Page 86 of Protecting Peyton

“Go ahead, dear. You take care of that while I measure these.”

When I opened the device, the secure messaging app page was still up, with Rhonda’s announcement on the screen. Another girl had died. Would she still be alive if I’d gone back to Boston earlier and worked with the police to catch him? How many had there been since I left? Was my choice of flight over fight selfish? Were their deaths on me?

When I reread the earlier messages, my gut twisted. Did Rhonda think so?

The ding had been a text message. I switched to that app.

MARCH: I’m on the way. I miss you.

He planned to pick me up from work because he didn’t know I’d left, and those three little words,I miss you, said it all. He cared. He was a SEAL, a strong man and a man of honor. If I asked, he would stand beside me, just as Blake had for Beth.

A tear escaped down my cheek. This was too hard. I wanted to stay, but fear twisted my gut. The Strangler was devious and ruthless. What if he hurt one of my friends the way he had poor Olivia? What if he hurt March?

March was used to enemies who fought straight on. The man with the strange eyes didn’t fight like that.

As Beth measured the diamonds, I glanced around, not sure where I would find the answer to my dilemma. It would be dangerous to stay, and like the gazelle, my instinct was to run fast and far.

I got the oddest tingle at the back of my neck, like someone was watching me.

Turning slightly, I caught the man behind me ogling my legs, or maybe my ass. He had unkempt hair, wisps of facial hair that didn’t deserve to be called a beard, and even from this distance, clearly needed to shower more often. Creepy sensation confirmed.

Then I caught a glimpse of a man on the street looking in—a man with one brown and one blue eye.

I quickly turned back to Beth.

He’d found me. It had been him, hadn’t it?

I didn’t know what he would do if he thought I’d spotted him. That was a lie. I knew exactly what he’d do. He’d attack like he had the last time.

In Atlanta, he’d taken pleasure in bragging that he’d been watching me from the shadows for hours. Then, when I noticed him, he came for me.

There were innocent people here who could get hurt. I couldn’t let him think I’d seen him. A shiver ran through me as I remembered his hands around my neck.

“Such a shame to have to give up things with memories attached to them,” Beth said.

I nodded without thinking. Shifting away from Mr. Smelly, I reached into my purse, pulled out the notepad and pen I’d grabbed on the way out of work, and scribbled the quick note.

Smiling brightly, I slipped the note onto the glass. “Beth, would you be kind enough to go in the back and read this note, please?”

“I don’t?—”

“Please,” I pleaded, doing my best to keep it together. “It’s very important.”

Blake placed his hand on the note.

Shit, shit, shit.This could go horribly wrong if he turned it over.

Blake smiled kindly at me. Did he see the fear in my eyes? He slid the paper toward her. “Go ahead. I’ve got everything covered out here.”

I sighed with relief when she picked up the note.

Shifting slightly to the side, I was able to use the mirror behind the counter to see out the front. I didn’t see the man with the scary eyes. Suddenly, I had doubts. Had the roses so intimidated me that I’d imagined him outside the shop, or had he merely moved down the sidewalk and out of view? This was what he did. He played on your fears, and now I couldn’t be sure which version was reality.

Calm. I had to appear calm, even though my mind was going to a dozen dark places at once.

CHAPTER 21

Zane