Valentine Wishes (Baxter Academy Book 1) (15 page)

W
hoever this is
knows where I live and has been watching me closely enough to know when Brett’s been around. The creep fucking texted me at my own home, twice, after Brett left. Do I even want to be here right now?

My stomach rolls. What kind of person does that?

Brett called my Uncle Gary to come up because he’s a cop and told him about the texts. He doesn’t want me or Theo staying here, or Grandma coming home. At least not until the guy’s been caught. I heard whispering that he isn’t escalating yet, but could be soon, and it would only get worse. I wasn’t supposed to hear them, but I did. It’s also the reason Brett hasn’t left. He’s not leaving me alone until this guy is caught.

A part of me does feel like they are both overacting, but at the same time, I’m really glad Brett’s here. I feel safe with him and he does have a gun. But, he can’t be here indefinitely. Brett does have a job.

“The campers cannot know what is going on,” I insist. “They have to deal with enough in their lives that they don’t need to worry about there being danger at the camp either.” Then again, are the kids safe? “Would keeping the camp open be dangerous for them?” I ask Brett.

“I don’t think so. The person is fixated on you and your relationship with me. The kids aren’t a threat to him. I am.”

My stomach clenches at this person thinking Brett is a threat. “Does that mean you are in danger?”

He looks grim. “Possibly. It’s hard to know how much he perceives me to be a danger to what he wants.”

“Then maybe you should go and we shouldn’t see each other until he’s caught.” The last thing I want is for Brett to be hurt because of some guy who’s fixated on me.

Brett’s eyes harden and his jaw tightens. “I will not leave you unprotected.”

Goodness, he’s intense.

“Theo’s going to bunk at Mark and Emily’s,” Uncle Gary tells me.

“Your grandmother will stay with me,” he continues. “Your Aunt Cheryl wanted her to anyway but your grandmother wanted to be in her own home. Now my wife won’t be living up here.”

“Wait, Aunt Cheryl might know these names better than I do.”

“Why?” Brett asks.

“She manages the community theatre. She knows everyone.”

“Let’s go.”

“Can I get stuff from my room?” Theo asks.

“I need clean clothes,” he points out.

Brett pulls me close as Uncle Gary and Theo go into the house. I’m chilled and kind of shaky. It’s a beautiful night and I shouldn’t be cold but I am. Theo and Grandma already have a place to sleep. Where are they going to put me?

As much as I love my aunts, uncles and their kids, I don’t want to be in those houses either. What if this creep tries to find me there?

Besides, I think the only person who could make me feel safe is Brett. But, that’s well and good for tonight. What about tomorrow?

T
his is
my second experience of being at a Baxter meeting. Except this time, only one spouse from each family is gathered in Gary’s living room. The others remained home with their children, except for Mark and Emily, who have no kids.

“So, the only person we need to worry about is Jackie?” Mark asks again.

“I believe so. She’s who he’s fixated on.”

“The camp is safe?” he clarifies.

“I believe so.” I can’t make any guarantees but if they wanted to get to Jackie through the campers they could have by now.

“I’m sorry, Jackie, but I don’t think you should be at the camp until this is over,” Emily says.

“I thought I’d be safer if I was around a bunch of people,” Jackie says.

I’d like to believe the same, but if this guy really wants to get to her, a bunch of teenagers isn’t going to be able to stop him.

“We can’t have him coming to the camp,” Gary says.

“You’re right,” she says a little defeated. “But what am I to do in the meantime.”

“You’re coming to Albany,” I announce.

“What?” She looks at me like I said I was taking her to Mars.

“I’m not letting you out of my sight. My office is in Albany. You will be safe there.”

“I’m supposed to sit around your office all day?”

“It won’t be so bad and I’m not always in the office.” Besides, I’m sure my supervisors will understand why I need to keep her close and will probably take me off duty since I’m a likely target since I’ll be standing in the way of this guy’s prize. “We’ll get a hotel. See the sights.”

“This isn’t a vacation,” she points out.

“It is what we make it.”

“Like I’ll be able to relax,” Jackie mutters and then sits down.

“It’s for the best,” Gary points out.

“I know.”

I can tell she hates this but there isn’t much we can do because I sure as hell am not leaving her back here with just her family. Gary may be a cop, but even he has to go to work, which will leave her vulnerable. And, as I have to report tomorrow, she’s going with me.

“I just need to go back up to the house and pack some things,” she finally says but I know she doesn’t like the idea of going away.

“I’ll make sure every window and door is locked while you do that.” We don’t want to leave it open if the creep decides he wants to wander around her house when he can’t find her.

After everyone leaves, we sit down with Cheryl and go over the list Jackie’s already prepared. She’s able to give us all kind of information because she knows everybody who’s ever had anything to do with the theatre. We then work through the list of names of the guys who worked on just one of the productions. I have a pretty good idea of who can be crossed off the list but that isn’t my call.

“What are you going to do with that?” Cheryl finally asks.

“We have a bunch of profilers. I’m going to send it to them and run background checks.

“I hate the idea that one of our employees or volunteers may be sending Jackie texts. Stalking her.”

“Just don’t say anything, but call me if you overhear something, or someone seems overly interested in what Jackie’s been doing.”

She takes my card. “Will do.”

I
’m
in the shower forever. It’s as if I can’t get clean. I don’t even know who the guy is and he never came near me, but I feel violated all the same. The guy’s been watching me and knew when I was with Brett. It’s creepy.

Well, so much for waiting until the weekend to talk again, not that I rather be anywhere else. I love my family but I feel safe with Brett. I don’t know if it’s because he’s an FBI agent or because he’s so protective of me. I just hope whoever has been texting me doesn’t try and hurt him. That I could not live with.

I wrap a towel around my head and after drying off, pull a thick, fluffy robe on.

Brett’s sitting with his back against the headboard watching television. At the knock in the door, I jump back in the bathroom and close the door, but not before I see Brett grab his gun and slip it in the back of his jeans. Setting the lock on the door, I hold my breath and wait. Why would anybody be at our door? My family knew we were coming to Albany, but not where we were staying. It isn’t like there’s only one hotel here.

“You can come out,” Brett calls and I blow out the breath I’ve been holding.

“Who was that?”

“Room service.” He grins at me. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.” He lifts the lids on the trays. “Burgers, fries and beers okay?”

My stomach grumbles. I hadn’t even realized I was hungry but I haven’t had anything since breakfast and it’s already past my normal supper time. “Thanks.”

I climb up on the bed next to him instead of sitting at the table and we eat burgers, fries, drink our beers and watch TV just like normal.

But, this isn’t normal. I’m in a hotel room that’s little over an hour from my home, hiding, with Brett, and no idea which guy on the list has been texting me. This is
not
normal.

When we’re finished eating, Brett takes the tray and sets it outside of our door, and returns to the bed. I curl up against him, sipping the rest of my beer, staring at the TV. I have no clue what I’m even watching or the story to go with it.

I can’t concentrate on shit right now. Instead of trying to figure out the show, I go back into the bathroom and change into my pajamas and run a comb through my hair before blowing it dry. It’ll still be damp in the morning if I go to sleep with it wet and I’m sure Brett probably doesn’t want to sleep with someone who has wet hair.

When I come back out he’s still in the same place except he’s no longer wearing jeans but comfortable looking pajama bottoms. Thank goodness he’s not just in boxers. I like Brett and everything, the last thing I want to do tonight is have sex and I think he gets that.

“Want to try and get some sleep?”

I nod and crawl under the covers. He flips off the TV and light, then curls around me.

Now I feel safe.

M
y supervisor
already had a heads up that I was bringing Jackie in with me today. He got that I couldn’t leave her alone. They’ve also started the background checks on the names. I emailed them last night while Jackie was in the shower. She doesn’t know that I’ve already told my boss everything and I hope she doesn’t mind, but she’s got to get that we’d be working on this. I may be new at my job, but too many times early signs, like texts, were ignored and by the time everything was figured out, it was too late. I’m not about to let anything happy to Jackie. My supervisor is also concerned that whoever it is may try to get me out of the way to get to Jackie, so he wants that person sending the texts found and dealt with sooner than later

It could easily be nothing and the perp won’t do anything but send texts, but nobody wants to take the risk or wait and see. What I hadn’t expected was five agents waiting in the conference room with my boss. I quickly introduce Jackie and then get her a cup of coffee.

“We’ve started the background checks,” my boss starts.

Jackie blinks. “You already know?”

“I called them last night while you were in the shower and then emailed.”

She nods but doesn’t seem upset.

“We’d like to ask you some questions, if you don’t mind, and see if there isn’t more that we can figure out.”

“Sure.” Jackie relaxes back in her chair.

“When did the texts first start?”

“June 12
^th
. That evening while I was sitting at a restaurant waiting for Brett.”

“Anything different about that night?”

I can feel my face heat. Nobody knows how my relationship with Jackie started.

“It was a blind date.” She glances over at me and her lips quirk.

“Who set you up?”

“Ashley, my best friend since I was ten.”

“She an instructor at the place I was working out,” I fill in. There’s no way Ashley has anything to do with this. But then again, we’ve been surprised before.

“So, what were you and Agent Robak doing when the first text came in?”

“He wasn’t there. He called the bar to tell the owner that he had a flat tire. Then Ashely called me to tell me Brett had a flat tire.”

“How did Ashley know?”

“I called her because I didn’t have Jackie’s phone number yet.”

“What’s Ashley’s last name?”

“Jones,” Jackie answers with a frown. “She doesn’t have anything to do with this.”

“I’m sure she doesn’t, but she set the two of you up. That’s when this started.”

“We’ll probably just want to ask her some questions,” another agent said.

“Like what?” I can tell Jackie is getting irritated.

“Maybe someone was asking about you?” the only female agent in the room answered. “It may have meant nothing to her at the time. If the guy is from the community, he’d probably know the two of you are friends. She might know something without even realizing she does.”

With this Jackie relaxes back into her chair and I take a note from the only female agent in the room. There is a way to talk to a witness or victim and a way not to. The guys were throwing questions at her, putting Jackie on edge. The woman was calmer and explains. I know why all of these questions are being asked, but forget that sometimes the person being interviewed doesn’t and it’s not good to put them on the defense, especially when they are the victim.

“What happened next?”

“Instead of waiting on him, I got two iced teas to go and went looking.”

My boss raises his eyebrows.

“Hey, I hadn’t met him. I didn’t know if he was just blowing off the date, or it wasn’t important enough to be on time to and was making excuses.” She shrugs. “I wanted to know if he was worth my time.”

The female agent smiles and ducks her head.

“When did you get the text?” my boss asks.

“As I was leaving.”

“And that was
Dream Girl Unimpressed?”

“It’s from
Assassins
. The song is
Everybody’s Got the Right
,” Jackie answers.

The female agent picks up the list. “And the next one.
Such a Pretty face, such a pretty dress, such a pretty smile
, from
I Feel Pretty
of
West Side Story?
”

“The next night,” I answer. “Jackie and I had gone out to dinner. We were on the town square. A band was playing and a bunch of people were sitting on blankets or in lawn chairs watching.”

The agents nod.

“Tell me about the next one,” my boss says.

They go through each text, asking Jackie where she was, who she was with, where I was, when they were received.

“And the only time Agent Robak was not with you, or had been with immediately before, was when you were with Miss Jones at the diner?” the female agent clarified. She’d taken over the questioning when it became clear to everyone in the room that Jackie was more comfortable talking to her than any of the others.

“Yeah. But, we were talking about Brett because she wanted to know how the date went since she’s the one who set us up.”

“Is it unusual for you to meet Miss Jones that early in the morning?”

“We’ve been having Friday morning breakfast since we went away to college. It’s what we’d do on break and during the summer to catch up because we were at different schools.”

“I’m assuming it wasn’t a secret, this was a usual thing for you two.”

“It’s not like we announced it, but anyone who knew us would know.”

“And you’ve been back home over a month but didn’t receive any texts until your first date with Agent Robak.”

“Correct.”

“What about other guys you’ve dated? Has this thing happened before?”

“No. In fact, I haven really dated anyone for a couple of years.”

“And the past two years you were involved in the community theatre.”

“Yes.” Jackie’s irritation is growing. She’s answered a lot of these questions already. I get it, but I know that agents are thinking this through to make sure it isn’t something besides the obvious.

“So, you come back from school, don’t take part in theatre and then Agent Robak enters.” The agents share a look. I know what they are thinking.

“Is this because I went out with Brett?” Jackie asks.

“Yes and no,” the female agent answers.

“I believe this guy started watching you when you didn’t audition. He’s probably been waiting all year for you to come back to the theatre, but when you didn’t, he started watching you.”

“That’s a little creepy.” Jackie shivers at my side. “I wonder how long?”

“Probably since the cast list went up and you weren’t on it,” I tell her.

“That’s a month before I met Brett.”

The female agent nods and gives Jackie a sympathetic smile. “As you’ve not dated anyone there was no threat and he could watch from afar. And since he couldn’t do that at the theatre he followed. Agent Robak shows up and it changes everything.”

Jackie looks over at me. “You are in danger too.”

I don’t like to think about it like that but I have to be honest. “I’m now in the way of what he wants. We just don’t know how far he will go to get that.”

“Then we just won’t see each other.”

“It’s not as simple as that,” the female agent says. “He’s started to act on his fixation with you. If Agent Robak never came near you again, this guy would not stop now.”

“Yes, but if I’m not around Brett, he will be safe.”

I get that she’s worried about me and it’s kind of nice. But, it ain’t happening. “I’m not going to hide and leave you vulnerable.”

“And he shouldn’t,” my boss says.

“The more you are with Agent Robak, the more he’s going to feel the need to separate the two of you, and act.”

“Which puts him in danger,” Jackie reminds them.

“You are in more danger without him, Miss Baxter.” One of the agents delivers the cold reality.

“Who knew about your date?” The female agent directed her question to Jackie.

“My grandmother, my brother and Ashley.”

Then she looked at me. “My aunt and uncle, and Ashley.”

Ashley did seem to be the common denominator but I know it’s not her. She’s the one who set us up.

“And, you know Ashely from where you work out?”

I nod.

“Did anyone ever overhear you talking to Ashley about the date?”

“Hell, anyone. She was trying to fix Jackie and me up for two weeks before I finally agreed to the blind date.”

My boss turns to one of the agents. “Cross reference that list with who would also have a gym membership.”

Shit! I should have thought about that myself. But, I didn’t even know the text meant anything or that they could be related to me somehow until yesterday afternoon. Less than twenty-four hours ago.

Jackie’s phone dings.

“I almost don’t even want to look at it.” She pushes it over to me.

I did it so she’d pay attention

All of the agents look at her.

“It’s from
Another National Anthem
from
Assassins.
”