“Hey.” He looked back up from the guitar strings. “I love you, Brad Payne.”
He wrapped his hand around my neck and kissed me on the forehead. “I love you, Valerie Payne, and that’s why this shit’s really starting to get to me.”
That was when I realized I’d been way too vocal about my fears regarding the stalker. I was starting to affect my normally calm, rational husband, making him worry too. I needed to be outwardly composed, no matter how I felt on the inside, because if I was affecting Brad this way, I had no idea what my nerves were doing to my kids. I touched my lips to his and then said, “Don’t let it. Everything’s going to be okay. All right?”
He frowned. “Yeah.”
“I’m going to try to chill. Now that we have Chuck here, everything’s going to be fine, right?”
Brad smiled. “That’s the theory. That’s why I pay those guys what I do.”
“Then quit worrying.” I stood and took a deep breath. “I know it seems silly, but I really want to take a walk. The snow’s beautiful. We never get snow like this at home.”
“It’s colder than shit out there, Val.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Brad knew better than to argue with me. Once I got a bright idea, that was all it took. He always had a few tricks up his sleeve, though. “Why don’t you grab your guitar instead?”
Oh…yeah. Okay, so a walk could wait till the next day. “Don’t mind if I do.” Making music with Brad would never get old.
* * *
The evening had been wonderful, and I almost forgot about why Chuck was even with us. We decided to go out to dinner that night, and even though Chuck was “on duty” (and I could tell—he was quite vigilant), he managed to have fun with us, too.
One thing he insisted upon was getting all our cell numbers and having us add his number to our phones as well. “You never know when you’ll need it, and I’d rather not regret not giving it to you later.”
The night was uneventful and I began to feel a little relief. We talked with Chuck about staying while we were in Beaver Creek, but we couldn’t decide if we would part ways when we journey to the western slope to visit Brad’s family. We wanted to see what happened the rest of our stay in Beaver Creek. While here, though, he was going to be a permanent fixture, and I was glad that he’d joined us, because I was sleeping easier. I just felt more relaxed all the way around.
The sun was out the next morning, making the snow look even lovelier than it had the day before. Brad hooked up the Xbox to the TV and he and Chris were playing after breakfast while Hayley watched. Gracie asked if she could take a couple of hours off. She wanted to walk to Starbucks for a caramel macchiato and then she might explore a few of the shops, even though she didn’t plan on spending any money. Chuck advised her to be careful and more aware of her surroundings than usual and she promised she would. She had her cell phone with her in case she needed anything.
I decided to take the walk I’d put off from the day before. I thought Gracie had the right idea to get some fresh air, even if it was crisp, and a little sunshine.
Brad was okay with it only if Chuck accompanied me, and—of course—I hadn’t planned to do it any other way. I wouldn’t have felt safe doing it by myself…but I hadn’t realized how stressed out I’d been. Communing with nature always managed to make me feel grounded, and we were in the perfect place for that.
I kissed the kids and Brad and then bundled up in my coat and gloves, tucking a room card, little folding map, and my cell phone in the deep right-hand pocket. Chuck said, “Laters, gators” to the kids, rolling his eyes and hanging his tongue out of his mouth, making Chris giggle before my son returned to the serious business of beating Brad at the videogame they were playing.
We made our way down the hall and descended the stairs to the main level. Chuck asked, “This is totally up to you, but let me know. Would you rather I walk beside you like a companion or hang back?”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter to me as long as you’re nearby. I have to tell you it makes me feel better knowing you’re close.”
“It won’t hurt my feelings either way. Some bodyguards stay back as a general rule and others even stay out of sight. I’m getting paid either way and I’m a friendly guy, but it won’t kill me if you don’t want to be friends.”
I laughed. “It’s all good. I just want to be outside for a while, and I really do feel better with you here.”
“Good. Lead the way.” I pulled the folding map out of my pocket. It was one the resort had displayed in the lobby and I’d grabbed it one of the times we’d passed through. It showed all the various hiking trails around the area and described their level of difficulty and length. I didn’t know that hiking a trail in the winter was such a brilliant idea, but I wanted to explore the area a bit. I didn’t want to check out the village; I didn’t want to experience any manmade beauty, because I’d been surrounded by it the past couple of days in our room. Instead, I wanted to enjoy what nature had to offer.
I even planned to snap a few photos with my phone.
When I saw how deep the snow was where the paths hadn’t been cleared, I rethought my stance. My boots weren’t made for hiking in that much snow. I could still walk the sidewalks and along the road, though, and see the perfection the earth had to offer.
The sky was a light blue and I looked up the mountain toward the ski trails. The white-capped peaks were breathtaking, and I realized there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was as though we’d gotten all the clouds out of the way during the storm the day before.
I decided to begin my journey by following the trail the resort had made along the building up to the main road that led to the main part of the village, the one we’d walked the first day we’d been here. That path had been cleared by the employees. Not only had the snow been scraped off but it had been salted and was down to blacktop.
The air was crisp and I loved the feel of drawing it in through my nose and down into my lungs. This kind of cold made me feel alive. No, I didn’t want to be in it for a long time and I definitely would appreciate the warm fire inside later, but it felt like what I needed. It felt cleansing.
I was feeling a lot more relaxed with Chuck along. I wouldn’t have thought his presence would have brought me such peace, but it did, and so I was able to enjoy myself. He even seemed to pick up on my need for quiet reflection, instead keeping his eyes peeled and his senses alert. I was pretty sure he hadn’t as yet seen anything suspect, but I trusted that if anything was out of the ordinary, he would notice it right away.
He followed me up into the village, not talking but keeping his eyes open. Beaver Creek was a lot bigger than I’d thought at first, and I knew I’d get plenty of exercise. I hadn’t really gotten a good idea the first night when we’d had the kids with us. I could again feel the difference in altitude, and so I was moving more slowly than I would have back home.
I stopped to look again at the creek that flowed through town—well, it must have during the spring and summer, because right now, it was frozen over. I stood on the bridge and then decided to follow the walkway that went further into the village. We’d passed it by our first evening here, but it had been twilight and we’d been eager to find food. Today, in the bright sunlight, I could really appreciate what I was looking at. Shops stood on both sides of the creek, and I marveled at the beauty of nature, surrounded by manmade architecture.
Nature had the manmade shit trumped, but it was a sight to see.
I took out my phone and started snapping pictures. Chuck was more than patient, simply standing beside me and moving when I did. If nothing else, his presence alone was sure to intimidate any freaks out there considering doing anything criminal.
I saw Chuck pull his phone out of the pocket of his heavy jacket. He looked at it for a second. “I’m sorry,” he said, but he didn’t turn around or leave. He did pick up the call, though. I was going to listen in, wondering what could be more important than my safety, when I felt
my own phone vibrate in my hand.
I lifted it up to see that I had a text notification, but I had to close the camera function, because the text message was just a picture and that picture was tiny. I opened my texts, and it was a phone number I didn’t recognize…or I should say my phone didn’t recognize it. It was just a number. And I confirmed that there was no actual text message—it was just a picture. That picture was of me…me and Chuck, and it was of us leaving the hotel this morning, not even a half an hour ago.
I felt a violent shiver charge down my spine as my whole body went into panic and alert mode. I looked up and turned around, scanning the people I could see. But no one was just standing around—everyone was going somewhere, huddled in coats and gloves, with a destination in mind. As my eyes scanned a second time, I moved more slowly, searching for still bodies around corners or far off. But as my search became fruitless, I realized Chuck was dealing with something a little suspect as well. I tuned back into him. He was looking at me but he said to the other person on the phone, “We’ll be right there.” He hung up the call and said, “Gracie’s over at Starbucks right now and she’s afraid to leave. I told her we would come get her.” I began following him up the hill. I thought I remembered where the Starbucks was too, because I’d noticed it the first night we’d been there, walking around, taking everything in. “It’s this way, right?”
“Yeah, I think so. What happened exactly?”
“I couldn’t quite get it out of her. She was a little hysterical and said she wasn’t going to leave unless we came to get her.”
So it would remain a mystery until we got there. It was just a few minutes, and we turned another corner to find the Starbucks tucked into a small somewhat enclosed area where it seemed to dominate its surroundings. When we walked inside, Gracie was seated at one of the small tables nestled against a wall. The terror on her face seemed to fade a little when she saw us, and she stood. “Thank God you’re here.”
“What happened?”
She let out a heavy sigh as we pulled up a couple of chairs. “Well, you know I wanted some Starbucks, so I came up here. It took me a little while to find it, because I couldn’t remember where it was, but I saw a bunch of cool little shops and also a lot of places where it looks like there are a lot of other shops if you’re willing to explore a bunch of nooks and crannies. So after I got my latte, I started doing that. Just next door, there’s one of those long outside hallways, and I thought it was pretty cool.
“Anyway, I noticed this guy was following me. I didn’t think much about it at first, but I got a little paranoid, especially since you told us to pay attention, so I decided no more unpopulated hallways. I got back out in the open air and decided to be where people were, and I started looking at outdoor shops again. A lot of them aren’t open yet, but I was doing some window shopping. After a while, I wasn’t paying attention again, looking at stuff, and I was looking through the window of one of the shops at a pretty sweater. It was then that I noticed someone behind me—I don’t know if I sensed him or heard him or saw his reflection in the window first, but he said hi and asked if I was here with anyone. He was a real creeper, and when I turned around and saw him, I was freaked out. I told him I was here with family and that I had to go, and I walked as fast as I could back here. I needed to be around people.”
“Did he follow you here?”
“I don’t know.”
I noticed that Chuck had been glancing out the windows throughout Gracie’s story, but now he got up and looked out them again and then returned to the table. I didn’t know if he’d done it just to allay Gracie’s fears or if he’d thought it would do any good. “Did the guys at the counter see this guy?”
“I don’t think so. I think he quit following me at some point…before I got here.”
“I need you to describe this guy for me.”
Gracie blinked twice and swallowed, then seemed to try to get her wits about her. She took a deep breath. “Oh, I don’t know. He, uh…he was a big guy. Huge. Like a football player, you know? Dark hair, dark skin—”
Chuck interrupted her. “Dark skin as in tanned or ethnic?”
“Oh, uh…I’m not sure, actually. It was too fast.” Chuck nodded. “Just really scary. Kind of tall.”
“About how tall?”
“I don’t know. I’m not good with measurements.” Chuck stood. He was a fairly tall guy himself—not towering, but tall enough. If he’d asked me, I would have said Chuck was about six-foot-two. “Compared to me?”
Gracie looked up at him. “I don’t know. Maybe about the same height?”
I guessed that Chuck was getting frustrated and with good reason, but I could also understand why Gracie was rattled…and that reminded me of my own little brush with creepiness when she’d called. Perfect timing. Chuck was letting out a sigh, but I thought maybe he was done questioning her. He looked out the window again. He was scanning the activity outside, but everything out there looked normal to me—rich tourists who didn’t want to ski decided to hit all the little shops in the village. None of them were in a hurry to get anywhere in particular, although some of them wanted out of the cold.
“Maybe now isn’t the best time, but I think you should know.” Chuck looked at me, his eyebrows raised. It might have been my tone of voice that caught his attention, but he was tuned in. “I got a weird text from my stalker—I think—but it happened when Gracie called, so I didn’t have a chance to show you.”
“So show me now.” I entered the passcode into my phone and then touched the Messages icon so I could pull up the texts I’d received. There it was, the one on top, and it was only a phone number, one I’d never seen before. I touched it and then handed the phone to Chuck. I wanted to add Kinda creepy but thought that would sound melodramatic and over the top, especially after the shit Gracie had just had to endure.
She was glancing over at Chuck and my phone but didn’t seem too interested. In fact, she seemed to be over her earlier shock and fear and was settling nicely into the warmth of the shop and her coffee. As Chuck studied the text (looking for what, I didn’t know), I tried in my mind to lock in the description Gracie gave of her pursuer…that way, if I saw the guy on the street, I might know it before I got myself into a situation I couldn’t get out of…but as my mind tried to catalog the details, I realized Gracie’s description had been pretty generic—there was nothing outstanding about her pursuer’s features. In fact, the guy sounded like dozens of men I already knew. “Hey, Gracie, was there anything strange about the guy who was chasing you around? You know, tattoos or…I don’t know. Anything that would make him stand out?”
The girl shrugged. “I can’t think of anything, Val. He was wearing a coat and knitted cap. I’m lucky I could tell what color hair he had.”
Chuck looked up from my phone. “What was he wearing? I can go out looking for the guy after I have you two back at the hotel safe.”
Gracie had a look on her face like that of a deer in headlights. “I don’t know.”
“Just try to remember.”
She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her forehead. “I really can’t remember. It’s not like I stopped and thought, Gee, I need to remember what he’s wearing so I can tell everyone.”
Chuck took a deep breath. I could tell he was losing his patience with her, much as I was starting to feel. His voice, however, was calm and cool. “You can’t even remember the color of his coat? Just…try.”
Gracie frowned and looked from Chuck to me and then back to Chuck again. Then her eyes fell to the tabletop and she appeared to be thinking. She finally glanced back up at Chuck. “I think it was navy blue. Or black. It might have been black.”
He nodded. “Okay. That’s a start. Something dark. Granted, everyone around here is probably wearing something like that, except for the occasional gray or red, but at least we can eliminate those folks.” Chuck’s eyes wandered over to mine. “I can’t figure out this guy’s game. Why would he text you that picture
while he’s chasing Gracie around? What’s up with that? I get why he sent it—he wants you to know he’s watching you and he knows where you are.”
If that wasn’t fucking creepy and kind of scary, I didn’t know what was.
Chapter Eight
WE WERE QUIET on our walk back to the hotel, and part of me was nervous about telling Brad. He might choose to cut our vacation short, just when I was beginning to really love it here. I felt safer with Chuck too, so I wasn’t as worried as I had been when I’d first picked up that newspaper the second day we were here.
In fact, my mind was going in a completely different place after spending time with Chuck and Gracie at Starbucks…but until I felt more certain about my theory, I didn’t know if it was something I should share with the bodyguard.
Maybe it was my overactive imagination, but I was beginning to wonder if Gracie either knew my stalker…or if she was my stalker. No, she wouldn’t have been actually stalking me (at least, I didn’t think so), but what if, for some weird reason, she was doing all the stalker things? We’d never actually seen anyone. But Gracie’s story didn’t add up, and the fact that this person was supposedly texting me while simultaneously threatening her in the flesh didn’t make sense.
Maybe she just wanted some attention.
By the time we got back to the hotel, I decided not to say a word—not yet, anyway. Instead, I decided to keep a close eye on Gracie until I felt more confident.
But my kids…if she was someone with a screw loose and I hadn’t caught it before now, did I really want her alone with my children? The potential for danger was there and I couldn’t risk my kids, knowing that Gracie was potentially unstable.
I needed to chill and not give away my suspicions, but by the time the three of us walked in the door of the suite, I was convinced—absolutely positive that Gracie was involved somehow. Brad knew something was wrong, so Chuck, Gracie, and I sat at the table to bring him up to speed. Both kids wandered in and out of the kitchen area, and Hayley sat on my lap more than once. I kissed her on top of her head, wondering if, in my efforts to be a good mother, I’d actually been the opposite by exposing her to Gracie. No, I couldn’t think that way. I’d been the best parent I could be, and we’d believed Gracie was a good candidate for the job—her references had checked out, and nothing she’d said or done had set off any alarm bells.
Bullet Series Box Set Books 1-8 Page 138
