Fatal Desire, Teen Edition (7 page)

Derek shook his head. He couldn’t be thinking
like that. He had to find out why she was on the run. He would have
to try to strike up a conversation and see if she would
respond.

Derek heard the shower in the room next to
him and knew she had awakened from her nap. He groaned at the
thought of her climbing into the shower. He needed to be more
professional.

Amber usually only took hot showers but this
time the faucet was turned all the way to the C. She stood under
the water trying to clear her head. She could not afford for some
stranger to overtake her thoughts like this. She decided she would
hit the road tomorrow. A day earlier than she had originally
planned. She would let the front desk know when she went out for
supper.

Amber turned off the water and stepped out of
the shower. She grabbed a towel and dried off then studied herself
in the mirror. She had changed in the four years since she had left
Alma. Her hair was much longer. Her face a little older and more
haunted looking. She wasn’t sure the last time she looked in the
mirror and just smiled. Her eyes were not the same either. In Alma,
she was happy. A glowing youth on the verge of living out her
dreams of being a nurse, helping people, raising a family, just as
her parents had done. Now none of that would happen. She wouldn’t
be able to start a family for fear her stalker would find her
again.

She was having a hard enough time coping with
the people she barely knew dying because of her. She could not take
having a family torn from her. No, she wouldn’t take that chance.
New Orleans proved that.

Two years. She had started to feel safe. She
had started to move on with her life. Then he had killed Jesse.
Amber didn’t know if she could handle anymore.

She pulled a pair of jeans from her bag and
dug out a t-shirt. Amber dressed, blow dried her hair, and applied
make-up. After she was ready she went to the front desk to let them
know she would be checking out in the morning instead of staying
one more night.

Amber climbed into her car and drove around
the city until she found a restaurant that appealed to her. This
one was advertising all you can eat crab legs so she thought she
would give it a try.

Once inside the restaurant, Amber looked
around at her surroundings. Tastefully decorated in the beach theme
that seemed to be popular on the ocean, Amber admired the colors
the decorator used. She asked for a glass of wine and ordered the
crab legs with a salad and a baked potato and sat back to wait.
Just as her salad was being placed on the table by the waitress,
the tall, good looking stranger walked into the room.

Amber sank down in her seat a little and
tried to avoid eye contact. She took a bite of her salad and
pretended to be enthralled with her salad fork.

Derek looked around and spotted Amber right
away. He knew by her expression that she had seen him and was
trying to avoid him. He had already decided to confront her.

Waving off the hostess, Derek walked to
Amber’s booth and sat down across from her. Choking on her salad,
Amber looked up into those glorious blue eyes.

“Can I help you,” she asked as politely as
she could after taking a sip of her wine to wash down the salad.
Seriously hoping her face was not red from remembering her thoughts
from earlier in the day, Amber gave him her best I’m not interested
in anything you have to say look.

“I saw you getting breakfast in the hotel
this morning,” he replied ignoring the look that told him to go
away. “I wanted to say hi.”

“Hi,” she replied.

“My name is Derek. What’s yours?”

“I’m sorry. I’m not in the habit of
conversing with total strangers, Derek,” Amber said. She hoped the
look she was giving him was enough to send him to his own
table.

Derek knew what she was doing but he wasn’t
budging. He signaled the waiter and ordered a beer and the crab
legs.

Amber quickly looked around the restaurant to
see if anyone was paying any attention to them. She didn’t think
her stalker had found her yet but she couldn’t be sure. She didn’t
want to take the chance that this guy would end up in the local
morning paper.

Derek didn’t miss Amber’s quick glance around
and he too scanned the restaurant assuring himself no one was
paying any attention to them. He could see the fear she was trying
to hide. He pretended not to notice.

“So, where are you from,” Derek asked her
although he already knew the answer to that question.

Realizing no one was watching her, and
assuming this guy was not going away, Amber answered his question,
“I’m from Alma, Georgia.”

“Oh, a small town girl, eh,” he asked as he
started on his salad. “I’m from Houston, myself.

“Oh,” Amber said.

“What had you coming to Myrtle Beach this
time of year,” he asked.

“A change of scenery,” Amber replied.

Derek smiled.

Amber's heart skipped a beat.

Amber and Derek continued to talk throughout
the meal and Amber began to relax. She eventually told Derek her
name. He even made her laugh before the check came.

Derek grabbed the check and insisted on
paying for her meal. Amber argued but in the end, Derek won. As he
was paying, Amber slipped out of the booth and out to her car. She
didn’t need to see him again.

Derek, assuming she would try to run, threw a
fifty on the table and went after her. He caught up with her before
she could close the door to her car.

“Hey, running away so fast? I thought we
could take a stroll on the beach together,” he asked.

“I don’t think so, Derek,” Amber replied.

“Oh, come on. We’re both on vacation, why not
do something crazy,” he cajoled.

Amber’s heart flipped just looking into those
eyes and knowing what he was insinuating. “Look, I can’t. People
get hurt when they get to close to me. You need to go away
now.”

“What do you mean get to close,” Derek asked.
Finally, maybe a small piece of the puzzle.

“I mean someone is stalking me and he doesn’t
like me talking to men or anybody really. Please go away before you
get yourself killed or something,” Amber pleaded.

Derek could tell Amber was serious and she
was truly concerned for his safety.

“Look, I’m a big boy and I can take care of
myself. Let’s talk about this and let me see if I can help you,”
Derek replied.

Amber looked into his eyes and wanted to say
yes. She needed a friend. She needed someone to pour this whole
story out to. Making a hasty decision and giving into her need for
adult company, Amber nodded.

“Okay. I’ll meet you back at the hotel,” she
said.

Derek jogged to his car and followed Amber
back to the hotel. Soon he would get a full picture of what had
been happening in Amber Curtis’ life since she left her hometown
four years earlier.

Amber couldn’t resist Derek when she was
looking into his eyes but as she drove back to the hotel she began
having second thoughts. What if her stalker was here? What if Derek
got hurt because of her? She shook her head. She would take this
one night and see where it led, then in the morning, she would
leave again.

Resolve firmly in place, Amber waited for
Derek to park then allowed him to follow her up to her room. Once
there, she grabbed a couple of beers out of the mini fridge and
handed one to him. She pulled a folder out of her bag and motioned
for Derek to follow her out to the balcony.

Amber and Derek chatted for a few minutes
before Amber began her story. She told about growing up in her
hometown and about the accident that stole her parents from her at
the beginning of her freshman year of college. She talked about
Olivia and how they had met and remained friends all this time.

Amber told Derek about the notes she started
getting from her stalker. They talked about all of the accidents
her friends were having and the one that nearly cost Olivia her
life. Amber gave the notes she had been keeping all these years to
Derek.

Finally, all out of words and physically
spent from reliving the horror of the last four years, Amber began
sobbing. Derek pulled her into his lap and held her as she cried
out her anger and frustration. Emotionally drained as well, Derek
stroked Amber’s hair.

He waited for her sobbing to end, then he
stood up and carried her to her bed. He continued to stroke her
hair until she fell asleep. He needed to hit something hard. He
took her room key, went down to the hotel’s gym, and got on the
weights. Usually a good work out would calm him, but an hour in and
Derek was still angry.

Finishing with the weights, Derek went out
onto the beach and began to run. As he ran he thought about what
Amber had told him. She had no one to turn to. The police had told
her they couldn’t help her and then the maniac had nearly killed
her best friend. The descriptions he had gotten of her personality
from previous coworkers all made sense now.

Derek continued to run until the rage was
gone and then he slowly walked back down the beach. He went to his
own room, took a shower, and then let himself back into Amber’s
room. He would protect her. He would find this coward and make him
pay for what he had put her through for the last four years.

Derek took pictures of the notes Amber’s
stalker had left her with his phone and sent them to his lab to be
analyzed. He would call Tom in the morning and give him an update
on what he had just learned.

He looked at the sleeping beauty and realized
his life had just become really complicated. He knew when this was
over he would have a hard time walking away from her. No women had
ever turned his head or his heart like Amber had in the last two
days. He was definitely in danger of falling for this one.

Derek took off his shirt and laid down beside
Amber. Now that he knew what was really going on, he would not be
leaving her on her own. There was no telling when her stalker would
suddenly turn on her. He couldn’t take that chance.

Derek fell asleep thinking about the
information Amber had revealed to him. He went back over every
detail trying to glean any helpful information to tell him who this
guy was. He would have to make some calls in the morning.

Amber woke the next morning wrapped in
Derek’s arms. At first she panicked and froze until she remembered
that she had told him what she had been going through the last few
years. Next, she checked to see if she was dressed. Still wearing
her clothes from the night before, Amber sighed with relief. She
had never gone to bed with a stranger before.

Amber started to climb out of bed slowly when
a deep, male voice greeted her. “Good morning, Sunshine,” Derek
said.

Amber groaned. She turned over and looked at
the good looking stranger next to her. “Care to explain why you are
sleeping in my bed,” she asked.

“Sure,” he replied. “How about during
breakfast?”

Amber thought about that and nodded.

“I’ll go shower and change and meet you in
the lobby,” Derek said.

“Sounds good,” replied Amber.

Derek got up from her bed and walked to the
door. As he opened the door he turned and said, “Amber, I want to
help you. We will find this guy, I promise you.”

On that promise, Derek closed the door and
walked to his room. Amber breathed a sigh of relief. She knew his
intentions were good, but she could not risk bringing someone else
into her crazy nightmare. She jumped up and began throwing her
things into her bags. She would have to be gone by the time he made
it down to the breakfast room.

Just as she heard the shower come on in the
next room, Amber had gathered up all her belongings and was walking
out the door. She checked out quickly, threw her bags in the car
and was pulling out of the parking garage by the time Derek had
stepped out of the shower.

Just as before, Amber drove a couple of towns
over and got a new cell phone and traded cars. She was so thankful
for the money her parents left her that allowed her to be able to
do this. Once again, Amber was on the run. She had already decided
her route, so she pulled her atlas out, slid on her sunglasses and
drove off the car lot in her new aqua blue Toyota Camry.

With any luck she would be long gone before
Derek realized she had left.

Derek showered, shaved and dressed, taking
his time getting ready. He knew how females were and he assumed it
would take her awhile to get ready herself. With the radio cranked
up to the local country station, Derek didn’t notice the quietness
of the room next to him. He was rocking to Blake Shelton’s latest
hit and making sure he was giving her plenty of time to get
ready.

When Derek had finished, he turned down the
radio and called Tom.

“Did you get the pictures I sent over,” Derek
asked.

“I did,” Tom replied. “The lab is analyzing
these now. So what’s the story?”

Derek quickly filled his boss in on what he
had been told and Tom agreed Derek should stay with Amber until her
stalker could be located. Derek was to use whatever resources he
needed to keep her safe. Meanwhile, the FBI would look into her
background and see if they could come up with the person who was
stalking her.

Hanging up the phone, Derek went to the lobby
to meet Amber. He checked his watch. It had been exactly and hour
since he left her room. Derek waited twenty minutes before going
back upstairs. He knocked on her door but got no answer. He went
back downstairs and checked the lobby and the breakfast room but
saw no sign of Amber.

Derek was starting to get worried as he
walked up to the front desk to inquire after her. He got angry when
he found out she had checked out. Hurrying back upstairs, Derek
quickly packed his bags, checked out of his own room and followed
her. The tracking device would lead him right to her.