Come Back to Me

Chapter 29: Present Day

Noah hit the end call button, letting loose a string of curses.

"How'd he find me? How'd he get this number?" I wondered out loud, talking more to myself than to Noah.

Noah rang Melody to tell her that any calls that came in for me needed to go through him first, no exceptions. He walked over and put his hands on my shoulders to stop my frantic pacing and tilted my face up to look at him. I had tears in my eyes.

"Has he contacted you since we arrived, other than the other night and today?"

Shaking my head, I let him pull me into an embrace. "Just those two times."

"Mark and Joshua will be here in just a minute. We'll figure it out."

"Figure what out? He knows where I am. He saw me. Today, Noah. He knows what I'm wearing."

Noah's arms tightened around me. "I'll call Greg, Maybe he can help. And John. See what legal action we can take against him. I won't let anything happen to you. You'll be okay."

"Like he'll really obey the laws. They have to find him. It's the only way."

I tried to relax against him, tried not caring that everyone in the office could once again see us together. The hard comfort of his body, the quieting touch of his arms around me, and the soothing sound of his voice in my ear...it should be enough to calm me, to reassure me and make me feel safe. Except it wasn't.

I didn't feel safe at all. Knowing that Stephen had seen me yesterday and today was seriously messing me up. Who was I kidding? Noah couldn't keep me safe no matter how hard he tried. What was Joshua going to do - joke Stephen to death? Mark - Mark should be doing more. He used to be a goddamn detective. If someone was going to find him, it should be Mark.

Because he was the only one of the three that actually had it in him to murder Stephen.

I wasn't being fair. Fuck fair. Fuck being rational. I was terrified. It didn't matter how strong I acted, how much of a front I put on when taunting Stephen over the phone. If he was in Boston and close enough to know what dress I wore to work today, then it was only a matter of time before he attacked me. Or killed me.

Joshua burst in with Mark on his heels.

"How the fuck did he find her?"

"What'd he say to you?"

I pushed my hands up between Noah and me and shoved him away. Mark was inches from me when I rounded on him, tears streaking my makeup and teeth bared.

"Why haven't you found him yet? Why aren't you out there right now, hunting him down and bringing me his mangled, headless corpse?'

Jesus, Regan. He isn't a body snatcher, for fuck's sake.

If he was shocked by my outburst, his face didn't show it. Joshua and Noah were a little thrown by it, stepping a few inches away from me as I berated Mark.

"You were a detective, weren't you? You got Noah out of prison. Finding a murderous psychopath shouldn't be hard for you. Instead of following me around like an overprotective asshole, go find him!" My voice cracked with a sob. "Please find him."

Mark began to wipe away my tears and pull me closer gently, his body tensed to grab me if I decided to run from him. I fought him for only a few seconds. Soon, his large body surrounded mine, warm and solid.

"Please, Mark. Just find him."

"Shh, I've got you, baby." He hand stroked my back. "I'll bring him to you in pieces if that's what you want."