As they reached her apartment, Valorie’s mind kept playing tricks on her. Downstairs in the garage, something went terribly wrong with Liam, there was no logical way his eyes could change like that. It must have been the stress of everything, her imagination working overtime.
The bleeding had been real. It was winter after all, bloody noses were something that happened to people. Now she felt silly for ranting at him. How would he somehow be a cat or whatever she had come up with down there? She shook her head to clear the stupid thoughts.
Before she opened the door, her father walked out.
“Dad, I know this must be a lot for you. Gosh, I’m so sorry.”
“What the hell are you apologizing for? None of this is your fault. But I can’t let you go into the apartment quite yet. Rick called in a crime unit team to go over the entire place.”
She nodded.
“There’s more.” Vincent drew her down the hallway back where they came from. When they arrived near the elevators, he used a key and opened a door which was marked Guest suite.
“What are these rooms used for?” Liam questioned Valorie.
“We can rent them to use if we have family or friends staying over. I only have a one bedroom, so when my parents are in town they usually use one. It’s just like a hotel room only cheaper.”
Liam looked around at the amount of computer and electronic equipment set up. His own monitor equipment was there as well. “You moved my stuff from the apartment into here?”
“Yeah, Rick had their computer guy move it for safety reasons. Not sure what else this guy is going to try.” Vincent walked over to the table.
“So, have they opened an official investigation on this?” Liam questioned her father.
“Unofficial, until this morning. Rick is working with his department to amp it up to official. I think we have enough evidence now.” He pulled out a file. Liam opened it and it was full of pictures as well as copies of the notes she’d received.
Liam took the file and started thumbing through it while Valorie and her father talked. When he reached the picture of her car, anger tightened his stomach and bile rose in his throat. He didn’t want her to see these.
There was a large red ax stuck in a large white poster with writing on it. The thing was imbedded into the hood of her car. The next picture showed what was printed on the poster with bright red letters. Bitch, you will die tonight.
“What are you looking at, Liam, you’re scowling?” Valorie walked over to him.
Immediately, he closed and threw the file onto the table. “You’re not seeing those.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Really, who died and made you the boss?”
“Valorie, watch your mouth,” her dad grabbed the file.
“No, Dad, seriously, don’t either one of you treat me like a little kid. I have a right to know what’s going on.”
Vincent looked over at him and nodded.
Liam threw up his hands. “Women,” he muttered.
Vincent chuckled. “Get used to it. They never change.”
When he watched her open the file, her face paled. He had to give her credit…she handled it better than expected.
She flipped through each picture. “Well, it looks like I’m going car shopping. Wanted to eventually get a new one anyways.” She handed it back to her dad, before walking over to the door.
“Where are you going?” Vincent asked.
Valorie needed some fresh air, she didn’t want either her dad nor Liam to see her having a meltdown. They had tried to protect her, but she hated it when people tried to baby her. When she’d looked at the pictures, it’d taken everything she had to not show her reaction.
Her car had damage all over the entire body. The stalker appeared to be male with the force and depth of the hack marks along with the violence of the message.
“Valorie, can you give me a minute. I’ll go with you?” Liam asked.
She knew he was right. She couldn’t go off by herself until this person was caught. “Okay,” she gave in quickly.
“Rick mentioned there was new leads, what are those?” Liam asked her dad.
“We got an image from the hidden cameras.”
At this announcement, fear crawled into her gut.
“Liam, I really need your help to keep my daughter safe. She seems to trust you. I know she loves you, for years after you left that damn college, she moped around.”
Valorie stepped toward them. “Hey,” she pointed at her head, “I am still in the room.” She tossed her hair back in defiance. She appreciated the fact that the two most important men in the world to her were visiting like they’d known each other for years, instead of days. But this type of admittance by her dad went over the top.
“Sorry, Valorie. I need some professional help here. Plus, I can see you’re in love with this guy.”
Heat crept into her face. “Dad!”
“Well…” Her father shrugged his shoulders.
Liam chuckled.
Valorie was so embarrassed her father didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut. “I’m not in love with him. Come on, Dad, really? We’ve only been back in each other’s lives for what? Three days?”
“Well, technically two,” Liam chimed in.
Vincent shrugged. “I don’t know about you girls, you or Cam. Liam, he’s a good man. Look what he’s done for himself.” Her father patted Liam on the back.
Liam felt surprised at the easy banter Valorie and her father had. Vincent spoke directly, holding nothing back. He was humbled Vincent seemed to trust him with his daughter. He would eventually prove to her dad he would make her happy and keep her safe. The man must have had him checked out. As a cop, it wouldn’t surprise him. “Thank you, sir, I’m honored. I’m sure you did a background check on me?” If Valorie were his daughter, he would have done the same.
“I’m sure you understand why?” Vincent asked.
“Yes, sir. Wouldn’t expect anything less from a man who’s been in law enforcement for as many years as you have.”
Vincent nodded.
“Dad, you actually did a background check on Liam?”
Vincent shifted from one foot to the other and frowned, “Well—”
“Unbelievable! Dad, I thought you stopped doing that when I was in high school?” Valorie’s face turned vibrant bright red.
Of course, Liam thought she was adorable. “In defense of your father, I wanted him to. This way, he knows who he’s dealing with. My sister, Mariah, works for the FBI. Do you think it’s easy to live with that? Her husband is even worse, he’s a special agent somebody or another.” Liam didn’t want to betray Mick even if it was to Valorie.
“Oh boy, can’t wait to meet the whole family.” Valorie sounded bitter, almost irritated and angry.
“I’m sorry, Valorie, am I missing something?” Liam asked.
“You know, I’m the one who’s sorry. I’m just a little crabby. There’s a man out there wrecking my life. Is it a man, Dad?”
Vincent nodded.
Liam walked over to her and pulled her into his arms.
She hugged him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“It’s okay, actually I can’t wait for you to meet my entire family.” Liam let her go. “Excuse me, Vincent, did you by chance call my dad, Razan?”
Her father turned toward him. “Actually, I did. I asked him a lot of details. He would like you to call him, he offered his services as well. He said something about on the house and he wanted every available man and woman he could spare to catch this creep.”
Liam did feel surprised his father had offered as much as he had. “I’ll give him a call here shortly. What do you have so far? Can we look at the video now?” he asked, half expecting her father to shy away from showing Valorie, but he surprised him.
“This is what we have so far.” Vince walked over to the computer and pulled up the video from the security camera in the garage.
It was dark with a lot of shadows. Once they saw the footage of the person using the ax on her car, Liam heard Valorie’s intake of air. She hissed as she exhaled. “Oh, my God!”
The person hacking at her car did it with extreme anger and hatred. The video went on for over four minutes. “Why didn’t security see this?” Liam asked.
“Apparently, the security guard went on a smoke break out back. He said he was only gone for a few minutes. When he got back, the perp was gone. His instructions from his employer was to not approach, only call 911, which is what he did. There were red flags and the dispatcher was supposed to report to Rick or call me if he was unavailable. Everyone was doing as instructed other than not catching this guy. We’re pretty sure it’s a male. No female would be this violent or we don’t suspect that anyways.” Vince sat down in a chair near the window. He looked tired.
Liam knew what he needed to do. “Sir, if I may speak?”
Vince nodded.
“I want to call in my entire unit. Most of these guys and gals are ex-military. They know how to protect as well as take someone down. They have all kinds of unique qualities each and every one has something special they can bring to the table.” Liam felt it might be a little overkill but anything to keep Valorie safe was all that was important to him.
“I’m sorry, Liam, Dad. But I don’t think we should go to all this trouble. It seems as if I really made someone mad here, but—”
“There’s more.” Vince stood up and started to pace around.
“More?” Liam watched Valorie swallow, her face pale and drawn.
“Yes. Apparently, someone has set up shop above your apartment. There’s a trap door which goes into the ventilation system. That’s where we found cameras, some of your things, as well as a small eyehole. It’s right above your bed.”
Valorie sat down hard on the edge of the bed. “Oh, my God. I’m never going to feel safe in my apartment, again. How did this happen?” She put her face in her hands and started to sob.
Vince sat down next to her pulling her into his arms.
Liam didn’t want to intrude he felt as if this was a moment between father and daughter. He wanted to be there for her. Not knowing what else to do, he grabbed his phone and dialed his father.
“Hello.”
“Dad, hey.”
“Hi, Liam. How’s it going? How’s Valorie?” his father asked.
“We’re good. I’m going to need whatever you got. I need my unit called in for this.”
“Sure, son, anything for our girl.”
Razan surprised his son, Liam wasn’t sure if his dad even knew what he said in his the last few words? He’d been angry with Valorie for years now, after what had happened at college. “We went over the footage; this guy is aggressive and extremely unstable. There’s more. I need you to make me an appointment at the clinic. Something’s going on that I need to have checked out. Dad, I need you there with me, please.”
“What is it?”
Liam walked out in the hall, quietly shutting the door behind him. He took a walk down into the staircase. “Dad, I’m afraid of what I’m becoming. Since I found Valorie, it’s as if my body wants to shift to an animal.” The pause on the other end was deadening.
“I’ll call Dr. Hebert. Son, I also wanted to tell you about Mariah. She saw Dr. Hebert yesterday. She’s in our hospital. They’re working on saving her and the baby. She’s got a hell of a good chance here.”
Liam could hear his father’s excitement. “That’s great. Keep me posted.”
“Well, actually, I need you to come in. They want to use a blood transfusion from you.” Liam would do anything to help Mariah and his unborn niece. “I’ll come in this afternoon.” He glanced down at his watch it was later than he thought. “Dad, it’s after four now. Call me if you want me to come over still tonight?”
“Okay, I’ll call you back.”
“Thanks, Dad. I’m going to go back and help here until I hear from you.”
After taking the elevator, Liam walked around the garage area. Her car was surrounded by several techs and police personnel. He stayed out of their way. He walked around checking for people sitting in cars.
Nothing suspicious stood out, so he headed back up to Valorie. Once he reached the guest suite, he knocked gently.
Her father opened the door. “Liam, come in.”
“I’m sorry I had to step out for a minute. I took a walk. The police are doing what they need down in the garage.”
Her father nodded.
“I called my dad. He’s given me the all clear. My unit is available for us to use. How is she?” He pointed toward Valorie who was deep into the computer, her forehead wrinkled as she concentrated.
“As well as expected, considering. I’m grateful for the help from your unit. Let’s have the police finish up their work-up, then we can call in your guys.”
“Sounds good.” Liam nodded.
Valorie was going over the video footage on the computer.
He walked over to her. “How are you holding up?”
She jumped at the sound of his voice. “Don’t do that!” she raised her voice.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Let me sit with you. Okay?” Pulling out a chair, he sat down.
“Don’t apologize, this guy has me wigging out, so everything is making me jumpy.”
“Is there anything familiar about this person? Do you feel or see something here which tells you it’s a man?”
“Not really. I can’t figure out why anyone would do this to me. Also, see how big this person’s chest is. When you look at the damage to my car, I think it’s a man…”
Sheer black fright swept through him as her voice died away. He needed to do something so he leaned over and shut the monitor off.
The screen went black, Valorie turned on him. “Hey, why did you do that?”
“Sometimes, if you step away then go back, it helps the brain rethink. I can’t help you if I lose you to your mind kicking your ass, Valorie. Let’s take a break from all of this.”
She stood and walked over by the window.
Liam wanted to gather her up, hold her tight, and make all her fears go away. Obviously, a dumb thought as this guy was real and Valorie’s life was in danger.
“Do you want to go down and pack some of your things?” Vince asked.
Liam didn’t think that was a good idea. “Are you sure, Vince? I’m not so sure, myself.” He walked over to Valorie and put his hand on her back, rubbing slowly in a circular motion. He sensed some of the tension left as she visually relaxed, lowering her shoulders slightly and sinking back against his body.
“You know, Liam, I appreciate that you want to help keep me safe and happy. But sometimes in life, a person must face their worst fears. This is one of mine. Dad? How bad is the apartment?” Valorie asked.
“I haven’t told you everything.” Her father rubbed his face.
“What happened?”
“Well, the stalker was in your apartment. His anger didn’t stop at just the car. I didn’t want to tell you until now, because I’m trying to give this to you in small doses. I can’t help but think it’s weird since you met Liam, here.” Her father pointed. “This guy seemed to have escalated quickly.”
“Liam, can I still stay with you at your house after I get some of my clothes?”
He nodded. “Of course. But honestly, I don’t think it’s a good idea to go to your apartment. Let’s just go buy you some new clothes. I do have money you know?” He needed to take care of her. His instinct was to take her away from all the chaos and drama this man was causing in her life.
“Liam, you know I appreciate that you are once again, in my life,” Valorie said as she walked right up to him. She reached out and took his hands into hers. “Now, I need to do this my own way. If I don’t face these fears, this person has won. I have you, my dad, and all those police officers down there in my apartment. I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I’m a big girl, I can handle this.”
Liam still had his doubts. He didn’t know Valorie as well as he wanted to, he felt maybe she wasn’t strong enough to handle all of this. How did he tell her that though? Thoughts were racing through his mind. “You know I have no idea if you can handle all this or not. I’m just trying to keep you safe as well as happy. Valorie, everything in that apartment is just material items. You are a human and nothing is worth your life.”
“How can you say that? Those are my things in there! This man has turned my life upside down. All I want is to face my fears, get some of my clothes, and leave until this asshole is caught. Now if I don’t have your support, I’ll go to my parents’ house. Are you with me or not?”
He couldn’t miss her flare of temper, Valorie felt angry and he had caused her pain. “You know, you’re absolutely right. What do I know anyways? Let’s go and get your stuff.”
His angry retort seemed to harden her features.