Obsessed

by Margaret Daley

  “That’s what I enjoy about this place. Dallas was too big for me, and I never saw myself as a small-town guy.”

  “And thankfully not much happens around here but the occasional grass fire and tornado.”

  “Yeah, I understand Firehouse 14 had to fight a grass fire last month. We definitely need more rain.” Not but twenty seconds after he said that, thunder rumbled.

  She peered at him, and they both burst out laughing. “Now you know what you have to do to get it to rain here.”

  “I didn’t realize we had rain in the forecast.”

  “We didn’t, but you know Oklahoma. I remember this winter when the weather forecasters predicted a foot of snow. We didn’t even get a dusting.” Again, her soft laughter peppered the air.

  He liked the sound. He liked her.

  The sight of Susie trotting into the kitchen transfixed his gaze on the poodle. She made a beeline for Quinn, who went still, not sure what the dog’s intentions were. She sniffed his legs and, thankfully, didn’t take a bite out of one. Then out of the blue, Susie jumped up into his lap.

  Serena’s eyes grew round. Her mouth fell open.

  Susie twirled around in a circle then plopped down, making herself at home. “Is she sick? Earlier she wasn’t too friendly with me.”

  “For some reason, she’s changed her mind, and that’s rare.”

  “I’m honored. Will it last?”

  Serena shrugged.

  “Oh, good. I have to stay alert in case she changes her mind.” Quinn chuckled and finished his meal with the poodle sleeping in his lap. “I’m going to get the smell test when I go home.”

  “What if Susie’s sitting there because you have Brutus’s smell on you?”

  “What an unlikely pair.”

  She smiled. “Have you figured out what you’re going to do to keep Brutus in your backyard?”

  “When I’m not out there, I’ll keep him on a chain. He can roam around, but it’ll limit where he can go. When I go to the store to find a screen to replace yours, I’ll get what I need to set it up.”

  When they finished their dinner, Quinn started to rise to help Serena take the dishes to the sink but stopped, remembering Susie was in his lap. “What should I do about her? I think she’s asleep.”

  “Here, let me take her.” Serena rounded the table and bent over to pick her up.

  Her scent of vanilla wafted to Quinn. Her nearness sent his heart beating double time. Susie woke up and began barking. The dog’s unexpected move sent Serena backpedaling a few steps until she lost her footing and fell back on her bottom.

  Quinn snatched up the yelping poodle and stood so fast the chair crashed to the floor. He held the dog at arm’s length. “Susie, everything’s okay.” As she calmed, he backed up until he was next to Serena and offered her a hand.

  She rose. “I don’t know why she was so upset.”

  Although the poodle had calmed down, Quinn passed her dog to Serena. “Maybe she got tired of being in my lap,” he said with a chuckle. “Or maybe she misses Brutus.”

  “Shh. Don’t encourage her. They would definitely be an odd couple.”

  Quinn stacked the plates and utensils then started for the sink.

  “I’ll take care of it later. You’re my guest.”

  “But…” The don’t-argue-with-me look on her face stopped his next words. “Fine, but I’m returning the favor when I put my kitchen together.” He continued toward the sink and put the dishes next to it. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning after I go to the hardware store and get the supplies I need.”

  Holding Susie, she made her way to the foyer. “But not before nine. Saturday, I sleep late.”

  He turned toward her. “Thanks for asking me to dinner.”

  As he strolled across her front yard to his, he glanced back at her. Susie began to bark and jumped from Serena’s loose hold. The poodle dashed across the grass toward a hedge on the opposite side of Serena’s house.

  Quinn started to go after Susie, but Serena raced across the yard and picked up her dog. Susie continued her yelping. He waited until Serena disappeared inside her house. Then he hurried to the spot by the hedge. What drew Susie over here?

  As a few drops of rain fell, he took out his cell phone and used its flashlight app to look around. The glow illuminated a set of large boot prints in the dirt on the other side of the hedge.

  Chapter Three

  I’ve been staring at her dark house long after she went to bed tonight. Three years ago, she thought she could get away from me. Changing her name and moving to Cimarron City isn’t enough to keep me from her. I found her. If she wants to be called Serena, then so be it. It won’t matter in the long run. She’s mine. Doesn’t she understand that I protect her from people who don’t love her like I do? I’m the one who took care of her stepfather who made her life miserable. I’m the one who took care of her boyfriends because they would never treat her right. She’ll pay for leaving me. Once I teach her who loves her above everyone else, she’ll understand I’m her future.

  Chapter Four

  Serena sat at her kitchen table as she drank her tea and graded her class assignments. The stack of to-do papers was slowly dwindling, but she still had several more hours this weekend before she would finish. She looked out the window at the sunny morning with an ideal temperature of seventy-four degrees according to her thermometer on her patio. Maybe after another half hour, she could take a break and work in the garden Brutus rearranged.

  She laughed when she thought about it now. She’d planned to introduce herself to her new neighbor this weekend but not by confronting him about his huge dog. With a glance at Susie sleeping on the chair next to Serena, she tried to picture the Great Dane towering over her pet. Their meeting yesterday definitely threw her little poodle into a tizzy to the point she barked at anything last night. When she’d picked up her pet after charging across the front yard, Serena didn’t see anyone on the other side of the hedge. But Susie hadn’t wanted to leave—probably because she didn’t like not seeing her new friend, Brutus.

  She needed to believe it was nothing. It couldn’t be the beginning of what happened in Mobile. She’d used part of her inheritance from her grandmother to pay for a new identity. No one back home knew where she’d gone. She’d hated cutting ties with her family and friends. But after her grandmother’s death, she’d had a way to escape when a still unknown stalker—although she thought it was Brett Porter—pursued her. Her stalker had made her life miserable that last year in Mobile, which was the reason she had to leave her old life totally behind. She even changed her appearance as well as her name.

  There was only one way she could find out if she was safe—research where Brett Porter was. Everything was on the Internet today. If she couldn’t find him that way, she could pay a private detective to locate where he was. She still had three-fourths of her inheritance left, and paying for peace of mind was worth hiring someone to get answers. When they dated, he’d tried to control her. She’d broken it off, and he’d made it clear he wasn’t going to accept that. But the police said that wasn’t enough to arrest Brett.

  God’s in control. There’s no reason for me to think my stalker knows where I am. Maybe he wasn’t that guy. Calm down and take a deep breath. Don’t panic. God is with me.

  She closed her eyes and imagined Jesus waiting for her in a field of blooming wildflowers. The day was glorious with the sun warming any coldness inside her. The closer she came to Him, the calmer and more wonderful she felt. This was where she went when she would start stressing over the past.

  A low growl emanated from Susie. Serena opened her eyes as her poodle sat up and watched Quinn carry a new screen and a toolbox past her window. Her dog jumped down and padded to the back exit. Serena tried to return to grading, but Susie scratched the door, her signal she needed to go outside. Quinn and her dog mostly got along last night. Surely Serena could let her pet out while she graded the rest of the school papers.

  When Susie d
arted outside, she ran in the direction of Quinn. She wasn’t barking or snarling, so Quinn should be fine. Serena returned to the table and tried to read the next essay. After starting and restarting, she gave up. All she could think about was Quinn, not comparing the protagonist and villain in Macbeth. She finally quit trying and decided to see how Quinn was doing. The prospect of seeing him again brought a smile to her face.

  She poured two glasses of iced tea and exited out the back door onto the patio. Susie lay next to the toolbox while watching what Quinn was doing. In a short time, he almost had the screen in place. She walked toward him. He glanced her way and grinned.

  “I thought you might be thirsty.” She held out the glass.

  He took it and drank a long sip. “Thanks. I finished Brutus’s project. He shouldn’t be bothering you again.”

  A yelp sounded from his backyard.

  “And he isn’t happy with me. He has access to most of the yard, but he can’t quite reach the fence on your side.” He placed the glass on the ground. “I’ll be finished in a couple of minutes. Then I want to show you something.”

  “What?”

  “A surprise.” Quinn went back to work and completed the task quickly. After picking up his drink and toolbox, he started for the patio. Off to the side on the ground was a box of colorful zinnias. “I noticed Brutus dislodged a few of your flowers. I thought I’d plant these if you like them.”

  “Yes, they’re beautiful. I’ll help, too. I’d been thinking about doing that today. The weather is perfect for gardening.”

  While Quinn carried the plants to the garden, Serena went into her garage and snatched the tools needed. When she returned to the backyard, Susie had laid down along the fence where the tunnel had been. At least it wasn’t muddy since the rain last night was brief and light.

  As she approached, Quinn placed the zinnia containers in several rows. “What do you think?”

  “They look great.” She handed him a spade then knelt on the ground near him. “I’ll do this half.”

  As she worked, she slanted a glance at Quinn. She liked what she saw. Nice looking. Easy and appealing to talk to. He moved outward and ended up next to Susie. He paused and stroked the poodle. Her dog ended up turning over onto her back, so he could scratch her stomach. And he was an animal lover. Another positive for Quinn.

  Once, he caught her looking at him. Heat burned her cheeks. She quickly turned her attention to planting the flowers.

  “This is beautiful. Much better than what I had here. Maybe Brutus’s antics weren’t so bad after all. I had flowers with the same color. I love this multi-colored array. Thanks. You did much more than you needed to do. Your dog only ruined a few plants.” Serena pushed to her feet, dusting the dirt and grass off her jeans.

  When she straightened, Quinn moved closer. “You have some dirt on your cheek.”

  “Where?”

  He brushed his fingers along her jawline. “There.”

  His light touch, coupled with his close proximity, sent tingling sensations down her body. “I’m going to make a ham sandwich for lunch. Would you like one?” The words tumbled from her mouth without any thought.

  “Sure. I haven’t totally stocked my kitchen yet. I’ve been doing takeout a lot since I moved in a few days ago.”

  “Come on in. I’ll take that and put it in the garage.” She reached for the spade he’d used. “I’ll throw the boxes in my recycle bin, too. You can wash up in the kitchen.” When she opened the kitchen door, she called out, “Susie, come in.”

  Her dog didn’t even raise her head. She continued napping by the fence.

  “Usually she doesn’t like staying out too long. I’ll put her water bowl out there for her.”

  “I think she misses Brutus. We should bring them together and see what happens.”

  “Are you kidding? If your Great Dane sat on her, he would squash her.”

  “Brutus is well trained. He’s a service dog.” Quinn followed her into her kitchen.

  “Doing what?”

  “He’s an accelerant detection dog and very helpful in my arson cases.”

  “I didn’t know there were dogs that did that.”

  “Can I tell you a secret?” He leaned close. “I think he’s another reason I got the job at the fire department. We’re a team.” He glanced over her shoulder at her poodle’s bowls. “I’ll fill up Susie’s water and put it outside on the patio.”

  As Serena continued the trek to put up her garden tools and the flower boxes in the recycle bin in the garage, she smiled. After grading essays for a couple of hours this morning, this break with Quinn, even the planting part, was a breath of fresh air. She quickly returned to the kitchen, looking forward to spending more time with him. As she made the sandwiches, Quinn came back into the house.

  “Is Susie still by the fence?” Serena brought the plates to the table and stacked her papers then moved them to the opposite end.

  “Yep, but she did look at me, so she knows she has water.”

  “Do you want a refill on the iced tea?”

  He nodded as he took a seat.

  After pouring the drinks, Serena sat catty-cornered from Quinn.

  “I see you have quite a stack of papers to grade.”

  “I believe in teaching writing skills to help my students when they graduate. It helps their communication skills, which is important in the workforce. But that means more work for me. If I want them to grow, I need to give them feedback with what works and doesn’t.”

  “Teachers are under appreciated but so important to the next generation.”

  “What you do is essential to our safety. I can’t imagine going into a burning building. When I was a senior in high school, my stepfather died in a house fire. By the time the fire department got there, it was completely engulfed in flames.”

  “What about your mother?” Quinn took a bite of his ham sandwich.

  “She was at the hospital on the nightshift. She was working double shifts. She wanted to leave my stepfather. He wasn’t a nice man.” That was an understatement, but she didn’t share her feelings toward Pete Broussard.

  “How did the fire start?” Quinn washed down his food with a drink of iced tea.

  “He’d been drinking and smoking. They believed he passed out and the alcohol spilled all over him, and when the cigarette fell from his lips, it ignited the fire. Not many people mourned his death, but I never wished that on him.” Serena ate some of her sandwich, not wanting to dwell any more on that time of her life. When she left Mobile three years ago, she left her past behind her, especially those years he was her stepfather.

  “It probably happened so fast he didn’t suffer.” Quinn finished his lunch in silence.

  The quiet should feel awkward to her, but it didn’t. In fact, she relished it while she slammed a lid on her memories. Her stepfather had been a vile man, but he didn’t deserve to die that way.

  The sound of the doorbell’s chimes surprised her.

  “Expecting anyone?”

  She shook her head. “Excuse me. I shouldn’t be long.”

  In the foyer, she peered out the peephole. Why was a police officer here? She opened the door. “Is something wrong?”

  Dressed in a suit with his badge displaying his name, Parks, the man nodded. “I’m following up on a missing person case I was assigned.”

  “Who?” One of her students?

  “Mark Johnson.”

  The man she’d been dating casually until about two weeks ago. “Who reported Mark missing?”

  “His employer. When we went to check his house, one of his neighbors wondered where he was.”

  “Come in. We only dated six weeks, but if I can help you, I will.”

  “Didn’t you think it was strange when you didn’t hear from him recently?”

  She moved into the living room. “No, because he sent me a text breaking up. I replied but never heard from him again.”

  “That didn’t surprise you?”

  �
��No. I didn’t ask him anything he needed to respond to. I just told him I wished him well. Wait here. I’ll get his text and show you.” She headed to the kitchen to grab her cell phone on the counter. Her heart thudded at the questions the officer asked her. Did he think she had known or done something that she wasn’t telling him? She’d cared for Mark. They had fun on their dates, but they had been more friends than anything else.

  “Serena, are you all right?” Quinn asked, standing by the table.

  “A guy I used to date is missing, and the police are looking into it.” No, this can’t be what happened in Mobile. How could my stalker have found me? I’m not going to panic. Mark had said something a few weeks ago about taking a vacation. Maybe that was it.

  Quinn covered the distance to her, his nearness dragging her away from the fear beginning to churn in her stomach. She definitely needed to see where Brett Porter was, just to put her mind at rest.

  “I’m sorry to hear about that, Serena. Can I help?”

  “No. I can’t even help. I haven’t seen Mark in a couple of weeks.” She held up her phone. “All I can show the police is my last text to him. If you need to leave—”

  “I don’t. I’ll wait until you’re finished if that’s okay with you.”

  “Thanks.” Serena hurried back into the living room. “I’m sorry it took so long. My neighbor is here in the kitchen. I wanted to let him know what was going on.”

  “Does he know Mark Johnson?”

  “No. He just moved to Cimarron City a few days ago.” Serena turned on her phone and found the text Mark had sent her. “Here’s what I was talking about. That’s the last time I heard from him. He did talk about taking a vacation. You might check on that.”

  “According to his colleagues, he went missing the afternoon before this text was sent.”

  Her stomach twisted into a knot. “When was this reported to the police?”

  “Ten days ago. His partner received a text the day before you that Mr. Johnson was leaving town for a few days, but when he didn’t come to work on Monday, they tried getting in touch with him. The number’s no longer working. They contacted anyone or any place they could think of that Mr. Johnson would visit out of town. No one has seen him. Did he tell you about a place he wanted to go to?”