Intimate Secrets (The Love and Danger Series) (2 page)

Walker wasn’t surprised by her outburst.  He’d been expecting it.  And was actually amused by her anger.  “Hello Amy.  I hear you’re in a bit of a bind.”

She stood up and shuffled her papers together, wanting him to get out of her classroom.  It was normally filled with twenty-five eight year olds
, which could be slightly chaotic at times.  But nothing could compare to Walker’s presence.  He filled the room not only with his size and muscles but with…him!  He was simply too big, too overwhelming.  Everything about Walker screamed “I’m here!” and she wanted to ignore him.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” she said as she stuffed her pa
pers into her school bag.  She could finish grading them at home, not wanting to be anywhere near him.  She’d been staying at school for safety, not wanting to leave without the rest of the teachers who usually left shortly after the end of the school day.  But Walker changed all that.  The greater danger was inside now, not out there.  So what if some crazy stalker was trying to get to her?  Walker in her classroom, or anywhere near her life, was more dangerous. 

Walker ignored her dismissal. 
“You told the officer that you had pictures,” he said, stepping into the classroom and leaning against the door frame.  “Show them to me.”

Amy ignored him, continuing to stuff her papers into her bag.  She hurried, trying to hide her shaking hands.  How could he still do this to her, she wondered
?  After all that had happened over the past year, how was it that he could still reduce her down to a shaking, quivering mess?  It was ridiculous!

“I have to go,” she stated firmly, ignoring the
mess in her classroom that needed to be cleaned up.  She’d just have to deal with it in the morning, she told herself.  There were more important things than straightening up chairs.  Like maintaining one’s sanity.  Like not thinking about a horrible man who had horrible morals!  Like not breaking down in tears and slamming her fists against his chest and demanding to know why he hadn’t loved her as much as she’d loved him! 

Amy turned her head away, refusing to ask that question.  It was all water under the bridge and she had too many things to do
.  Her responsibilities now were too great to allow those regrets or recriminations, even the questions of why, to enter her mind. 

Her life was under control now.  And she couldn’t afford to let him back into it in any way.  He’d lost that right!

“I’m leaving now,” she said, standing several feet away from him with her book bag on one shoulder and her purse on the other.  But she couldn’t move forward since Walker was still standing in her classroom doorway.  Any other person and she would simply brush past him or her, slip through and be on her way.

But Walker was too big.  And no one, absolutely no one, brushed past him for any reason unless he allowed it.  So she stood there, her chin jutting out with defiance as she challenged him to keep her in her classroom.

Walker noticed the defiance in those pretty grey eyes and almost cursed out loud at how quickly his body reacted.  He’d always thought she was sexy when she’d tried to challenge him.  Or laugh, smile….hell, he’d thought she was sexy when she blinked! 

“I’m not stopping you,” he came right back, his body hardening even more when
her eyes flared with anger.  He’d loved it when she’d tried something like that.  He’d never allowed it and she used to laugh when she’d fail.  But that was the past.  Things were different now.

A year ago, making her laugh would have sent him on a high for the rest of the day.  He didn’t give a damn if she ever laughed again now. 

“Get out of my way Walker.”

He continued to look down at her, wishing he could shake her, shake some sense into her.  But what would be the point?  What’s done is done.  She’d ripped him apart with one soulless action. 

“Move!” she snapped again.

Walker wasn’t one to take orders very well.  He never had and she knew better than to give him any kind of command.  Pushing away from the doorway, he didn’t really move out of the way so much as towards her.  “So you’re going to put your life in danger, as well as your co-workers, simply because you are too stubborn to accept help.”  It wasn’t a
question, just a statement and it irritated him that she was being so ridiculously stubborn.

“I am getting help!  I went to the police! 
An Officer Daniels is working the case.”  She pulled her bag and purse higher onto her shoulder.  “I don’t need your help!”

“
Officer Daniels has twenty other cases he’s investigating.  He let me have your case happily.”  He bent down low, his face barely an inch from hers.  “So show me the damn pictures so I can get the hell out of here, figure out who is stalking you and get out of your life again.”

Amy couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  The nice, kind, gentlemanly
Officer Daniels had abandoned her?  Did he have any idea what he’d just done by handing over the case to this man?  She felt like she was going to pass out with the realization that she was still in danger and there was nothing she could do about it. 

She
’d started to suspect someone was watching her about three weeks ago but didn’t have any proof, thinking she was just being silly.  But when she’d seen the same man several times in the grocery store, the dry cleaners, even while she was gassing up her car, well she’d started taking pictures on her cell phone and she’d caught him looking at her.  Then she’d seen him outside of the school!  That’s when she’d accepted that she needed more help, that she couldn’t simply ignore this.  If it had just been her life on the line, she would have probably confronted the man.  But he wasn’t ever around when she was alone.  Besides, she didn’t have the right to put herself in danger.  Not anymore.

But that didn’t mean she was going to accept Walker’s help.  No, she’d go right back to
Officer Daniels, explain the situation with him and tell him that it was unacceptable that Walker lead up this investigation.  She’d even go into the details if she had to.  Surely the kind man would understand the situation and take the case back.

That didn’t fix her more current problem.  Getting past Walker had never been easy but doing it when he was mad would be impossible.  “Do I need to call security?” she demanded.

Walker’s eyebrow went up with her dare and leaned closer, trying to intimidate her.  And by the look in her eyes, he was doing a good job.  So why did he lean back?  Why did he give her a bit more space?  “I’d just show him my badge.  A school rent-a-cop doesn’t really rate when a homicide detective is involved.  Now show me the damn pictures, Amy.”

She gritted her teeth, refusing to back down.  Instead, she barreled ahead, trying to push past him.  Unfortunately, just as she’d known, it was a pointless effort.  And even worse, she felt all those crazy feelings swell up to overwhelm her once again.  Touching Walker had always been dangerous, even when she’d wanted him.  But now, with him being so belligerent and obnoxious, she just wanted to get out of her classroom.

He grabbed her arm and ignored her cries of protest, simply reaching into her purse and removing her cell phone.  “Have you changed your password?” he asked, his nimble fingers pressing the buttons.  “Nope,” he said, and he sounded angry even about that. 

“Give it back, Walker!” she raged through gritted teeth.

He simply lifted it higher, well out of her reach.  He was six feet three and a half inches while she was barely five feet five inches.  Not to mention he had about a hundred pounds on her, all in packed, rippling muscles.  Amy hadn’t had the time to work out in….well, months!  And she put the blame for that at his feet as well.  So she was out of shape, out of time and definitely out of patience. 

“Give it back you irritating brute!”

Walker ignored her, keeping his hand wrapped around her upper arm while his other hand worked the cell phone, quickly sifting through the most recent pictures.  There were several of a man with brown hair and green jacket wearing a baseball cap.  The cap was different in all pictures, but that didn’t make it difficult to recognize him.  When he reached a picture of a cute little baby girl in an adorable pink dress, he flipped back, not wanting to see pictures of some random friend’s daughter.  He had one mission and one mission only.  To get her safe so he could once again stop thinking about her. 

“Okay, so you have six pictures of this guy. 
I’ve sent them to myself, so that we can have a record of his presence around you, and a timeline from the date and time on the picture files.  I also I need you to estimate the days and times you saw him when you weren’t able to get a picture.  Then I need you to write down your daily schedule so I can start checking into the various places you go.  There’s usually a connection between your schedule and where you caught the stalker’s interest.”  He handed her cell phone back to her.  “I’ll also pull the street camera files for the dates and times you give me and see if there are any license plates that show up multiples times.  It’s a stretch, but it’s also a place to begin.”  He looked down at her, his mind moving in multiple directions to figure out what other areas he could look into.  “I can also call in a few favors and see if we can get facial recognition on the guy. You weren’t able to capture a full face, so that might not work, but it’s worth trying.”

Amy wasn’t sure if she should be resentful that
Officer Daniels hadn’t suggested all of that to her when she’d talked to him, or if she should be impressed that Walker had thought of so many different ways to find this guy. 

She stuck with resentment but directed it all towards Walker.  He deserves the blame and so much more after all he’d put her through.  “I’ll get you the list.  But I have to go now,” she said, noticing that most of the other teachers had already left.  It was later than she’d realized.  She hated being here alone, but hadn’t told anyone about her predicament, afraid of the impact it would have on her job. 

When Walker continued to stand there, her nerves started to fray.  “Look!  I know I can’t make you move.  You’ve already proven that beyond any doubt.  But I really have to go.  I have things to do and I can’t be late.”

Walker thought she probably meant she had a date.  He thought about backing her up into her classroom and slamming the door so she couldn’t meet another guy, but then it hit him that he wasn’t jealous of her meeting another
man.  Why should he be?  He was fine with her dating some other sap.  Hell, he’d gotten over her with those last cruel and heartless words she’d uttered so long ago.

“Fine,” he said and ste
pped out of the way.

She flew by him, almost racing for the exit.  But she couldn’t outrun him.  Not with his longer legs. 
Despite her best efforts, he was easily able to keep up with her.  And that’s why he noticed her hesitation when she was about to leave the building.  Almost everyone else had already left for the day so she stood at the lobby door, looking out at the parking lot.  There were very few cars there now.  Besides Walker’s truck and her smaller sedan, there were only four other cars in the lot.  The sun was already low on the horizon, but not low enough that the overhead lights had kicked on. 

“Nervous about walking to your car?” he asked almost directly behind her.  He didn’t mean to, but he was close enough to smell the sweet, peachy scent of
the shampoo in her hair.  And his body reacted, wanting to pull her back into his arms so he could bury his face in her hair, in her neck and feel that soft, full body pressed against his.  She’d always thought she was too fat, but he thought she was absolutely perfect.  She was round and soft and feminine and he had reveled in her softness, loving the way she fit against him, all round curves against his hard body.  Damn!

He looked down into those
grey eyes again, the yellow ring almost gone with her anxiety over walking to her car.  “Come along,” he said and took her arm, leading her out.  He waited in front of her car until she had unlocked it.  He even stood there while she backed out of her parking space and was safely out of the parking lot. 

He watched her for several minutes until he couldn’t see her tail lights any longer.  And only then did he think to look around, to try and see if perhaps someone had been out in the parking lot waiting for her, wanting to just catch another glimpse of her shiny, dark hair or perhaps touch those
still-adorable freckles. 

Shaking his head, he stormed over to his truck and got inside.  Turning the engine over, he stared at the night sky, trying to calm his body down now that she wasn’t near.  How the hell she could have such a powerful impact on his body, he coul
dn’t understand.  But the faster he got this worked out, the better for both of them.

Hannah, Sam’s new wife of only a few months, walked into the station house loaded down with coffee and her special breakfast sandwiches. 
It was Saturday, and she knew that Sam and Walker were trying to catch up on paperwork, so she figured they were ready for a break by now.  Her morning rush at her coffee shop had ended and it would be a while before the lunch rush started.  Besides, Saturdays were less busy than the other days of the week, so she didn’t feel as rushed. 

Colt was the first one to get her attention when she walked into the conference roo
m where they were all stationed. Laptops were buzzing while they filled out reports and finalized paperwork. 

“Hey there, gorgeous,” Colt said as he took one of the large cups of coffee she held in her hands.  “
Thanks!  Have you been able to sell your condo yet?” he asked.  He accepted the breakfast sandwich under duress, not wanting to hurt her feelings, but also not wanting to eat the egg white and tofu, whole wheat sandwich.  It had been delicious until she’d told him what was in it.  Then all four of them had rebelled, including her husband Sam.  But she forced them to eat healthy whenever she could.  She even pushed herbal tea on them when she decided they’d been drinking too much coffee.  She was a cute little tyrant! But she meant well, so they all just humored her. 

“Um…no.
  Between the wedding and the honeymoon, plus helping Nina with her wedding plans, we haven’t really had time to clean it out and get it ready.”  Nina was Brock’s new wife.  She was a genius programmer, currently busy marketing her latest computer game.  It was getting critical acclaim in the industry for being both easy to use and responsive to users’ performance.  And its relatively low price was helping it to become a commercial success.   

“Any chance I could borrow it for a while?”

Hannah shrugged and handed Sam his coffee and breakfast sandwich.  “Sure.  What for?”

Colt smiled, grateful that she’d agreed even before she knew why he needed it.  “I need to set up my mistress in a separate place so I can come and go when I like and still date all the other lovelies in the Chicago metro area.”

Hannah snorted her disbelief even while she handed Brock his own coffee and breakfast sandwich.  “Or maybe it has to do with a pretty little blond restaurateur who needs a place to hide out for a while?”

Colt’s eyes slashed to Brock who simply took a sip of his hot coffee and winked at Hannah.  “I didn’t say a thing to her.”

Colt rolled his eyes, knowing that somehow, someone had said something to Sam and Sam had told Hannah.  Those two could almost read each other’s minds now.  It was disgusting, he thought.  “She’s just a person in trouble,” he said.  “Nothing more to it.”

It was Brock’s turn to snort
, but he buried his head in a file folder.  Hannah then turned to find Walker at the opposite end of the conference table.  There were twice as many file folders and reports around his laptop, and Hannah was instantly worried.  “Walker, what’s going on?” she asked softly as she placed a large cup of coffee beside his elbow. 

Walker looked up,
then smiled gratefully at the woman he considered his sister-in-law even though he and Sam weren’t officially related.  “I’m good,” was all he said.  Hannah meant well, but he didn’t want to get into the “Amy” situation right now.  Walker knew that Hannah loved all of them like brothers and, if someone was hurting one of them, she would go after the problem with a vengeance. 

Hannah looked at him carefully
, not believing him for a moment.  There were dark circles under his eyes and they looked a bit red.  Not to mention, she suspected the rumpled shirt he was wearing was the same one he wore to the station yesterday, although she couldn’t be positive.  “Did you even go home last night?”

Walker knew that Hannah would gently prod until she had the whole story.  Unfortunately,
he was too raw about the situation.  He didn’t want to talk about Amy.  Especially not to Hannah who knew everyone’s business.  “I’m good,” he repeated, not sure what to say.  He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but nor could he go into Amy or who she was – and especially not what she used to mean to him.  There were some things that other people simply didn’t need to know. 

He grabbed his coffee, the breakfast sandwich and the information he’d gathered overnight,
then walked out of the conference room.  He didn’t say anything as he left.  

The rest of them
looked over at Sam who was looking out the door with just as much worry.  “No idea, guys.”  He thought about it for a moment, then decided to tell the others what he knew.  If things ended badly, Walker would be in worse shape than the last time Amy walked out of Walker’s life.  They would need to be aware, to circle the wagons if necessary.  “It might have something to do with Amy though.”

Colt and Brock both sat up straighter in their chairs
, fully alert after hearing that name.  “What’s she doing back?”

“Who is Amy?” Hannah asked, taking her own coffee and blowing on i
t to cool it down. 

Sam tapped a pen against the side of his nose.  “In a nutshell, Amy Rossi is…was…the love of his life.  They were hot and heavy for
several months about a year ago.  Then something happened, and her name can’t be spoken in Walker’s presence.”

“That bad?”
Hannah asked, her eyes turning worried as well.

“Worse,” Colt said grimly. 

“Why is she back?  Need to turn the knife a bit?” Brock asked, anger burning in his gut for his friend.  He had Nina, and wished Walker could find someone as beautiful and wonderful as his fiancée.  Amy was bad news.  No other woman had ever gotten to Walker the way that woman had. 

Sam shook his head.  “No.  She’s in trouble.  She didn’t even come to Walker
about the problem.  He found out about it on the dailies,” he explained, referring to the daily incident reports that listed all of the crimes committed or reported the previous day.  “I don’t know the details, but someone’s stalking Amy.”

Everyon
e’s eyes turned to look at Colt.  “What?” he asked, not sure why they were looking at him.  Well, yes, he did, but that didn’t mean he was going to acknowledge the question.

“Similar to your issue.”

Colt shook his head. “Chloe is dealing with death threats.  Not a stalker.  My guy is more cowardly – he doesn’t bother to show up in person.  He’s an ass who uses the postal service to try and scare Chloe.”

Walker sighed, standing just
around the corner from the conference room doorway.  He knew they meant well, but this really wasn’t something he wanted to talk about. 

Everyone heard the anger brewing in Colt’s voice but none were surprised.  Brock had briefed Sam on what was going on between Chloe and Colt and Sam had told Hannah. 
Of course.  There were definitely pros and cons to having friends that stuck together.  On the one hand, Walker knew that he could count on these four people, and also Nina, when he was in trouble.  But on the other hand, he really didn’t want them to know about the biggest mistake of his life.  Amy was just bad news.  His kryptonite. 

Apparently, he didn’t have a choice.   Stepping
back into the conference room, he looked at the four of them.  “I’m okay.  Promise,” he stated firmly when four sets of eyes looked back at him with disbelief.  “Amy is just in some trouble.  I’m going to help her out, then move on.  She means nothing to me anymore.  We’re history.”  He wished his body would believe that, he grumbled silently. 

“Here are the pictures of Amy’s stalker,” he said and e-mailed them to everyone.  “I’ve already put them through facial recognition.  I’m going to talk to the first
officer that took her report and find out what he’s done already.

He walked out of the conference room
again, furious with himself for even caring enough to help Amy, and livid that someone would dare to try and harm her. 

Walker spent the rest of the afternoon running from one person to the next, trying to get some answers. 
He’d already gone over hours of footage recorded by traffic cameras, trying to find a car that was similar during all the dates Amy had given him.  It had been a bust, but he wasn’t giving up.  By the end of the day, he had more leads, but needed to get Amy’s fingerprints.  He had a suspicion that he didn’t really like and needed to check on it.