Stalker in the Shadows. Camy Tang

       “I don’t see a guy like this waiting too long to start harassing me, do you?”

       “No.”

       “So that means I can pinpoint when I might have met him.”

       “What do you mean?” Shaun winced as she pressed the towel to his throbbing cheek.

       “The only people I’ve talked to about my free children’s clinic are my family, whom I’ve told not to say anything, the potential investors, my hospital director friend who’s helping me draft the business plan and the accountant I’ve hired. I’m thinking the stalker is one of the potential investors I talked to in the past few weeks.”

       “Do you remember who you’ve talked to?”

       “I attended three large parties in the past two weeks to meet people and talk about the clinic. Before those parties, the last investor I talked to was over two months ago. So I think the stalker could be someone I spoke to at any of those three parties.”

       “What parties?”

       “The Zoe International charity banquet last week—your dad was there. The annual Tosca bottle unveiling banquet a few days before that, and then two weeks ago, the Sonoma Businessmen’s Association dinner.”

       “You went to all those?”

       “I went in Dad’s place. He doesn’t like going to those things, but I use them as opportunities to keep up relationships with other businesses and the Joy Luck Life Spa, and recently I’ve been sending out feelers for investors for my clinic.”

       “So your stalker might be someone you met at one of those events,” Shaun said. He reached up to grab her hand and stop her ministrations to his face. Her skin felt silky under his rough fingers, and he didn’t immediately let go, instead rubbing his thumb over a smooth knuckle.

       What was he doing? He didn’t need complications in his life. He dropped her hand and cleared his throat. “Do you think you can come up with a list of people you spoke to about the clinic?”

       She was staring at her hand. She dropped the towel onto the kitchen table. “I think so.”

       “You can leave off anyone who already knew about your clinic before two weeks ago. I don’t think this guy would have waited longer than two weeks to start following you.”

       “Did you ever investigate how he might have met your sister?”

       “I tried, but none of us knew when she’d started receiving the letters, and since I’d been down in San Diego at the time, it was hard to find out where she’d gone and where she could have met her stalker.”

       “There’s a chance he’d try to meet me face-to-face again, without me knowing he’s my stalker. Do you think that’s something he’d enjoy doing?”

       “Definitely.” His eyes narrowed as he studied her face, which had a calculating look. “What are you planning?”

       “For the past several weeks, I’d been planning to give a party for about forty people. Some of them are already investors for the clinic, but some need a little more information before they commit.”

       “So you’re thinking you’ll go through with planning the party? And you can invite some of the people you might have met in the past two weeks.”

       “I can’t invite everyone I talked to, but I can certainly invite many of them.”

       “If the stalker keeps coming after you, we can figure out more clues about him and narrow down who he might be. I remember he wore a leather jacket or leather coat tonight. I could hear the leather rustling.”

       “That’s a start.”

       “Where do you need to go this next week?” He may as well figure out a plan for protecting her even with her schedule.

       “I have—” she began, but they were interrupted when his father entered the kitchen.

       “Sorry to keep you waiting, Shaun…” His voice trailed away at the sight of him. “What happened to your face?”

       “The stalker was here tonight,” Monica said quickly. “He attacked Shaun.”

       “What?” Augustus Grant wheeled into the kitchen. His face was drawn with both worry and anger.

       “We were just about to call Detective Carter,” Monica said, giving Shaun a meaningful look.

       He interpreted it easily—Let’s talk later.

       Yes, and in the meantime, he’d plan what he needed to do to keep her safe. Maybe he’d find this stalker and somehow find redemption for how he’d failed his only sister.

       “Is this absolutely necessary?” Monica followed Shaun into the gym at the Rubart Towers Hotel in Sonoma, a hotel that used to belong to Shaun’s father before he sold it to the Rubart hotel conglomerate.

       “I would think you’d want to learn some self-defense moves.” Shaun led her into a general purpose room at the back of the workout room, a large area with mirrors all around and soft mats on the floor.

       “I took a self-defense class.” She removed her sweatshirt, leaving her only in a T-shirt and workout capris that made her shiver in the air-conditioning.

       “I’m going to teach you some jiujitsu moves that will help you in close quarters.”

       “Aren’t you supposed to keep me from getting into that situation in the first place?”

       She meant it as a joke, but to her surprise, he turned away from her. In the reflection from the mirrors, his expression was almost anguished.

       Then he turned back to her and he was back to normal, his face serious and intense. “Let’s get started.”

       He taught her a few types of arm bars, which she felt comfortable with since they didn’t require extraordinary strength or quickness on her part. Then he moved to a guillotine hold, and she felt guilty causing him pain as she practiced the move over and over.

       But more than the moves themselves, Shaun showed her that she wasn’t a weakling. He gave her confidence in her ability to fight someone rather than just giving in. If the stalker attacked her, she wouldn’t feel quite so vulnerable.

       “This last move is a triangle choke hold,” Shaun said. He explained the jiujitsu move, which involved her performing a choke hold with a triangle formed with her legs. “Now lay on your back and visualize to yourself that I’m the stalker, I’m trying to hurt you.”

       When she did, he angled himself on his hands and knees on top of her, and a rush of feeling passed through her to see his blue eyes so close, staring down at her.

       A long moment passed where he simply looked at her. She couldn’t look away, she was drowning in that cerulean sea.

       She couldn’t get herself to visualize the stalker, because this was so obviously Shaun. His strength and capability made her feel protected and secure, even in this vulnerable position on the ground. He gave off the aura of protectiveness that made her believe he would never hurt her, he would never abandon her, he’d do anything to keep her safe.

       Something about his blue gaze became less businesslike and more intense. Her breathing quickened, and she could smell his musk, the scent of a pine forest after the rain. His eyes flickered to her mouth, staring for a long moment, and then he lowered his head and kissed her.

       His lips were softer than she would have expected from such a tough, masculine guy. His hand stroked the hair wisping out from her temple, his touch gentle. He kissed her with a kind of wonder and carefulness, as if he were holding a butterfly in his cupped hands. She felt cherished and honored.

       Reason filtered through her mind slowly, but when it made itself known, she remembered that she couldn’t be doing this. Shaun was a lawman. He’d always be in careers where he could protect