Stalker In the Shadows Read online

  “I’m not going to put the knife down. Just shoot me.” He took an unsteady step forward and pointed the knife at Hunter. “Shoot me or I’m going to stab you.”

  Sheriff Black took a step forward, obviously concerned for Hunter’s safety. “Come on, George. I’m not going to shoot you,” Hunter replied, keeping his voice calm and steady. “Hell, George, I like you too much to shoot you.”

  George turned the knife back to his own neck. “I just need to die.”

  “Has Marybeth been around to see you?” Normally George’s daughter kept a close eye on her father.

  “She’s gone...took the kids to visit their other grandparents in Kansas City.” George looked even more miserable. His knife hand trembled, and although Hunter didn’t fear the man would really cut his throat, he did fear he might accidentally hurt himself.

  “When is she coming home?” Hunter asked.

  George frowned thoughtfully. “I think maybe tomorrow.”

  “Now, George, you know she wouldn’t be happy to find you like this. Why don’t you drop the knife and we’ll go inside. You can get cleaned up, and I’ll make you a pot of coffee so you can sober up.”

  To Hunter’s relief, he dropped the knife. Hunter hurried forward and kicked the knife far enough away that George couldn’t pick it up again.

  Hunter could have arrested George, but a little time in jail wouldn’t help this situation. So instead, for the next forty-five minutes Hunter helped George get into a shower and change into clean clothes. He found the bottles of his medicine and got George to take it and promise that he would take it again in the morning.

  Hunter sat and drank a cup of coffee with the man, then got him settled on the sofa so he could sleep it off. Finally, as George began to snore, Hunter left the house.

  Depression was a crappy thing, he thought as he headed back to the station. Hunter had definitely suffered situational depression when he’d lost his son, but thankfully as time had passed and with a few counseling sessions, he’d managed to climb out of the darkness that had stolen all the joy from his life.

  He had a couple more hours of work, and then he’d get to eat lunch and see Ainsley. After last night’s date, he was really looking forward to spending more time with her.

  He’d found her refreshingly authentic. She was also intelligent and funny and the type of woman he could see himself with for the long-term.

  Of course all those were first-night impressions—they certainly needed to spend more time together and see how things went. Still, for the first time since his divorce, he was excited about the possibility of a relationship with a woman he found warm and exciting.

  Although he’d wanted to wrap her up in his arms last night and give her a real, deep kiss, he’d restrained himself. Her lips had been so soft and incredibly hot. Kissing Ainsley again was definitely something he was looking forward to.

  It was just after one when he entered the café. His gaze immediately found Ainsley taking orders from a group of four. He sat at one of the other tables that he knew she worked and waited for her to turn around and see him.

  When she did, her lips curved into a smile that seemed like it was just for him alone, and her cheeks flushed with a charming shade of pink. God, she was so gorgeous.

  She’d looked incredible the night before. He had been used to seeing her wearing the red-and-black apron that all of the waitresses wore. But last night the pink blouse had hugged her curves and her jeans had fit tight on her long, slender legs.

  Within minutes she stood at the side of his table. “I heard you had an exciting few minutes this morning talking down a man with a knife.”

  He looked at her in surprise. “Where did you hear that?”

  “Sheriff Black was in here earlier extolling your patience and great police work.”

  Hunter felt his cheeks warm as a wave of embarrassment washed over him. “I was just doing my job.”

  “Maybe so, but according to Sheriff Black you went above and beyond today. Therefore, your lunch is on me,” she said.

  “Oh no, I can’t allow you to do that,” he protested.

  “Please, Hunter, I insist. It’s the least I can do to thank a member of law enforcement who keeps us all safe. Now, what can I get for you this afternoon?”

  Although he didn’t like the idea of her paying for his lunch, he also didn’t want to argue with her. “I’ll take one of Big Ed’s big burgers with cheese and fries on the side.”

  “And what about to drink?”

  “A cup of coffee,” he replied. “I’ve still got a long night ahead of me, because one of the guys called in sick and I’m picking up his shift.”

  “That’s good of you,” she replied. Her blue eyes sparkled with such brightness. He wanted to fall into the crystal clear depths.

  “Yeah, well, Zeus isn’t very happy about me being gone all night.”

  Her gaze turned quizzical. “Zeus?”

  “My dog,” he replied.

  She laughed. “I was wondering why the god of thunder and lightning would be mad at you. I’ll be back in a minute with your coffee.”

  Once again he was struck by her intelligence. He could ask a half a dozen women on the streets of Dusty Gulch who Zeus was, and they would probably think he was some kind of new dress designer.

  He found himself even more curious about Ainsley’s background. As he thought back to their date the night before, he realized for the amount of time they’d spent together, he’d really learned very little about her.

  The only thing he really knew was that she was originally from Nevada, divorced from an uncaring, uninvolved husband and father, and she loved crime dramas and old rock and roll music.

  They hadn’t really started to get into the meat of each other’s lives yet, but hopefully that would all come in time. He smiled as she returned to his table with the coffeepot.

  “So, you know all about my morning, but I don’t know anything about yours,” he said as she filled his cup.

  “Let me think...I served about twenty people for breakfast, double that for lunch and all I can think about is in half an hour or so I can take my break and get off my feet for just a few minutes.” She gave him a charming grin. “What can I say? It’s another normal day at Big Ed’s.”

  “Have you always worked as a waitress?”

  “I was a stay-at-home mother until my divorce, and then I went to work waitressing because I knew how to hustle for tips and I could pretty much pick my schedule.”

  “Are you telling me after all this time you’ve just been hustling me for tips?” he teased.

  She raised a hand up to her lips as if she’d just let a big secret escape. “Oh, I wasn’t supposed to tell you that part.”

  He laughed and then held her gaze for a long moment. “Have I told you today that I find you really attractive?”

  “Hush, you’re making me blush,” she replied. Sure enough, that pink hue leaped into her cheeks.

  “I find your blushes utterly charming.”

  “Ainsley?” Big Ed’s voice boomed from the pass-through window.

  “Maybe that’s your order up.” She whirled away from the table and headed to the back.

  She returned a moment later with his burger and a deeper blush on her cheeks. “I picked up your order, along with a bit of a scolding.”

  “Scolding?”

  Her gaze didn’t quite meet his. “Big Ed said we can flirt with each other a little less and I need to work a little more because I have other patrons to attend to.”

  “So basically what he’s saying is we have to flirt faster,” Hunter replied with a grin.

  She laughed. “And on that note, I’m leaving your table now.”

  He watched her scurry away to another table and enjoyed the slight sway of her hips. He looked over at Big Ed, who grinned at him and then shook his hea
d.

  Sure to her word, she didn’t give him a check when he finished eating, so he tipped her not only the cost of the meal, but also his usual twenty-five percent.

  When he left the café, he was even more excited for their next date. He had a feeling that Ainsley Meadows just might be the right woman to help heal the pain of his past.

  BINGO.

  Peter Waverly closed his computer down and leaned back in his chair in his spacious home office in Portland, Maine. Success...it tasted even better than the thousand-dollar bottle of wine he’d opened to celebrate.

  It was true that money could buy you almost anything, and he’d thrown a ton of money out on the dark web to find the answers he’d needed.

  A big help in achieving what he needed was the fact that his father had passed away eighteen months before. Jeffrey Waverly had been a very successful businessman worth millions, and upon his death Peter had become a very wealthy man.

  Peter now took another sip of his wine and then rose from his desk. He walked down the hallway to the master bathroom and stared into the mirror over the sink.

  A stranger stared back at him. Gone was the blond hair, replaced with a dark brown color. That had been only the beginning of his transformation.

  In the last year and a half he’d had a nose job, cheek and chin work done, and implants to fix two crooked front teeth. If his parents were alive right now, they wouldn’t recognize him...and neither would she.

  She wouldn’t see him coming. Tomorrow he would begin arrangements to arrive in Dusty Gulch, Kansas. It was past time he have a reunion with his ex-wife, Colette.

  He had to teach her a lesson for leaving him. He had to teach her an even bigger lesson for taking his daughter away from him.

  He grinned at the man in the mirror. Thoughts of Colette rushed through his head...the intense love he’d felt for her, the all-consuming passion and utter need of her. She had been his entire world, and when she’d given him his daughter, he’d been over the moon with happiness.

  Sure, there had been times he’d needed to discipline Colette because she broke one of his rules, but he always told her exactly why she was being disciplined.

  And then she’d left him.

  The last night they had been together, he’d admit, he lost it. She had made him so angry he’d almost killed her then. Luckily, he had friends in high places, and he’d managed to escape an attempted murder charge. He’d assumed he and Colette would pick up where they’d left off, but while he’d been locked up for a day, she had run.

  He balled up his fist as a white-hot rage gripped him. He slammed his fist into the mirror, shattering it into a million pieces.

  That’s what he was going to do to Colette. First he intended to break her...and then he was going to kill her.

  Chapter Three

  “What is this? Date number three?” Juanita’s dark eyes twinkled.

  “Officially it’s date number three, but I kind of feel like we’re been on one extended long date,” Ainsley replied. “When he comes in for lunch every day, it’s like we’re having mini-dates.”

  Once again Juanita was keeping Melinda for the evening so Ainsley could go out with Hunter. The two women were seated at Juanita’s kitchen table, and the sound of children’s laughter drifted in from the living room.

  “You like him.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement of fact.

  “Oh, Juanita, I do,” Ainsley confessed. “Tonight he’s grilling steak for me at his house.”

  “If you’ve already eaten Chinese and pizza together, other than the café you’ve hit all the hot eating spots in town,” Juanita said with a laugh.

  “That’s what Hunter told me.”

  The sparkle in her eyes and her smile dimmed somewhat as Juanita reached across the table and covered one of Ainsley’s hands with hers.

  “Try not to break his heart, Ainsley. He’s had enough heartache in his life for any one man to carry. Hunter is a good man who deserves much better than what he’s been dealt in his past.” Juanita pulled her hand back.

  “I know he’s divorced and that must have been painful for him, but is there more?” Ainsley asked curiously. Hunter hadn’t appeared scarred or badly hurt when he’d mentioned his divorce to her.

  “There’s more, but it’s Hunter’s story to tell when he’s ready. And now, you’d better get out of here or you’ll be late for your date with him.”

  Ainsley nodded and stood. “I feel like I should be paying you for babysitting for me,” she said as she walked toward the back door.

  “Nonsense, I’ve told you one more in this household is no big deal. Besides, Melinda is really good with helping with the younger ones. I should probably be paying her for all her help.”

  Minutes later as Ainsley drove home to get ready for her date, thoughts of her mother and her sister filled her mind, and a deep ache swept over her. Ainsley’s father had passed away over ten years ago. Thankfully, he hadn’t lived to know the brutality his daughter had gone through.

  However, her mother and sister were very much alive, and she missed them terribly. When Ainsley had first gone on the run, she’d made the mistake of believing herself safe and she’d called her mother. It had almost been a deadly error, for the phone call had been traced and he’d nearly found her.

  At that time she’d realized she had to function as if her mother and her sister were dead. This had been and continued to be absolutely heartbreaking, but Ainsley was determined to protect not only herself, but more importantly her daughter.

  By the time she got back to her apartment, her thoughts were consumed by the man who would pick her up in thirty minutes. There was no question that she was quite smitten with Hunter.

  Their last date had gone as well as their first. At the end of that date, he’d once again given her a short, sweet kiss. Her desire to get a real, deep kiss from him was growing by the minute.

  As she put on her makeup, she thought about what Juanita had said about Hunter. She’d already believed she’d seen a core of sadness inside Hunter’s eyes, and now Juanita’s words intrigued her even more.

  Try not to break his heart. Juanita’s words echoed in her head. That was the last thing Ainsley wanted to do. But she didn’t know what the future might hold. She knew Hunter liked her, as she liked him. Should she just stop seeing him to make sure she didn’t hurt him? Maybe he would be the one to hurt her.

  She was hoping to just let things develop naturally between them. The only way she could see that she might break his heart was if she had to pick up and leave town in the blink of an eye. And she was hoping that wouldn’t happen.

  She finished getting ready, and by the time she stood in the living room to await Hunter’s arrival, all other thoughts of anything else had vanished beneath a rush of sweet anticipation.

  Promptly at five o’clock, the knock fell on her door. She grabbed her purse and then opened the door. As always her breath hitched at the sight of him.

  “Hi,” he said, his eyes sparkling.

  “Hi back,” she replied.

  He grinned. “Ready to go?”

  “Ready.” She closed the door behind her, and together they walked to his truck.

  “Hungry?” he asked once they were on their way.

  “I can’t wait to see if you can really grill a mean steak as you promised me yesterday at lunch.”

  “The pressure is definitely on. I’m also baking potatoes and making a salad.”

  “Sounds like a perfect meal to me.” As always the scent of his fresh cologne mingling with a faint hint of minty soap and shaving cream half seduced her.

  Within minutes they pulled into the driveway of an attractive beige ranch house with chocolate-brown trim. The lawn was neatly manicured, and a large maple tree stood in the center, sporting the beautiful red leaves of autumn.

  “This is lovely,�
� she said as they walked to the front door. “How long have you lived here?”

  “About eight years.”

  “You must have been a baby when you bought it,” she replied.

  He laughed. “I was young.” He unlocked the door and turned to her. “You told me yesterday at lunch that you liked dogs. I have to warn you, when I open this door, we will be met by a small bundle of fur who will threaten to lick you to death.”

  She playfully straightened her shoulders. “I think I’m ready.”

  He opened the door, and they stepped inside. Sure enough, a little black dog flew past Hunter and instead began to dance at Ainsley’s feet.

  “Oh my gosh, aren’t you the sweetest thing.” Ainsley leaned over, and Zeus jumped into her arms. Zeus kissed her neck as if he was thrilled to see her.

  “Uh-oh, you just made a big mistake.”

  “What’s that?” she asked, giggling as Zeus continued to kiss her.

  “You picked him up and made nice with him. Now you’ll be his slave.”

  She laughed and put the dog back on the floor. As Zeus finally greeted Hunter, she looked around at her surroundings. The living room was a nice size. The black recliner chair and overstuffed gray sofa suggested this was a room for comfort.

  A large television hung on the wall above a gray stone fireplace, and a nearby bookshelf held not only a variety of books but also a framed photo of all the men and women who worked together for the sheriff, and one picture of Hunter with the sheriff and Jake Albright.

  “You know the Albrights?” she asked. She had heard about the wealthy, powerful family who owned most of the town. She also knew there had been a huge scandal when Jake Albright’s brother had tried to kill Eva Martin, the woman Jake loved and had since married.

  “Not well. You heard about his brother and the whole mess?”

  She smiled at him and nodded. “Gossip is not in short supply around Dusty Gulch.”

  “That was definitely a gossip-worthy crime. Anyway, when the dust finally settled, Jake donated money for body cams and for updating other ancient equipment in the department.”