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K ylie wasn’t sure who Porter was calling, but she had a damn good idea. Honestly, at this point in time, she wouldn’t mind making that call herself. This was scary. It was unorthodox, and everything inside her screamed to get the hell out and run. Yet everything else was telling her to stay put, to not give the stalker an advantage, to not let him know that she had picked up on him. That he might already know that Kylie had picked up on his energy was something that hadn’t escaped her attention either. But this was all about maintaining sanity in a situation that had gone crazy.

The waitress came back and brought her more water, so she quickly ordered the lasagna for both of them. With the orders taken, the waitress disappeared, and Kylie turned to stare back where her stalker had been sitting. There was almost a cloudiness around his table. It was weird and just added to the mystery of who he was and what the hell he was doing here. And why he was here. It was the why that bothered her. If he’d already killed two people, surely there weren’t that many contracts to kill people daily. He didn’t just advertise contracts by air, as in thinking, Hey, I’m popping in. Anybody you want me to drop?

That didn’t make any sense to her. So, he was either hanging around for a personal reason, which felt very much like what this could be, or something else was going on. Either way, she didn’t like it.

When Porter returned, she looked over at him. “And? What did Stefan have to say?”

He smiled. “How do you know it was Stefan?”

“Who else would you call?” she asked in exasperation. “He’s the king of all psychic phenomena, isn’t he?”

“Is he now?” he asked, with half a laugh. “I don’t know about that, but I do know that he’s definitely somebody you want in your corner when the chips are down.”

“I’m not sure the chips are down that badly. At least not yet,” she muttered.

“What do you have against Stefan anyway?”

“Nothing,” she said, with a groan. “Honestly, I really don’t have anything against him. However, my aunt didn’t have anything nice to say about him.”

“Did your aunt have anything nice to say about anybody?” Porter asked curiously.

She eyed him, then shrugged. “No, she didn’t. I think she hated the world.” He just nodded, as that confirmed what he suspected. “She was still good to me to the extent that she could be,” she pointed out, “and I can’t forget that.”

“You don’t have to forget it,” he noted, “but do keep it in perspective.”

She shrugged, not exactly sure what that meant. Her relationship with her aunt was complicated, and Kylie worked hard to try and not make it a big issue in her life, but obviously it was still something that she needed to work on.

He looked over at her and asked, “Did the waitress come by?”

“Yes, and I ordered you a lasagna, as instructed.” He looked at her carefully, as if to see if she was joking or really put out by his request. She shrugged. “I’m having the same thing.”

“It’s very good here, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is,” she agreed, with a smile, “and I sure wouldn’t mind having a nice hot meal right now.”

“That’s why we’re here,” he said, “and I also phoned the captain and updated him and asked for permission to see the security tapes here.”

“Oh, I’m sure that went over like a ton of bricks.”

“I think it’s better that he be aware that we have a problem.”

“Do we have a problem?” she asked.

“Considering that you already got a phone call from your stalker, and then we walk into a restaurant, and he’s sitting here?… Yeah, I think it’s a problem.”

“But are we the ones who have the problem, or is he?” she asked.

He looked at her, a smile forming on his face. “Now that was an excellent observation.”

“I mean, when you think about it,” she began, “we were the ones who came in here, where he was seated already. So he might not be terribly impressed with our choice.”

“Maybe not,” Porter agreed, “and that just means that he’ll have a closer look at you.”

“Why not you?” she asked. “Why must it always come back to me?”

“That’s the question I have to ask you. Why does it all keep coming back to you?”

She glared at him. “I don’t have anything to do with this.”

“I’m glad to hear that, so we won’t have any unpleasant surprises when we leave here.”

She frowned and looked about. “Do you think he’ll be waiting for us?”

“I don’t know. I guess I won’t be surprised either way. He appears to be that kind of a guy, flexible, capable of thinking on his feet. So, if he’s got some ax to grind, you and I both know something will happen, whether we agree with his methodology or his reasoning. He’s got to have a reason to be here.”

“I was trying to figure out why he would still be hanging around this part of town. He’s already… double dipped, so how the hell does that work? It’s not as if you just advertise, I’ll be in such-and-such location if anybody wants somebody dropped , and instantly pick up two hits for his one visit.”

Porter’s lips twitched at the thought. “It’s an interesting business model, but not exactly one I would have thought had a guarantee of success.”

“No, I wouldn’t either,” she agreed, “but then again, I’m not in the business, so maybe things are done like that.”

“I hope not. That would be a little too cavalier.”

“And yet that’s exactly what his killings are like,” she stated, frowning at Porter.

“He is very cavalier, by the looks of it. It’s a business to him, and, as long as he delivers, then he keeps getting business.”

“He didn’t mess up, right?” she asked Porter. “I mean, nothing was left at either crime scene to get him into trouble with his clients, I presume?”

“I don’t know. I guess it depends what the arrangements were. If somebody is pissed off at him, it’s possible, but I can’t imagine that he would stick around and do another job if he felt someone was on to him.”

“Right.” She frowned. “It just doesn’t make any sense that he’s still here.”

“It does feel as if it’s personal.”

She winced. “I keep trying not to think that it’s personal,” she muttered. “That’s not something I want to focus on.”

“No, maybe not, but it doesn’t change the fact that he has stuck around, even though we have potentially two kills on him. The fact that he even did two at once, in the same basic location, bothers me,” he admitted.

“Unless one was pro bono ,” she suggested, “and again… maybe personal.”

He stopped and frowned at her. “ Hmm . That is something I hadn’t considered.”

*

It was also a good thought. As soon as they were done with dinner, Porter would head back to the office and see what he could roust out.

“I can see the wheels in your brain turning,” Kylie noted in a casual remark a few minutes later. “I’m not sure what you’re musing over though.”

“Just your comment about one of the hits being personal. I hadn’t considered that. We need to track the histories of those victims and see if we can connect them somehow.”

“You really think he would do a personal job?”

“Absolutely. We all do professional services for ourselves every once in a while,” he shared, “or at least for friends or special businesses. In this case, I doubt your stalker has much in the way of friends because of what he does, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a reason to want somebody specifically taken care of just for himself.”

The lasagna arrived then, along with big, thick slabs of garlic bread. He sniffed the air appreciatively. “This is some of the best food in town,” he muttered, as he cut into the lasagna. He watched as Kylie reached for garlic bread and took a big bite, smiling in happiness. “And it’s good to see you eat.”

She frowned at him. “I eat,” she snapped. “Don’t go making me sound as if I’ve got some eating disorder now too.”

“Not at all,” he said. “It’s more about confirming that you’ll be prepped and ready for what’s ahead.”

She just stared at him and slowly put down the garlic bread. “What is ahead?” she asked, her voice faint. “Maybe you should clarify that, so I have a little warning.”

“I don’t know, but it’s been quite a ride so far, hasn’t it?”

“I’m not sure I like the way you say that,” she muttered.

He laughed. “Of course not, and nobody would, but it doesn’t change the fact that we have something going on, and it could get ugly. We just don’t know yet.”

“I’ve already seen enough ugly today.”

“We both have,” he agreed. “The good news is, the mass shooter is dead. The bad news is, we still have a lot of victims and survivors struggling in the aftermath of what happened to them and their family and friends.”

“I also have to wonder if my stalker had something to do with that.”

“I’ve been wondering the same thing,” Porter acknowledged. “We should have the second shooter on camera here, so we know that he’s been here and is basically doing his thing, but we don’t know what his connection is to the first shooter. I do have several other coworkers trying to run that down.”

“Right,” she muttered, “because you have a team.”

“I do have a team, and it’s important.”

“I just never imagined being in a situation like this,” she muttered, as she started to eat her lasagna.

He let her eat for a bit, wanting to ensure she had something solid in her stomach because, even if she hadn’t figured it out yet, no way she could go home alone tonight. Not if this guy was out there and tracking her. Porter didn’t think she had come to that conclusion yet. She was probably thinking along the lines of being independent and still able to say no, but that wouldn’t work anymore.

The captain had been pretty outraged that Porter hadn’t gone after the guy, but, when he explained what shape she was in, the captain mellowed out pretty fast. Porter had also explained that the guy had been long gone very quickly and that Porter felt any attempt to chase him down wouldn’t have made a difference in any way. Plus it would have left Kylie all alone and vulnerable. That made sense in a logical way, yet for anybody trying to track down this second shooter, it was depressing to think Hogan had been right here, so close.

The captain had put Neil onto searching the restaurant’s cameras and the nearby street cams. They should have answers soon as to what the second shooter looked like now and what he was driving and then getting out an APB for everyone to hunt him down. A vehicle can give them a lot of information, but, with a pro like this hired serial killer, chances are his getaway vehicle had been stolen. Still, Porter was willing to take whatever information they could get and run with it. Enough things were going on that needed answers and clarity, and Porter was quite concerned about Kylie’s mental health as well as her safety.

“What are you staring at?” she muttered.

He was literally sitting here, staring at her. He smiled. “You’re beautiful.”

She stopped and glared. “Oh no you don’t. No flirting.”

He burst out laughing. “Why not?” he asked. “It’s not as if the world has stopped turning.”

“It should,” she snapped, glaring at him. “Everything should stop. Besides, this isn’t a date.”

“Nope, it isn’t a date,” he agreed, with a smile in her direction. “It’s just a meal among friends.”

“Are we friends?” she asked, her fork pausing partway to her mouth, as if contemplating such an option, and he realized just how alone she had been for so long.

“There really are nice people out in the world.”

“I’m not sure I agree,” she retorted, with a heavy sigh, “but I’ll take your word for it.”

“I’ll have you meet some of my friends when this nightmare is over,” he suggested cheerfully. “They are a lot of fun.”

“Sure, a lot of fun for you, but I highly doubt they would understand somebody like me.”

“If they accept me,” he added, with a wry look, “I don’t think they would have much trouble accepting you.”

She stayed silent, reminding him that friends were a different world for her, one that she didn’t necessarily have any exposure to. He asked her, “What was school like for you?”

“I had to be good at school. Otherwise I wasn’t allowed to stay,” she stated.

“What do you mean, you weren’t allowed to stay?”

“I wasn’t allowed to stay at home. I had to be the best and clean up, do the dishes, and everything else in order to not piss off my aunt and get my ass kicked out of the house,” she explained.

“Was there ever a threat to that degree?”

“No, but it was always in my mind,” she shared. “It was always implied.”

“Right,” he murmured, wondering what that would have been like for a teenager, when she should have been out there making friends and enjoying life. Instead she was living in constant fear that her world would collapse again. “I’m sorry. I wonder why your aunt was even given custody.”

“She was family.” Kylie shrugged. “They always get the first contact, and, when she accepted, it was a done deal. I know that she didn’t love me,” she stated in a contemplative tone.

That rote reply made Porter really take stock because she was acting as if this were a prepared script, as if something in the back of her mind made it easier to listen to this stuff than to investigate further.

He didn’t push it, thinking she had enough on her plate right now, but it was something he certainly would have appreciated a better understanding of. She would have been a beautiful child, although traumatized after the loss of both parents. And, even though she hadn’t had a chance to know her twin brothers, it would have affected her in some way. Particularly as sensitive as she was.

“Do you ever do readings for people?” she asked him.

He laughed. It was almost as if she had read his mind. “Nope, enough people out there do that stuff. I try to avoid anything of the kind.”

She nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Why would you ask?” he asked curiously.

“I just wondered about my brothers, whether they’re okay or not.”

The fact that she mentioned her brothers and not her parents surprised him. Maybe it’s because she felt terribly guilty about her brothers’ deaths. “Maybe when this is over, we can find out,” he suggested. “If it’s something that you’re questioning, then maybe it’s something we should take further.”

“You’re awfully quick to say we ,” she noted, studying him over her fork again.

She had this habit of using the fork almost as a barrier between them. Probably another learned behavior. He smiled and nodded. “You’ve made a friend, so you are stuck with me.”

Her eyes widened at that. “I don’t know why you would want anything to do with me.” She shoved a big bite of lasagna into her mouth, chewing furiously, studying him as if he were something very odd and unique.

“Because you’re not a bad person,” Porter replied, “and I kind of like you.”

She shook her head. “Nope, that doesn’t fly.”

He burst out laughing. “You can’t hide forever.”

“Yes, I most certainly can,” she stated defiantly. She put down her fork and looked around the restaurant. “I don’t suppose I can get this to-go, can I?”

“Sure, you can. Haven’t you ever done that before?”

“No, I usually come in starving and eat every bite,” she confessed, staring down at her plate, which was still half full.

“And yet not today?”

“No.… Let’s just say the conversation and the energy around here is not conducive to a good meal.”

“Sorry to hear that, and, yes, we absolutely can get it to-go. You’ll probably enjoy it later.”

“I will,” she said, with a small smile.

“Maybe I’ll take mine too, and we can eat it together later.” She stared at him, almost in horror. He burst out laughing. “If I had any less self-confidence, you would have torn me apart already,” he noted, in-between chuckles.

She didn’t know what to say to that.

“Have you not figured out that in no way can I allow you to stay alone tonight?” he asked.

“Why not?” she asked, almost in a groan, but she already knew the answer to that. She was just being prickly and irritable.

“This guy left as soon as we walked into the restaurant. So either he knew who you were, sensed trouble, or is well into the whole coming after you thing,” Porter explained. “So you alone at your house is not doable.”

She shook her head. “I’m fine,” she muttered. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“I do know something about you,” he countered, with half a smile. “I know that the thought of being alone with this guy terrifies you and that you’ll just accept that tonight and every other night—until we get this resolved—I’ll be staying at your place.”