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to ask the tougher question.
    “I froze up on him, but no. He just thinks I’m a little afraid of the dark.”
    Her attempt to inject a little humor into her voice didn’t work. Sara was more than afraid of the dark. To put it mildly, she was terrified.
    “How are you doing?”
    She held up her teacup. “Fourth cup. Tonight, I almost wish I drank. Adam talked me into a cup of coffee because it was obvious I was a ball of nerves. I switched to tea when I got home.”
    “Sara, you should have called Travis as soon as the elevator reached the garage.”
    “It would have raised more questions in Adam’s mind. There were enough as it was. It was late. The storm was bad. The hotel restaurant only had six other patrons. The security risk was minimal.”
    “I’m glad Adam was kind enough to make sure you could drive home safely. It doesn’t change the fact you went into a public place with a well-known public figure without anyone covering you. You were too close to the trauma to make the right security call, which is why you should’ve called Travis. He could have at least alerted hotel security.”
    “I did what I thought best.”
    It wasn’t worth pushing tonight, not while she was this shaky. He would bring it back up tomorrow. “Tell me what you talked about. How you left things when you parted.”
    Sara looked down at her teacup. She told Dave all of it except for the kiss, not just because he had asked but because he needed to know. She told him about the story she had remembered telling Kim. She told him about her conversation with Adam during the half hour and then later over coffee.
    It felt good to have someone to talk to.
    She could see Dave was bothered by what she’d told him. The entire situation had him on edge. “I’m sorry I didn’t call Travis.”
    Her brother attempted to smile. “As long as you agree to call him next time.”
    “Next time I get stuck in an elevator, I’ll call him.” Sara laughed at his determined expression. “No, don’t even tell me what you are going to do to those elevators tomorrow. I don’t want to know. I can already see it in your face.”
    She got to her feet and crossed over to his side. She grasped his hand. “Dave, I’m fine.”
    “Think you’ll sleep? I’ll be glad to stay up and talk for a while if you’d like.”
    She looked at him with a knowing smile. “Since your body is still on East Coast time, I know it feels like 2 A.M. to you. Other than a little too much caffeine, I’m fine. We’ve been through events like this before. I am coping with this one remarkably well. Go to bed. If I can’t sleep, I’ll just read for a while longer.”
    Dave brushed her hair back from her face. “I’ll pray you have peaceful dreams.”
    “Thank you,” she whispered.
    She was amused and somewhat relieved when Dave did a security sweep of her bedroom, just to reassure himself he said. When he left the room, he left the bedside lamp on, the door open, and the hall light on. They were never shut off when she was on the second floor of the house.
    Sara woke up screaming at five in the morning. Dave was there immediately, halfway expecting it. Her nightmares always returned after packages were delivered. He came through the bedroom door crouched low. The last time the screams had come, there had been a .45 in her hand, cocked, safety off, pointed at whoever came through the doorway.
    It was a two-edged sword—she needed the gun because the stalker had once gotten into her home past their security, but when the terror hit, she wasn’t always rational in the first few waking moments.
    “Easy, kid, easy.”
    He held her still, his arms wrapped around her from behind, grasping the back of her wrists to still her hands. Her breathing slowly eased from terrified…to afraid…to aware.
    The shudders started.
    Dave dropped his head down against her hair. Tears burned his eyes. “It’s okay, Sara. It’s okay.” If only the kidnappers hadn’t been able to shove