"The accident," he said, his voice sounding exhausted. "I was trying to pull David out and the SUV was on fire."
"I'm so sorry." I stroked his shoulder. "I think it's normal after something traumatic like that to have nightmares."
He shrugged. "I saw worse that than over in Afghanistan," he said softly. "Dead bodies, blown up from IEDs, firefights, outright murders. I should be able to handle the accident better."
"This was your brother," I said and kissed him. "It's harder to take when it's a family member. You have to give it time. Once David's back completely healed, it will get better."
"I hope so," he said and exhaled, burying his face in my neck. "I think the man following me just set off my alarm bells."
That worried me too, but I didn't want to make too much of it. Josh had enough on his plate as it was.
"Don't worry. Soon, you'll have a guard in place and you won't have to worry."
It took a while, but eventually, we both fell back to sleep.
When I woke, Josh was already up and had beaten me to the bathroom to brush his teeth. It was a regular battle between us to see who could get there first.
"Beat you," he said, his toothbrush in his mouth, his amused eyes meeting mine in the bathroom mirror.
"No fair," I said and hip-checked him out of the way so I could get my own toothbrush ready. Soon, we were both brushing and smiling at each other like a couple of teenagers, and once we were both finished rinsing, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me.
"We have time before work," he said and wagged his eyebrows suggestively.
"Shower or bath?" I asked, pulling away.
"Shower," he said.
We got dirty before we got clean.
After I finished dressing and fixing my makeup, I went to the kitchen where Josh was talking on his cell. He turned and saw me and held his finger up for a second.
"Okay, I'll come right down. I'll be interested to see it."
He ended his call and placed his cell down on the island countertop carefully.
"What's up? Who were you speaking with?" I asked, when he came over and pulled me into his arms.
"Now, I don't want to freak you out, but the security manager, said they caught some video of a man about fifty-ish with a fedora that has a feather in the brim hanging around the building. I'm going down to check it out, but I suspect it's the same man I saw at the airport. If so, I want you to be extra careful and not go out alone. I'm going to hire a bodyguard to ghost both of us."
"Why me?" I asked, frowning, a chill running through me. "I'm no one."
"You're crazy, right? Your father is Governor Carter of New Hampshire..."
"If anyone is the target of a nutcase, it would be you. You have all the money."
Josh nodded and stroked my cheek. "Whatever the case, I want you to be careful. No going anywhere alone, okay? At least until we learn who this yahoo is."
"Okay..." I said doubtfully. "I think it's unnecessary on my part."
"I'm serious. Promise me."
I sighed. "I promise."
"Good. I don't want to have to worry that someone's planning to abduct you for ransom or anything."
We kissed again and then I went down to my office. I sat down behind my desk and opened my laptop, then read emails for the first fifteen minutes, but my mind
kept going back to what Josh said about me being a potential target of a kidnapper because of my father's position as a Governor. My father had security in Concord, of course, but I never had any worries. I tried to brush it off, but a sense of unease descended over me that nothing seemed to dissipate.