Free Relentless by Kaylea Cross

she was, or they might have warned her about it when she'd checked in.
    Stretching up on her toes, she thought again of Mike. He was usually an early riser, and he liked to keep in shape, so maybe he'd run with her. Before she could change her mind, she picked up the phone and called his room at the Pan Pacific across the street. He accepted the invitation, sounding wide awake. She met him in the Pan lobby ten minutes later, dressed in yoga pants, a fleece jacket and her runners.
    Mike smiled when he saw her, but his warm brown eyes looked tired. “Morning,” he said, giving her a hug.
    “Glad you could join me.” She stepped back.
    “Yeah, well, I sure as hell wasn't sleeping, so this beats staring at the clock.”
    “We could start a support group for insomniacs,” she offered.
    “We could,” he agreed, “if that was our only problem.”
    “Good point.” They both had major psychological hang-ups since Afghanistan, but Nev still thought she was recovering faster than him. “How are things, anyway?” she ventured.
    Mike held the door open for her and they stepped out onto the sidewalk, breathing in the crisp, clean air scented with fall leaves and the overnight rain. “I'm... the same. You?”
    “Better.” She told herself that every day. Each day she got closer to returning to normal. At least that's what she was trying to convince herself of.
    From the corner of her eye, she spotted a dark-haired man dressed in a light gray pullover approaching them. Something about him instantly made her uneasy. His features were Middle Eastern, maybe that's why he'd caught her attention, but there was more to it than that. He had shades on, so she couldn't see his eyes as he came abreast of them, yet she knew without a doubt he was watching her. And not in a friendly, curious way.
    She barely repressed a shiver as he passed, and couldn't help glancing at him over her shoulder. She turned to Mike. “Let's go.”
    They took a cab from the hotel to the entrance of the park, and got out at the yacht club. Walking for a bit to warm up, she eyed the nine o'clock gun with annoyance as they passed it.
    Breaking into a light jog, their shoes made soft slapping sounds against the damp pavement. The seawall was busier than she'd expected for this time of day, full of people out taking advantage of the mild fall weather.
    At a steady pace, they wove through walkers, other joggers, and people on Rollerblades. Cars swished past slowly on their left, along with cyclists. Beyond Coal Harbor to their right, out in Burrard Inlet freighters and tankers lay on the calm water silhouetted against the rising sun. Ahead of them, the sharp points of the Lion's ears on the North Shore Mountains were tipped white with freshly fallen snow.
    What a place to run. “Isn't it beautiful?” she said after a few minutes.
    “Sure is,” Mike responded. “Thanks for the invite. I needed this.”
    “Glad to be of service.” A while later up the path they came to a statue of what she thought was a mermaid, but drawing closer she realized it was a girl wearing a wetsuit poised on a rock in the water. Her bronze shoulders glimmered in the morning sunlight. Nev stopped a moment to stretch her right hamstrings.
    “Keeps cramping up on me,” she muttered. She set her heel on a bench and leaned forward at the waist, breathing into the stretch as she held it.
    Glancing up, with a shock she recognized the man she'd seen on the sidewalk, lounging against the seawall up ahead. He was in profile to her, but she still sensed he was watching her.
    The back of her thigh twinged in protest as she quickly dropped her leg. Her pulse leapt, gut instinct telling her something was off. Was he following them? Watching them?
    “That's twice I've seen that guy this morning,” she said to Mike. “He's giving me the creeps.”
    Mike peered past her shoulder, frowning. “What guy?”
    “That guy,” she said, exasperated, and turned her head. She froze.
    He was gone. In