Read Online Vengeful Shadows by Bronwyn Green - Free Book Online

money. Works in medicine, finance or law,” she ticked items off on her fingers. “Member of the club. And most importantly, a willingness to keep the misbehaving child in line.”
    “Jesus, Tessa! This isn’t the Middle Ages.”
    “You asked.” She tried to smile but found she couldn’t quite manage it.
    “Are you sure you weren’t adopted?”
    “I used to pretend I was.” She looked out the window, away from the comfort in his eyes.
    “Have you tried to talk to them about this?”
    “Gosh, Zander. I hadn’t thought of that. What a novel idea. I bet that would fix everything!”
    He glanced at her, his eyebrow raised.
    “Sorry,” she muttered. “Touchy subject.”
    “No worries.” Zander steered the jeep around a curve. Tessa shifted to keep from sliding into him. The last thing she needed to do was give in to her longing to touch him.
    “Just out of curiosity, have you ever given any of the guys they’ve introduced a chance?”
    “Yeah.” She’d given him a chance, and he’d given her nightmares and flashbacks. “Didn’t work out.”
    * * * *
    Tessa parked in front of the police station and vaguely wondered if her stalker had followed her. She glanced around. If he had, it wouldn’t really matter since she had no clue who it was. Resentment surged, tasting bitter. She hadn’t felt helpless since her freshman year in college, and she refused to succumb to it again. Squaring her shoulders, she marched up the walk and entered the Oakdale Police Department.
    A young man with buzzed hair sat behind the front desk. He looked barely old enough to shave. The fact that he was a cop taxed her sense of reality.
    “Can I help you, ma’am?”
    Ma’am? “Yes, I need to file a report.” She withdrew the stack of envelopes from her bag and laid them on the desk along with the baggie she’d used to hold the ribbon from her coat pocket. “I’ve been receiving unsettling mail.”
    “Threats?” he asked, pulling a form from a filing cabinet.
    She shook her head. “Not exactly.”
    “Let me take your information, and I’ll see who’s available to speak with you.”
    Afterward, he directed her to a cramped waiting room, filled with uncomfortable chairs. Sunlight beamed through windows, highlighting the dust motes that floated through the air.
    She stifled a yawn. Memories and the conversation with Zander in the car had followed her to bed and kept her up most of the night. As a result, she’d overslept and arrived late to work. The morning had gotten worse when she’d found another message shoved under the front door of the library.
    You didn’t wear it.
    The simple declaration had stopped the breath in her throat. When she’d left for the day, she’d found another on the windshield of her car.
    I’m very disappointed in you, Tessa but I’ll give you another chance.
    Inside the envelope, she’d found a pair of sheer, white panties.
    She swallowed hard against the tide of panic that rose in her throat. It’s just a scrap of fabric, she reminded herself and tried to calm her breathing. She was in a police station. She couldn’t get much safer. However, she’d felt far less vulnerable with Zander last night.
    Sighing, she shifted on the hard plastic chair. She needed to stop thinking about him and figure out who was behind the messages and gifts.
    She desperately tried to think of someone, anyone , who would want to frighten her. He immediately sprang to mind, but she dismissed the thought. She hadn’t had any real contact with him in years. Besides, she reminded herself, anonymous wasn’t his style. He preferred his intimidation and abuse to be up close and personal. He got off on watching a woman’s worry turn to fear. He liked to be close enough to smell it, taste it. For a moment, she felt his whiskey-scented breath against her neck. Her senses clouded with the memory of designer cologne mixed with sweat and sex and, later, blood.
    Forcing herself to think about anything else, she shook