Once again, I think of movies-the ones where the unsuspecting girl gets abducted in broad daylight-and I get paranoid. I call Aimee; she tells me she’s almost here, but I quickly tell her to go to school instead. I don’t want her to be spotted with me, just in case. Mark said once that the people involved in mine and Cole’s kidnapping start stripping off your loved ones first, and I can’t let that happen. Aimee is confused but agrees to meet me at school. I don’t know what to do. Should I call the cops or Bruce? What is standard protocol for a situation where a good-looking guy is creeping you the hell out by watching you? That’s all he’s done—watch me—but it’s the way he’s watching me. He’s looking at me like there’s nothing going on around him. This guy could seriously be mental. He could be a killer, or worse, a killer and a rapist. Well, I’m not sure if that’s worse, but right now I can’t think straight. Derek passes by me with his stupid app on full blast, and I jump in my seat again and let out a growl of frustration. Damn it.
I take a few deep breaths and finish silently freaking out before I decide that I’m going to ask him why he’s looking at me. What the hell? I mean, it’s 9:30 in the morning. We’re on a busy street, so he can’t do anything stupid. Besides, I need to know what I’m dealing with here. I’ll see what I’ll do after I get my answer. I take a deep breath and step outside, idly wondering if I should download the machine gun app, just in case. The weather has been marvelous lately. It’s sunny and windy, not too cool and not too hot. Absolute perfection.
I make my way across the street and look around to see if I spot Bruce. I see him on the other side of the street and give him a nod, letting him know that I’m still okay. Bruce and I have an agreement. He can shadow me, but I don’t want anybody to know he’s watching me, so he keeps his distance. He’s only allowed to step in if he sees me in real danger. The mystery guy is still standing in the same spot. His straight lips curve into a slow smile as I approach, and it makes me want to slap it off him. It’s almost as if he was expecting me to go up to him—or worse, he wanted to corner me into doing it. I look across the street one more time and see Bruce making his way across the street as well. I stand in front of mystery guy and awkwardly cross my arms in front of my chest while holding Aimee’s cup of coffee in my right hand.
“Why are you following me?” I ask in a clipped tone.
His smile broadens and he lets out a single laugh. “You got guts, girl.” His voice has a different timbre to it. Maybe he’s from Boston?
“Girl?” I repeat, narrowing my eyes at him. He doesn’t give me a creepy vibe up close—well, not a completely creepy vibe. His eyes are hazel, they’re light up close, and they’re completely laughing at me.
“You are a girl, right?” he asks as he slowly studies the length of my body, with his hand under his chin.
“Stop looking at me like that. Stop following me. I don’t have time to waste,” I growl as I roll my eyes before turning around and walking away.
Bruce is standing on my side of the street now, but I wave him off dismissively.
“Hey, girl, what’s your name?” the guy calls out from behind and I can hear the smile in his voice.
I don’t turn around. I just flip him off over my shoulder as I continue looking forward. I hear him laugh loudly behind me, and it makes me shuffle my feet faster. His cocky attitude reminds me of Cole’s, but his words don’t match his actions. It’s confusing and unnerving, and it pisses me off. A guy like him shouldn’t be wasting his time on a random girl in the middle of the street.
He obviously has money, judging from the way he’s dressed. Even though it’s not a suit, I know he paid a lot to look casually chic. He’s also wearing a Rolex, which he may or may not have stolen. If he’s an expert pocket-picker, he probably stole all of my belongings in the two minutes I was standing in front of him.
I stop walking and turn around to reply, because I really don’t need another shadow following me around. “There are a lot of fish in the sea,” I call out and stomp back around.
“That’s true,” he replies. His deep voice is so close to my ear, that it stops me dead in my tracks. My heart is racing wildly and I have to use both hands to steady the cup of coffee so that I won’t drop it. He totally snuck up on me—ninja style. Now I’m freaked. “But they’re only paying me to catch one.”