Page 103 of Rough Fantasy

forty-four

The car ride back to Maura’s house was silent. Not the comfortable silence between two lovers, Rory thought. No, this one was heavy on the tension and it had been that way since they returned from Hawaii.

“I was not imagining it. There is someone stalking me.”

“I didn’t say there wasn’t,” he responded calmly.

More silence. He wasn’t sure there was someone, but wasn’t about to admit that to her. He knew just how badly the mind could play tricks on you after something like what happened in Hawaii.

Rory glanced over at her. She was staring out the window, slumped in the seat. She had dark circles under her eyes.

“We’re going to put someone on you. I don’t like the idea of you riding around out there if this truly is a stalker.”

She said nothing to that and he noticed she had closed her eyes.

“Maura?”

“Please, don’t patronize me.” She opened her eyes and the back of his throat tickled a bit when he saw they were watery. Damn, he hated when women cried. “I am not an idiot. I know people think I am stupid.”

“We don’t think you’re stupid.”

She sniffed at that and looked back out the window. “Sure.”

He stopped at a red light. “I’m serious.”

“Sure.”

“No, I believe you. There is someone messing with you. But, in my mind, I think it is probably someone with Petersen.”

“It has nothing to do with that. I told you in Hawaii the guy had an Irish accent.”

He pulled up to her driveway and punched in the code. The gate opened. He drove through and parked the car before he spoke.

“Maura, we checked. Anyone who would be after us is either dead or in prison.” Most of them were dead but he wasn’t going to admit that to her. Zeke and Rory didn’t leave behind many people when they were hunting terrorists. It had been one of the reasons they had been paid so well by the British government.

“What?”

“We called around. We talked to everyone. All of our cases are accounted for. No one should be after us. Most of them wouldn’t have had the means to do it by the time they got out anyway. And, just so you know, most of those people didn’t know our names.

She stared at him for a second, and said, “Are you sure?”

“Yes. We called all our contacts, all the officials. No one with a grudge for one of us is running around out there.”

“How can you be so sure?”

He sighed. The strain he heard in her voice was disheartening, and he knew she was near a breaking point. Zeke and he agreed on one thing, they wanted her to get some rest. They knew part of this was the fact she hadn’t slept since their return.

“Zee and I didn’t leave a lot of witnesses, and most people don’t know our names.”

She said nothing for a moment as if she was digesting the information. The door opened beside her and Zee was standing there. She gave him a nasty look but took his hand as he walked her to the door.

“We’re going to put a car on you.”

She said nothing as she pulled the keys out of her purse. They entered the house and Rory followed, knowing that Zee wasn’t going to go home tonight. Neither of them would. They were not about to let the woman stay home tonight by herself.

“Why don’t you take a bath?” Zee offered as they walked into the kitchen.

“Something to quiet the crazy woman?” Her tone had an edge to it and it was getting sharper by the minute.