Page 100 of Stalkers Anonymous

Tyler grabs my arm as I turn to leave. “This is exactly what I’m talking about. Right now, in this moment, you’re choosing stalking over recovery. Do you see that?”

I look at his hand on my arm, then at his face. “This is more important. I need you to understand.”

“What I understand is that you’re going to lose everything if you don’t step back from this edge.”

I pull free from his grip. “I’ll think about the meeting.”

“Cole—”

But I’m already walking away, my mind focused on getting to my car, getting to Hailey’s building and making sure Lars Winters doesn’t get anywhere near her.

I jump into my truck, then shove the key in the ignition. Just as I’m about to put it in reverse, the passenger door opens and Tyler slides in.

“What are you doing?” I snap, looking at him like he’s lost his fucking mind.

“I’m coming with you.” Tyler throws his hands up. “If I can’t stop you, then you’ve left me no choice. Someone has to keep you under control.”

I narrow my eyes, barely able to compute Tyler’s words. Exhaustion is a gray fog descending over my brain, making everything around me feel slow. Or maybe the world is moving at its usual pace, and I’m lagging behind? I don’t have time for delays—not when Hailey is in danger. “Get out.”

“No.” Tyler fastens his seat belt, then crosses his arms over his chest.

“Fuck it,” I spit, then throw my truck in reverse and speed out of the parking lot.

I open the monitor I have mounted to the vehicle, not caring if Tyler sees it. He already knows.

Winters’s location pops up as a moving green dot on a satellite map, and Tyler gasps. “Cole. What the fuck have you been doing?”

Gripping the steering wheel, I shake my head. “What I have to.”

“There’s no world in which you have to do this. Call the police, dude. Let them handle it.”

I feel the crack in my mental state open wider. “Don’t you get it?” I know I sound unhinged now. “They don’t care. We’ve filed three police reports, and they’ve done nothing. He thinks she’s his, but she’s mine.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tyler’s jaw drop briefly before he slams it shut with an audible clack. “You can’t be serious. She isn’t yours. People don’t belong to other people.”

“Says who?”

Yep, definitely sounding unhinged. But I can’t get myself to care. Fear and rage and the urge to protect swirl through me like a hurricane. The feelings pound against my skull, battering the last of my control.

I turn a corner a little too quickly, making my tires squeal.

“Says literally everyone. You do not own her. You may be dating, but she is her own person and deserves to be treated with respect and autonomy. You can’t try to dictate what happens in her life, Cole. It’ll only backfire. Pull back before it’s too late.”

Part of me knows he’s right. I know Hailey’s not mine. But just the thought—not mine—sends a lightning strike of panic through the storm gusting inside me.

Autonomy aside, I feel a responsibility to keep her safe. To keep her in this bubble, away from anything and anyone who might hurt her. I can’t bear to think about what might happen if he gets his hands on her. I can’t let her end up like Emma. I refuse to let him touch her.

Winters’s car is parked on a side street two blocks from Hailey’s building when we arrive. Empty. Which means he’s on foot.

I park and begin a search of the area, checking around her building, the coffee shop she normally visits, and part of the jogging route she takes, all while Tyler trails close behind. After twenty minutes, I spot him sitting on a bench at the small park where her running path intersects a quiet residential street.

He’s not just sitting. He’s watching. Waiting.

For her.

“Is that him?” Tyler asks, sounding out of breath.

My hands clench as I watch Winters from half a block away. “Yeah. He knows this is where she goes running.”