Valorie stood up and walked over to her desk to work on the blueprints. Turning on the lamp over the slanted board, she sat down and got busy burying herself in her work.
She didn’t turn around or even acknowledge but she knew when Liam walked back in. He was so quiet as he reclined on her couch next to the window.
After a few hours, Valorie heard a commotion out near Angie’s desk.
Liam sprung up from the couch, cutting her off from opening the door. “Wait,” he whispered.
“This is complete nonsense, Liam; I can’t live like this,” she hissed.
“Don’t have a bitch fit on me now, Valorie, just wait.”
The male voice yelling from the other side of her door she knew instantly. “It’s my dad, let me open the door.” He moved aside and she pulled the door open.
Her father and Detective Koski were standing next to Andrew, he must have woken from his drunk last night, and came into the office to find her. Unfortunately, everyone around here had to put up with him, because his dad owned the company. “Shit, Dad, Rick, what are you doing?” Valorie felt her face turn crimson.
“I’m questioning this little runt, you brought him to the house yesterday for Thanksgiving, is he the one stalking you?” Vincent had his hand up pointing his finger toward Andrew’s chest.
“No, sir.” Andrew shook his head.
“Come on, boy. You had to at least have part in this?” Rick questioned.
“No, sir. I’m sorry. I don’t know what you all are yelling about. Valorie, tell your father please?”
Did Andrew just beg? Valorie hated it when he started the whining. Valorie shook her head. This was even too far out there to be happening. Her father didn’t go around bullying people! She turned and walked back in the office.
Liam stood leaning up against the door frame watching the commotion. He felt for Valorie but admired her for holding it together as well as she was today.
He needed to admit he enjoyed watching the little weasel squirm. He’d never met Valorie’s dad before, he liked him instantly. He seemed to be a worried parent first and a cop second.
“What are you doing to my son?”
Liam now focused his attention to an older version of the douchebag against the wall.
“Dad, it’s okay, really. This here’s a misunderstanding.” Vincent and Rick both stepped away from Andrew.
“Are you sure you had nothing to do with Valorie last night or today?” Vincent questioned Andrew again.
“Yes, sir, I was sleeping off a bottle of wine I drank at your house. By the way, I’m so sorry.”
Vincent didn’t respond. Instead, he faced the older man. “I’m Vincent Thorpe, Detective. This is Minneapolis Detective Rick Koski. We are investigating a report of possible stalking and harassment of my daughter.”
“Is this true?” Her boss seemed to be a condescending asshole.
Everyone focused their attention on Valorie. Her face had lost all its color. She looked pale and frightened.
Liam didn’t like it. He kept having trouble with the animal inside him. He wanted to throw these dumbass people out the window, take Valorie and run.
“Who are you?” The older guy turned to Liam.
He didn’t like Andrew Sr. any more than he liked Junior. “I would be her,” he pointed his thumb toward Valorie, “security guard.”
“If you’ll excuse us, I would like to meet with my daughter.” Vincent pushed through the wall of people in front of Valorie’s office.
Liam immediately stepped forward. He waited next to Angie’s desk. He hadn’t been invited to the party.
Vincent Thorpe was an opposing man. Liam didn’t want to cross or step on anyone’s toes. All he cared about was Valorie and her safety.
“Dad,” Valorie greeted her father but didn’t hug him. Then she glanced around her father as her eyes met his across the room. She managed a tremulous smile. “Dad, Rick, I want you to meet Liam.” She crooked her finger at him.
Liam walked forward stopping in front of Vincent. “Sir.” They shook hands.
Then Rick offered a hand as well. “Now that you all had your meet and greet, I want to know what the hell is going on in my place of business.”
Liam wasn’t sure who this guy was but it appeared to be Valorie’s boss.
“And, how does this involve my son, Andy?”
Vincent moved over to the older gentleman. “Sir, if you want to wait until I speak to my daughter, I will try to explain everything as best as I can. If it involves work at all, you will be informed. If not, it will be entirely up to Valorie to tell you.”
“No, Dad, it’s okay.” Valorie straightened herself with dignity. “Andy, I have someone stalking me and all these people are trying to figure who.”
Liam heard the gasp from her boss…he was clearly surprised.
“Valorie, are you okay?” Junior quickly came through the doorway as if he owned her.
“I’m fine, Andrew. This is nothing of concern to you. Liam, my dad, and Rick are handling it.” Valorie sat back down in her office chair. She was clearly upset. Her hands shook and she kept wiping tears from her eyes.
“Oh my God, is this why you turned down my offers to date?” Andrew pointed toward Liam.
“Really?” Valorie looked tired, as well as embarrassed.
“Well, I saw him with you at the gas station yesterday.” With both hands on his hips, he faced Valorie.
Valorie bit down on her lip clearly shaken.
“What in the hell are you babbling about, Andy?” his father asked.
“Valorie and I went out a few times, nothing serious Dad.” Andy’s face turned red.
Valorie put her hands over her face. “I wasn’t dating you. I felt sorry for you and invited you for Thanksgiving dinner.”
“You know the rules about dating other employees? I’ve explained this before to you.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Andy. I felt sorry for your son—”
“I explained to every employee when they start here not to date others in the office.” The older Andrew didn’t let her finish.
Her boss was an asshole and Liam stepped closer to him.
“He doesn’t work here, remember? You fired him months ago, besides it was Thanksgiving dinner. That’s it.” Valorie stood up, she looked furious.
Liam moved over next to her.
“If you want to fire me go ahead. But I’m sick and tired of all this bullshit and I’m scared silly. Now if you will excuse me, I need to speak to my father in private. Do I need to leave the building?” Valorie had moved over next to Liam.
His beast was rising to the surface. He swallowed, taking a calming breath to try to soothe him.
“Dad, I can explain if you let me.” The junior Andrew tried pulling his father out of Valorie’s office.
“If you had treated my daughter with respect, she wouldn’t have dumped your stupid ass. Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to get on with this so Valorie can either clean out her desk or get back to work. Run along now,” Vincent waved toward the door.
Liam wanted to protect Valorie as well. He didn’t blame her father for yelling at them.
“Come on, Andrew. I’m sorry, Valorie, good luck to you. Please leave the blueprints to the Anderson job on my desk before you leave today. I will see you Monday morning for our staff meeting.” Her boss grabbed his son by the arm steering them out of her office.
Rick had followed them, then closed the door quietly.
Valorie waited until Rick had closed the door behind her employer and his son. She felt relieved Andrew hadn’t caused a scene and she still had her job. For a minute, there, she thought she was going to get fired.
“Let’s go over everything first. Then we’ll decide where to go from there.” Rick and her dad sat down in the leather chairs facing her desk.
Liam stood next to her behind the desk. He touched her shoulder reassuring her, but not overpowering her in anyway. He seemed to be very good at this protection stuff. Valorie had confidence in him and somehow, felt safe and comforted by his presence. “Dad, Rick, I want you to meet my old friend, Liam.”
Vincent leaned over and shook Liam’s hand. “Nice to meet you, son, thank you for taking good care of my daughter.”
“Yes, sir, I plan to stay with her until this person is caught.”
Valorie looked up at Liam smiling to him. Thank you. She mouthed. Out of everything happening to her, she felt happy to have Liam back in her life again. Running into him yesterday had been a pleasant surprise as well as fate. In a matter of twenty-four hours, her life had turned upside down confusing her to no end.
“Valorie, tell me exactly what happened from yesterday to this morning?” Vincent asked.
They went over every detail from start to finish. By the time she told her father everything, Liam sensed the anger raging out of Val’s father. He’d gotten up and was pacing a hole in the carpet. Out of respect for the older man, Liam stayed silent and let the man be. After all, it was his daughter.
Rick’s voice carried, “Alright then I’ll keep you posted on our end. See what you can find out and get back to me.” After attaching the cell phone to his side, he turned to them. “I pulled a few strings and the crime scene unit is coming down. They’ll dust for fingerprints and go over the apartment with a fine-tooth comb to see if there’s another way this bastard is coming in.”
“What do you mean; another way?” Valorie asked.
“He has to be getting in somewhere besides the front door. Liam’s cameras would have picked him up if he did.” She nodded, then Rick surprised Liam, “I’d also suggest you go somewhere for a couple of days. Maybe even go home with your dad?”
Liam took her hands. “You are welcome to come to my home for a while. I live alone as well and I know I can keep you safe at my house.”
“How do you know that? Can anyone keep me safe from this jerk?”
“My house is set up like Fort Knox. I don’t take chances and we’ve used it for a safe house for people who need to hide until we can get them somewhere permanent.”
“That really happens?” she whispered.
Liam nodded, “Yeah, some people really have a bad time trying to escape, maybe an abusive husband or boyfriend. Or even younger teens from very bad people in their lives.”
“That’s awful.” She held her hand over her mouth. Valorie’s face was pale. He asked, “You okay sweetheart?”
She nodded, then turned to her dad. “I think I should go to Liam’s house. What do you think?”
“I don’t know about this. What if something happens, Liam. It’s not that I don’t trust you but I haven’t checked into anything with you yet?” Her dad was over protective that Liam could see but he insulted him.
“I’ve been in this business for a long time.” He handed over a business card, “Here call my Dad, Razan Livingston and run a background check. I assure you we’re legit.”
“Dad, you’re embarrassing me. I know Liam will keep me safe. He stayed at my house last night and it wasn’t his fault. I have no idea how this creep got inside but it wasn’t through the front door. I’d rather stay close to the city and my job. I have too many projects to get completed in the next week. Besides, Andy’s a little mad at me right now.” Her voice drifted into a whisper.
“Well, then I think it’s settled, you are coming to my house,” Liam assured her even more.
Rick spoke up, “Vincent, why don’t you come on down to the station. We’ll go over everything we have there. Then we’ll come back here and stay in these rooms. I think if we try hard enough we should be able to catch this guy. Stay in town a few days and help out?”
“Hey sounds like a grand plan. Let’s do this.” Her father put his arm around his friend’s shoulder. It must have been a long-lasting friendship they seemed close. Liam sensed Valorie’s dad relaxing a little with the plan they came up with.
“Dad?” Valorie was next to him. She seemed nervous. Her hands wrung together and she was pale as a ghost. Liam reached over and grabbed her hand pulling her over next to him. He leant her his strength.
Vincent turned and faced them. She asked, ““Who’s staying with Mom?” She bit at her lip, worry overriding her own predicament.
“Don’t worry; I have Camilla staying with her while I’m away.”
Valorie gave him a hug. Liam saw immediately her father’s body tensed quickly. He hugged her quickly then released her and headed quickly out of the office they were all gathered in. Odd for a father.
“Hello, Mr. Thorpe,” Angie yelled after his fleeing figure.
Valorie smiled down at her assistant. “Sorry, Ang, he has a lot on his mind. I’m sure he didn’t even hear you.”
“It’s okay, Valorie, I’m used to it.” Angie, again, started to type on the keyboard back to work.
Liam was tired, when it’d been his turn, the two men, Rick and Vincent, had grilled him for over a half an hour. He hadn’t minded though, they should. He answered every question truthfully and honest. At the end of his interview, Liam felt he had gained their trust when he told them about his family as well as his illness during college.
Valorie had hugged him as she fought to hold in her tears.
“Don’t cry for me.” He wiped the tears away from her cheeks.
Now, he waited for Valorie to finish her blueprints.
She was getting ready to leave for the day. “Liam, do you think it would be okay if we stop and get a bite to eat? I’m starving.”
“Where would you like to eat?” he asked as they walked down the hallway toward Andy’s office. Angie had long ago left the office.
“I’m hungry for anything. It doesn’t really matter.” Reaching her employer’s office, she left the blueprints on his desk.
“Okay, let’s get you fed, my lady.” Liam bowed letting her lead the way to the elevator.
“After we’re done with food, would you mind if we stop somewhere to get a Christmas tree? I usually buy one on black Friday and I don’t want to change because of this creep trying to ruin my holidays.” Valorie’s big green sparkling eyes begged.
“Of course, anything for you. Matter of fact, there is one near my house.” Liam rubbed her back.
After their elevator ride to the first floor, Liam led the way to the parking area. He opened her door on his pickup. She stepped up sliding onto the seat as he shut the door. Before he got in himself, he started looking around then under the truck.
As he got into the truck, he smiled, relaxing her even more. She reached over and touched his arm. “Thank you, Liam.”
“You’re welcome, Valorie, I just want to keep you safe. We still don’t know who this is.” Liam took her hand to hold. It felt naturally right. His touch was reassuring to her.
The traffic was light on the freeway when Valorie and Liam started toward his home east of Minneapolis. “I just wanted you to know, Valorie, I’m really glad you’re in my life again. I consider myself very fortunate to have you not once, but twice in one lifetime.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I was pleasantly surprised when I stopped at the gas station that day, only to look over and there you were. My slow brain here,” he pointed to his head, “couldn’t believe it.”
She laughed. “I was actually irritated after you picked me up, I really don’t remember why now; it had been a bad day, maybe.” Valorie muttered uneasily. “I didn’t even know it was you.”
“I’ll tell you something.” He looked over his shoulder moving the truck around a slower vehicle on the freeway. “I was more than a little shaken. I wasn’t sure how you would react to me, it’d been a long time, you know.”
“Oh, how funny, you know we’re both a couple of dorks.” She threw back her head and laughed.
He joined her. The cab became a safe place for both to confess their emotions.
A part of Valorie reveled in his open admiration of her, she wanted to tell him how much he meant to her, but feeling awkward, she held silent.
“I have to confess something to you, Valorie.”
She turned and faced him. Liam eyes were downcast and she wondered what could be bothering him so much. “Speak or forever hold your peace.” She giggled.
His eyelids flew up. “Ugh. You are always able to make me laugh, woman. No, it’s not that big a deal. I must admit to you. After I left college, I had my family keep track of you. To make sure you were always safe. I didn’t ever want to lose track of you completely.”
“You really did that?” Valorie felt shocked and kind of creeped out.
“Don’t think it was me following you or anything like that. No, I asked my sister, Mariah, to make sure you were doing okay. You know like getting through college, not getting into trouble or having someone hurt you. I honestly didn’t know anything about the stalker. No police reports or anything showed up. I’m sorry I should have known sooner. Helped you out.”
Liam seemed so sincere, Valorie knew he hadn’t done any harm. “I just didn’t want to bother you, so I didn’t,” Valorie confessed as well.
“I wish you had found me. I missed you so much. After a while, I didn’t think it was appropriate to look you up to chit chat. I just figured you probably wouldn’t even remember me.” His blue eyes pierced the distance between them in the car. Biting her lip, she looked away from him. It had started to snow outside again, a minor dusting on the road, enough to have Liam slow a little and use caution as he expertly drove his truck.
“Um, I wonder if your dad knew about my cancer?”
“No way, my dad would have told me,” she defended immediately. She knew her dad would never. Or would he?
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean any disrespect, honest.” He held up his hand. “I just meant he wouldn’t want you to be upset or possibly get hurt if something bad happened to me.” Liam touched her hand. “I’m sorry, it was just a thought, honest.”
Valorie’s heart opened even wider for him. Liam was a special person, a man any woman would be lucky to have. “You know it’s a possibility. My dad sure likes to protect his baby girls.” Mixed feelings surged through her.
Liam couldn’t believe his big mouth. He never knew when to shut it. They’d been having fun laughing and talking about the old days. He peeked over at her sitting next to him.
Her face remained turned away as she gazed out through the window.
With the new snow on the freeway the roads had gotten slippery, the traffic almost slowing to a crawl. Liam knew it was more than likely an accident up ahead. They had to use the interstate system to get from Minneapolis to St. Paul where he lived. The easy drive had just become miserable. “I’m sorry, Valorie.”
“For what?”
“This mess.” He waved toward the cars stopped in front of him as he came to a dead stop.
“Hey no worries, I’m used to this stuff.” A sad smile flittered across her face.
Liam felt terrible. He swiftly changed lanes, driving to the exit ahead of them. “Let’s get off here and find something to eat. Didn’t you say you were starving earlier?
“Yep, I did. How about you?” Valorie asked.
“Oh, I’m always hungry. I know a few places over here.” He noted they were between St. Paul and Minneapolis near Frog Town.
“I can’t believe how heavy the traffic is around here.” Valorie looked around and the traffic was backed up clear across the freeway in all eight lanes.
“It’s the holiday season. Maybe by the time we’re done eating and go to my doctor’s appointment, I’ll have time to show you around the Livingston Agency. If we wait late enough the traffic will have eased up a little.”
“Oh just take your time. I’m not starving quite yet. It’s been a difficult day for me. Sometimes I don’t eat when I’m having a bad day.” She turned to him her eyes widened, “What time is your doctor’s appointment?”
Liam wanted to take care of Valorie, he just didn’t know how. He hadn’t dated much; women were a mystery to him. The few ladies on his unit were hard core and independent. Maybe Sophia would help him, give him some advice on how not to screw up. Livingston, getting dating advice sounds so feminine. What the hell you thinking? “Minnesota, snow, cold, and road construction, that’s what they say about this crazy state.”
“I actually love winter. Just look how beautiful the night is, with snow coming down softly, all the Christmas lights strung on the light poles. It beautifies such an ugly city.” Her features became more animated.
“I never thought about it like that,” he replied with intense pleasure.
“It actually is helping me feel better. Christmas is my favorite holiday. This time of year, is supposed to be shared with family and friends.” She looked over at him, joy lighting up her beautiful green eyes.
“Would you like to eat over there?” he nodded toward a restaurant.
“Sure, I couldn’t eat anywhere at this point. I’m getting really hungry now.”
Liam pulled his truck into the restaurant’s parking lot.