“Is that thug hanging around really necessary, Baylee?”
She motioned for him to close the door and sit down. When Gary was seated, Baylee said in a hushed voice, “Absolutely. Someone is trying to hurt me.” Her voice dropped even lower. “I think it’s the man who killed my mother.”
“What? That’s ridiculous. You’re having paranoid delusions again. You’ve had them off and on for years. Your father was so worried, but you seem to have been improving with your new therapist. You’re not going back to the way you were, are you?”
She shook her head. “No. And I never had delusions, and I’m not paranoid. No one will believe me. The killer has been studying me for years, watching me until my memory comes back. He’s here in Pinewood Springs.”
“Baylee. Stop. Will you listen to yourself? Why would the killer be in this town and not Denver? You’ve never been here, and I don’t recall your mom or dad ever coming here. It doesn’t make sense, does it?”
Running her hand through her hair, she gazed up at the ceiling.
“Does it?” he prodded.
“Um… Not really, but he is here. I know it.” Gary’s placating smile made her doubt her earlier convictions. “He is,” she repeated weakly.
“Maybe you’re working too hard. Why don’t you take this weekend off and go back to Denver? See your friends and your dad. It’d do you good to be back in your house. It can’t be too much fun living in a hotel.”
He thinks I’m a paranoid nut. What if he’s right? It really doesn’t make sense that the killer would be in Pinewood Springs. She rubbed her forehead. I don’t know what’s up or down anymore.
“You know, the anniversary of my mom’s death is in a couple of weeks,” she said softly.
“I know. It’ll be sixteen years?”
“Seventeen.”
“Maybe that’s what’s made you so upset.”
“My journal was stolen from my hotel room.”
“And you think the killer came all the way up to Pinewood Springs to break into your hotel room to steal your journal? Really, Baylee?”
Tracing over pen marks on the desk with her finger, she avoided his eyes.
“Take some time off. I insist. It’ll do you a lot of good. You’ll see. You’re so isolated up here. Logan tells me you rarely want to go out of your room. He told me he’s always asking you to join him on outings, but you usually say no.”
Yeah, Logan would say that. Stick the knife in deeper, asshole.
“I keep busy.”
“You know, Logan would’ve been more than willing to take you to work and keep an eye on you. I could even have moved you two to connecting rooms to assuage your fears. You didn’t have to call in a thug from an outlaw motorcycle club. It wasn’t necessary. I wish you would’ve come to me first.”
“I feel way more secure with Puck than I ever would with Logan.”
For a few seconds, Gary stared hard at her then clasped his hands together, placing them on his knee. “Do you have something with Axe?”
Baylee stared back without answering.
He nodded. “I know you’re aware of the firm’s policy about getting involved with clients. Logan and a couple of the engineers on the team have noticed that he is quite taken with you… and you with him. You’ve come to work many times on the back of his Harley.” He wrinkled his nose. “Baylee…”
“Axe is a representative, but the club, especially the board, is the client. Axe has to pass everything through the president and vice president.”
“Even if that were true, you know he is not the man for you. If your mother were alive, she would never approve of an outlaw biker covered in tattoos, and your father will be very disappointed.”
“You’re mistaken. The only thing on my mind is proving I can do a stellar job on the strip mall project. I’m vying for the partner position.”
“Now, that’s what I like to hear.” Gary smiled. “Brief me on the zoning requirements and your second designs you submitted the other day.”
Gary stayed in her office talking business for a couple of hours. After he butted his nose in her affairs, he calmed down, and they had a good working session and made some progress.
Baylee was hard at work when a delivery man rapped on her doorframe, holding a huge bouquet of pink roses. Her insides fluttered, and excitement coursed through her body. After signing the delivery slip, she opened the card and read it.
To a beautiful woman who is most persuasive. I’ll call you. With much respect, Palmer.
Her shoulders slumped. The flowers were from Palmer, but she’d wished they were from Axe, even though he’d told her he wasn’t the flower-giving type. The phone rang and she answered it.