His mind ran over who this stalker could be. Knowing her social media history, it could’ve been anyone in the world—though if those texts could be believed, this guy knew her. Cole’s thoughts went straight to Lacy Lynch. Eva and West had ruined his life and his career—both would be enough motivation for a crazy man to take his revenge. “You sure you don’t know who this stalker is?” he asked.
“No idea.”
He didn’t want to worry her yet, but if they could discover his identity then they could take action. “What if we find this guy?”
“You mean like set a trap?”
“Something like that.” She’d already gotten into a text fight with him.
“You…” She let out a breathless laugh. “You’re really so different from anyone I know.”
“We’re not doing anything dangerous.” He had to make that clear before she got it into her head to turn reckless.
“No, no,” she agreed. “We’re going to do this smart.” She clambered onto the couch, throwing her blanket up to her neck. He could see now that they had a plan, she felt braver, which was good for the both of them.
I want to convince her to leave West, not cheat on him.
It was getting harder to convince himself of that by the day, especially with his brother’s prolonged silence.
Cole stretched out on the carpet, cradling his head to watch the documentary. Lizardman sniffed at his head.
“Dogs?” Eva laughed. “That’s what you thought would calm me down?” She reached down and inched the remote from his hands before he realized what she was doing. She flipped the TV to an unsolved murder mystery case.
“That’s going to calm you down?” he asked.
“Yes!” She yawned like it was a drug. “Yes…” Her voice began to fade.
He’d steal the remote from her the second he heard her snores. Lying there, he listened to her breathing smooth out and turn deeper. Meanwhile, the crime on the TV turned more violent and disturbing. He poised to take that remote, but he didn’t have to. It fell from her fingers and hit him on the shoulder.
That was one way of doing it. He grappled with the remote, but before he could turn it off, the landline rang from the kitchen, startling him upright.
Who made those ringers so loud? Eva groaned in her sleep. Cole scrambled across the carpet to snatch the phone from its cradle before it woke her up. “Hey,” he answered with a hoarse undertone.
“Why are you whispering?” West asked mockingly. “It’s only ten o’clock at night.”
He rolled his eyes. Cole had almost killed himself getting to the phone for West? “Eva’s asleep,” he said.
“Oh.” West didn’t sound too torn up about it. “How’s Lizardman? Can he talk?”
“You’re unbelievable.” He glanced over at Eva’s sleeping form. She’d be dying to hear from him, especially after her scare. “I can wake her.”
“No, no, Momma wants to talk to you. She’s been begging for the sound of your voice since she woke up.”
She could talk to him already? Cole was beside himself, but he was still confused. “I thought you were in Nashville.”
“I was… and now I’m here, stupid. That’s the awesome thing about transportation.”
And then he’d be back for Thanksgiving. West needed to come back before Cole did something they both regretted. “Give me to Momma.” He didn’t want to hear West’s annoying voice anymore.
“Cole!” his momma cried into the receiver. West hadn’t bothered saying goodbye before he’d relinquished the phone to her. “My baby.”
Cole laughed. Normally, he’d be irritated to be called the baby, but his momma could get away with anything right now.
“How are you?” she asked. “You taking good care of West’s fiancée?”
“Uh…” Too well, except there were complications with that stalker. He moved into the other room. “I’m keeping her alive.”
“Good.”