Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 116760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
“It is?” Her heart was racing. She’d slept like the dead last night, which was really unusual for her. Normally, she tossed and turned for ages and woke up several times.
She guessed maybe being in Little space was therapeutic for her in some ways.
Which reminded her to check her emails to see if her therapist had replied.
“It is. I promise. It’s okay that you slept in. I let you sleep. You needed it.”
“You won’t get in trouble with Kent?”
He smiled. “No, baby. I’ve actually taken the morning off to spend with you.”
“Yeah? Yay! What are we going to do?”
His face grew serious.
“Oh no. I don’t like that face. That’s the face of someone who is taking me to get shots.”
“No shots. I promise. Although that reminds me that your gummy vitamins have arrived. Let’s get you fed and caffeinated, and then I need to tell you something.”
“Maybe you should tell me now.”
“No. Because I know you won’t eat if I do.”
Great. That didn’t sound good at all.
But she let him feed her some scrambled eggs and toast, although her nerves prevented her from eating too much. Corbin sighed as he looked at her half-filled plate.
“I’m sorry,” she said, wincing. The asshole hated when she didn’t eat all the food he’d prepared.
“It’s okay. It’s my fault for telling you there was something going on first.”
She grimaced. “I’ve got to stop being so jittery, haven’t I?” She hated walking on egg shells, waiting for him to do something mean. “I know you’re not him . . . it’s just that sometimes I react before my brain can catch up.”
“I’m not offended, darling girl.” He sat at the table next to her, taking her hands in his. “I just want you to be happy here with me.”
“I am. I promise.”
Leaning forward, he kissed her forehead. “Good. Now, I think I have an idea of who is writing those messages to you.”
“Really? That’s good news.” Hope filled her until she took in the tension on his face. “What is it? Who is it?”
“Well, I suspect that it’s your mother.”
God.
He hated that look on her face.
The hope crumbled, replaced by shock, then anger and betrayal.
“What?” she whispered. “But it can’t be. We were attacked and you said that meant it couldn’t be her.”
“That’s the part I’m not completely sure about, but it could have been a random attack. I looked into crime in that part of the city over the last six months, and there have been a few knife attacks and robberies.”
“Oh. There have?”
“Yes. It is not a safe area for you to be living in. Luckily, you won’t be living there anymore.”
It infuriated him to think about what could have happened to her, living alone in that area.
But he breathed through it.
“What makes you think it’s my mother?”
“As you know, we traced the IP to the San Francisco Public Library which was of no help. But then I studied the messages again. Some of the words are spelled in British English rather than American.”
She sucked in a breath. “Holy heck. How did I not notice that?”
“My guess is that you didn’t pay much attention. And it’s only two words on two different messages out of dozens.”
She nodded quietly.
He squeezed her hands. “You know that this isn’t definite proof, right? I mean, it doesn’t mean that it was your mother. It could be someone else who writes their words like that.”
“Someone else who writes in British English who would have a reason to hate me?”
He hated that she thought her mother hated her. But he also understood it. Her mother hadn’t done anything to prove otherwise to her.
“Unfortunately, we can’t go accusing her with just this flimsy proof. Plus, there is still the attack to consider.”
She blanched. “You don’t think that she . . . that she would hire someone to hurt me?”
“No, darling girl. I’m not saying that. Just wondering if it’s a coincidence or not. What we need is for her to confess.”
“That won’t happen.” She tapped her fingers against the table. “What reason would she have for doing this, though? It’s just costing her money having you guys here. Unless she thought it would push me into coming home. That’s the only thing I can think of.” Closing her eyes, she breathed in slowly and deeply. Then she opened her eyes. “Or it’s related somehow to her announcing that I’m going to be on The Benner Life. She thought it would push me to come home, and then maybe I’d somehow agree to the show? Or perhaps that would be the opening episodes? Me moving home because of the stalker? Why advertise it so soon though? Urgh, I don’t know.” She rubbed at her forehead. “Whatever she’s got planned, we need to get ahead of it.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“If she’s somehow going to use this for publicity, then perhaps we should announce it first.”