Page 34 of Midnight Sun
“Do you want to come in?” Finn says, it doesn’t sit right with him letting her go like this. She seems miserable. “I guess Jamie is not home yet, but you can wait for him and have a drink if you like.”
The whole situation should be incredibly awkward, and maybe Finn should be jealous, or at least a little apprehensive. But all he feels is vague sympathy.
Bev’s lips form a little O, and then she suddenly starts to giggle. “I’m sorry,” she says, hiccuping with laughter. “I came here to fight you over him, and I was quite determined to scratch your eyes out if need be. But after a day of traveling, I feel I would rather accept your offer.”
Finn eyes her long nails with amusement. “I have a feeling I’m lucky to have gotten away.”
Bev gives him a wry smile, and Finn thinks he begins to understand why Jamie likes her.
They make their way up to the apartment, and Bev scrutinizes his furnishings with open interest while Finn fetches her a glass of water. She sits down on his couch and turns the glass between her manicured fingers.
“How did you get him to move in with you? He never wanted to stay at my apartment.”
Finn considers telling her some half-truth, but thinks better of it.
“He’ll probably deny it, but I guess he just doesn’t want to be alone at the moment. Did you know someone is stalking him?”
Bev’s eyes widen.
“Oh my God, he followed him here? I’m not sure how long it’s been going on. James never wanted to talk about it, but it’s been months as far as I know. He’s been sending creepy cards, little letters, flowers… It was terrifying.”
“You think it’s a man?”
“I can’t prove it. But I always thought so. And a man called me and told me James was seeing someone else. I thought that it was you on the phone, but now I believe it was him.”
Finn tilts his head. “He wants to isolate him, am I right? Did he threaten you too?”
“No.” Bev shudders. “But I suppose only because he knew James would’ve done something about it if he had. It’s so creepy. I think he knows James very well. He’s playing him.”
“Do you have an idea who he might be?”
Bev looks at her hands. “James won’t be happy that I’m here. And he won’t appreciate it if we gossip about the stalker.”
Finn touches her shoulder. “I don’t care if he’s angry. Last time the stalker left the severed head of a ram outside the lodge where Jamie and I were staying. It’s escalating, Bev, and I’m not going to wait for Jamie to swallow his pride and take this threat seriously.”
Bev clasps a hand over her mouth. “Oh my gosh!”
“They need to be stopped.”
“I think it’s Peter,” Bev blurts out.
Finn summons the picture of Jamie’s PA in front of his mind’s eye. He still remembers his annoyance and his strong dislike when he met him to pick Jamie up from the hotel. But Peter hadn’t done anything to deserve Finn’s animosity.
“I’m probably just being petty because he’s never treated me as nicely as most of the others. But I find him creepy, always too close to James. I always felt like he was watching us, listening in on what we were saying. And everyone says he’s such a good person, but I felt like he was only nice when he could get something from you.”
“I’m going to tell the police to check him out.”
“James let you call the police?” Bev asks incredulously.
Finn shrugs. “My brother is a policeman. I don’t need Jamie’s permission to talk to him.”
Bev suddenly smiles. “And you get away with calling him Jamie. I can’t believe it.” She looks at her watch. “It’s getting late. Why don’t we meet up for breakfast in my hotel tomorrow? I’ll text James and ask him if he’d like to come, and if he doesn’t want to see me…then I’ll have to cope, I guess.”
“I’m sure he wants to see you.”
Finn has the impression that Bev is trying to spare him and Jamie a fight, but why she should want that, he isn’t sure.
She’s gone soon after, leaving a hint of her flowery perfume and a bad feeling in the pit of Finn’s stomach behind.