The Safe Bet (Hidden Truths #1)(56)

“Hell, no.” His fingers slipped free from her lips. “I’m in this with you until the end. Until whoever just tried to kill you is in jail or six feet under. Preferably the latter. Got it?”

Her eyes narrowed as she digested his words. “And after—what happens after?” she softly asked. But she knew, didn’t she? Michael would disappear from her life once she was safe.

Michael bowed his head for a moment, his hand resting on her thigh. But before he could answer, the elevators buzzed.

“What’s going on?” Jake blurted the second Michael let him in.

Kate swallowed back her emotion and looked up to see both Jake and Connor standing before her.

Michael pointed to the closed windows. “Someone had a red dot sight focused on Kate’s chest.”

“Shit. Are you okay?” Connor sat beside her.

She looked up into Connor’s light green eyes and nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

“We might be able to peg the stalker’s location. Can you show me where you think the sniper was located?” Jake asked while approaching the balcony doors.

“No, don’t open them. What if the sniper shoots?” Kate threw her hand in the air.

“I won’t go out there right now, don’t worry.” Jake turned toward Michael. “I can pull up the hotel blueprints. We should be able to triangulate the position of the shooter and go from there. He must be staying in my damn hotel.”

Michael nodded and then left the room for a minute. He returned carrying his laptop and handed it off to Jake. “Connor, maybe we should get Kate’s father over here,” Michael suggested.

“No,” she said. “I don’t want him to know what happened. He’ll freak.”

“It’s your decision,” Michael responded. “Why don’t you get some rest while we figure this out?”

“You think I’m capable of sleep?” Kate rose to her feet and watched as Jake sat in the armchair opposite of her and began working fast on the laptop.

“No, but maybe you should lie down,” Michael answered while coming around behind Jake’s chair so he could see the screen. “You’re safe, remember. Bulletproof glass.”

Thank God you’re paranoid. Who else would install bulletproof glass, other than the President? Or maybe warlords? “Fine,” she said.

“Everything’s going to be okay.” Michael cocked his head to the side as his eyes connected with hers.

For some reason, she was getting the vibe that there was some other message embedded in his words—but she figured she was reading into it.

*


“Your stalker is playing games. I don’t think he intended to shoot you. He used a fake identity to pay for his hotel room. And he left a note on the bed,” Jake said.

“He what?” She looked away from Jake and over at Michael.

Michael’s mouth was closed and his lips sealed.

Kate reached for the small half-sheet of white paper that Michael offered her. Scribbled in black pen was a message: “They can’t protect you from me, but I’ll enjoy watching them try.”

“We dusted the room for prints, but he left no evidence behind. Well, other than that note. He knew we would find the room. Clearly, he wanted us to.”

She handed the paper back to Michael as a numbness overtook her limbs. Numb was good, though. Numb meant no pain.

“We’ve started looking at the hotel surveillance footage to see if we can put a face to the guy in the room,” Jake said.

She watched from a few feet away, hands clenched at her sides, as Jake sat in front of the laptop with Connor at his side.

It was now after midnight. It had been three hours since someone pointed a sniper rifle at her. In what world was she living now? “How do you know who you’re looking for?”

“Well, anyone who goes out of his way to avoid the cameras would be a good start,” Jake said before shooting her an innocent, sideways grin. “Plus, we’ve narrowed the feeds down to the time when he pointed the gun at you.”

She rubbed her arms and looked at the closed blinds. Her stalker had been at the hotel across the street. For how long? And he had been in her hotel room, watching her sleep, not so long ago.

“Wait. Stop right there,” Connor said. He reached for Jake’s computer and shifted it onto his lap.

Kate came up behind him and watched as Connor pressed a few buttons and zoomed in on the screen, focusing on the reflection of a man in the mirrored elevator doors. “I know him.” There was an air of confidence in his voice as his face registered alarm. “It has to be him.” He rubbed his beard and exhaled. “That’s Dustin Scott.”

“Shit, you’re right. A former sniper for the Navy Seals,” Jake said.

“And he’s a fucking psycho,” Michael added. He was standing next to her now, and he pressed a hand to her back.

“What? You think he’s my stalker?”

“Well, he’s on the FBI’s most wanted list. He’s a hired hitman,” Jake said.

Terror threatened to bring down her entire house of cards in about two point five seconds if someone didn’t make her feel better soon.

“Dustin was in the Navy until he was discharged a few years ago. Word is that he flipped sides and sold secrets to the Taliban insurgents—he’s the kind of guy who will sell his own mother to make a buck,” Jake said.