Freezing Point (9 page)

Eventually, when his raging pulse had subsided, Jesse fought to keep the steady rain from lulling him to sleep.

 

Casey lay in bed, unable to sleep. With the storm passing through, the night was dark except when lightning flashed, illuminating the guest bedroom where she slept but casting long shadows with each strike. Finally, she'd turned on the bathroom light rather than fear the dark like a child, but her dread of the darkness had nothing at all to do with nonexistent monsters.

The light only provided a little comfort and if anything, kept her from falling asleep, she finally decided. She kicked
off the covers and got up to switch the light off, her mind a jumble of chaotic thoughts about why she was even here, the strange incidents that occurred the last three days and about Jesse.

He was a conundrum to be sure, and she wasn't absolutely one hundred percent convinced that he was someone she should trust—especially given the extraordinary circumstances. But…

He'd confessed tonight that he wanted more from her.

He wanted to mean more to her than just another interview, and in this situation, for Casey, just another job. And Casey felt the same way. Hadn't she been trying to figure out how to take their acquaintance—barely a friendship—to the next level? Meg would accuse her of moving too fast. Casey had chided herself, too, for her thoughts about Jesse. He didn't know about Will Tannin. He didn't know that Casey was in hiding and that she might have to leave again and quickly. He didn't know her new life was a lie.

But when you had that long-awaited connection with someone—why not acknowledge it? Rolling to her side, Casey punched the pillow to get more comfortable. What could be better than a guy you really liked, liking you back?

The thunder and lightning finally grew distant and rain drummed against the window, soothing her to sleep.

Her cell rang, startling her awake. Heart pounding, Casey reached over to the side table. Late calls were never good news. Unless…did Jesse miss her? Was he calling again?

She was crazy.

“Hello?”

Silence and then…

Breathing, heavy breathing…

Casey tensed, paralyzed once again.

She threw the phone across the room and it smashed against the wall. Casey tossed the covers off and got up to
get the phone and remove the battery. Once she got back in bed, the momentary adrenaline dissipated leaving Casey with nothing but fear. She stuck her face in the pillow and sobbed. Will Tannin had gotten her phone number. How long would it be before he found her?

 

A twinge of pain shot up Jesse's neck. He jerked awake. He squirmed in the uncomfortable seat and rubbed his hand over his face, trying to come fully awake. With the approaching dawn, the skies began to clear, and would leave behind the gift of a warm and humid spring day.

A glance at the clock, and he realized he'd slept for only half an hour. Considering someone had been in the house last night, Jesse wanted to watch Casey until she made it to work today, until her watchdog arrived.

Jesse hoped he'd remain secure behind the van so Casey wouldn't notice him. She shouldn't be driving right past him on her way into town. He also hoped she'd leave before the neighbors got up, but knew he was leaving a lot to chance.

Two hours later, he watched the garage door to the Helmses' home rise and a little green car back from the drive. The car shot up the road in the direction of the newspaper offices. Jesse pulled out from his hiding place and followed from a distance. This wouldn't take too long.

Just make sure she gets to work.

Her escort would pick it up from there. Jesse could run home and grab a quick shower before heading to the ice company.

But Casey drove right past the newspaper.

C
asey passed the
Orange Crossings Times
where she should have headed first. Danny liked to have meetings in the morning and he'd invited her to attend—she was becoming part of the newspaper crew.

She glanced into the rearview mirror, looking at the circles under her eyes and then back to the road. Her palms were slippery against the steering wheel as she turned into a shopping-center parking lot.

Since Casey had trashed her phone, she needed to buy a new one. She didn't want to wait another minute, knowing that Tannin had her number. How had he gotten it?

The only reason she'd purchased a disposable phone was that she'd heard they were supposed to be untraceable. Right. She should get her facts straight next time.

She had called two people in Oregon from the phone— Meg and Eddie—to let them know she wouldn't be back until it was over. Had those calls been a mistake?

What else did Tannin have?

Her new address?

How far away did she have to go to be free of him? Had she known he would take things this far, she would never had written the article.

Scratch that. She would have anyway. And if she had any fortitude in her at all, she'd see this through to the end.

And win.

But right now, she needed a new phone and she needed to finish the ice-sculpture story and she needed…

To stay alive.

Her thoughts jumped to Jesse. After all of this was over, would she have a future with him? She hurried into the store and purchased a new phone, paying cash—a resource she was running out of and too quickly. Back in her car, she transferred the numbers she'd saved from her old phone. A silver SUV pulled into the parking lot.

An image of the same vehicle driving straight for her blazed through her mind, sending her pulse racing. Casey started her VW, uncertain if it would be better to simply run back into the store and call for help from there.

The vehicle parked, and out jumped a woman and two children. Casey pressed her forehead against the steering wheel. How long could she live this way—in a constant state of fear?

For a minute, she allowed herself to imagine what it had felt like to be in Jesse's protective arms, and her heart ached.

Would he still be interested in her once he knew about her exposés? What she'd done to someone else's life, regardless of their guilt? And that that someone was after her?

Casey focused on completing the transfer of numbers.

She got out of her car and strategically placed the old phone under her tire. The act reminded her she needed to have her spare replaced. Did Jesse have the new tire yet? But one thing at a time. Then, she drove over the phone, crushing it—dramatic, but it made her feel good all the same.

There, Will Tannin. Let's see how long it takes you to track me down again.

She shuddered at the thought. If she received another harassing phone call any time soon, she'd have to make some changes and fast.

Driving through the parking lot, she spotted the nose of
a Jeep—with a suspiciously familiar bent license plate—protruding from the corner of a building on the far side of the shopping center.

Jesse…

Should she drive over and say hello? She slowed for a moment to think, but considering she didn't know what business he was on, she decided it might be awkward. Besides, she was late to work at a job she hadn't really secured yet.

Way to go.

She looked forward to the moment when she would see him again today, but she had to stop by the newspaper first. As she continued out of the parking lot, she glanced in her rearview mirror and saw the Jeep nudge forward slowly.

She exited the parking lot and took a right, planning to head back to the newspaper, though she wondered if that was the best idea, given her state of mind.

Frazzled didn't come close to describing how she felt. But she was trying to hold it together. As she made her way down the road, then took a left onto Main Street, she spotted Jesse switching lanes five cars back, and she realized that he was following her.

What else could it be?

She'd had a thousand miles of practice on her drive from Oregon to become accustomed to watching for a tail. And she didn't like it.

Not one bit.

It felt too much like being stalked, even by Jesse.

Casey swung a sharp right, plunging into a dark alley, and waited. She climbed out of the car and leaned against it, arms crossed. If he was following her, he'd be here soon enough. He'd want to know why she hadn't come back out—it was a dead end.

But why was she reacting like this? How many times had he been there for her? Had she considered him as a protector?
Her determination began to melt—what if Jesse was simply trying to protect her now?

If that were the case, then he must think she was in danger, and she hadn't been a paranoid fool all this time. Then why didn't he say so?

Hyperventilating, Casey put her hands over her face. She honestly didn't know which end was up. She really was losing it.

When she let her hands drop, Jesse stood in front of her.

“
What…
are you doing?” he asked.

 

Casey stared back at him, dark circles accenting the wild look in her eyes. Her hair looked a little tousled as well. It scared him.

“What am I doing? What are
you
doing?” she asked, vehemence in her voice he hadn't heard before that moment.

He was seriously concerned. The girl was cracking under the pressure.

Jesse held his palms out and opened his mouth to explain, “I—”

“Why are you following me?” she snapped, suspicion in her eyes.

“If—”

“Who do you think you are, anyway?”

That was it, Jesse had had it. He reached out to grip her shoulders, but she shrugged him off and backed away. “Casey, calm down,” he said.

Her chest rose and fell with the fury of the moment, her eyes ablaze.

“Just…calm down, will you? You're scaring me.”

Her breathing slowed, and she looked away from him, tugging her hair behind her ears.

Like all the other moments he'd pulled her into his arms
to comfort her, he wanted to do the same right now, but he sensed she wouldn't allow it.

Her eyes glistened and she blinked the tears away. Jesse had the feeling she'd had enough, and was done with the tears. She'd been more than aware of his tail, which told him she'd had practice in looking for one.

“Why are you so upset?”

Folding her arms across her chest, she rubbed them and shook her head.

Again that niggling feeling, gut instinct this time, Jesse had no doubt.

Casey was running. “Who is following you, Casey? Who are you running from?”

“No one,” she said, a wild look still in her eyes.

“You're lying.”

“Why were you following me, tell me that?”

Jesse hated to admit he hadn't been prepared for this confrontation. “I…uh—” he lifted his shoulders “—you know why,” he said, then let his shoulders drop.

Her eyes seemed to clear as though her thoughts had, as well. “No, I don't. Why don't you tell me what's going on? Why would you want or need to follow me?”

“You've had a few close calls. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”

He honestly didn't know what was going on. He planned to have dinner at Miguel's tonight and see if he could find something out. But if Casey were running from someone before she even arrived in Orange Crossings…

“I'm sorry, Jesse. Sorry for blowing up at you.”

“Now, maybe you can tell me why you're so upset.”

Casey released a ragged breath and tried for a smile. “I think I'm just tired. It's like you said, so many close calls. They've left me wondering what will happen next. And then when I saw you—”

“But that doesn't explain why you lost it like that.”

Her eyes widened at his words.

“Casey, has someone been harassing you? Has someone followed you before? Stalked you? Tell me.”
Maybe I can help.

Just thinking of her possible answer sent Jesse's blood to the boiling point.

Suddenly, a silhouette appeared at the alley's opening. Jesse tensed and reached around his back for the gun he'd holstered out of sight.

The silhouette morphed into a man, and once he realized the alley wasn't empty, he skulked away. Jesse allowed himself to relax a little.

“Uh, mind if we take this conversation somewhere else?” He guided her to her car, opened the door for her to climb in, and then got in the passenger side. The VW wasn't exactly his preferred mode of transportation, especially with his knees taking up half the front seat, but he'd parked his Jeep in the street.

Still appearing a little too haggard for comfort, Casey looked over at him. “Don't you have to carve ice today?”

“At some point, yes.”

Casey turned the car around in the small space and drove from the alley. “You know, I really need to get to my new job.”

“So tell the editor you're working, interviewing me. You don't have the job without me, do you?”

“Funny thing, that, but…you're right.” She phoned the newspaper with her new phone and explained that Jesse's schedule required that she spend more time with him this morning.

 

Casey drove down a side street while Jesse directed her. “Over there, park over there. See the swings?”

“What, no coffee shop or back street dives?”

Jesse didn't laugh. “What we have to talk about is too important. I just didn't want us to stay in the alley.”

Casey did as he asked and they left the car and strolled on the sidewalk around the small city park. Though she'd calmed since laying into Jesse, she still wasn't sure she wanted to have this conversation with him. What would he think? Would he even want to finish his interview with her if he knew the kind of reporting she'd done?

Seagulls fought over breadcrumbs in the park as a salty ocean breeze wafted over Casey—the usual, peaceful scene one could see in any small town nestled against the ocean. Except Casey wasn't exactly feeling the peaceful vibes.

“Are you going to tell me what's going on or do I have to drag it out of you?” he asked.

“No, Jesse, I don't want to tell you.”

Jesse stopped and stared at her. The hurt in his eyes surprised her.

“Why not?”

Casey had been startled that he'd read her so well—how had he known that she'd been harassed and stalked? Maybe that was fodder for another story—the victims of stalkers who lived their lives in fear. She sensed he wanted to protect her, and, drawn to him, she couldn't deny she needed and wanted his protection.

She wanted to feel safe. Blowing out a breath, she searched Jesse's eyes. He was the man who had made her feel safe, and even now, she was glad he was here.

“All right, but you're not going to like it. I asked for the trouble I'm in, and you're probably not going to like me anymore after I tell you.”

“Who says I like you?” Jesse winked and grabbed her hand, holding it in his.

He was teasing, she knew, trying to soothe her.

For some reason, the action reminded her of his kiss last night and how all the fun of the evening had been interrupted, ruined, by an intruder.

If only her affection for him wasn't overshadowed by her fear. She hated what Tannin was doing to her life. And in a way, she finally understood what she'd done to him—though she was sure he never feared she would kill him.

And with the thought, she drew in a shaky breath. “I wrote an exposé about someone in Oregon—a man named Will Tannin. It started out innocently. I wanted to know why and how he could justify making so much money while working for a charity, a non-profit. One thing led to another, and I discovered he'd done a few things he shouldn't have.”

Jesse studied her, his patient gaze waiting for her to continue. A couple strolled past and Casey waited until they were out of earshot. She and Jesse continued their walk around the park.

“Now that I think about it, maybe he wasn't really a criminal, or hadn't had criminal intent, but made a few mistakes. Like sleeping with a woman he was supposed to be helping through the charity.” Casey watched a seagull fly overhead then looked back to the ground. “In the end, my article destroyed his life, and because he lost everything, I think he lost his mind. Add to that I learned that he'd gotten help in the past for some sort of psycho behavior—he was an abusive person, had stalked someone. Jesse, it's not good that now he blames me for everything.”

“And now he wants to destroy your life.”

“He's done a pretty good job of that already. Now he wants to kill me. He grabbed me from behind one day and told me how he would kill me using words so foul and violent.” Casey shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. “He planned to make me suffer first. I don't know why he let me go, but that's the day I left Oregon and tried to hide.”

Jesse stopped their stroll and released her hand. He grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face him completely, his face inches from hers. “You listen to me. If this Will Tannin so much as touches a hair on your head I'll—”

“You'll what? What will you do, Jesse?” Casey took a step back, shaking her head. She hated the tears pressing behind her eyes. “You can't protect me.”

“Casey, I
will
protect you. You're safe with me.” The passion in his voice and concern written across his face almost convinced Casey. At least he believed it himself.

And maybe…maybe he could protect her.

“There's something else, and it's probably the reason I reacted to you so fiercely today.”

“What is it?” Jesse's voice sounded hoarse with emotion.

“He called again last night.”