The Wife Stalker(66)
Restless, she decided to write a new blog post for the center, maybe something about living every day as though it were your last. It was an expression everyone had heard but few took to heart. She hadn’t updated the blog in a few weeks, and she noticed that there were comments on older posts still to be approved. She read through each one, approving the appropriate comments and deleting the spam. She froze as she came upon a comment posted a week ago.
Found you! Did you think just because you left California, I’d forget all about you? I wonder what your clients at the “recovery center” would think if they knew you were a murderer. Good thing you’re not still teaching sailing, at least. Now that I know where you are, I’ll be making sure that everyone knows exactly who you are, including that new husband of yours.
Piper took a screenshot and filed it away, then deleted the comment. How had Ava found her? She’d been so careful, even making sure that the business transfer had gone through several holding companies so it couldn’t be publicly traced to her real name. If Ava showed up here, she would make Piper’s life impossible.
She had to think . . . It must have been Brent. She knew he’d recognized her when she’d seen him in town. Damn it! He must have gone home and called Ava. But still, how had Ava so easily found out her new name and her role at the recovery center? One thing was for sure—Ava wasn’t going to drive her out of Westport the way she’d driven her from San Diego. This time, Piper would find a way to stop her.
She looked up Brent’s office number online and, taking a deep breath, dialed.
“Pacific Investments,” a male voice with a British accent answered.
“Brent McDonald, please. Pamela Dunn calling.”
“One moment.”
She drummed her fingers while she waited.
“Pamela?” He sounded tentative.
“Hi, Brent. I owe you an apology.” She dove right in, her tone calm and apologetic. “I’m sorry for pretending it wasn’t me when I ran into you in Westport. I was worried about what Ava might do if she found out where I was.”
There was a weighty pause before he responded. “I’m not sure I understand.”
She sighed. “Surely you remember how she acted after Matthew and Mia . . . She blamed me and made my life a living hell.”
He cleared his throat. “Um, I know she made a scene a few times at the club, but she was grieving. I mean, you have to cut her a break. She lost her daughter.”
“I know, I know. But she started stalking me, following me everywhere I went, making a scene. She spray-painted ‘Murderer’ on my car.”
He made an odd throat-clearing noise, but she pushed on.
“You know as well as I that what happened was an accident—the authorities were clear on that. But she was never going to let it go, so I needed to disappear, start over again. And now she’s found me. I have to ask: Did you call her and tell her you saw me in Westport?”
She heard a long exhale and papers shuffling. “Listen, Pamela, or Piper, or whatever your name is now, I’m really not comfortable giving you any information. In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if Ava was right.”
Fear shot through her. “You can’t be seri—”
He cut her off. “I’m dead serious. After I saw you on the street, I had a long talk with Ava. She told me some things about you that I never knew. If I’d have known the way you treated poor Mia . . . Look, I have to go. Don’t call me again.” The line went dead.
This was no good. If Ava knew where she was, she’d start calling Leo and tell him awful things about her—things that would make him suspicious, that would make him doubt her just as Brent was doing. She wasn’t going to let that happen.
Leo knew, of course, that Piper was a widow. She’d told him when they first started dating that she’d moved here from California for a fresh start after she’d lost her husband and stepdaughter in a tragic sailing accident. When she’d opened up to him about the accident, he’d been sympathetic and respectful of her wish to leave the past behind and hadn’t pressed her for details. She’d also told him that she’d changed her name because of a stalker, but she hadn’t volunteered that the stalker was Ava. She needed to clarify this with Leo right away, so that if Ava did reach him, he wouldn’t entertain her ravings.
As soon as he and the kids walked in the door, Piper greeted them in the foyer and wasted no time telling Leo she needed to talk to him alone.
“Everything all right?”
She held a finger up. “Hey, guys. How about I put a movie on for you and then bring in some lunch for you in a little while?”
“Okay,” Evie answered, and Stelli didn’t make a fuss for once. She got them settled, then led Leo into the kitchen.
“Do you remember when I told you that I had a stalker in California?”
Alarm filled his face. “Of course. Has he found you?”
“I think so. But it’s not a he.” He looked startled, but she kept going before he could ask questions. “I didn’t tell you the whole story because I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
He leaned back, giving her an appraising look. “O-kay . . .”
He was wearing his attorney persona now, and she knew she had to be careful. “Ava, Matthew’s ex-wife, was stalking me. They were separated when I met him. In fact, she’d cheated on him long before I came into the picture. But when he and I started dating, she went crazy.”