to act like she was strong and unaffected. “Does your school have cameras?” he asked.
Amy immediately shook her head. “No. The high schools, and some of the middle schools do, but they don’t put them into the elementary schools.” She stared down at her coffee, not taking a sip but trying to come up with some ideas. “What about the traffic cameras?” she asked.
Walker shook his head. “So far, I haven’t found anything conclusive, but there are some leads I can follow up on. I’ll pull more traffic cameras from this morning.”
“It should be pretty easy, right?” she asked hopefully. “I mean, if he arrived after I got there and left after school started, his car should be easy to spot, shouldn’t it?”
Walker was shaking his head even before she finished. “Not if he arrived earlier and left later. Or if he walked.” He didn’t want to scare her, but he needed her to be aware of what this perpetrator might be doing. “I need you to be vigilant. When you’re driving, look behind you. If you notice a car more than once, pull into a parking lot where there are lots of people. Don’t drive straight home either. He might know your route.” He sighed and scratched the rough stubble on his chin. “I’ll see what I can find out. There are more than traffic cameras I can look at.”
Amy bit her lip and nodded her head. “
Thank you,” she whispered. “I know you have other cases and you’re doing this just…” well, she didn’t really understand why he was doing this but she was grateful. She knew he was a very good detective.
“I’ll also get you a dashboard camera,” he told her, leaning back in his chair. “They are cheap and easy to install, easy to use now. I’ll get you one for your dash and see if there’s a way to install one in the rear as well so I can review footage of your drives. Maybe I can catch a license plate if you think someone is following you.”
Amy’s eyes lit up at that idea. “If it is installed on the dashboard, it might catch someone putting something on my windshield, right?” she asked hopefully.
Walker nodded.
“Exactly. They are widely used in Russia for insurance fraud purposes. So they’re pretty easy because of demand for the technology.”
She loved that idea and her smile grew wider, thrilled to have something concrete to do. “You don’t need to get one for me. I can look online for one myself.”
He shook his head. “Let me talk to the techs down at the station. They’ll know which ones work and which ones are junk. I’ll get it and see if there are good or bad ways to install them.” With that, he stood up and was just about to walk out but he hesitated when she stood as well. He looked down at her, his body drawn closer but he fought the urge to take her into his arms and reassure her. She looked so vulnerable, so scared even while she tried to pretend otherwise.
“I have to get back to work,” he said abruptly. “Thanks for the coffee.” With that, he turned around and walked out.
Amy watched the way he walked. She’d always been amazed at the confidence that surrounded that man. He was a walking ego boost. Just being around him made her feel better, sharper and more confident for some reason.
She sighed and shook her head, tossing out the two cups of untouched coffee. She hadn’t been able to drink anything while he was sitting across from her and now she had to hurry back to school. Her kids would be getting out of their music class soon and she had to have their next activity ready to go.
Walker pulled up outside her house, looking at the yard and thinking she needed to rake the leaves. The grass would die off if she didn’t get them up and at least into her flower beds.
Then he shook his head, forcing the thoughts out of his mind.
Not his business, he thought angrily to himself. He knocked on her door, probably harder than he needed to, but it was difficult to anticipate seeing her now. A year ago, he wouldn’t have even knocked. Hell, she would have been waiting at the door, watching for him to drive up. Possibly even naked.
Pulling himself back to the present, he gritted his teeth in anticipation o
f her answering the door. His shoulders tensed when she looked through the side window first. What was she thinking! She shouldn’t be looking out the window! It wasn’t safe. What if he’d been her stalker? As soon as she peered through the sheer curtains, her stalker would know that she was at home alone and could easily trap her in her own home.
When her door was opened, he pushed his way inside, furious with her for putting herself at risk. “Why the hell would you peek through the side window like that?” he demanded. “Someone could easily see you and simply smash through the window to unlock the door.”
Amy stood inside her tiny foyer, her whole body shaking as memories of the last time he’d been in her house flooded back to her. Well, not the last time. That meeting had been a painful conversation. She’d hated him that day and had never forgiven him for what he’d said and how he’d said it.
But all the times before then
, all the moments she and Walker had been together, she’d happily opened the door and eagerly flung herself into his arms, loving the way he would instantly lift her up and kiss her. She’d always been so excited to get home from work just so she could see Walker again, throw herself into his arms and feel his incredible, magical touch. There had been too many times she’d just stripped off her clothes as soon as she’d walked into her house after work, not even bothering to pull on a robe when she knew he was on his way. Why bother to put clothes on when they would just be stripped off of her and on the floor five seconds after he walked in?
It had always been like that, she remembered. Walker was a passionate man who demanded total submission. But he was also the most generous lover she could imagine. He hadn’t been her first, but the two men she’d dated in college didn’t even rate on the scale when compared to Walker’s finesse. He’d taken her higher, made her body hum
with desire just by looking at her. Other men had left her cold. Only Walker could drive her so crazy with need that she had trouble seeing straight.
She shook her head, forcing those memories out of the way.
And that’s when Lilly made herself known. The cry of irritation coming from the kitchen stopped Amy’s heart for a long moment. “You have to go,” she said firmly. But she couldn’t stand there to make sure he would leave while Lilly was crying.
She walked out of the foyer and into the brightly lit kitchen where Lilly was wiggling in her bouncy chair. “Hi
sweety!” she said, smiling as she picked up her six month old daughter. “Yes, I didn’t go far.” With Lilly on her hip, she turned around and wasn’t surprised when Walker was standing in the kitchen doorway, a look of stunned surprise on his face.
She almost laughed out loud at his expression. If the situation weren’t so horrifying, she might have even enjoyed his surprise, but this was the man who had made her shiver with excitement, driving her insane with the need for him to fill her body wit
h his own and then, when an inconvenient pregnancy had occurred as a result of their passionate affair, he’d abandoned her, told her he would “take care of it” for her.
Walker’s eyes were riveted on the tiny human being that Amy was now holding in her arms. His mind tried to process the newest shock, but he simply couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“What the hell is that, Amy!” he roared, startling the little girl in the pink sweater and tiny pair of jeans with a mop of dark curls on her head.
He lowered his voice when the baby’s smile disappeared and a frown appeared. It was only Amy’s bouncing and soft, soothing voice that reassured the baby that she was okay. “He’s just a big, mean man, honey. Don’t you pay any attention to
him.” She turned around and took the baby to the family room where there was only room for a love seat and club chair. Amy sat down in the chair, turning the baby so they were face to face. “Yes, he’s just a big meany!”
Walker ran his hand over his face, trying to think, to make sense of this situation. “Amy, are you babysitting this girl?” he asked with a voice that sounded calm, but he was
seething inside. Actually, seething might be too calm of a term for what he was feeling. He was ready to destroy something if he didn’t get answers fast. Because what he was starting to suspect was impossible. Amy had aborted their child!
Amy instantly shook her head. “No,” she said in a sing song voic
e to the little girl, moving the tiny girl’s hands around as she smiled. “This is my daughter. And you were told to leave.”
Walker stood still, ignoring her admonition to leave. Because if this was Amy’s baby that meant….
His mind couldn’t even process the idea that he had a daughter. No, it was impossible. For the past year, the anger at Amy’s abortion had eaten away at his gut. And now he was seeing that she hadn’t had an abortion? She’d actually gone through with the pregnancy?
And she hadn’t told him that she’d changed her mind?
“I think you owe me an explanation,” he said as softly as possible, hoping not to say anything that might interfere with the laughing of the tiny human being he was starting to suspect was his child. “You said you were going to deal with this.” He took a deep breath. “You said I didn’t have to worry about it anymore.” His hands fisted at his sides. “You said you would take care of it!”
His voice
rose several octaves as he spoke and the last question startled the little baby. Her head turned and her blue eyes captured his, held him hostage. He couldn’t breathe while this tiny human looked across the few feet of space that separated them. They continued to stare at each other, Walker trying to make sense, the little human trying to determine if he was safe or dangerous.
He knew that
, right now, he was very dangerous. He needed answers and he wasn’t leaving until he could figure out what had happened.
Amy stared at him, her mind going back to that day when she’d told him about her pregnancy. She’d been crying, not sure what
he might think about an accidental pregnancy. Their affair had been so hot, so fast, burning with an intensity that only seemed to increase as they got to know each other instead of diminishing with familiarity. Every touch, every meeting, she just wanted him more.
And he’d made her laugh! Oh goodness, how she’d laughed with him. He wasn’t so much of a laugher as he was just a
smiler. He would show his amusement through his eyes or with a slight tilt of his mouth. But he would tell her things with a dry sense of humor that would tickle her.
Oh a
nd he would tickle her unmercifully! Since he was stronger and so much bigger, he could pin her down and tickle her until she was almost crying. And then he would make love to her until she was crying again, sometimes sobbing with the emotional connection she’d felt for him. Too many nights, she’d lain in his arms feeling warm and secure – feeling like she was a princess simply because Walker was holding her close. As she slept, she could feel him, know that he was close. No one could hurt her with him near. He had been her rock.
And then she’d given him the news about her pregnancy. She’d already been about ten weeks along when she’d figured it out. She’d been so deliriously happy with him that she hadn’t even noticed that her periods hadn’t occurred for the previous two months. It was only when she started to feel sick each morning that she
’d started to suspect. But even then, the morning sickness had been mild. Nothing to really worry about.
But she’d taken a pregnancy test, just to be sure.
Lilly was the result and for every tear filled night after Walker had left her, she had Lilly’s bright smiles or her giggles to soothe the pain.
She lifted Lilly up and went to the pantry to get her dinner. “I did deal with it. You didn’t need to worry about it, nor do you need to worry about us now. We’re fine. I took care of everything.” She settled Lilly in her high chair and opened a jar of peas. They looked disgusting, but Lilly loved them. “So why are you still here? I don’t want anything from you. Lilly and I are doing just fine. I have a good job w
ith excellent health care. The last three months of the pregnancy were difficult and the first two months after Lilly’s birth were…” she tried to figure out a way to describe the absolute joy of her new daughter but also include the painful trial and error, the sheer terror of being a new mom…words simply couldn’t describe the experience. “Difficult and wonderful,” she finally finished. “But we’re fine. You didn’t want to deal with this a year ago and I’m not asking you to deal with this now.”
Walker almost choked on his fury. “Didn’t want to deal with…!” He ran a hand through his hair. “Didn’t…” he stammered over his words for the first time in his life. No, actually the second. The first time had been when he’d first seen Amy in the coffee shop but she didn’t know it since he’d waited to approach her so he didn’t look like a stammering idiot. “That’s my child!” he ground out. “I’ve been livid with you for the past year thinking that you aborted our child! And now, after no words from you, no information, no announcement of any kind, I just happen to stumble onto the fact that you gave birth to my daughter!”
Walker was trying very hard not to yell, but he could honestly say that he had never been so furious in his life. He paced back and forth, trying to come to terms with the fact that he had a daughter.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he demanded.
Amy stared at him, the spoon suspended in midair, while Lilly leaned forward, trying to reach the green blob. But it was just slightly out of her reach. When she squawked in protest, Amy turned around, her mind confused by his words.
She fed Lilly several bites, unable to even smile at her daughter’s happy bliss over her pureed peas
. Meanwhile, her mind absorbed the news that Walker was angry that he wasn’t part of his daughter’s life.
“When I told you about my pregnancy, you said, and I quote, ‘What are you going to do about it?’”
Walker heard the words and the question above the buzzing in his ears and tried to calm down enough to understand what she was asking. “Exactly.”
“Our baby was not an ‘it’!” she replied furiously, startling Lilly who smacked her hands together in joy. “I took care of everything because you called our baby an ‘it’ so don’t come back now and tell me that you wanted this child.”
“Wanted this child?” he repeated. “Amy, I was trying to give you room to handle what you seemed to be suicidal about! You were crying when you told me the news!”
She turned and looked back at him as if he’d grown a second head.
“Because we’d never discussed children! We discussed the making of children. We practiced making children. But you never mentioned any desire to actually have children. So when confronted with the results of our
practice
,” she explained with emphasis, “your attitude was that
it
was my responsibility.” She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “So I did. I released you from what seemed to be an onerous complication in your wild lifestyle and took care of my daughter.”
He shook his head. “You misinterpreted my comments Amy!” he growled back. “You purposely tried to turn this around so that you were the wounded party but I never wanted you to have an abortion.”
She tried very hard not to yell at him. “Well you were mighty quick to dump me after hearing the news about my pregnancy.”
“Our pregnancy!” he emphasized.
“Our daughter! And the only reason I stopped showing up was because I was devastated that you didn’t want our baby! That you were ‘going to take care of it’ since you like throwing one’s words around a year later. How was I supposed to interpret that sentence?” He let those words hang in the air, only Lilly’s happy gurgling breaking the silence. “If you were in my place, how would you interpret that statement?” he asked in a calmer voice.
He watched her eyes, seeing the
comprehension and feeling like he’d finally gotten through to her. “And so now, a year later, I find out that I have a baby girl.” He rubbed his hand through his hair again, unconcerned with how it looked afterwards. He kept it short enough so that it wasn’t generally an issue if his fingers ruffled through it in frustration. “Hear me clearly now, Amy. I didn’t know about this baby before. But I fully intend to get to know my daughter now. I’ve been trying to deal with this, trying to ignore the anger caused by the fact that you aborted our child, but there’s no way I’m leaving her out of my life now.”
With those words, he walked out of Amy’s house.
Amy sat in front of Lilly, hearing his powerful engine start up and then drive away and she bit her lip as she thought back to that devastating conversation with Walker. Had she misinterpreted his thoughts? They’d barely known each other back then. The passion had always taken over whenever they were near each other so they hadn’t really known each other well enough. Oh, they knew each other’s bodies intimately. She knew all the sensitive places on him that could make him groan with pleasure while he knew exactly how to touch her, where to touch her, and what kinds of touches would make her scream with desire.