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  “That’s the one. You have a problem with that?”

  “It’s just,” Jordan ran a hand across his stubbled chin, “it’s probably just some lonely guy who is looking for a little fame. Wouldn’t I be more useful here working on finding these kids?”

  “Would you feel that way if it were your mother or your sister or your girlfriend?”

  Jordan stifled a sigh. He still didn’t want to spend time dealing with a stalker, but Stone was right. If this had happened to a woman in his life, he would want the best person possible looking into the case and protecting her. “Fine. Point taken. I’ll head over there now.”

  Stone nodded and turned his attention to his computer. The discussion was clearly over, and Jordan took his cue and left the office.

  “Where are you going?” Al asked as he grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair.

  “To the firehouse. I’m sure I’ll be back soon.”

  “You want me to come along?”

  “No, I’ve got this. Keep looking for more footage. I want to get this guy before we lose any more kids.”

  Twenty minutes later, he pulled into the firehouse parking lot. His eyes scanned the lot as he parked, but other than the car blocking the entrance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Was that an employee’s car? Or had the stalking escalated? There’d been no call over the radio, so surely there wasn’t a hostage situation, but then why was the car parked like that? It was a clear fire hazard.

  He checked his gun as he stepped out of his car, but it was safely strapped to his side and nothing gave him cause to pull it as he crossed the parking lot to the front door. Unsure what he had expected, he was still taken aback by the door opening to a small atrium with a reception desk.

  “Can I help you?” the woman occupying the desk asked.

  “I’m Detective Jordan Graves to see Cassidy Marcel.” He flashed his badge to assure her of his identity as he rarely wore a uniform. His work required him to blend in, not stand out.

  The woman gave a perfunctory nod and picked up the phone. “Cassidy Marcel, you have a visitor at the front desk.” She replaced the phone and motioned him to the few chairs in the room. “She’ll be here in a minute. You may sit if you’d like.”

  Jordan preferred to stand. It was easier to be ready should anything happen, but he didn’t have to wait long anyway.

  “I’m Cassidy.” A woman with long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail which accentuated her broad shoulders and slender neck approached him. She wasn’t quite what he’d expected as little makeup graced her face though it was peppered with miniature freckles. She had the air of an athlete rather than the prima donna he’d imagined. A few papers were clutched tightly in one hand, but she extended the other to him in greeting.

  “Detective Jordan Graves.” He shook her outstretched hand wondering why she had gone on a reality dating show. Low self-esteem? A bet? Or was she one of those girls who looked low maintenance but demanded constant attention? He knew that type well. His last girlfriend had been one.

  “Shall we go somewhere quiet so I can fill you in?” she asked. Her voice was soft and sweet and not at all like the princess-type voice he had expected.

  At his nod, she led the way down the hall and into a conference room. When the door was closed behind them, he pulled out a chair and sat down. Might as well jump right in. The faster he finished here, the sooner he could get back to finding missing kids. “Okay, so tell me what’s going on.”

  Cassidy sat across from him and straightened the papers before placing her hands on them. She took a deep breath as if summoning the courage to speak. “Yesterday was my first day back on shift. I took some time off to do a show.”

  “A reality dating show. I’m aware.” He hoped she hurried this up because he wanted to get back to his investigation.

  A pink flush crawled across her cheeks. “Yeah, a dating show. Anyway, when I arrived yesterday, I had a bag of fan mail. Captain Fitzgerald made me go through it and when I did, I found a few letters that gave me pause.” She pushed the first few pieces of paper across the table to him.

  Jordan picked the first one up by the corner and scanned the contents.

  Dear Cassidy,

  I’m enjoying watching you on the show, but you deserve better than Tyler. In fact, I think we would be perfect together.

  The writer was clearly enamored with Cassidy but other than stating he felt they belonged together, there wasn’t anything sinister in it. He set that page aside and read the next letter.

  Dear Cassidy,

  Tyler wouldn’t know a good woman if she were given to him on a platter. I know how to treat a woman better, and I would love the chance to show you.

  More of the same but still nothing to get upset about. He hoped she hadn’t called him here just for these. Jordan glanced at Cassidy as he put that page aside as well, but her intense expression didn’t give the impression she was simply seeking attention.

  He turned his attention to the third letter, and his eyes widened slightly.

  Dear Cassidy,

  I don’t know what you see in Tyler. I would treat you so much better and I’ll prove it when you return from the show.

  “Did you receive any letters on set from his guy?”

  Cassidy shook her head as her bottom lip folded in under her teeth. “I don’t even know who this guy is. While I was on the show, I had no contact with anyone, and I had no knowledge of who was watching. I didn’t even know I was getting fan mail until I walked in the door yesterday morning.”

  He raised a brow at her but said nothing. She might not have known about it, but she probably enjoyed it. After all, who went on a reality dating show if they weren’t looking for attention? “Is there anyone in your life who paid you extra attention before you went on the show? Anyone who gave you pause?”

  Cassidy pursed her lips as she thought. “There’s a guy who’s a little odd in my apartment complex. He’s always walking his dog and he tries to strike up a conversation whenever I’m around, but he seems harmless. Besides, wouldn’t he just leave notes on my door if it were him?”

  “Maybe, but if he’s tried to get your attention that way and failed, he might try something like this. What’s his name?”

  “Dustin, I think.” She dropped her eyes to the table as if embarrassed. “He told me once, but to be honest, I didn’t pay much attention.”

  Jordan nodded. That didn’t surprise him, but he couldn’t fault her as he was guilty of the same thing. He knew there were women who’d talked to him whom he hadn’t been interested in and had dismissed. It was something he was working on, but he certainly hadn’t mastered it yet. “That’s understandable. How about ex-boyfriends or men you turned down?”

  A flush of pink spread across her cheeks. “I haven’t had an ex-boyfriend in some time, and he left me so I’m not sure why he’d stalk me. There have been a few men who asked me out after I saved them from a fire, but I always said no and never heard anything else from them.”

  He wondered what her story was. She was pretty, not model beautiful, but attractive in her own way, and she appeared confident in her own skin – a quality a lot of women he had dated seemed to be missing. Maybe, like him, she was just too focused on her career right now, but then why go on a reality dating show in the first place?

  “Do you remember any of their names?”

  “My ex, sure, but the rest,” she shook her head sadly, “I don’t. I never really knew them in the first place.”

  Great. That didn’t give him much to work with. “Well, the letters don’t sound like your ex. They’re worded differently, not like someone who knows you personally. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help us narrow it down much. I’d say just keep your eyes open and be aware of your surroundings.”

  “There’s more,” Cassidy said. “Today, when I left, I found this on my windshield.” She slid the final piece of paper to him. “I don’t know how he expected me to respond since he never left a name or a return address.
”

  He picked it up and scanned the writing.

  Cassidy,

  I know you’re back in town, and now I can show you that we belong together. I don’t know why you’re not responding to me, but we will be together whether you know it or not. We belong together, and I’ll find a way to show you. I’ll be in touch soon.

  Okay, maybe he was being too hard on her. He doubted this was the kind of attention she had been seeking. The guy was escalating, and he could see why Captain Fitzgerald would want her to report it. “You say this was on your windshield?”

  She nodded and her right hand lifted to tug at her earlobe. Nervous gesture? He had seen few people display that particular gesture, but she didn’t wear earrings, so a nervous gesture made the most sense.

  “He must be someone you’ve had contact with before, but it could have been any contact. Often stalkers build a relationship in their head over little things, so he might be someone you met in a store or helped at a fire. He thinks you had a connection, so he believes he’s given you enough clues to know who he is. This note on your car means he was probably hanging around when you arrived. Do you remember seeing anything out of the ordinary?”

  Another tug as her eyes darted to the side. “No, but I wasn’t looking for anything. It was my first day back on shift. I was just glad to be here.” She dropped her hand from her ear and folded it into the other one before fixing him with her dark brown eyes. They were rich and deep, the color of dark chocolate, and they held the tiniest hint of vulnerability. “What do I do?”

  Jordan cleared his throat and focused his attention on the papers. He had no business reading anything in her eyes. He was too busy on his current case for anything else. “Unfortunately, there still isn’t much we can do at this point. I’ll take this in for processing, but I doubt they’ll find anything. They’re short for one thing, and while handwriting can tell us about a person, there isn’t a database of handwriting to compare this with like there is with fingerprints. Do you have the envelopes they came in? Was there a return address?”

  As a wince crossed her features, he knew before she spoke that she no longer had them. “No, no return address, but I think Ivy threw the envelopes away. I didn’t think we’d need them.”

  Of course she hadn’t. “Who’s Ivy?”

  “One of our paramedics and my friend. She helped me open the envelopes. There were a lot of them.”

  He glanced up at her. Was she bragging? Maybe his first impression of her being a diva had been right. “Okay, I’ll follow up with her to see if we can get those envelopes back. There might be DNA if he licked them. In the meantime, I’ll escort you home. He may already know where you live, but if not, perhaps a police tail will discourage him from following. I’ll check out your place before you enter to make sure it’s clear, and then I’ll sit on your block for the next hour.”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his cards. They didn’t hand them out often, but the simple card contained his name and cell number so that CIs or people like Cassidy could get a hold of him quickly. “If you see anything after that time, you call this number, and I’ll be there. If something happens, we’ll get a police detail on you until we catch this guy. Any questions?”

  Cassidy turned the card over in her hands before flashing another disarming, crooked smile his direction. “I probably have so many, but I don’t even know what to ask right now.”

  Jordan nodded and pushed back his chair. “That’s understandable.” Careful to touch the papers as little as possible, he folded them and tucked them in the Ziplock bag he pulled from his pocket. “I doubt we’ll find anything on these, but I’ll have the lab run it for prints anyway. Did anyone else touch it?”

  Cassidy blinked at him. “Um, Captain Fitzgerald might have when I first showed it to him and Ivy touched the first few but not the one on the windshield.”

  “Okay, I’ll get prints from all of you so we can rule them out, but let’s get you home first.”

  Her eyes shifted to the side again and when they returned to his gaze, they held just the slightest hint of fear. “What if he follows us back and learns where I live?”

  Diva or not, his heart went out to her. He knew what it was like to live in fear – he’d done it for the first fifteen years of his life, and while it made him who he was today, he wouldn’t wish it on anyone. That helpless feeling was hard to ignore.

  Jordan didn’t want to tell her that if the guy had staked out her job and figured out her car, he probably already knew where she lived or how to find out anyway. “That’s what I’m there for. The police presence should deter him, and I’ll keep a watchful eye out as we drive. Don’t worry. I’m good at spotting a tail.”

  With a determined set to her posture, she pushed back from the table, took a deep breath, and nodded. “Okay then. Let’s go.”

  Chapter 5

  Cassidy felt a little safer as she walked to her car with Jordan behind her. He didn’t advertise it, but she knew he carried a gun strapped to his side. She was no stranger to firearms having grown up with older brothers who taught her how to handle one, but she didn’t have a concealed carry license. Perhaps she should look into getting one and brushing up on her training. Her experience was pretty limited to shooting coke cans off the trash barrel in their backyard growing up.

  “Let me check your car first,” he said as she pulled out her key fob.

  She held it out to him and watched as he popped her hood and then her trunk. She hoped he didn’t look in the backseat as she hadn’t had time to clean it out since her return.

  Cassidy had a tendency to be on the go so much that it almost appeared she “lived out of her car.” Though she had a trash bag, wrappers and cups generally landed on the floorboards instead, and she’d lost count of how many items she had left in the car - coats, books, even her phone on occasion, so needless to say, it wasn’t the neatest car on the block. And Jordan was handsome. His blue eyes stood out under his dark hair like blazing beacons, and the muscular tone of his biceps beneath his shirt sleeves had not gone unnoticed. She didn’t want him thinking her a slob as well as a diva.

  He hadn’t called her that, but she had seen the look in his eyes. It was hard to miss since she’d received it from nearly everyone since returning. That look that assumed she had gone on the show for fame and wondered when she would flit off to the next opportunity.

  She couldn’t blame them, really. The same thought had popped into her mind when she first considered going on the show, but it wasn’t why she had gone. And though she could tell them her real reason had been looking for love, it seemed silly now since she had come home empty handed. It was easier to let them assume.

  Jordan dropped to the pavement and scanned under the car, then slid into the driver seat. After inserting the key, he paused as if listening for something. Then he turned the key. When the engine fired up, he exited the car.

  “All clear. My car’s just over there. Don’t leave the lot until I’m right behind you. Then I want you to make sure you can always see me in your rearview mirror. Do you understand?”

  Cassidy nodded though she wasn’t sure if his words were easing her fears or ramping them up.

  “If we get separated, pull into the closest lighted parking lot and wait for me. You have my number, so you can call and tell me where you are. I doubt that will happen, but if it does, do not get out of your car.”

  Yep, definitely ramping the fear up. Her heart thundered in her chest, but she was determined to appear calm. “I understand.”

  He waited until she was in her seat with the doors locked before sprinting to his car. After a similar check of his own, he fired up his engine, and she headed for the exit.

  Even though she knew he was watching, Cassidy found herself peering out of the windows and checking the rearview mirror religiously. She saw nothing out of the ordinary - only his headlights, but there was still a part of her that worried this guy would follow and try something once Jordan was g
one.

  No lights were on in her apartment when she pulled into the parking space, but could he be hiding in the dark waiting to stab her? Or worse? She didn’t want to think about all the things that could fall under ‘or worse’ but they filled her head anyway. Her heart fluttered faster in her chest.

  She wasn’t usually one to jump at shadows but this was such an unknown territory for her. As she’d told Jordan, there had been a few men who tried to hit on her at fires or the few times she had gone with Ivy to the hospital to check on patients, but none had ever gone farther than asking her out. They’d all taken her polite decline and turned their attentions elsewhere.

  She opened her door to step out, but before she could shut her door, Jordan was at her side. His hand raked across his stubbled chin as his eyes scanned the area. “Let me go in first and check the place out. What number is it?”

  “It’s apartment A, straight ahead,” she said pointing.

  He followed her finger and then turned back to her. “Do you have a separate house key from your car key?”

  “No, but I can take it off the ring.” As she released the house key from her ring, her mind shifted to her house. Had she put everything away? The house was still a little messy from her whirlwind unpacking, but she thought she had at least put her undergarments in her dresser. And even if she hadn’t, knowing she was safe was more important than worrying about him seeing her underwear.

  “Stay in the car with the doors locked until I return. If you see or hear anything suspicious, drive to the police station and ask Stone to send help.”

  The fluttering in her heart increased. “Do you think he’s in there?”

  Jordan shook his head, but his gaze lingered only briefly on her as his eyes darted around the parking lot again. “I don’t. I didn’t see a tail, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry in my line of work.”

  Cassidy swallowed trying to ease the fear gnawing in her stomach. “Okay, thank you.” Then she climbed into her car and locked the doors.