Silence.
“Everything you told Ally is wrong,” James said. “Every single thing is wrong.”
A woman approached the stairwell, heading up toward a higher floor. She paused a few feet above him, shooting him a dirty look. “No means no, buddy.”
James rolled his eyes. “Your neighbor thinks I’m stalking you. You’ve got to let me in so I can apologize.”
“Do you really think stalking her is going to win her back?” The woman had a set of keys clasped in her hand. “I’m going to call the police.”
James scowled. “I’m not stalking her. She’s my girlfriend.”
“That doesn’t mean you’re not stalking her.”
James jangled his own set of keys. “I have a key. Does a stalker have a key?”
“She’s got the security chain on,” the woman said. “She obviously doesn’t want you bothering her.”
“She’s just upset.”
“Stalker.”
“Busybody.”
“Mean stalker.”
“Annoying busybody.”
“I’m definitely calling the police,” the woman huffed, climbing the stairs.
James sighed. The last thing he needed was police intervention. “I’m going to shut and lock this door, Mandy. I’m not leaving, though. You can’t hide forever. I’ll be in my truck.”
When the door was locked, James trudged back toward the parking lot. He pulled up short when he saw Emma watching him curiously from a few feet away. She’d moved into the building after losing everything in a fire. James had almost forgotten that fact. “What’s going on?”
“Mandy has lost her mind and I’m trying to make up,” James said.
“Oh.”
“Her upstairs neighbor threatened to call the cops,” James explained. “I’m going to wait out here.”
“Do you want me to try?”
James shook his head. “I don’t think that will be much help right now. I’m hoping, after a full night’s sleep, that she reconsiders things.”
“How long are you going to wait?”
“As long as it takes.”
“Maybe you should go back to your apartment and give it some time,” Emma suggested. “I’m sure it will be okay in the morning.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“You’re going to just sit out here? It’s going to get cold.”
“I’ll sleep in the Explorer.”
Emma tilted her head to the side, glancing between Mandy’s apartment and James’ vehicle. “That seems a little extreme.”
“We haven’t spent a night apart in ten months.”
“You being in your car and her being in her bed is being apart.”
“I can’t change that,” James said. “I won’t leave her. I’ll never leave her.”
“I know you’ll never leave her,” Emma said. “That’s not what I was getting at.”
“It doesn’t matter. If she needs me, I’m going to be here.”
Emma smiled. “You can stay in my apartment if you want.”
“No. I need to be here, right outside. I’m not going to risk missing her.”
“I hope things work out.”
“They’ll work out,” James said. “Losing her isn’t an option for me.”
Eleven
If James thought sharing a bed with an injured Mandy was detrimental to his sleep pattern, trying to get a few hours of shuteye in his truck was a learning experience he never wanted to repeat. There was no way he could take another night of this. He had to be proactive.
An idea forming, James called Grady.
His brother arrived about a half hour later, his eyes still puffy from sleep. He didn’t look happy. “Seriously? How can this be happening again?”
James climbed out of the Explorer. “What do you know?”
“Ally has a big mouth,” Grady replied. “She called everyone.”
“Everyone?”
“Everyone,” Grady confirmed. “She’s upset.”
“I slept in my truck and Mandy is pouting inside,” James said. “Ally doesn’t have anything to be upset about.”
Grady tried again. “Okay, Ally is worried.”
“I’m worried,” James said. “Why do you think I called you?”
“I think you just missed me.”
“Are you trying to be cute?”
“Hey, you’re the one that called me at the ass crack of dawn to come and babysit your apparently deranged girlfriend,” Grady reminded him. “I had a beautiful, naked woman in bed with me – a woman who has been chasing this case as hard as we have, by the way – and I still came to help. Don’t give me shit.”