Page 6 of Collateral Damage
She swallows and gives the slightest shake of her head. “I met him at a veterans clinic I help out at. Unity, in Dundalk. I’m only there one night a week. I didn’t think…” Her voice catches. “I didn’t think he was dangerous.”
“But you do now?”
“He was a complicated case to begin with. I assumed it was a harmless crush. He lingered after appointments, but that isn’t unusual there. A lot of the veterans are lonely.” She shakes her head, her gaze fixed on the dashboard. “I should have seen the warning signs.”
“You were doing your job,” I say. “Don’t take the blame for his behavior.”
She removes her glasses and rubs her eyes, exhaling slowly as the windows begin to fog at the edges.
“Tell me what else you noticed. Other signs.”
“Questions,” she says quietly. “About my schedule. Whether I lived alone. If I liked the neighborhood.”
A cold knot forms in my gut. “And you answered?”
“Not directly. I redirected the conversation. But…” Her voice drops. “He listens. He remembers everything.”
My gaze shifts to the dark street beyond the windshield as I think that through, watching the wipers twitch once against the accumulating flakes.
“Did you ever tell him where you live?”
“No.”
“Anything about the house?”
She hesitates. “I complained once about the starlings outside my bedroom window.”
That explains the birds. He hadn't just listened; he’d done the reconnaissance.
Her eyes meet mine in the dim, amber glow of the dashboard. “I should have seen it. Maybe I could have stopped this?”
“No.” I keep my voice level. “You won’t be his first. But I'm going to make sure you're his last.”
“What will you do?”
I run the logistics—the clinic, his background, the distance, and the steps I’ll have to take. Personal protection isn’t my lane anymore, but the protocols are already clicking into place.
“I'm going to find him,” I say. “And I’m going to end it.”
Three
Ava
The motel Silas chose sits just beyond the last streetlight in Guilford, a detail my mind files immediately, along with the isolation and drab décor.
As I pull my coat tighter around my shoulders, he settles into one of the upholstered chairs across from me and nods toward the door connecting our rooms. “I’ll leave my side unlocked.”
Heat flames across my cheeks. What must he think of me? “Is this usual for you? Coming to the rescue of damsels in distress,” I blurt. I swallow a wince at the brashness of my tone.
His eyebrow lifts. “I came because I needed to assess the situation myself before I could advise you.”
I exhale slowly. “Right. Sorry. I’m not… what will happen tomorrow? I have somewhere to be at eight a.m., and then I need to visit my mother.”
The familiar pinch tightens behind my ribs at mentioning her.
He stills slightly, the movement subtle enough I almost miss it. One hand settles flat against his thigh, fingers splayed.
“I can accompany you anywhere you need to be,” he says.
