Stalker in the Shadows

“So you want me to offend a potential investor for the clinic, and the only reason you’re giving is, ‘because I say so?’ That’s not going to cut it.”

He glanced around. The main area of the hotel gym housed the treadmills and elliptical exercise machines, and they were almost all filled with people exercising since it was close to noon. He pulled her a little to the side.

He stared at the floor for a moment, his expression fierce. Then he said, “I think Phillip Bromley is the stalker.”

FOUR

Monica couldn’t believe it. She’d talked to Phillip numerous times. Although she had a feeling he had another agenda, she’d never gotten any hint that he was dangerous, or that he was lying about his interest in the clinic. She had always prided herself on how well she could read people. Had she been grossly wrong about him? “You need to explain.”

He looked away, staring at some people exercising a few yards away. “I grew up with Phillip. We were classmates in a private school in San Francisco from first through twelfth grade. You get to know someone pretty well when you spend seven hours a day with him.”

“Did Phillip know Clare, too?”

“Not in school. She went to a private girls’ school in San Francisco, and his family lives in Sonoma, but they didn’t become friends until after Clare got her MBA.”

“So if they were friends up here in Sonoma, what happened when she moved to L.A.?”

“He followed her to L.A. only a few weeks later.”

“That doesn’t make him her stalker.”

“I’ve never trusted him. He always seems to be hiding something.”

Yes, she’d gotten that feeling, too, but that didn’t make him a stalker hiding his secret, did it?

Shaun continued, “Clare didn’t consider him a close friend, but they hung out in the same crowd of friends down in L.A., went to parties with the same group of people, that kind of thing.”

“Why would he pose as an anonymous stalker if he was friends with your sister? He had access to her almost any time.”

“She also had a boyfriend and a roommate. And the initial letters threatened to hurt her if she didn’t stop work on the family planning clinic, but he didn’t do anything physically against her—no attacks, just malicious letters. Clare’s roommate said that sometimes Clare thought the guy was only full of hot air.”

“So he only wanted to manipulate her, he didn’t intend to hurt her?”

“Eventually he did intend to hurt her. The stalker’s later letters were more threatening, when she continued to ignore him.”

“But what made you think it was Phillip?”

“Clare’s roommate said that my sister investigated a nasty gift the stalker sent her, a bottle of snake venom. She traced it to a shop on Haight-Ashbury where the stalker had bought it illegally for five thousand dollars. The person who sold it said the man buying the venom matched Phillip’s height, weight, coloring, and he wore a black leather duster coat like one that Phillip owns.”

“Did she ask him about it?”

“Her roommate said she confronted Phillip, who denied it. Clare believed him, but her roommate didn’t. Neither do I.”

“Did you see a photo? Video surveillance?”

Shaun’s eyes slid away from her.

“So you don’t have proof that it was Phillip who bought the snake venom.”

“The salesperson positively identified—”

“Phillip isn’t unusual-looking. Light brown hair, light brown eyes, medium height. And it’s Haight-Ashbury—a black duster isn’t even going to turn heads among the people who shop on that street. There are people there in wild costumes every day.”

“I’m telling you, Phillip is the stalker. Every time I’ve talked to him, he acts like he’s hiding something.”

“Everyone is hiding something, but it doesn’t mean they’re hiding a double life as a stalker. I don’t think what Phillip is hiding is very sinister. I think it’s somehow more self-serving.”

“How do you know this?”

“I’m good at reading people.”

But now she wondered if she could really be entirely wrong. Was he more dangerous a person than she’d given him credit for? She had detected some attraction on Phillip’s side, but that had happened with other men, and she never encouraged any unprofessional interest. It seemed Phillip wanted to get close to her for some reason of his own, perhaps because of her wealthy family and her father’s lucrative business connections. “Do you have any solid proof about Phillip?”

He pressed his lips together.

“Don’t you wonder if your bias about him from your school years might be clouding your judgment?”

Shaun shook his head. “He’s a…he’s slimy.”

She could admit Phillip seemed a bit slimy, but she didn’t think he would send dead snakes to her.

Still, he’d known she’d be at Lorianne’s Café. But anyone watching her could have followed her to the restaurant, too. She wondered if Detective Carter had discovered who had delivered the gruesome florist’s box.

She gave Shaun a hard look. “Phillip Bromley is an investor, and I can’t simply cancel our appointment. It’s unprofessional, which would reflect badly not just on me, but also on the clinic and my father.”

His face sobered at the mention of her father.

“I’ve hired you to protect me, so you’ll just have to protect me when I meet with Phillip. And who knows, maybe he’ll reveal something to prove he’s the stalker.” She was sure Shaun would appreciate that if it happened.

He didn’t answer at first. She could almost read his mind. His protective instinct was warring with his desire for answers.

“Fine,” he said shortly. Then he leaned closer to her. “But you need to do exactly what I tell you. Otherwise you might as well fire me right now, because I won’t be able to protect you.”

He was too close to her. The memory of the kiss came back in a rush. She blinked to clear her thoughts and sidled away from him.

“Fine.” She didn’t look at him.

How ironic that Shaun thought Phillip was a threat when it was Shaun who seemed more dangerous.

Shaun watched the door to Lorianne’s Café from where he stood next to Monica. So far, no Phillip, only a tourist taking photos of the square and a woman with a baby carriage.

Her scent wrapped around him, something exotic, which made him want to move closer to her. She was distracting him just when he couldn’t be distracted.

He remembered the same scent during that moment at their teaching session in the hotel gym. He didn’t know why he’d kissed her. There was something about her that made him want to be closer to her, to let her soothe something inside him. But he couldn’t let anyone touch that pain and bitterness, he had to keep it to himself.

He was glad she’d laughed it off. It was better for both of them that she did. He wasn’t good for any woman, although protecting her and finding the stalker might help him find some peace.

Movement by the door drew him out of his thoughts. He should have been paying attention.