When Landen arrived at his office on Monday morning, his mood hadn’t lifted at all. In fact, if anything it was worse.

Nikki watched him as he walked down the corridor and opened her mouth to speak as he passed by her desk, but then closed it again, knowing that leaving Landen to himself was the best thing to do.

It wasn’t until Landen buzzed for her a few minutes later, did she even try to make any conversation with him.

“Are you okay, Boss Man?” She asked as she stood in front of his desk, but the look on her face said she already knew the answer.

“I’ve had better days,” Landen grumbled as he looked up at her, holding his hand out for the file he had requested. “Is that the Porter file?”

“It is,” she said as she handed it over to him. She stood there for a moment without saying a word, but Landen knew she wasn’t finished yet and he was right. “Is this about that girl?”

“Nik, I am really not in the mood to discuss it,” Landen replied without even looking up at her. “I just want to get this contract finished and sent to Porter today.”

“Why don’t you go back down to the apartment building yourself?” Nikki suggested as she sat down in the chair across from Landen. “At least then you would know for sure.”

“Or end up with a restraining order,” Landen shot back, still not looking up at his assistant.

“Well you can’t stay like this,” she sighed as she sat back in her seat. “Because when you’re in this mood, you’re distracted, and distracted you could make a mistake, or I could end up strangling you, but either one is not a good thing.”

“Nikki…” Landen said with a sigh as he looked up at her finally, and she gave him a smile. He knew she was right. He had spent the weekend trying not to think about the girl and ended up spending the entire weekend doing exactly that. He knew he couldn’t keep this up.

Maybe if he went back down there, at least then he would know for himself. It had to be worth a shot.

“Will I call Mike back?” Nikki asked as she stood up, giving Landen a knowing smile.

“I guess you’d better,” Landen said as he slipped back on his jacket, before he looked at Nikki once more and smiled. “But if I get arrested…”

“I will come down and bail you out,” Nikki replied with a grin. “I know the drill.”

“I must be insane doing this,” Landen said as he followed Nikki out of his office, then hurried back down the corridor to the elevators at the far end.

“Good Luck!” Nikki called after him. Landen raised his hand above his head and gave her a thumbs up.

Fifteen minutes later, he was climbing out of the car outside the apartment building where he had dropped Kate off the week before. In his heart he knew he was wasting his time, but still he also knew he had to try.

He straightened his tie, as he took a deep breath before he walked up to the glass doors, pressing the intercom to the front desk.

While he waited for the doorman to buzz him in, he checked out his reflection in the glass door in front of him. He decided he looked presentable enough in his black suit, white shirt and black tie. The suit was one of his favourites, because it fitted his six foot one inch, broad frame perfectly. Then he looked at his beard, wondering as he always did if maybe it was time to get rid of it.

Before he had time to debate the merits of having a beard, the door buzzed open, pulling his attention back to the task at hand.

Landen pushed open the door, and stepped into the dimly lit foyer and gave himself a moment to let his eyes adjust to the light, before he made his way across the marble floor to the dark mahogany desk and smiled at the man standing behind it.

“Can I help you, Sir?” The man behind the desk asked, looking Landen straight in the eye, his face completely unreadable.

“Yes, I’m looking for a young lady,” Landen said, realising how insane he was going to sound to this man. “Her name is Kate. I believe she lives here, in one of the apartments in this building.”

The moment he said her name, the man’s face changed. Landen knew that whatever the reason was that no one would admit to knowing her, this man was in on the secret too.

“I’m sorry, Sir,” the man said as if it was a line he had practice saying so many times. “But there are no tenants in the building called, Kate. Are you sure you have the right address?”

“I’m sure,” Landen replied knowing that he was going to get nowhere with this man fast. “I know that officially she doesn’t live here, but I know she lives here. I know this because I dropped her home the other night. And I get it; she doesn’t want anyone to know she is living here, but I think she is in trouble, and I just want to help her.

“I’m sorry, Sir,” the man replied, his face once again giving nothing away. “But there is no one living here that goes by that name. I wish I could help, but I have no more information to give you.”

Landen stared at the man for a moment, knowing there was nothing he could say to get through to this man. He blew out a long, frustrated breath, then nodded before he turned, heading for the door.

When Landen stepped back out on to the street, Mike was already standing next to the car. The moment he saw Landen, he opened the door, waiting for him to climb into the back seat before he closed the door again. As Landen settled back into his seat, he blew out another deep breath, then in pure frustration he punched the back of the seat in front of him. Going down there was supposed to settle things for him, but instead it had just made him more pissed off.

Why was this girl driving him so insane? He was completely at a loss for what to do next.

“Are you okay, Mr. Murphy?” Mike asked as he sat back into the driver’s seat.

“I’ve been better, Mike,” Landen sighed as he scrubbed his face with his hands.

“Do you want to go straight back to the office?” Mike asked, watching Landen in the rear-view mirror.

“Yes,” he sighed, blowing out another breath. “There is no point wasting anymore time here.”

“Very good, Sir,” Mike replied as he started the engine of the car once more.

Just as Mike went to move out into the traffic, Landen glance back at the door of the apartment building, his heart almost stopped when he saw Kate pushing open the door, then walking back inside.

“STOP!” He shouted as he swung opened the door, and quickly climbed back out of the car. “KATE!”

The glass door in front of Landen closed again, before he could reach it. The one thing that struck him was that she didn’t even react to him calling out her name.

That’s when he knew he had been right about that fact. Her name wasn’t really Kate.

He held his finger on the buzzer until the doorman opened the door once more.

Landen almost pulled the door off the hinges before he rushed into the building, rushing across the foyer.

“The girl that just came in,” Landen blurted out in a rush of words. “I need to speak to her, now!”

I don’t know who you are talking about, Sir,” the man replied, his face once more completely unreadable.

“SHE JUST WALKED IN!” Landen yelled as he slammed his hand down on the top of the desk. “YOU KNOW WHO I AM TALKING ABOUT!”

“I’m sorry, Sir,” the man said. Landen knew that this man was never going to help him.

“OH, COME ON!” He exclaimed as he pushed his hands through his hair. He paced up and down for a couple of moments, before he finally turned back to the desk.

“Okay,” Landen said as he reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. Opening it, he slipped a business card from inside it, setting it down on the polished top of the desk. “I get it, you can’t tell me if she lives here, or even who she is, but there is nothing stopping you from giving her my card. If she doesn’t contact me, I will assume that she really doesn’t exist, and you threw it in the trash. But if she does exist, then please ask her to call me. I just want to help her.”

“Is there anything else I can help you with, Sir,” the man said, still not giving anything away.

“I guess not,” Landen sighed before he turned, heading back to the door, and out of the building.

Once more Mike was waiting for him next to the car.

“Back to the office, Mike,” Landen sighed before he climbed back into the car, doubting he was ever going to hear from Kate again.

When Landen returned to his office, he ignored the questioning look from Nikki. He was barely seated when she came hurrying into the office behind him.

“I wasn’t expecting you back so soon,” she said as she stood in front of his desk. “I guess judging by your face, it didn’t go so well…”

“I don’t wish to be disturbed for the rest of the day,” he snapped, cutting her off mid-sentence. Landen pinched the bridge of his nose, trying his best to alleviate a headache that had suddenly developed. “Hold all my calls and get me two damn painkillers. I have a headache from hell.”

“Certainly,” Nikki replied, Landen knew she wanted to say more, but she chose not to. Instead, she left the office, returning a few moments later, setting two painkillers down on the desk in front of Landen, then poured him some water from the crystal decanter on the sideboard.

“Is there anything else you need me to get for you?” She asked as she set the glass of water down on his desk.

“No thank you, Nik,” He replied a little less abruptly. “That will be all.”

“If you need me, I will be right outside,” she said before she turned, hurrying out of the office, closing the door behind her.

Landen picked up the two tablets sitting on his desk popping them in his mouth then quickly washing them down with water.

He had no idea why he had let this girl get to him so much, but she had.

Landen switched on his laptop and opened up his emails. He read through a couple, trying to distract himself as best he could, but it was no use. He couldn’t focus. His mind was racing, and it was doing nothing to help his pounding headache.

He sighed as he pushed up from his chair, walking towards the ceiling to floor length windows of his office and stared out at the street below. Landen’s thoughts were filled with Kate. He really had no idea what to think. All he could think was, she hadn’t even reacted to her name when he called it, and he was definitely sure it wasn’t her real name. Which meant that he really had no clue who she was.

Maybe it would be best if he just let it go. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice, one way or another.

He walked to the sofa at the far side of his office and sat down. He felt beyond exhausted. He closed his eyes trying to clear his mind.

Landen woke with a start, unsure of what had woken him up. There was a commotion outside his office door. He stood up and walked towards the door to go find out what was going on when the door burst open and a very angry looking Kate came barrelling into his office.

“I’m sorry, Landen,” Nikki said breathlessly from behind Kate, who was glaring at Landen like she was willing him to burst into flames. “I tried to stop her, but she just pushed past me. I have called security.”

“There will be no need for them,” Landen said as he returned Kate’s glare. Landen was intrigued. “That will be all. Nikki.”

“Very well,” she said, sounding a little surprised. She hurried out of the room, closing the door behind her, leaving Landen alone with Kate.

“Would you like to take as seat,” Landen said as he walked around his desk, sitting down. He was still stunned that she was actually standing there in his office, but there she was.

“I would like to know what the hell you want from me?” The girl demanded, as she pinned Landen with a terrified glare. “Who hired you to track me down?”

“Who hired me?” Landen asked, completely surprised by her question. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Why would you even think that?”

“Because you’ve being ringing people who live in my apartment building, asking all kinds of questions about me,” she replied angrily as she took a step closer to the desk, “And you were there today looking for me, snooping around once again. So I need to know, who sent you?”

“No one sent me!” Landen exclaimed as he sat back in his chair. “Look, Kate; I simply felt responsible because I got you fired last week. You were so upset, I don’t know, something felt wrong. I just wanted to be sure that you were okay. I assure you, no one hired me. I’m sorry if I scared you; that was never my intention”

“And that’s the only reason you were at my apartment building?” She asked as tears danced in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them back as a look of relief filled her face.

“I told you, I felt responsible for you losing your job. I just wanted to be sure you were okay,” Landen said, as he leaned forward in his seat, giving her a curious look. Just when he thought this girl couldn’t be any more of a mystery she turns up in his office confusing him even more. Landen was completely thrown by this girl, but now he was even more determined to help her. “I swear, that’s the truth.”

She stared at him for a moment, and Landen knew she was trying to decide if she believed him or not.

“Well I don’t need you to take care of me,” she finally said as she blew out a long breath, taking a step back. “So please, just leave me alone.”

She turned to walk out of Landen’s office, but he was quickly on his feet and in front of her before she reached the door.

“Look, I’m sorry if I have scared you,” Landen said as he looked down at her, but she kept her eyes focused on his chest. “I honestly just wanted to be sure that you were okay. I never meant to upset you in anyway.”

“I’m not upset,” she insisted, but still she wouldn’t look up at Landen.

“Why do I find that so hard to believe,” Landen replied, completely unable to read this girl. The only thing he knew was, she was terrified but he had no idea why.

“Look, if you really want to help me, like you said you do,” She finally said as she looked up into his eyes. “Then you will do as I ask, and just leave me alone.”

“What is it you’re so afraid of?” He asked knowing that once this girl left his office, he would never see her again. He had one shot at this and he was not ready to give up just yet. “Let me help you, please!”

“Don’t you get it?” She cried as once more she couldn’t look at him. “No one can help me. Now please, just let me go.”

“But I want to try,” Landen said as he reached out and softly touched her arm. “Please, Kate.”

“My name is not Kate,” she replied in a bare whisper as her eyes met his once more. There was something in the way she looked at him, something that took Landen’s breath away; like when she looked into his eyes, she could see deep inside his soul. “It’s Amelia, and I beg you, forget you ever met me.”

“Well, Amelia,” Landen said with a cautious smile on his face. “I’m afraid I just can’t do that.”

Amelia stared at him for a moment, before she released another long, frustrated breath.

“What is it you want from me?” She asked, and Landen could almost hear the fight was completely gone from inside her.

“I want you to trust me,” he replied. He knew he was asking a lot of her. “I know you don’t know me, and clearly I don’t know you either, but I give you my word; if you let me, I will do whatever it takes to help you, so you don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

“Why would you even do that?” She asked as she gave him a confused look.

“Because I can,” Landen shrugged. “And because I want to.”

“I’m just so tired of running,” Amelia breathed out, as the tears she had been fighting to hold back, finally broke free, trickling down her cheeks.

“Then stop,” Landen replied with a smile, as he held out his hand toward the sofa. “Why don’t you sit down, so you can tell me what it is that you’re running from?

Amelia nodded, before she turned, walking slowly toward the sofa, and sitting down. Before Landen joined her, he walked to his desk and hit the button on the intercom.

“Yes, Boss Man,” Nikki said through the speaker.

“Nik, can you get us some coffee, please,” Landen asked as he glanced over at Amelia. “And can you hold all my calls.”

“Sure thing,” Nikki said before Landen turned, slowly walked across the room, before he sat down next to this woman that had haunted his dreams for the last few days.

“So,” he said as he sat back into the sofa, crossing his foot over his knee. “Would you like to tell me what you are running from?”

“It’s not a what,” Amelia said as she let her eyes meet Landen’s “It’s a who. His name is Pete Reynolds, and he is a living, breathing nightmare.

“Why don’t you start from the beginning?” Landen said, knowing that he needed to know every little detail if he was ever going to be able to help this girl.

So she told Landen everything. About how Pete once worked for her father. How she had thought that he was sweet, but how she had never seen him as anything more than a friend.

Amelia explained that her mother had passed away when she was a little girl, how close her and her father had been until he was killed in an accident two years earlier.

She told him how, in the beginning, Pete had been such a good friend, but then when he made it clear he had feelings for her, she told him that she didn’t feel the same way, and that’s when all the trouble started.

At first it was flowers and gifts, but then when she asked him to stop sending them, the phone calls started.

Amelia stopped talking when Nikki walked into the room, with their coffees. She set them down on the table in front of Landen and Amelia, as she did, she gave Landen a questioning look.

He gave her a smile, and Nikki smiled too. Landen knew that Nikki now knew exactly who Amelia was.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” she said as she walked back out of the office, closing the door behind her once more.

“So, what happened with the phone calls?” Landen asked as he poured Amelia and himself a cup of coffee from the coffee pot on the tray.

“At first, they were once or twice a week, no one would speak, but I could hear someone breathing” Amelia explained. “Then they became nightly. So, I got my phone number changed, and for a while, they stopped. But then they started again, so did the notes.”

“The notes?” Landen asked. “What kind of notes?”

“They turned up everywhere,” Amelia continued. “On my desk at work, on my windscreen, under my front door. Then I found one on the pillow on my bed. That’s when I went to the police.”

“What did they say?” Landen asked.

“They said until there was a credible threat, there was nothing they could really do,” Amelia sighed. “I knew it was Pete, but I couldn’t prove it, I just knew it. In the note, I was always called Millie. Pete was the only one that ever called me that. Everywhere I went, I could feel him watching me. At first it was just a feeling, I never actually saw him. But then I would catch a glimpse of him, but he would be there one moment, gone the next.”

“And the police still didn’t do anything?” Landen asked.

“Oh they suggested I get a restraining order,” she replied. “So I got one. I changed my number again. Whenever I saw him, I would call 911, but by the time the cops got there, he would be gone. I think they thought I was losing my mind; and sometimes I thought that I was too.”

“I can’t even imagine how you must have felt,” Landen said as he gave her a sad smile.

“Then I met Danny,” Amelia continued. The look of sadness in her face almost broke Landen’s heart. “We were dating a few weeks, when the calls started again. Then one night, while Danny was in my house, someone slashed his four tires. It happened again two weeks later. I knew it was Pete, but the police said that there was no proof and there was nothing they could do.”

“Did they even question him?” Landen asked feeling frustrated for this girl.

“Yeah,” Amelia replied. “He said he was at the movies both times the tires were slashed, but I knew it was him. A week later Danny was driven off the road after he had left my house and was almost killed. I think he couldn’t cope with it all, so we broke up. I didn’t really blame him. I was a nervous wreck. I didn’t want to leave the house. I was always on edge.”

She stopped, taking a sip of her coffee. As she did she glanced up at Landen. He gave her a reassuring smile. He knew she was still unsure about him, but then, he really couldn’t blame her.

“I decided I needed a fresh start, so I moved to New York,” Amelia finally continued. “I thought, biggest city in the country, it would be easier to hide. I was living there six months. I was finally starting to feel like I was free. Then one day, I was at lunch with a client in this restaurant, and there he was. He was standing outside on the sidewalk, just staring at me through the window. I went to the police, and they told me to get another restraining order. Then I came home one night, he was waiting for me outside my building. He said he just wanted to talk, but I asked him to leave. He started saying how much he loved me; that if he couldn’t have me, he would make sure no one would want me.”

“Tell me the cops picked him up,” Landen said, stunned by what this girl was telling him.

“They did,” she sighed. “But he was released with just a caution.”

She stopped taking a deep, calming breath before she continued.

“I knew I couldn’t stay in New York, I knew he would never leave me alone. So, I moved to Chicago. I had a friend there, and they helped me find a new job, and somewhere to live,” she continued in a small voice. “I thought that maybe this time I had found somewhere safe. I was wrong. Three weeks after I moved to Chicago, he broke into my apartment while I was sleeping. I woke up and he was standing there, next to my bed. Before I could react, he was on top of me. He kept telling me he loved me, that I belonged to him. I pleaded with him to stop, but he said he would never stop till I seen that I loved him too.”

She stopped again, Landen reached out, taking hold of her hand.

“You don’t have to continue, Amelia,” he said in a soothing voice.

“It’s okay,” she whispered as fresh tears trickled down her face. “He started to choke me. I tried to fight him off me; I thought he was going to kill me. I don’t know how, but I managed to fight him off. I got out of my apartment, to my neighbour’s apartment. The police picked Pete up and he was arrested. He pleaded guilty, but instead of going to jail, he was sent to a mental hospital. But he was off the street, so I was free. Then I got a call one night. It was him. He told me that he would never let me go, and I knew he meant it. That’s when I moved to San Francisco. I sold everything I owned, and just left. A friend of a friend is letting me stay with them, but I have cut all ties with my old life, I figured if I just disappeared, he wouldn’t be able to fine me again.”

“And then I turned up, scaring the crap out of you,” Landen said feeling like a dick for scaring her the way he had. “For that, I am so sorry.”

“I know you think you can help me,” Amelia said giving him a smile, as she brushed the tears away from her eyes. “But like I said. No one can help me.”

“I’d like to try,” Landen said as he reached out once more and gave her hand a squeeze. “I just need you to trust me,”

“I honestly don’t know that I can trust anyone,” she whispered looking deep into Landen’s eyes. Once more Landen felt somewhat exposed when as he returned her gaze. There was just something about her, something that seem so alien, yet so captivating about her.

“I’d still like to try,” Landen repeated, then smiled again.