Deadly Obsession (44 page)

“I love you too, Lauren. Be happy.”

She slipped her phone back in her purse, then grabbed the laptop bag beside it. The sooner they caught the stalker, the sooner she could get on with the business of winning Nic back.

After booting up her laptop, she opened the photo and shuddered. Then she tilted her head to view it from a different angle. It was darker than the shot of her and Nic kissing since it had been taken after the lights had gone out. But, it also had flash glare in the Plexiglas.

Lauren’s heart began to pump faster. She’d seen the outline of the photographer in the last photo, maybe this time… After smoothing out the flash glare, she tried manipulating the brightness and contrast to sharpen the image. And groaned in frustration. The reflection of the photographer was only slightly clearer than in the first shot. Still not enough to identify the stalker.

Time for caffeine. She pushed back from the desk and prepared the coffee machine to boil some water. She opened the door to her room and leaned out. “Hey, Jake. I’m making tea. Want some?”

“Don’t usually drink the stuff, but I think tonight I’ll make an exception,” he said, smothering a yawn. Lauren had to laugh at the sight of him speaking through clenched teeth.

She opened the door wider. “Come in and relax for a while.”

“Thanks, ma’am. Don’t mind if I do.”

Jake followed her into the room and dropped into the chair by the window. It was a large wingback that easily accommodated his size. He indicated the laptop. “They got you doing overtime already?”

She shook her head and sat on the bed instead of at the desk where she’d have her back to him. “I’m going over a photo the stalker sent to Nic, looking for clues. I was hoping to catch a reflection of her.”

“Since you aren’t jumping for joy, I guess you didn’t find one?”

“No, I see one. But I can’t make the image clear enough to see much of anything beyond a vague outline.” Lauren glanced over at the laptop. Hmm… maybe if she…. Hopping to her feet, she pointed to where she’d been sitting. “Can you sit there?”

Jake perked up and made it to the bed in one big stride. True, the room was small. But still. “Okay, what do I do now?” he asked, his enthusiasm making Lauren grin.

“Watch the screen and let me know if the image is getting clearer or blurrier. I’m thinking you might actually see it better from the bed.” Leaning over to get her head out of the way, she began slowly adjusting the zoom to demagnify the picture.

“Getting clearer,” he said. She reduced the zoom a bit more and each time he confirmed that the image was getting sharper. When she tweaked it once again, he shook his head. “Uh-uh. Go back one increment.”

Lauren twisted around. “What do you see?”

“A figure. Looks like a woman, but it’s too dark to make out any features.”

“Let me try something else.” She adjusted the contrast, lightening the image. “Good?”

“A little more… okay. But now everything is kind of… flat.”

“Flat?”

“I can see a face, but I can’t tell the chin from the neck.”

“I’ll try to adjust the color.” After adding some red, she mixed in some blue and a touch of green. “How’s that?”

“Getting better.”

Lauren walked over to the bed. After several seconds, she snapped her fingers and returned to the desk. Moments later, she glanced at Jake over her shoulder and asked, “Now?”

He smiled. “Your head’s in the way.”

“Oh, sorry.” Heat rose to her cheeks. Ducking, she turned away from him, then heard him suck in a breath of air.

“You got it. She’s a real looker.”

Lauren’s eyes shot to the screen but from so close, she couldn’t make much out. She lunged for the bed, nearly knocking Jake over in her haste. “Whoa.” He chuckled as he steadied her. “The photo isn’t going anywhere.”

Her eyes snapped to the image on the screen as she let him guide her to a spot beside him. The blood drained from her face and her whole body went numb. Oh God, it
was
Vivian.

CHAPTER 21

“Ms. James. You know that woman?”

Lauren averted her gaze from the photo and met Jake’s eyes. She cleared her throat. “Vivian Carmichael, Nic’s agent.”

His eyes widened. “Mr. Lamoureux’s agent is the stalker?” He scrubbed his jaw. “Shit. Uh… sorry.” He shot her a quick glance before turning away. “I need to call Kaden.”

As he reached into his back pocket, she put her hand on his arm. “No. We can’t risk her finding out. She’s already put a tracking device on Nic’s phone. Who knows what else she’s done? For all we know, Kaden’s phone is bugged too. We have to go to Montréal tonight and show this to Nic.”

“Okay. Pack up while I make the flight reservations.”

Lauren released his arm and started collecting her things while he placed a few calls. “Okay,” he said, glancing at his watch. “It’ll be tight, but we can make it if we hurry.”

She zipped her suitcase shut and smacked her hand on it. “I’m done.” All the important stuff was in the pockets of her cargo pants, anyways.

As they waited their turn at airport security an hour later, Lauren took a deep breath. Two days ago, she’d run from Nic as fast as her legs could carry her and yet, here she was beating all kinds of speed records to get
to
him. Had she gone mad? And what happened to waiting until the stalker was caught? What would she do if Vivian had already joined Nic at the ranch? She was no actress. Could she pretend she didn’t know, or would Vivian see right through her? Her stomach lurched and she clutched her waist. The woman was a
killer
. Maybe she’d been too rash in suggesting they jump on a plane. They could have called Kaden and asked him to call back on Rémi’s phone or something like that.

The line advanced, and it was her turn to remove her shoes and take her laptop out of its case. As she stepped through the metal detector, she almost hoped that the guards detained her long enough to miss their flight. But nothing happened. No alarms, bells or whistles. Nothing. Surely that was a sign she was doing the right thing?

At the gate, her mother’s words came back to her. No one got guarantees. The boring tax accountant she’d hoped to meet? He could die from an infected paper cut. Vivian’s betrayal would hit Nic hard. He’d need someone to love and support him. And that someone was her, Lauren James. Single mom. Professional photographer. Reformed scaredy-cat. Hopefully, he’d still talk to her. But if his feelings had changed—

No, she wouldn’t think about that. One day at a time, that’s what her mother had said. Get to the ranch, tell Nic about Vivian, and help the guys come up with a plan to catch her. Then she could worry about having a future with Nic.

But damn, after everything they’d already been through, they both deserved a chance to have a happily ever after. Together.

“Thought you could use this,” Rémi said, handing Nic a bottle of beer before perching himself on the veranda railing.

Nic thanked him absently and took a long swallow. The beer was surprisingly good. He glanced at the label and had to laugh. “
La fin du monde
. The End of the World. How appropriate.”

“Just showing the love, man.”

Nic snorted. “Asshole.”

Relaxing on the porch, his gaze drifted to the giant ball of fire hovering above the tree line and the pink, purple and orange streaks painting the sky. He met his friend’s eyes. “I’ve missed being here.”

Rémi’s expression sobered as he leaned forward, picking at the label on his bottle. “We’ve got to end this, brother. Did you hear from the LAPD?”

“Anderson called. Because the stalking has crossed state and now international lines, they’ve called in the FBI. All the phones used to send the messages were disposables bought at Walmarts across the U.S. The FBI is running the security tapes through their face-recognition system.”

Rémi nodded. “That’s good. If the same face shows up at all locations, then they’ve got their suspect.”

Nic ran his thumb through the condensation accumulating along the bottle and remembered countless summer evenings spent exactly like this: talking things over with Rémi while sitting on the wide veranda drinking a good beer. He’d always been honest with Rémi. There was no reason for that to change. “Lauren thinks Vivian’s the stalker.”

After taking a slug from his bottle, Rémi arched a brow. “And you?”

“I don’t want her to be right.”

“But you think she might be.”

Nic blew out a long breath. “Yeah.” He balanced the chair onto its back legs and leaned his head against the wall. “The thing I don’t get is why. I keep asking myself: what’s Vivian’s motive? And I keep coming up blank.”

“I’m no expert, but from what I understand, stalkers often have relationship fantasies. In her mind, you could be her boyfriend, even her husband.”

“Which could explain killing Summer and threatening Lauren.”

Rémi nodded. “She would see that as cheating.”

“But why the blackmail? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Consider this: where’re you getting the money to pay?”

Nic’s eyes widened. “From Vivian. This way, she looks like a hero. Like she’s saving me, my career, and the ranch.”

“And at the same time, makes you even more dependent on her because now you owe her.”

“Jesus Christ. Talk about showing the love.”

Rémi laughed. The screen door slammed against the wall as Kaden stepped onto the veranda. “Incoming,” he said. “I just buzzed Jake in at the gate.”

Nic let his chair fall forward with a thud. “Jake? He’s supposed to be in New York with Lauren.” His gut plummeted as fear for her washed over him. “Is she here too?”

Kaden nodded.

“Shit.” Lauren had been so adamant about staying away from him, only something serious could have brought her here. Why hadn’t she called?

The gate opened and a car passed under the arch, triggering the security lights along the driveway. Nic took off down the wheelchair ramp, running faster as the car’s headlights bobbed closer. His heart seized when the passenger door opened and a small figure jumped out of the slow-moving car. The person stumbled a bit but didn’t slow down. Seconds later, Lauren was in his arms. “Nic, I’m so sorry.”

“
Chérie
.” He took her face in his hands and felt the wet warmth of her tears. His chest tightened and he cocooned her with his body, ready to protect her from everything and anything. “Are you okay? Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I… I…,” she started, but then another sob cut off her words.

Nic lifted her up and cradled her against his chest. “Shh. Whatever it is, we’ll handle it,” he murmured, carrying her up the ramp. Rémi held the door for him. Nic slipped through, nodding his thanks, and sat on the couch with Lauren on his lap.

She blushed and wiped the tears off her cheeks when Rémi took a seat across from them. “God, this is so embarrassing.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I quite enjoyed it,” Rémi teased.

When Lauren laughed, Nic smiled, glad his friend had defused the situation. “Lauren, meet Rémi—”

“The best friend,” Rémi interjected.

“—and this is Lauren.”

“The girlfriend… if he’ll still have me.” When she turned and angled her chin up, he saw love and longing in her eyes, and his heart swelled.

He threaded his fingers through her long curls and pulled her to him. “I will,” he whispered as his lips met hers. When his tongue slid between her teeth and curled around hers in a gentle caress, she moaned and threw her arms around his neck, pressing her breasts against his chest.

With half an ear, he heard Rémi mutter, “And that’s my cue to leave.” The screen door slammed as he went outside to join the two bodyguards.

The sound startled Lauren. She wrenched her mouth away from his and put a restraining hand against his chest.

“What is it?”

“I forgot to ask, is Vivian here?”

He shook his head. “She’s coming tomorrow.”

Lauren breathed a sigh of relief. “I got so caught up with seeing you again and….” She trailed off, waving her hand between the two of them.

Nic grinned in understanding. He’d gotten pretty carried away, too. “Let’s get your things. You can freshen up and then we’ll talk. Okay?”

Someone had brought in Lauren’s bags. He handed her the purse, then grabbed her suitcase and laptop bag. They climbed the two flights of stairs to his suite. “The attic’s pretty large, so I have a bedroom, a full bath, and a den up here.”

He deposited her belongings next to the bed. She surprised him by taking his hand and leading him to the pair of wingback chairs beside the windows. He sat in one and when she moved to sit in the other, he tugged her down onto his lap. “Here’s better,” he said when she raised her brows. He loved the feel of her ass against his thighs.

Lauren swallowed, then lowered her head. “I want you to know that my running off had nothing to do with anything you told me about your past.”

Nic tilted her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Then why?”

She averted her eyes. “I was scared.”

“That’s understandable. The stalker did threaten you.”

She stared at her hands clasped in her lap. “It wasn’t just the stalker. I was afraid to commit to our relationship.”