Everything Dane had said had helped to ease her mind and give her hope. He had so much conviction in his words; surely he would be able to catch whoever was harassing her. She knew she could follow his instructions and make it more difficult for the stalker to reach her; she just hoped it would last long enough for Dane to figure out who it was. She had vehemently denied getting a gun to carry however. Her husband had them and that was fine with her, but as an educator, she was strict believer weapons did not need to be on educational premises. All that had been left at that point was to profusely thank Dane for his assistance and to assure him she would happily pay whatever fee he deemed reasonable for his services. A parting handshake made a sliver awkward by the way she glanced down at how nicely their hands fit together ended their time together and Devin departed the little cabin at the base of the Squak Mountain. Once she was back in her car and on her way into the heart of Seattle, Devin called her sister. The familiar voice filled the void in her vehicle so she could focus on driving instead of trying to hold a phone. Just hearing her sister calmed some of the residual nerves the private investigator hadn’t been able to totally chase away. Alden sounded sleepy though, her voice thick and disjointed, leading Devin to frown and ask, “Did I wake you? What time is it there? I forgot to check before I called.”<br/><br/>“It’s 4:00 am, Dev,” Alden groaned, “I’m supposed to get up in an hour. You’re interrupting the most precious of sleep.”<br/><br/>“Sorry, I’m just excited. I think I found someone who can help me with this stalker,” Devin hoped she wasn’t getting ahead of herself, but she had left Dane’s cabin with a newfound optimism.<br/><br/>“The cops finally listened?”<br/><br/>“Well, no…he’s a private investigator, but he—“<br/><br/>“Is he cute?”<br/><br/>“Alden—“<br/><br/>“What, you’re married! By default the cute guys you find go to me. You can’t hog them! Tell me!”<br/><br/>“You travel too much,” Devin pointed out for what seemed like the millionth time, but couldn’t help but laugh anyway, “You’re on the other side of the world and trying to spy on a man you’ve never met before!”<br/><br/>“Your avoidance is confirmation, you think he’s cute,” Alden surmised, ignoring the truth of her sister's words and waking up more at the prospect of bothering a sibling, “Tell me, dear sister. Do you wish for him to investigate your priva—“<br/><br/>“Go back to bed!” Devin shouted before Alden could finish and laughter filled her car from the both of them.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>The days following her meeting with Dane Kuger had been some of the best ones since she’d first found a little origami bat sitting on her podium. She did everything Dane had instructed her to do and with it, she had a newfound freedom when she had begun to feel caged. Devin was rarely alone, surrounding herself with other faculty and her students while at work and when she wasn’t, she was at James’s side. No further creepy notes were left for her to find and it seemed for a few days that the stalker might have moved on. That he might have decided she wasn’t worth the hassle or he had grown bored with her. Hope had begun to take root. Was it possible her life could move on? That she was somehow past the nightmare that had taken control of usually normal life?<br/><br/>It was nearly a week after meeting with Dane that James had come to her with news they would need to attend a corporate dinner with his boss. With everything that had been stressing her out, he’d sweetly suggested she go and find a new dress to wear for the event. Pretty, sophisticated clothing being one of her weaknesses and indulgences in life, Devin had been happy enough to take advantage, even if it was under his condition that she bring a friend along with her instead of shopping alone like she preferred. After calling up a college friend, they’d agreed to meet in Bellevue to shop the following Saturday afternoon. Devin had looked forward to it the entire week and was just outside the mall when her friend called to cancel, their child having fallen ill. Disappointed, Devin had begun to turn around when on a whim, she had turned into the entrance to the mall’s parking garage.<br/><br/>She was far from where the stalker had been bothering her, after all, and it had been a week since any sort of sign of her troubles. Plus Dane had instructed she never be alone; malls were busy on Saturday. She would be fine! So she had convinced herself as such, parked as close to an elevator as possible, and had spent a few glorious hours alone, but surrounded by hundreds, wandering the mall. As introverted as she tended to be, Devin needed time to recharge, to separate herself from people who knew her and be anonymous for a while. Spending the afternoon in the mall had helped that need and given her safe isolation. She had also found the perfect dress to buy, along with a new pair of heels she was certain she could convince James had been necessary.<br/><br/>The plan had been to slide into her car and give James a call to see if he wanted her to pick up Chinese for dinner. They did not eat takeout often, but she was feeling celebratory after having successfully spent an evening alone. During the wait for the elevator to take her to the correct floor of the parking garage, she split her time between choosing which Chinese place for food and watching a young mother cleaning the sticky, chocolaty face of a giggling toddler. It was sweet and brought a small smile to Devin’s expression, but it soon faltered when the elevator chimed and the doors opened. The mother did not get off with them, instead gasping she’d forgotten to hit the button and stealing away the sense of security Devin had had with knowing they were all getting off at the same floor.<br/><br/>The doors shut behind her and all the relaxed vibes Devin had gathered up from her afternoon dissipated. The parking garage was quiet save for some residual sounds of cars driving on other floors and devoid of any people. She stood uncertain for a long beat, one hand holding up the hanger of her dress so it wouldn’t drag while the other dipped into her small purse to pull out her car keys. It was a short walk, she told herself, and once inside she would have the pleasure of talking to her husband and looking forward to yummy Chinese food. She’d be fine. Fortified, Devin briskly made way to her car. It only took a few steps for her nerves to begin to take hold, causing her to increase her pace. All was silent however; all was normal. She was panicking for no reason, she told herself. No reason at all.<br/><br/>What probably only took a handful of seconds to reach the white Lexus felt like ages. What was she going to do with herself? She thought with aggravation while trying to find the key fob on her key ring with one hand. She had had a perfectly relaxing afternoon, only for a few moments alone in a garage to ruin the entire mood. Shaking her head, Devin frowned down at her keys awkward jingling in her hand while she tried to get a firm hold on her key fob without dropping her dress and shopping bag. It proved fruitless however, for the keys were soon slipping from her fingers and clanging to the concrete floor. With a heavy sigh, Devin lowered to a crouch to scoop the keys up, holding her arm awkwardly above her head to try to keep her dress from touching the ground too much. She scooped the keys up, rose back up to her full height, then yelped her shock upon lowering her arm and seeing a figure on the other side.<br/><br/>It all happened so fast. Before she could say a thing, a large, calloused hand clamped over her mouth at the same time a larger body collided with hers, shoving her up against the side of her pristine vehicle. One arm was pinned beneath his body, the other held down by another strong hand. If she had been able to make a sound, Devin would have gasped her shock at being so roughly handled. No one had ever treated her so coarsely. As it was, the back of her head bounced against the hood of her car from the force of the man’s shove, sending shoots of pain down her neck as the baseball-capped man loomed over her, his features mostly covered as he kept her head tipped back with his hand on her mouth. Her heart was racing, fear all-consuming, but she was still fiercely aware of how the man leaned in and sniffed her neck as her chest bumped against his with the accelerated way her panic made her breathe.<br/><br/>“Devin…” he whispered, with a sense of finality in his voice that sent cold fear racing through her, paralyzing her. He was reveling in her fear, in catching her, as if he had finally completed some insane, disturbing goal involving her.<br/><br/>“Hey! Hey, what the hell!” Another man’s voice called from nearby and suddenly just as swiftly she’d been overpowered, Devin was released. It was so instant, her legs almost buckled beneath her at having to quickly adjust to hold her own weight. Gasping, hazel eyes wide with shock, she straightened from the car enough to watch the retreating form of her attacker moving into the bowels of the parking garage as another man hurried toward her.<br/><br/>“Fuck, are you okay? I saw him sneaking up on you, I thought maybe you knew him, but holy shit,” the man couldn’t have been older than 20, reminding Devin of one of her students while she dazedly stared at him looking at her with his wild green eyes. “I should...call my mom…or no…police, duh. Let’s call the police, right?” It was clear he was not sure how to handle the situation, his one hand tugging his phone from the pocket of his jeans while the other started to pat her arm, then diverted to push through his hair when he decided against touching her. It was wise of him. Devin wanted no one touching her for the time being.<br/><br/>“Call them,” Devin nodded, her hands shakily trying to reach for her phone in her purse still over her shoulder. The dress and shoe bag had been dropped the moment she’d been shoved against the car and were long forgotten. All she could think to do was swipe her thumb across the screen cheerfully displaying a picture of her and James and punch her thumb across a single name in her contacts. God, she was so stupid. So arrogant to think she would be fine. He was going to be so angry. How could she face him? She had done exactly what he had warned her not to do. He needed to know though; she imagined he would likely be even angrier if she didn't call him right away.<br/><br/>As soon as the call picked up, the stress of it all crashed down on her and hearing his voice triggered its fall. Devin burst into tears, “Dane…I need…I need help.”