Six. She wasn’t simply dead, she was bloody. “Nina, someone used your cat to leave you a message.”
* * *
NINA HAD FELT BONE-CRUSHING, mind-numbing grief before.
Losing her cat didn’t make her feel anything like she’d felt when she’d lost Rachel. Or when Beth had committed suicide. But it still hurt.
In her gut. In her soul. She ached for the small animal that had been her companion. But even more so, she hated being reminded humans could do such horrible things. And she hated the fear that had seeped into her very being. Fear at what might happen next.
“You shouldn’t be alone,” Simon insisted even as he pulled up in front of her house. “Let me take you to a hotel. At least until I can talk to Charleston P.D. I need to know for myself where Lester Davenport is. I need to know he won’t get to you.”
For a moment, she didn’t understand what he was saying. He wanted her to go to a hotel? Some clinical impersonal space filled with strangers? She cringed at the very thought. “No, Simon.” She tried to explain her desire to be in familiar surroundings. Her need to feel safe in her own home. Reassured that her life wasn’t going to implode due to the actions of one sick individual. But instead she said, “I’m not going to run. Besides, you can’t be sure Lester Davenport left my...my cat there for me to see. I know he’s hurting and fixated on his daughter’s death, but he—he’s never done something like this before. Nothing so violent.”
“He left you a letter telling you that you were going to die! ‘She died and so will you.’ That’s what he wrote and he was obviously referring to his daughter. It makes sense, Nina. More sense than hiding your head in the sand.”
“Refusing to let myself be scared out of my own home is not hiding my head in the sand. I’ll be fine.” She opened the car door and stepped out.
“Do you have a security system?”
“Besides my locks, you mean? I told you my house alarm is broken, remember?”
“Damn it.” He slapped the steering wheel in frustration and stepped out of the car, as well. “Fine. Then I’ll stay, too. I’m sure I’ve never slept in such luxurious accommodations before. It’ll be a good experience for me.”
He said it with confidence and humor, probably hoping to distract her, but she wasn’t going to give in. She couldn’t. Giving in would lead to more giving in, which could very well lead to her collapsing altogether. She couldn’t let that happen. She was strong. She would survive this even if Six hadn’t. And she was going to have to do it without the comforting presence of Simon Granger.
“No, Simon. We both know that’s not a good idea.”
“Damn it, you’re stubborn.”
She snorted and arched a brow, as if to say, “And you’re any different?”
“Fine. At least let me go in. Check to make sure the place is secure.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “And then you’ll leave?”
“If that’s what you want, yes.”
She shook her head. “That’s not good enough.”
“Why? Afraid you won’t be able to resist me?”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” she said softly. “I’m—I’m not stupid. I’m shaken by what’s happened. It would feel good to let myself be comforted...”
He reached out and smoothed her arm. “Then why won’t you let me comfort you?”
“Because today established we’re not good for each other, Simon. I asked you to trust me. You did. Things didn’t go as well as they could have and that made you angry with me.”
“I was angry that you were put in danger. Justifiably angry!”
“But you were also angry with me. Angry that I put myself in danger. Part of you still is. Aren’t you?”
His expression turned decidedly mulish. “I can be angry with you and still comfort you.”
“But eventually you’re going to be so angry with me you’re not going to want to comfort me. And then where will I be? Yearning for something I should never have allowed myself to have in the first place. No, I can comfort myself. I’ve grown quite good at it.”
She was unlocking her front door when he called, “How good are you at comforting others?”
She froze. “What?”
“You don’t think I’m shaken by what happened?” He walked toward her, not stopping until the tips of their shoes almost touched and she had to crane her neck to look up at him. “I watched Anne Stanley get close enough to you