Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

brIGGS NEVER IMAGINED he’d see so much of the inside of a police station once he left the Dallas PD.

Detective Morgan had set them up in his office and offered the use of his Keurig before stepping out to take a call from Officer Hoffman questioning Nancy at the hospital. Briggs set a cup of tea in front of Lahela. The shock of discovering Nancy’s obsessive shrine had been as revealing as it was unsettling.

Lahela wrapped her hands around the tea. “I don’t understand, Briggs. She was my friend. Friends don’t stalk friends, right?”

Her voice wasn’t hysterical, just matter-of-fact, like she was trying to make sense of the situation.

“Every stalking case I’ve worked was between domestic partners, but there have been cases where victims were stalked by ex-employees, friends, family members even. Each case varies based on the motivation behind the obsession.”

“But why would Nancy be obsessed with me? I don’t think I’ve ever done anything to upset her.”

Briggs wanted to help Lahela understand, but the truth was, he didn’t understand himself. The facts and evidence behind stalking rarely provided all the answers—there was a psychological component. And it was the latter that made the cases unpredictable and dangerous.

Detective Morgan entered his office and sat behind his desk. “I’m sorry that took longer than I expected, but I wanted to have as much information to give to you as possible.”

Lahela reached for Briggs’s hand, and he covered it with his own, hoping his touch would provide her with the courage to hear whatever was coming.

“Nancy confessed to almost everything.”

Lahela sucked in a breath and Briggs tightened his grip on her hand.

“Including being the one who came to your home tonight.”

Tears slipped down Lahela’s cheeks, and she shook her head as if the truth was more than she could handle—or wanted to believe.

Briggs moved his chair close to hers, wishing more than anything he could protect her from the hurt. “You said she confessed to almost everything.”

Detective Morgan nodded. “She denies starting the fire at your home on Saturday night, but she admits to being at the festival that day and driving by your home.”

“She wanted to hurt me?”

“No,” Detective Morgan said. “According to Nancy, she went to your house to scare you, hoping you would reach out to her or Trevor for help.”

“It doesn’t make any sense. Nancy knew Trevor and I were done.” Lahela’s voice held the same disbelief that was coursing through him. “Why would she think pretending to be a stalker would get us back together?”

Detective Morgan slipped on a pair of glasses and looked down at his cell phone. “In her statement, she said she saw how upset you were about Mr. West ending the relationship and she didn’t want you to move. She began calling you from different burner phones to scare you so that you would call Trevor and he could”—Detective Morgan cleared his throat—“rescue you.”

Briggs frowned. “I’m sorry?”

“She wanted Trevor to be my knight,” Lahela answered for Detective Morgan. “Rescue me like a damsel in distress, like in her books.”

Detective Morgan sat forward. “Do you have more information?”

“She called me tonight. We talked about what happened at the school, and she mentioned Trevor might still have feelings for me and that he was like a knight coming to my rescue today.” Lahela fell silent for a few seconds, before she glanced up between them. “She’s delusional.”

“Most stalkers seem to have a break in reality.” Detective Morgan looked down at his phone again. “Ms. Bart claims she was doing all of this because you were her best friend. She was afraid of losing your friendship and was convinced getting you back together with your ex would make you happy.”

Lahela hung her head. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

“Unfortunately, most cases like this never do,” Detective Morgan said. “But you’re safe now, and we’ve got a judge who signed a protective order for you.” He shuffled some papers and handed Lahela a sheet. “Ms. Bart isn’t allowed to contact you or come near you.”

“So that’s it?”

“For now.” The detective’s cell phone vibrated. He pushed back from his desk. “That’s the officer at the hospital. I’m going to head over there and make sure we have everything we need to charge Ms. Bart.”

Briggs rose and held on to Lahela’s hand as she stood.

They walked with the detective through the police station and parted ways at the front doors. Briggs didn’t realize how late—or early—it was until he saw the sun cresting the horizon. He tugged his cell phone free from his back pocket to call Jett and let him know he’d be back at the ranch as soon as he could. He paused when Lahela yawned and noticed the dark circles beneath her eyes.

“Why don’t I take you home, you can get showered and call in to the school and request a sub for your class, then I’ll take you back to the ranch.” He brushed away the hair lying across her forehead. “You’re exhausted and need some sleep. You can rest in the guest house.”

“I need to go to work, Briggs.” She covered a second yawn. “It’s too late to call a sub, and being at school with my students might be the only thing to keep me from losing my mind.”

He opened his mouth to convince her that he was there to walk through this with her when his cell phone rang, startling them both. It was Barrett Brown’s number. Frustration and exhaustion pulsed through him. Still, he answered. “Good morning, sir.”

“Hopefully it will be,” Barrett said, and that was enough to know Briggs wasn’t heading to the ranch anytime soon. “Jett’s already on his way to Esperanza Park. We have a missing hiker.”

Briggs exhaled through his nose, his gaze locked on Lahela. He really wanted to get her back to his place to rest, but the temps in the mornings had dropped into the forties, and that spelled trouble for someone lost in the wilderness.

He told Barrett he would be at the park in thirty minutes and ended the call. The sky outside had barely begun turning pink. Someone out this early wasn’t a novice hiker, which usually meant there was an injury keeping them from returning home. “I’ll drive you home, but I think Daphne should drive you to school.”

“That’s okay.” Lahela averted her gaze.

“Lahela...”

“It’s okay, Briggs.” She tried for a smile, but it fell far short. “I’ll talk to Daphne. Just not right now.”

“I’d feel better if she met us at your house. You’ve barely slept—”

“Go, Briggs.” Lahela put her palm on his chest and rose on her toes to place a soft kiss on his cheek. “I’ll be fine and call an Uber to get me home. Go find that hiker and then maybe we can discuss dinner plans.”

His face split into a grin, and suddenly the exhaustion that had been weighing on him evaporated. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “I’ll call you as soon as I’m done.”

Briggs forced his feet to hurry to his truck. He didn’t want to leave her side. He wanted to take her into the hill country on the back of his horse and spend the rest of his day whispering words to her while she was wrapped in his arms. He’d find this hiker as soon as possible so he could return to the woman wrangling his heart.