Stump and the other two men watched as Zoey then hobbled down the stairs and her futile attempt to open the locked door at the bottom.
“Why doesn’t she go through the lobby door?” Ice asked from behind him.
“I asked her that. She said she panicked with the fire alarm going off,” Stump responded.
“She looks calm to me, other than looking scared as hell,” Ice voiced the same thought that was going through his mind. “Whatever it was, it saved her life. Show him what’s waiting on the other side of the door.”
Stump had seen some scary shit in his life, but none had made his blood as cold as what he was watching on the monitor in front of him.
“Not going out that door saved her life. Why didn’t he just take her out in the stairway?”
“He wanted her hurt before he used the sledgehammer on her. That’s why he pushed her down the steps. She wouldn’t have been able to fight back as hard. He didn’t use the sledgehammer in the stairway because he wanted to obliterate her, and he wanted room to move.”
The men watched the rest of Zoey’s journey up the flight of stairs that she had just walked down.
“Son of a bitch,” Stump cursed, seeing her walking past a restroom that the firefighter came out of just after she passed to sneak back inside the stairwell.
“If he had turned the other way and saw her, she wouldn’t have escaped,” Ice vocalized what they all were thinking.
“She didn’t even notice,” Jackal observed, keying yet another segment of footage to see her attacker unjamb the door before opening it and casually walking outside. “That’s all I have. Whoever it was, they blended in with the other firefighters and I lost sight when they moved out of range of the camera.”
“Whoever it was will be going back.”
“I agree, which is why I want her watched. I don’t want my wife nearby if that lunatic goes off the deep end.”
“Me either,” Jackal agreed. “I tried to convince Penni to take an early vacation, but she won’t. If you see anything suspicious, I want to know.”
“If one more yellow rose shows up, Grace won’t be going on a vacation. She’ll be looking for another job.”
“You two are full of shit.” Stump rose, swaggering to the door with Hannibal trailing after him. “Grace and Penni won’t leave until they’re sure Zoey is out of danger. I saw the look on their faces in the emergency room. They already had a plan for the Predators to protect her. If Grace quits her job, or Penni goes on vacation, your interest in protecting Zoey drops to nil. The only way either of you can make sure your old ladies are safe is to find who the hell is stalking Zoey.”
“How are we supposed to that?”
“I don’t know. That’s why you’re the president. You figure it out.” Stump stepped out of the church room, leaving the door ajar just to piss them off.
Despite what he had said about leaving Ice to figure it out, he grabbed a beer from behind the bar and settled back in the recliner to take out his cell phone. Settling Hannibal next to him, he pulled Zoey up on the Internet. Drinking his beer, he watched several of her YouTube videos, memorizing the faces of people who were nearby as she made them. Subscribing to her channel, he then switched to viewing her other platforms, following her on Twitter and Instagram after creating his own account.
It was two a.m. before he stopped to take Hannibal out. Taking a cigarette out, he smoked it as the dog relieved himself while thinking about the research he had done on Zoey. He could understand why she was so popular. She was charismatic, witty, and charming to her female and male followers.
Unconsciously shaking his head, he blew the smoke past his lips and mulled over her sharing every moment of her day, except when she was with her clients or at home. She was a fucking open book, except for her past and her evenings. She was a victim waiting to happen.
Flicking the cigarette into the yard, he called to Hannibal to come inside.
“You want some company tonight?” Crush called to him from behind the bar as he turned toward the hallway that led to his room.
“Sure.” Stump didn’t wait for her, going to his room.
He was taking his shirt off when Hannibal started growling the moment she came into the room and closed the door.
“Cool it, Hannibal.”
Crush didn’t move from the doorway. “That dog hates me.”
“Do you care?” Sitting down on his bed, he took off his boots.
“Depends on if he’s had his shots.” Hips swinging back and forth, Crush walked toward the bed to kneel at his feet, shimmying between his thighs. Then she started to provocatively unbutton his jeans before taking out his hardening cock.