memoirs.”
“Yes.” He’d lived as a mercenary for ten years and his six years in the Army Rangers had been only marginally better.
“Everyone has things in their past they aren’t proud of.”
“Would everyone do them again?” Because he would.
He’d made a lot of tough calls in his life, but the few regrets weren’t about the warfare he’d waged on behalf of the people who had needed his help. That didn’t mean things didn’t weigh on his conscience. It didn’t matter how many times a man had to kill, he never learned to take it in stride.
At least he hadn’t.
“Few people have lived lives so full of heroism that they’d want to.”
“I’m no hero.”
She waved her hand, dismissing his words. “Tell me about what y’all discussed while I was writing.”
He didn’t feel like arguing with her to disillusion her, so he went with the change of subject. “I read through the letters you keep in your ‘weird letter’ file.”
“I did that, too, right after the stalking started, but I couldn’t see a correlation between any of the letters and what was happening to me.”
“You can’t limit yourself to linking like events. Five of those messages were written from prison, four of them by men who have since been let out.”
“Some of the letters were really disgusting.” She shivered. “Have you looked into the men’s whereabouts?”
“One is doing parole in the Midwest and from all accounts hasn’t left town since getting out. Another is doing time again, but in a county jail, and the other two skipped parole and no one knows where they are.”
“Do you think one of them is my stalker?”
“I don’t know,” he replied honestly, wishing it could be that easy, suspecting it wouldn’t be. “One of the men was in for sexual assault.”
Her face blanched and he reached out to touch her before thinking better of it.
“No one is getting near you.”
“Thanks.” She licked a crumb from the corner of her mouth and he wanted to follow her retreating tongue with his own.
He forced his thoughts away from that dangerous path. “There were a few more letters I thought we should investigate.”
“Which ones?”
“You’ve had two letters from a right-wing conservative group that claims to have discovered the new way to salvation. They’ve got major issues with women, especially assertive and strong ones.”
“You think I’m being stalked by a cult?” She sounded incredulous.
“No, but one of the cult’s followers might have fixated on you. It’s something we’re going to have to look into.”
“This isn’t going to be straightforward, is it?”
There was no sense lying to her. She was too smart to believe him, anyway. “No.”
The apartment intercom buzzed.
“Are you expecting anyone?”
“No.”
He followed her into the hall and she pressed the black button on her intercom. “Yes?”
“Miss Barton, this is the security desk. A package was delivered for you today that wouldn’t fit in your mailbox.”
“I’ll be down shortly to collect it.” She snagged her keys from the hook. “Be right back.”
Joshua put his hand on the door, preventing her from opening it. “How often do you get packages?”
“Quite a lot, actually.” She patted his arm as if trying to reassure him.
It was a strange sensation. No one but his mother and sisters believed he needed that kind of thing.
“This is nothing new, Joshua. My publisher sends me manuscripts for proofing, author copies of my books, and I order a lot of books online, too.”
“That doesn’t mean this package is innocent.” His gut was telling him things were escalating. There was no overt proof of it, but he knew it all the same.
“You can’t go with me.” She hugged herself in a way he’d learned meant she was feeling threatened. “For all we know, Nemesis is one of the apartment building’s security guards.”
He liked the way her posture put her breasts into prominence, but he didn’t
“Yes.” He’d lived as a mercenary for ten years and his six years in the Army Rangers had been only marginally better.
“Everyone has things in their past they aren’t proud of.”
“Would everyone do them again?” Because he would.
He’d made a lot of tough calls in his life, but the few regrets weren’t about the warfare he’d waged on behalf of the people who had needed his help. That didn’t mean things didn’t weigh on his conscience. It didn’t matter how many times a man had to kill, he never learned to take it in stride.
At least he hadn’t.
“Few people have lived lives so full of heroism that they’d want to.”
“I’m no hero.”
She waved her hand, dismissing his words. “Tell me about what y’all discussed while I was writing.”
He didn’t feel like arguing with her to disillusion her, so he went with the change of subject. “I read through the letters you keep in your ‘weird letter’ file.”
“I did that, too, right after the stalking started, but I couldn’t see a correlation between any of the letters and what was happening to me.”
“You can’t limit yourself to linking like events. Five of those messages were written from prison, four of them by men who have since been let out.”
“Some of the letters were really disgusting.” She shivered. “Have you looked into the men’s whereabouts?”
“One is doing parole in the Midwest and from all accounts hasn’t left town since getting out. Another is doing time again, but in a county jail, and the other two skipped parole and no one knows where they are.”
“Do you think one of them is my stalker?”
“I don’t know,” he replied honestly, wishing it could be that easy, suspecting it wouldn’t be. “One of the men was in for sexual assault.”
Her face blanched and he reached out to touch her before thinking better of it.
“No one is getting near you.”
“Thanks.” She licked a crumb from the corner of her mouth and he wanted to follow her retreating tongue with his own.
He forced his thoughts away from that dangerous path. “There were a few more letters I thought we should investigate.”
“Which ones?”
“You’ve had two letters from a right-wing conservative group that claims to have discovered the new way to salvation. They’ve got major issues with women, especially assertive and strong ones.”
“You think I’m being stalked by a cult?” She sounded incredulous.
“No, but one of the cult’s followers might have fixated on you. It’s something we’re going to have to look into.”
“This isn’t going to be straightforward, is it?”
There was no sense lying to her. She was too smart to believe him, anyway. “No.”
The apartment intercom buzzed.
“Are you expecting anyone?”
“No.”
He followed her into the hall and she pressed the black button on her intercom. “Yes?”
“Miss Barton, this is the security desk. A package was delivered for you today that wouldn’t fit in your mailbox.”
“I’ll be down shortly to collect it.” She snagged her keys from the hook. “Be right back.”
Joshua put his hand on the door, preventing her from opening it. “How often do you get packages?”
“Quite a lot, actually.” She patted his arm as if trying to reassure him.
It was a strange sensation. No one but his mother and sisters believed he needed that kind of thing.
“This is nothing new, Joshua. My publisher sends me manuscripts for proofing, author copies of my books, and I order a lot of books online, too.”
“That doesn’t mean this package is innocent.” His gut was telling him things were escalating. There was no overt proof of it, but he knew it all the same.
“You can’t go with me.” She hugged herself in a way he’d learned meant she was feeling threatened. “For all we know, Nemesis is one of the apartment building’s security guards.”
He liked the way her posture put her breasts into prominence, but he didn’t
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