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“All I see is someone courageous. You have strength. I don’t know exactly what happened, but whatever it was, to leave you with a scar like this it had to be terrible. And look at you, you’re a fucking defender of justice. You take care of others. You fight for them as well as for yourself.”
“But I failed. I froze. I wasn’t able to go back to my job after being shot.”
“You don’t think most people would have problems after being shot? Especially with whatever happened in your past to give you that scar.”
Her hands slid away from the scar and he took in the old injury without a word.
“I had a stalker,” she whispered. “When I was sixteen.”
“Sixteen?” What the fuck?
“I’ve always been sheltered. After my father died when I was twelve, I ...” She sucked in a breath.
“I’m so sorry you lost him, baby.”
She gave him a pained smile. “Me too. He was an amazing man. The best father. My best friend, really. He gave me Squawkers. That’s why he has such a special meaning to me.”
He got it. “I never knew my father.”
“You didn’t?”
“No, he died in combat when I was just a baby. All I’ve got are a few photos of him and what my mother told me about him.”
“Oh no, I’m so sorry.”
She knelt then hugged him tight. He drew her up then sat on the floor with her on his lap.
“Your mom? Is she still . . .”
“She’s still alive.” He grinned. “She and Kiesha’s mom are on a long cruise together at the moment. It’s long overdue. But I get what it’s like to miss a parent.”
“I didn’t realize until after he was gone, that he’d also sheltered me a lot from my mother. She’s, umm, well, let’s say she’s kind of difficult. Nothing I ever did seemed to be right. I had to be perfect. All the
time. She wanted to pull me out of school again, but my brothers convinced her to let me stay. But I became paranoid, introverted.”
“Shit, I’m sorry, my girl.”
“School wasn’t a lot better. But at least I was away from my mother for hours a day. Out of that house. But then I started getting these notes. I felt like I was being followed. I didn’t want to tell my mother because I knew she was looking for any excuse to yank me out of school. It would be playing into her fears.”
Fuck. She should have been able to tell her mother anything. His mother had always been there for him. Sure, he’d missed not having a father figure, but his mother had done everything possible to give him an amazing childhood. Even though they hadn’t had a lot of money, there had been plenty of love.
“Please tell me you had someone to tell.”
“For a start, I kept it to myself. A James doesn’t admit to being afraid.”
His poor girl.
“What happened?”
“It got worse. There were calls where I could hear someone breathing but no one would say anything. Notes left in my locker at school. Finally, I knew I couldn’t pretend it wasn’t happening anymore. Gareth, one of my brothers, knew something was wrong. He was at college, but he was home more often than the others. I confessed what was going on. He went nuts. And then he called the rest of them. And they all lost it. They came back home. They demanded to know it all. To see all the notes.”
“And your mother?”
“She didn’t want to believe it at first. And she definitely didn’t want to make a fuss.”
“A fuss?”
“To call the police.”
