Caught in Darkness by Rose Wulf Read Free Book Online Page B

better.” She paused, studying him, and realized that she had nearly
missed a cue in his body language. “And you agree, don’t you? You don’t think
it was just a case of hyper-active paranoia either.”
    His dark, serious eyes locked on to
hers again and he shook his head. “Honestly, no. I don’t think you were being
overly paranoid.” There was another beat of hesitation before he added, “I went
looking for them last night, and none of them were home. They didn’t attempt
the burglary, but then again, Robert didn’t go out. I thought that would make
finding them a little easier, but whatever they were doing…they were out
somewhere.”
    Veronica collapsed into the back of
the vinyl booth cover. She wasn’t surprised to hear that, but she hadn’t really
wanted to hear it, either. It was a long minute before she found enough of her
voice to say, “So then one or more of them could have been following me.”
    “Unfortunately,” Seth declared with
a scowl. His pause was shorter this time before he said, “I realize we don’t
know each other very well, but if you even think you see one of them again I
want you to call me immediately.”
    A frown dipping her lips, Veronica
asked, “But why? If I think they’re following me then shouldn’t I call the
police?”
    There was something off about the
set of his jaw before he answered, “You could do that, too, of course.”
    She got the distinct impression
that he didn’t particularly want her involving the police, which made no sense.
Weren’t people supposed to call the police when they thought their life was
being threatened? Unless…. Eyes widening, Veronica asked, “Do you think they
have some sort of connection to the police?”
    Seth met her gaze again and evenly
replied, “I don’t know them well enough to say for sure, but from what I know
about them I’d have to say no.”
    Well now I’m even more confused. He
clearly didn’t want to involve police, but apparently he didn’t have a good
reason for that preference? Or did he just not have a good reason that he could
tell her about? And, more importantly, why did that possibility only make her
want to assure him that he could trust her?
    “Seth,” Veronica began, leaning
slightly forward on the table, “if you’ve got a reason for wanting to leave the
police out of things, just say so. I trust you.” And she did, as crazy as it
sounded. She trusted him implicitly.
    Their gazes held for a long minute
before Seth quietly admitted, “I can’t tell you why, though I’d like to, but
yes…I’d rather you leave them out. Just call me and let me handle it.”
    Releasing a breath, Veronica sat
back properly and nodded. “Okay,” she said. She had opened her mouth to add
more, but then the waitress was back with their dinner-sized lunches and the
focus shifted.

 
    Chapter Four
     
    Veronica couldn’t help but wonder
what it said about her that she was sad when her lunch with Seth came to an
end. It wasn’t like they were on a date (though he did insist on paying), and
even if it were a date, it was an arguably poor one since they spent the
majority of it discussing whether or not she was being stalked by a could -be-murderer. But, as Seth walked her to her car, she
found she just didn’t care. The more time she spent in Seth Hunter’s presence
the more she wanted to keep spending time with him. It was almost disturbing.
    Seth fell back when Veronica
stepped toward the driver’s side door of her car, clearly trying to respect her
space, so she turned to face him properly with a smile. “You really didn’t have
to pay,” she said again.
    “It was the least I could do,” he
assured her, an almost smile lighting his lips.
    Oh, those lips…. All of a sudden,
Veronica had the strongest urge to step up and kiss him. As impressive as
everything else about him seemed to be, she just couldn’t imagine that his kiss
would be anything less. The need to find out was devastating.
    His