It took the next two days and some fast talking for Derek to convince Amber he had a solid plan. She didn’t want to stay in Georgia. She was too close to where it all began. Derek convinced her that was why she needed to stay in Georgia.
Finally, Derek was able to talk Amber into driving into Atlanta to meet his brother and discuss their options. While not fully convinced, she was willing to talk with his brother. She still wanted to go to Washington.
The morning of their departure from the hotel, they ate a good breakfast and got into their separate cars. Derek would follow Amber to Atlanta which was just a couple of hours from where they were staying. Once in the city, she would follow him to his brother’s house.
Still on edge about Derek’s plan, Amber climbed into her car and hit the interstate. No reason to take back roads if you were no longer trying to hide. Amber tried to get her mind off the situation by cranking up the radio. She found a country station and began singing to put her mind at ease. If she was singing, she wasn’t thinking.
Two hours later, Derek and Amber pulled off the interstate to gas up and stretch their legs. Derek said he would take the lead and Amber nodded. Forty-five minutes later, Derek pulled into the drive of a two-story house on the outskirts of Atlanta.
Parking their vehicles, Derek and Amber climbed out of their cars and grabbed their luggage. Derek led Amber into the house and up the stairs to a guest bedroom, explaining that Matt would not be home for a few more hours. Amber laid her luggage on the floor and began unpacking. Derek had told her they would be staying for a while.
Amber put her clothes away in the dresser and set her personal items and toiletries in the connecting bathroom. Walking back into the bedroom, Amber looked around. The house was pretty spacious with four bedrooms, all with connecting bathrooms, on the second floor of the house.
“The rooms are pretty big,” Amber commented as she walked into the living room where Derek was waiting for her.
“Yes, my brother often houses other agents when they are in his area, so he tries to keep a room available at all times. Agents across the country know when they are working in or around Atlanta, they have a place to crash that's a little more personable than a hotel room,” Derek replied.
“He has good taste,” Amber said.
Derek laughed. “You mean a good interior designer,” Derek explained.
Amber smiled. She continued to look around the place she would be staying and asked if she could check out the kitchen.
“Sure. Make yourself at home. Matt would want you to,” Derek told her.
Amber wondered into the kitchen and took in the island that housed the stove and spacious countertop to prepare and cook on. “This is a cook’s dream kitchen,” she thought to herself. She opened one door and found a large pantry fully stocked. Opening a double sided, stainless steel refrigerator, she also found it fully stocked. Obviously, Matt was ready to entertain at the drop of a hat. Well, the least she could do was thank the man.
Amber began gathering ingredients together and was no longer surprised to find everything she needed to put a nice meal on the table. Within an hour, mouthwatering smells were coming out of the kitchen and drifting through the house. Amber was so engrossed in her project she did not hear Derek leave the house to go to his brother’s office.
Derek arrived at his brother’s office and let him know he and Amber had settled in. He filled him in on the rest of Amber’s story and they discussed the type of person she was likely dealing with.
Matt was a profiler for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was currently stationed in Atlanta. He was able to give Derek some tips into the personality of Amber’s stalker. Derek and Matt talked for a while then both left to go back to Matt’s house. Matt wanted to question Amber some more. Always the older brother, Matt was sure there was something Derek had forgotten.
Derek decided this case was too important to get into a sibling rivalry competition with his brother. He brought Matt in because he was good at his job and he wanted his input. Matt wanted to meet the girl who had turned his brother’s head. He could tell by the way Derek talked about her that he was smitten.
Walking into the house a little while later, both men stopped in their tracks. They could hear humming coming from the kitchen and the air was permeated with a delicious aroma. Both men’s stomachs began to rumble as they looked at each other. Carefully, they walked into the kitchen.
Amber was bent over the oven pulling a roast from inside when Derek whistled low. Amber nearly dropped the pan she was holding. She placed it carefully on the stove then whirled around.
“You startled me,” she said. Then Amber caught sight of the astonished look on Matt’s and Derek’s faces and her hand flew to her hair to smooth it behind her ear. “I’m sorry. I thought you both would like a nice supper and it has been so long since I have been able to cook,” she apologized.
“You don’t have to apologize for cooking in my kitchen,” Matt said. He grinned, held out his hand and said, “I’m Matt, by the way. Welcome to my humble home.”
Amber shook Matt’s hand and said, “Thank you. I’m Amber and your home is very lovely.”
Derek coughed and both turned to look at him. “You can stop shaking Amber’s hand now, Matt,” Derek growled.
Matt just grinned and tucked Amber’s hand into his as he led her to the table. He poured a glass of wine while they made small talk. Derek frowned and followed them to the table pouring his own glass of wine.
The three chatted for a few minutes then Amber rose to put the roast on the table. She added the vegetables and bread she had also fixed and sat down with the men. Derek and Matt were silent the first several minutes of the meal as they savored the flavorful meat in front of them. Then suddenly, as if they found their manners at the same time, both began complimenting the food.
“Wow, Amber, where did you learn to cook like this? The roast is wonderful,” said Matt.
“This is really good, Amber,” Derek said. Amber laughed because the men were talking over themselves.
She turned to Matt first. “My mother taught me how to cook. I have enjoyed it since I was a little girl,” Amber said.
She then turned to Derek and thanked him for the compliment.
As if she had opened the door, Matt began to question Amber about her past. “So tell me about your family,” he asked.
“My parents were killed in a car accident when I was eighteen,” she replied. “I was an only child so I have no family left.”
Matt felt like kicking himself. Derek had already told him about her parents, but he had forgotten in the midst of all the rest of the information they had shared.
“I’m so sorry,” Matt said.
“Don’t be,” Amber replied. “It was a long time ago. I still miss them, but I'm used to the fact that they are gone.”
“Well, you can have some of my family. I have an ornery brother I would like to get off my hands,” Matt told her.
Amber laughed and Matt steered the conversation back around to happier subjects. They talked about Matt and Derek’s family and some of the situations the boys had gotten into as kids. Amber laughed until tears were streaming down her cheeks.
When they finished dinner the brothers told her to go rest and they would clean up. Amber protested but both men insisted. She had cooked, they would clean. Unbeknownst to her, they wanted to discuss the situation further when she left the kitchen.
Amber walked upstairs and turned on the shower. She decided to take a long, hot shower and go to bed early. She was drained from the drive, the cooking, and the worry of being back in Georgia.
Downstairs the men were talking in low tones. Matt was just as worried as Derek about the situation Amber was in. During dinner, it had not taken Matt long to see the true personality of the beauty who was slowly stealing his brother’s heart. Loving, caring, and friendly, it was easy to see how Amber had turned a lunatic’s head. In his
sick mind, he probably mistook a simple smile and a friendly attitude as flirtation. And in his mind, Amber belonged to him. And the lunatic would stop at nothing to control her. He had seen this before and he was worried it would end badly.
The next morning, Derek drove Amber to one of the local hospitals to put in an application. He didn’t want her to work, but Amber had convinced him she couldn’t just sit around and wait for something to happen. Ignoring the feeling in the pit of his stomach, Derek waited while Amber applied for the nursing position the hospital was advertising in the local paper.
When Amber climbed back into his car, they drove to the local mall to shop. Amber had explained that each time she went on the run she left most of her things behind. He didn’t want her going anywhere alone anymore so he told her he would go with her while she picked up the things she would need.
“Oh, try this on,” Derek said as he held up a skimpy negligee and waggled his eyebrows at her.
Amber laughed and rolled her eyes. Each store they came to Derek would find the ugliest or tackiest piece of clothing and parade around in it until Amber was in stitches. She had never had more fun on a shopping trip, even with Olivia.
They stopped to eat at the food court for lunch and later hit the cookie store for desert. They talked and shared more about their individual lives and Derek fell a little harder for the bombshell at his side while Amber wondered how she would be able to walk away from the FBI agent when her life got back to normal.
It was two weeks before the hospital called Amber in for an interview. By then she felt ready to climb the walls. She could not just sit around and wait for the maniac to find her. She needed to work. She liked helping people. She wanted a job.
When her cell phone rang, she almost cried with relief. She was so thankful for the interview.
Derek again drove her to the hospital. For the past two weeks he had not let her out of his sight except when he and his brother wanted to talk about her without her knowing. They thought they were so clever but she knew what they were whispering about. She was beginning to feel like a burden to the men even though she continued to cook and would often straighten up the house and do laundry.
If she got this job, he would have to let her have time to herself. He couldn’t very well go to work with her. Although at this point, she would not put it past him to try.
Amber went inside for her interview while Derek waited outside. He had been carefully watching and so far, there had been no sign of anyone following or trying to locate Amber. Both men had checked with local and state authorities in the states Amber had been in and no inquiries were made there either. Derek was still trying to figure out how her stalker always found her.
Matt was also at a loss. They could find no one in her life that came into it around the time of the letters and accidents to her coworkers. All of the people she had worked with and even her patients had been checked out thoroughly and none of them stood out as a maniacal stalker.
Both men continued to comb through every inch of Amber’s personal life. They checked high school records, college records, and work history. The stalker wasn’t changing towns with her either as far as the men could tell. They checked DMV records, tax records, and employment records and could find no common threads to Amber.
Derek was getting frustrated. He was no closer to finding out who was stalking Amber than the day he met her. He kept in touch with his boss who was happy to have Matt’s input into the case. The men had worked cases together in the past and Tom highly respected Matt’s ability.
Derek smiled as Amber strolled out of the hospital. He admired the way she carried herself as she walked across the parking lot. He got out of the car and walked around to open the door for her.
“How did the interview go,” he asked.
“I think it went well,” Amber replied. “They said they would let me know something by the end of the week.”
“That’s great,” Derek said.
He may not want her to go back to work but he knew it would give him time to do more research. He would be able to use Matt’s resources to continue to dig. He knew she would be safe at the hospital while he worked at Matt’s office.
♥ Chapter 8 ♥