A Case of Extreme Mistaken Identity - Victorine E. Lieske Page 0,38
She felt safe with him. She looked down at the carpet. “Yes. Please do. Thanks.”
He let go and moved past her to his phone. He called his friend. After a moment, he said, “Hey, how are you?”
Dani stared at the balloons while Austin had a conversation, her anxiousness increasing as it sounded more and more like this friend of his knew nothing about the notes.
“Why do you keep telling me you didn’t send them?” Austin paced the room. “Just fess up. I won’t be mad.”
She tugged at the hem of her pajamas as Austin finished up with the phone call. He hung up and tossed his phone on the bed, letting out a breath. “He says he didn’t send them.”
“That’s what I was afraid of.” She hugged her arms to herself. “This is exactly how it started…” She let the rest of it trail off. He would know what she meant.
Austin clenched his teeth. “It’s not a stalker.”
“How do you know that?” She picked up the card and thrust it at him. “‘I warned you’. That’s what it says. What did the other one say?”
“Something about a snake. I don’t really remember.” He took the card from her and scanned it. “I thought it was from Gregg, I swear I did. Who would be sending me threats?”
“Could be anyone. A crazy psycho fan, probably. My father gets them from time to time, but he takes them very seriously now. You should call the police and get some security here.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s nothing that bad. Probably just someone messing with me.”
And that was the attitude that got her mother killed. Dani didn’t want to frighten him, but crazy fans could be dangerous. Austin didn’t understand. He wouldn’t until something bad happened to him. And she didn’t want that to happen.
“It’s not bad until it gets bad,” she said softly.
Austin reached out and brushed her hair from the side of her face. “I’m sorry. This must be very upsetting to you.”
Yes. It was. He had no idea how upsetting it was. He had obviously never delt with a crazy person. She tried to take in a calming breath, but her fingers shook, giving away her anxiety. All she could do was admit it. “Yeah.”
“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
His soft words sliced through her. Standing there next to him, his muscular frame just inches from hers, she could almost believe he meant it. Almost. He was too nice. Too accommodating. And in the past, she’d been too trusting. This is what had gotten her into all kinds of messes. She wanted to trust Austin, but she wasn’t sure how. “Please call the police,” was all she could whisper.
“I don’t know what they would do. There was no specific threat.” He crumpled the card. “Just stupid things to scare me. And you.”
She wrung her hands, unable to feel at ease. “Then, let’s go somewhere today. I don’t feel like staying here.”
“Sure. Get dressed. We can go anywhere you’d like.” He paused. “At least, anywhere a golf cart will take us.” He winked at her.
Dang, why did he have to look cute like that? Relief passed through her like a cool breeze at the thought of getting out of there. “Okay. I’ll get ready.” She looked up at the now garish-looking balloons. “And get rid of those, please? They’re making me nervous.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Austin stabbed at the foil balloon with the only thing he had in his possession that might pop it…a plastic fork from their last takeout meal that he’d dug out of the trash. A couple of the tines had broken off, but it would have to do. The balloon finally popped and he wadded it up and stuffed it into the trash can.
Irritation swept through him as he buried the teddy bear under the white Styrofoam box that had held their Moo Goo Gai Pan. Whoever it was sending those notes was really going to get it when he uncovered the truth. Dani had been so freaked, he thought she might hyperventilate. He was sure these notes were bringing back all the memories of what happened to her mother.
The thought of Dani in distress made him want to punch something, and he found himself tightening his hands into fists. Who would do such a thing? If he found out it was a prank from one of the guys on the team…but even the thought didn’t sit right with him. It wasn’t any of them.