by Leslie Kelly
“Thank you.”
Dazed, Olivia wandered to the exit and pushed out the door. The wind was a little brisk. Instinctively, she pulled her coat tighter around her. This couldn’t be right. There was no way one of her colleagues would do this….
She took a breath. Made a decision. If her work was tampered with again, she would mention this to Callie. Otherwise, she would give Flemming the benefit of the doubt.
Maybe she just needed a break. That idea of trying to get a last-minute flight to Boston Friday evening was suddenly sounding a lot more appealing. Monday was a holiday. She could spend a long weekend surrounded by family and clear her head of everything here.
Including Jacob Webster.
She drove home slowly, pondering the idea of packing a bag and putting it in the trunk so she would be ready to go straight to the airport after work on Friday.
If she decided that was the thing to do. There went the second thoughts.
Going home would be good, she reminded herself. She would be too far away to think of anything or anyone here.
She noticed a pair of headlights behind her as she made the turn onto her street. Her heart rate sped up even as she told herself she was only being paranoid.
Still, she opted not to turn in at her building. Instead she drove farther up the street. She waited long enough to make it seem like she was headed someplace else, then she whipped into the lot of a convenience store. She jerked to a stop and stared after the sedan, which had no choice but to continue on.
Her heart surged into her throat.
It was the same car.
Chapter Thirteen
Jacob opened his front door to find Olivia standing on his porch. Her hazel eyes were wide with…fear. Her breathing was ragged, as if she’d run all the way to his house instead of driving. But her Volvo sat at the curb.
“Olivia, what’s going on?”
The reality that she had kissed him last night abruptly kicked him in the gut.
“Someone’s following me,” she said in a rush.
He glanced at the street. No traffic. No unfamiliar cars. “Who?” If anyone had followed her here, they were gone now.
“Please.” Her eyes pleaded. “Can I come inside?”
Whatever had happened, she was terrified. “Of course.” What was wrong with him? She’d obviously had a scare. He stepped back to let her pass, then closed the door. “Start at the beginning and tell me everything.”
She started to shake. Not little shivers but big, body-quaking shudders.
“Maybe you should sit down.” He took her by the arm, riding out the instant electrical charge that touching her elicited, and guided her to the sofa.
Once she was seated, he moved to the chair directly across from her. “What happened?”
She described the dark blue sedan, particularly the dent in the area where the trunk closed. The evasive maneuvers she had taken to clarify whether the vehicle was actually following her were adequate. Judging by her experience, he had to agree she was being followed.
“Have you received any strange phone calls? Hang ups? Heavy breathers? Anything like that?”
She shook her head.
“You haven’t seen any strange cars hanging out around your apartment complex?”
Another shake of her dark head.
Disturbing. “Have you reported this to Callie or the police?”
“No. I…I thought…I wasn’t sure.” She hugged her arms around herself. “But now I’m certain. The man is definitely following me.”
“He wears sunglasses and a baseball cap, you think?”
She inhaled a long, shaky breath. “I’m not positive about the cap but I’m absolutely positive about the sunglasses.”
This needed to be brought to Callie’s attention, as well as to that of the chief of police. “Tell me about the cases you’ve worked recently.” Though the work they did was not anything like what one saw on television, their analysis helped law enforcement bring criminals to justice. Those criminals, at times, targeted the ones they felt were ultimately responsible for their arrests. The forensic analysts.
She listed the cases she’d performed various tests to support. None struck him as particularly high profile or intense investigations. “Are you certain you haven’t made any enemies since moving here? A jilted boyfriend? Or an admirer you’ve offended somehow?” The idea of Olivia with another man burned deep in his belly.
She shook her head. “I’ve been busy with the lab. I really haven’t made any social connections.”
Which meant she was like him. Alone. His chest tightened at the thought.
“Let’s get you calmed down.” That was the first priority. “Then we’ll call Callie and discuss the situation with her.”
Olivia nodded. “Okay.”
He remembered how much they’d enjoyed the hot cocoa last night and he amended his plan. “Let’s have some more of that hot cocoa first.”
The hint of a smile touched her lips. “That would be great.”
“I’ll put the water on.”
Jacob went into the kitchen and filled the kettle. His logic warred with his emotions. He shouldn’t be encouraging this thing between them.
But…
But nothing.
He was tired of being alone.
Taking a risk on Olivia would be worth the potential pain.
Chapter Fourteen
Olivia cradled the hot mug of cocoa in both hands. Logically she knew she was warm now, but somehow her brain failed to deliver that message to the rest of her. She couldn’t stop shivering. Couldn’t stop wondering why anyone would be following her.
Or why everything was going wrong for her at work.
She lifted her gaze to Jacob’s. He’d been watching her closely since her arrival. He was probably afraid to look away for fear of being attacked. She closed her eyes and pushed away the embarrassing memory of kissing him the way she had.
Poor man. She was like some crazed fan.
Callie would likely regret hiring her when she heard about this latest drama. What was going on with her life? Had she ticked off some god or spirit?
Drink the cocoa. Calm down.
Until then she hadn’t noticed that the lights on his Christmas tree were twinkling. He’d bothered to turn them on. A genuine smile slid across her lips. Maybe she’d done one thing right in all this.
Evidently he’d followed her gaze. “I turned the tree on when I got home. It was the least I could do after all the trouble you’d gone to.”
“It looks nice. Homey.” It was true. The evergreen scent and the classic lights made the place feel more like a home.
“I don’t do much to promote that, I’m afraid.”
Had she made him feel guilty for his lack of a festive spirit? “I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant—”
He nodded. “I know what you meant.” He glanced around the room. “I’ve lived here for more than a year and I haven’t really made it my own.”
Was that because he was single? Was he missing someone from the past? The idea twisted her already knotted stomach. “It takes a while sometimes.” The chitchat was awkward. She knew the reason why. That stupid kiss was dangling between them like a black cloud. “Maybe you can give me some pointers on the market when I start house shopping.”
“Gladly.”
Their gazes held long enough to make her pulse react. She should leave. She didn’t need Jacob to call Callie for her. Olivia was fine now. The last thing she wanted to do was make him think she was incapable. She set her cup on the coffee table and stood. “I’m feeling calmer now. I should go.”
He looked surprised, but pushed to his feet as well. “What about Callie?”
“I’ll call when I get home. I shouldn’t have bothered you.”
She made it as far as the door before he stopped her. He took her by the arm and pulled her around to face him. Another of those full body shivers rippled through her, but this time it had nothing to do with being cold.
“Olivia.” He searched her eyes, seemed to struggle with what to say. “This is real. You were frightened. You can’t just leave like this. Let’s call Callie and then I’ll follow you home.”
Every word he said made perfect sense. “I…” It was time to be totally honest here. “I feel bad about last night.” She forced her gaze to meet his, as hard as that was. He had to think she was a fool. “I shouldn’t have…kissed you. It was unconscionable of me. I apologize.”
He was staring at her mouth again. She couldn’t say another word. Couldn’t breathe. Please don’t look at me that way, her mind begged.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he finally said softly. “I…”
He was still looking at her mouth. Her heart fluttered like a butterfly trapped in her chest.
And then he kissed her. Softly, so very softly. His lips felt so good against hers. When he stopped, which was all too soon, he pressed his forehead to hers.
“We really have to figure this part out. That’s why I’m so careful at work.”
Her lips stretched into a smile. “I thought you were avoiding me.”
“Hardly.”
And then he kissed her again.
Chapter Fifteen
Two days ’til Christmas
Olivia could scarcely contain herself at the lab that morning. Jacob had smiled at her when she’d arrived. Not the usual manufactured smile that he tossed at whoever spoke to him, but a real smile that reached his eyes. Whatever was happening between them she wanted it to continue.
Callie had filed the incident report with Kenner City’s chief of police. Both the chief and Callie had insisted that Olivia had been right to report the activity. Callie also agreed that none of Olivia’s cases were the kind that would prompt such a reaction. Still, one could never be certain.
Olivia had decided not to go to Boston after work today. She was hoping against hope that she and Jacob would spend Christmas together. But she was getting ahead of herself. He’d kissed her. Twice. That was true. And he’d followed her home. He’d even come into her apartment and checked that all was clear. Then he’d called her before he went to bed just to be sure she was really okay.
That was a beginning. Wasn’t it? They hadn’t discussed where this was going. But one thing was certain—no one could know. Callie wouldn’t be happy. And they could not allow their personal feelings to interfere with their job.
Those were the rules. Simple enough.
Olivia took a breath. Anything but simple.
Now, if she could just get through the day without any incidents. Callie had gotten the hard copies of her data from yesterday. So all was well on that front. Olivia would do the same today. Better safe than sorry. The last thing she wanted to do was be here alone the day before Christmas Eve—or worse, on Christmas Eve. The lab was supposed to shut down for the weekend.
Of course, if any high-priority requests came in someone would have to work. Depending on the nature of the analysis needed, that would likely be Olivia since she was lowest in seniority.
“Olivia, do you mind working at my station for the rest of the day?” Flemming leaned on her table and rested his head in his hand. “Callie wants me to go through your computer. When I ran a routine check this morning of all the systems, there appeared to be some discrepancies in your access. Some appeared to be remote, as if you’d worked from home.”
“I don’t work from home,” she said. Her suspicions about him rose again even though she’d thought she had put her worries aside where Flemming was concerned. “I usually stay here until I’m finished or come in early the next day.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, but something isn’t right.” He straightened. “We all remote-access the system when we’re out of the lab on a case, but you haven’t traveled on one yet. Maybe it’s nothing, but I should look into it.”
“All right.” She considered asking him if he thought the problem could be related to her stalker, but she wasn’t sure if Callie intended for anyone else to know at this point. Maybe she should just ask him if he had something against her.
But she had no proof. Just…nothing.
“Log in from my station and I’ll see what I can find.”
“No problem.”
When she’d settled in at Flemming’s station, Jacob joined her. Her pulse skipped.
“Is everything okay?”
She liked that he worried about her. There she went, making too much of things again. “Flemming thinks there might be some glitches in the access of my account. He’s checking it out.”
“I’m glad they’re taking seriously whatever is going on.” He hesitated as if he had more to say.
She held her breath.
“I hoped we might have dinner tonight.” He searched her eyes, his own uncertain. “There’s a very nice place in town.”
“That would be awesome.” She knew she was grinning like an idiot. She couldn’t believe it! They had a date!
He touched her arm before walking away and it warmed her all the way to her toes. Slow it down, girl.
Too late. She was running with it.
Unfortunately, the day went downhill from there.
A multiple homicide sent Callie, Flemming and O’Shea to the scene. Callie called in and warned Jacob that it was going to be a long one and that he should join them. With the rest of the lab staff already on location at other scenes, that left only Olivia to hold down the fort.
It was going to be a long night.
Chapter Sixteen
As if she’d needed anything else to go wrong, the lights in the lab had started to blink half an hour ago.
Security had called up and warned her to brace for the coming storm. It was promising to get ugly. Spotty power outages were being reported around town.
Olivia reminded herself that the generators would kick in if the power went out. She didn’t have to worry.
But she did anyway.
Callie and her team hadn’t returned. They were trying to get a second sweep of the scene in before the storm hit the area too hard.
A little more data compilation and Olivia could call it a night anyway. The drive to her apartment might be a little hairy, but she was more than ready to get home.
Anticipation welled in her chest. She and Jacob had a date. God, she should hurry home to change. What if he was held up?
No, she wasn’t going to think that way.
She printed her hard copies and took them to Callie’s office, which wasn’t locked. Odd. She always locked her office when she left the lab. Olivia shrugged and pulled the door closed as she left. Maybe Callie had just been in a hurry.
One final test check and Olivia was out of here. She would compile the data Monday morning since it wasn’t a high priority.
She’d just started back to her station when the lights went out.
Olivia froze. No need to fall over anything or bump into a door. Just stay still until the generators brought the power back on.
She checked her cell phone. Watched the minutes tick off. First one, then another. Okay, the generators should have kicked in by now.
Using the meager light from her cell, she made her way to the nearest station and reached for the phone. No dial tone. She checked all the lines, including the intercom. Nothing. That wasn’t supposed to happen.
Fine. She would call security on her cell.
Except she didn’t know the number. If she needed to contact security there was a button for that on each phone in the lab.
“Dammit.”
She would just have to make her way down the stairs to the lobby. If she took her time, she could make it with her cell phone as a poor excuse for a flashlight.
The corridor leading from the lab to the reception area was pitch-black. She kept having to hit a button or reopen her phone to keep its dim light glowing. As little help as it was, it was better than nothing.
It was so damned quiet.
Creepy quiet.
When she reached the stairwell
door she relaxed marginally. Three flights down and she would be in the lobby. Security would be there and they would have flashlights. There were flashlights back in the lab, but she felt better heading straight for the lobby rather than feeling her way to where they were stored in the lab.
Truth was, she was spooked.
Second floor.
First floor.
“Thank God.”
She opened the door into the lobby and found it wasn’t much better. The wall of windows facing the front parking lot revealed that the cloud cover had obscured the moon. She tried to open one of the exit doors but it was locked. Strange.
Okay. All she had to do was get to the security desk.
She was halfway across the lobby when she realized that there was no one there.
“Hello?”
No answer.
Fear crept over her.
“Hello?” she repeated.
Nothing. Not a sound.
Her phone’s screen went black again.
That was when she heard it.
A footstep somewhere behind her.
Chapter Seventeen
Olivia didn’t turn around.
She ran.
If whoever she’d heard coming had been a member of the lab staff or security, he or she would have called out to her. Every instinct urged her to run.
Her phone slipped from her fingers. Hit the floor and slid God-only-knew where. She couldn’t go back for it. He could be right behind her.
Sheer luck and a good memory was all that prevented her from running headlong into a wall or piece of furniture.
She found the rear exit and slammed her weight against the door.
Nothing happened.
What the…?
The door wasn’t supposed to be sealed. What if there was a fire? The front doors had been locked, too. This was wrong.
Running footfalls whispered against her eardrums.
He was coming.
She flattened against the wall, unsure of herself now. Struggling with the effort, she slowed, quieting her breathing.
