“Look,” Landen said as he stepped a little further into the room. He gave her a smile, and she knew he was trying real hard to make her feel more at ease. “I know this has to be weird for you. You don’t know me, and you don’t know Nikki, but I need for you to look past that. Look past all the crap that is going on in your mind right now. I want you just to think about a future of not having to look over your shoulder anymore. A future where you can get to be you, and not have to keep the real you from the rest of the world.”
“Okay,” she nodded giving him a nervous smile. She knew she was crazy to take a chance, but she needed this to be over.”
“So, you’re going to stay?” Nikki asked with a hopeful look from where she was standing next to the door.
“I guess I am,” Amelia replied, this time her smile was more genuine.
“I think this calls for a drink!” Nikki exclaimed as she turned, walking out of the bedroom. “Who’s with me?”
Landen raised his eyebrows as if to ask her if she was going to join him and Nikki for a drink. Amelia couldn’t help but smile again, as she followed him out of the room, down the hallway to the kitchen, where Nikki was opening a bottle of wine.
“If I’m going to do this,” Amelia said once they all had their wine and were now seated on the large corner sofa in the lounge of this beautiful apartment. “I want to pay my way.”
“There really is no need,” Landen insisted as he took a sip from his wine glass. “I told you, this is pro-bono, so there is really no need.”
“Well at least let me pay rent,” Amelia said as she set her glass down on the glass coffee table. “I need to feel like I am still in control of my life. Even if that means paying a damn bill.”
“But there really is no need,” Nikki replied as she gave her a smile.
Amelia could see why Landen liked this girl so much. She was warm and caring, and Amelia thought that maybe they both could become friends.
“There is for me,” Amelia insisted, as she gave her a pleading look. “I know you don’t understand…”
“Actually,” Nikki replied as she gave Amelia a sad smile. Amelia could see something in her eyes, a look that seemed almost familiar. “I do understand. So, if that’s what you want, then that’s fine with me.”
“Thank you,” Amelia replied, grateful that this girl could understand why she needed to do this.
“What about a job?” Nikki asked as she picked up her wine glass from the coffee table, taking a sip. “I mean, I know you lost your last job. I was just curious.”
“I will find something,” Amelia shrugged as her face flushed with embarrassment. She recalled how upset she had been outside the club the night that guy, Elliot had fired her. She hated that Landen had seen her at her weakest.
She knew it was stupid to be embarrassed, but she hated that Landen saw her as this weak girl, who needed protecting. A damsel in distress as he had called her. She hated that was how he saw her. She hated that that was what Peter Reynolds had done to her.
“What’s wrong”? Landen asked. Amelia hated that he could seem to read her emotions so easily.
“Nothing really,” She sighed. “It’s just; it’s hard to get a job where someone is willing to let you work off the books. Most jobs want your social security number, but I know if I give it to them, Pete will use it to find me again.”
“I’m sorry,” Landen replied as a look of guilt settled on his face once more.
“No, please,” Amelia said as she sat forward in her seat. “I don’t want you to keep blaming yourself for what happened last week. It really wasn’t your fault, and besides; I think you have more than made it up to me already. So no more, I’m sorry. Okay!”
“Okay,” Landen replied with a smile, but then suddenly his smile grew wider. “Actually, I may be able to help you with the job issue.”
“You don’t have to do any more favours for me,” she insisted, feeling a little confused why this man seemed so determined to help her so much.
“It’s no big deal,” Landen said as he stood up and pulled his phone from his pocket. Keying in a number, he brought the phone to his ear.
“Hey, Cal,” he said down the phone in a warm, friendly voice. “I need a favour, Little Brother.”
He walked out of the room, leaving Amelia alone with Nikki.
“He likes you,” Nikki said with a knowing smile as she took another sip from her wine glass.
“He’s a very sweet man,” Amelia replied, as she could feel her face flush a little.
“That he is,” Nikki sighed as her eyes turned to the doorway that Landen had just vanished through.
“How long have you and he been together?” Amelia asked. Nikki turned back to her and laughed.
“We’re not together!” Nikki exclaimed. “God no, Landen is more like my big brother. We have never been together like that. No, Landen is just my friend. Probably my best friend. He saved me once upon a time too. But that’s a story for another day.”
Before Amelia could reply, Landen walked back into the room with a huge grin on his face.
“It’s sorted!” He exclaimed as he sat back down on the sofa, picking up his wine glass.
“Care to share with the rest of us?” Nikki said as she gave Landen a grin.
“Callum is going to give Amelia a job,” he said as he took another sip from his glass of wine.
“Callum?” Amelia asked as a sickening feeling settled in her stomach once more. She had no idea who Callum was, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Landen had told him all about her problem.
“Callum is my brother,” Landen explained. “He runs the family business. I told him I had a friend who needed to work off the books. It’s not something he ever does, but he knows I wouldn’t ask unless it was important.”
“You didn’t tell him about Pete, did you?” Amelia asked, knowing she should just trust Landen, but she just wasn’t quite there yet. It was hard to let go of everything she had been doing until this point to protect herself from Peter Reynolds.
“No,” Landen assured her giving her a reassuring smile. “Though, I would trust any of my brothers with my life; but no, I thought it was best to keep who you were a secret.”
“So, who does he think I am?” Amelia asked, but she couldn’t help but smile. She liked that he had respected her wishes, it gave her a little piece of comfort.
“I told him your name was Amelia Coleman, that you were Nikki’s cousin,” Landen replied smiling at Amelia. “I had a teacher in middle school, and you remind me of her a little, so I used her name.”
“Okay,” Amelia replied with a nod.
“But when I was talking to Cal,” Landen said as his eyes remained fixed on Amelia. “Earlier, when you told me your name, you never actually told me what your second name was.”
“Davenport,” Amelia replied, wondering if she should have lied. But then she realised, when he researched Pete, the police reports she had made in the past, he would have found her real name anyway. “Amelia Davenport.”
“Well,” he said as he stood up and walked across to her, then sat down on the sofa next to her.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Amelia Davenport,” Landen smiled holding out his hand to her.
“It’s lovely to meet you too, Landen,” Amelia replied and was surprised how much she actually meant what she said.
Chapter 6
Landen sat at the computer in the office of his penthouse apartment, scrolling through the endless information and horror stories about stalking victims.
He was stunned to learn that over six million people are stalked in the United States each year. One in six women, one in nineteen men. Sometimes it ended as soon as the police got involved, but sometimes it only ended when either, the victim or the stalker was dead, sometimes both.
Landen stared at the screen, and for the first time since Amelia told him her story in his office, he was afraid that she was right; that there really was no one who could help her.
He printed out as much information as he could about stalking. He also googled Peter Reynolds to see what he could turn up on him.
Peter, or Pete as he preferred to be called, seemed like a normal, everyday kind of guy. There was nothing extraordinary about him at all. In fact, he seemed to be a very unremarkable man.
There was a couple of minor local news stories about him. One of how he raised some money for charity when he was still in college. Then there was an article about him getting an award from the local chamber of commerce in the little town he grew up in, in Indiana. There was no information about him after his move to DC, which was where he met Amelia.
At first glance, there was really nothing out of the ordinary about this man, but Landen knew that was rarely the case with men like Pete. Landen knew if there was any dirt to be found on this asshole, Nikki would sniff it out.
Landen also googled Amelia. The first thing he found was the newspaper article about her father’s car crash. It was a one-car accident. The police report stated that Henry Davenport lost control of his car after he hit a patch of black ice on the road, hitting an underpass of a bridge. He was killed instantly. The article said that he was survived by his only child, Amelia who was twenty-three at the time of the accident. She was a med-student and his only living relative.
Henry owned a small pharmacy in DC. He had devoted his life to raising his only daughter, after losing his wife of eight years to an aneurysm when his daughter, Amelia, was just three years old.
Landen thought of Amelia, and his heart almost broke. Her father had been her whole world, then she lost him. Now she was running from some asshole. She really had no one she could trust.
She was all alone in the world, Landen thought to himself as he scrolled down the article, stopping at a picture of Amelia when she was younger.
Landen thought about brothers, how sometimes they drove him insane. But even as insane as they could drive him; he couldn’t imagine his life without any of them.
Suddenly he had a thought, he reached for the mobile phone on the desk next to him, pulling up his brother, Liam’s, phone number.
Hitting the call button, he turned on the speakerphone, and set the phone back down on the desk.
“Hey, loser!” Liam exclaimed down the phone when he answered finally. “What’s up?”
“Why does something have to be up?” Landen sighed as he continued to browse the different articles on the internet. “Can’t I just call to say hi?”
“Of course you can,” Liam replied, but Landen could hear the amusement in his voice. “But since you never do, I’m going to stick with my initial statement. So, spill, what’s wrong.”
“Nothing is wrong as such,” Landen replied, glad that Liam couldn’t see his face right at that moment. He knew it would have told Liam that he was bullshitting him. “I was just wondering if I could ask your advice on something.”
“Wow, this is definitely a first,” Liam laughed, making Landen wonder if maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, but Liam had just been made detective, and Landen hoped that if anyone could help, then it would be him. Well, him or their dad, but there was no way his father wouldn’t have pushed for more information if he talked to him. “Okay, you have my undivided attention. What do you need?”
“What do you know about stalking?” Landen asked, trying to sound as normal as he possibly could, given the question he had just asked.
“Why, are you looking to take up a new hobby?” Liam laughed, while Landen rolled his eyes.
“Can you not be serious for even five minutes,” Landen sighed, feeling that it was definitely a mistake to have called him.
“Why, what’s happened?” Liam asked. He could hear the instant concern in his brother’s voice.
“Nothing’s happened, as such,” Landen said knowing that now he had poked a bear with his brother, he was going to have to choose his words carefully. “It’s a friend of mine, she is having some trouble with this asshole that is bad news, so I was wondering what would be the best way of dealing with him, to provide her the most protection?”
“Well, that really all depends,” Liam said, and Landen knew that his brother was now just as invested as he was, without even knowing all the details.
“On what exactly?” Landen asked.
“On how fucking insane you’re talking,” Liam asked, getting straight to the point.
“As bad as it gets,” Landen sighed, knowing there was no point in lying. “She is terrified of this lowlife, but I don’t know what to do to help her.”
“Shit,” Liam replied, blowing out a long breath. “Well, worst case scenario; it doesn’t matter what court order you have; what a judge, a cop, or even a lawyer says. If this lunatic sees your friend as theirs, nothing or no one will stand in his way.”
“So how do I keep her safe?” Landen asked, knowing that things with Amelia were far worse than he had ever imagined.
“You hire the best protection money can buy,” Liam replied. “Maybe buy a gun. And you hope like hell that you never have to use the damn thing.”
“I see,” Landen sighed, wondering if moving Amelia in with Nikki was the right thing to do after all.
“Landen,” Liam said, and his tone was very business-like. “What’s really going on?”
“I can’t say, Liam,” Landen replied. He knew that his brother wasn’t going to be happy with his response.
“Damn it, Landen,” Liam growled angrily. “This shit is serious. You don’t know what you’re messing with. Some of these stalkers are psycho. They will not stop until they get to the object of their obsession, and they will kill anyone that gets in their way.”
“I just need time to think,” Landen said as he rubbed his tired eyes. “For now, she is in no danger. As far as we know, he is locked up in some psych ward in Chicago. I just need to be sure that he stays as far away from her as possible.”
“Jesus, Landen?” Liam exclaimed. “Look, I don’t know what sort of shit you’ve managed to get yourself into, but maybe I can help.”
“I’m grateful, Liam,” Landen replied. “Honestly, but I gave her my word that I would keep her secret. If she is ever going to trust me, then I need to do as I promised I would.”
“Then I want you to promise me,” Liam pleaded with his brother. “The very second you know you’re in over your head, you call me.”
“I give you my word,” Landen assured his brother, grateful to have his support. “Thank you, Liam.”
“You’re my big brother, Landen,” Liam replied. Landen loved that he could count on all his brothers when the chips were down. “And you know your four brothers have your back.”
“I know,” Landen replied with a smile. He knew that Liam meant every word he said.
“I will call you tomorrow,” Liam said, and Landen sighed. He knew that there was nothing he could say to his brother to get him to back off completely.
“Okay,” Landen sighed, accepting that there was nothing he could say to stop him. “I will talk to you then.”
“Good night, Landen,” Liam said, this time his tone was softer.
“Good night, Liam,” Landen replied.
Landen was sitting in his office, lost in thought. It was almost lunchtime the next day, and Landen’s appetite was none existing. His thoughts were consumed with Amelia, and nothing could take her from his mind. Nikki was waiting to hear back from a friend she knew in the district attorney’s office in Chicago. She had called in a favour, and he had agreed to help her unofficially.
Landen was always amused by how Nikki always knew someone, somewhere that owed her a favour. He had no idea how she did these things, and if he was honest, he really didn’t want to know. He was just happy that she always seemed to get the job done.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Landen looked up from his laptop towards his office door, to find Nikki standing there with a broad smile on her face.
“Hey, I have a visitor for you,” Nikki said as her smile widened, then she
stood back, as Finn appeared in the doorway.
“Well, well,” Landen said as he stood up and gave his brother a grin. “And what brings Professor Murphy into the city, away from the quietness of the University campus. Or should I ask who?”
“Can a man not just visit his big brother in the middle of the day?” Finn asked as he walked into Landen’s office, and took a seat in front of his brother’s desk. He gave Landen a knowing grin, and Landen knew exactly why he was there.
“Or did another of my brothers send you here because he thought I would talk to you, when I wouldn’t talk to him,” Landen suggested with a knowing smile, as he sat back in his seat. “Let me guess, Liam called you.”
“He’s worried about you,” Finn shrugged. “And from what he told me, he is right to be worried.”
“I have it under control,” Landen replied, but he knew that wasn’t strictly true. “Liam just thinks I don’t.”
“This is about the girl?” Finn asked, and Landen was surprised by his brother’s directness. “Isn’t it?”
Finn was nothing like Liam. Liam had an annoying habit of acting like he knew everything. He thought because he was a cop like their father, it was his job to watch over his family. Landen knew that his brother meant well, but sometimes he found his attitude a little annoying.
Finn was a different story. He listened to you when you talked, and then offered an opinion, but he wouldn’t shove it down your throat.
“It’s nothing I can’t handle,” Landen insisted. “You don’t need to worry, and neither does Liam.”
“But it is about that girl,” Finn replied, clearly determined to get some answers from Landen.
“What did you tell Liam?” Landen asked, still not answering his question. “You didn’t tell him about her, did you?”
“I was right,” Finn sighed as he scrubbed his face with his hand. “I didn’t tell him anything, you know I wouldn’t. But he asked if I knew who this friend was that you were helping. I said that you hadn’t said anything to me. But, Landen, he knows something is very wrong, and he is worried.”
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