The time after her initial words to Dane seemed to stagnate. The young man who had so heroically stepped forward to help her did not leave her side, instead hovering awkwardly while Devin perched on the bumper of her car. While she listened to Dane on the phone, answered all his questions hollowly, she tried to control the tears falling steadily down her cheeks. Activity was skyrocketing around her after all, she did not want to appear the hysterical female victim, but it was proving difficult to keep her emotions in check. Dane talked to her, her young savior was on the phone with the police, and people were beginning to gather in a large semi-circle around her car, seemingly concerned a woman was crying into a phone and drawn in by the prospect of police arriving to the scene. Her brand new dress and shoes lay forgotten nearby as she sluggishly turned her head to the sound of a car angrily rumbling into the parking garage.<br/><br/>She was not in a state she would like be found in. Devin took so much pride in her appearance, in displaying herself as capable, put together, and feminine. Therefore with a blotchy face, tear-streaked cheeks, and reddened eyes from her sobs, Devin wished she had been able to get a better hold of her emotions before a big black Mustang squealed to a stop nearby and Dane leapt from it. She stood immediately, even started to take a step forward, then planted herself and watched with broken hazel eyes as he hurried forward. She wanted nothing more than reassurance, perhaps an embrace that would keep her from teetering into hysterics again, but Devin did not know if Dane was the person who could give that to her. Was that not infringing on their professional relationship? Was that not asking too much of a man she barely knew? Shouldn't she be searching for that type of intimacy with someone she truly knew? She needed James, needed her husband. He could give that to her with no issue, yet for some reason, it was not James she desired help from in that moment.<br/><br/>“I…I don’t know,” was the pitiful response to the question of where her attacker had gone. She did not think her teenage helper would know either. It was clear he was nearly as distraught about the situation as she was. She felt for the kid; he had no idea what he had stumbled on and the instant the police lights filtered into the garage, he hung up with 911 and skittered back from her and Dane.<i>Calling his mom</i>, Devin thought from the expression on the young man’s face, and she probably would have smiled over it if she hadn’t been so shaken up. There was something sweet about seeing a nearly adult male seeking out the comfort of his mother's voice. The kid did not go far, which Devin knew was good; the police coming to a stop nearby were likely to want to question him.<br/><br/>A car went by, she barely noticed. Men spoke to each other about her, she didn’t hear.<i>He almost had me…he could have had me…and what would he have done with me? What does he want? Why won't he leave me alone, damn it? </i>She could feel the few crumbs of control she’d been able to gather up upon seeing Dane arrive on the scene start to break into brittle chunks again at the thought of what she’d narrowly escaped. It made her feel shaky and unbalanced, caused tears to threaten to form in her eyes. Mercilessly, Dane’s sharp focus was on her though, forcing her to keep her wits enough to form words from the sounds leaving his lips.<i>Are you alright? </i>She shook her head, then took a few steps back to dejectedly sit on the bumper of her car again. “He didn’t hurt me,” Devin answered emptily, clasping her hands together tightly and looking down at them, “I couldn’t see him at all and all he did was whisper my name, so I can’t even give you anything to help you find him. He just…God, he scared me…” How she wished panic hadn't clawed at her and had allowed her to get a better view of her attacker, or at least allow her to give Dane more to go off of than a whisper.<br/><br/>Devin looked around the parking lot for a long beat before her red-rimmed hazel eyes flickered back up to center on Dane, “I need to tell James, but not here…can we leave? Can you take me home? I don’t think I can drive right now.” She knew it was unlikely to be so easy, not with a couple more police cars rolling in to canvas the garage, but Devin could hope Dane could finesse an escape for her.<br/><br/>“All right, Dane,” the large officer called, having taken down the teenager’s statement, “I’m finished with Nick here, so your client’s up next.” He had given the young man permission to leave after taking down his information, but the witness continued to linger behind him until he turned and raised an eyebrow at the kid.<br/><br/>“I just—I want to say goodbye to her,” the young man skirted around the cop, clearly not at ease with being spoken to by the police, and came to a stop before Devin, green eyes sheepish, “I, um…I just wanted to make sure you’re okay before I leave.”<br/><br/>“Yes, yes I am,” Devin nodded, doing her best to muster a grateful smile, “Did he say your name is Nick? I’m Devin. I can’t thank you enough. You might have saved my life.”<br/><br/>Nick half-shrugged, but smiled all the same, pleased with her gratitude, “Do you need help going home? I can follow you and make sure you’re safe if you want.”<br/><br/>“My friend here is going to help me, but thank you,” Devin gave a small wave in Dane’s direction, then smiled when Nick nodded and retreated toward his car like he had been originally trying to do when he had come to her rescue. Devin wished she could go with him, but knew she could not do so until she got her own interview over with, and spent much of the time repeating her story to the officer in multiple ways thinking more about leaving than what had happened. Her stalker had left, at least she prayed he had. He was probably furious, thwarted by a teenager and forced to leave empty-handed. She hoped that did not cause whoever it was to become more obsessed with her. By the time the policeman had finished questioning her and assuring her they would do the best they could to find her attacker, Devin wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole somewhere and sleep until she no longer remembered even going to the mall in the first place. After thanking her for her cooperation and beckoning Dane to have a word with him in private, the police officer walked back toward his cruiser to wait for Dane. “Can we go? I can’t stand the thought of being here much longer. Especially if he’s still here…you don’t think he’s still here, do you?” Devin asked tiredly, drained from the events.