Page 106

I flicked Daniel a glance. “Not.”
Of course, that had to be when Ethan called. The sound of the phone vibrating on the coffee table made me jump.
My hand trembled as I picked up the phone. “Hello, Ethan.”
The moment I’d asked for his first name and he’d supplied it, Daniel had almost cheered. It was confirmation of how much he trusted me, of course. I hated that he felt that way about me,but I knew to use it to my advantage. Patti must have sensed the tension and decided she didn’t like it, crawling out of my lap onto the sofa cushion next to me.
Even though logic told me that Ethan was nowhere near me, I couldn’t shake this feeling of being watched, like every step I took was being monitored. It was exhausting, and it was taking a toll on me. I just wanted it all to stop, but I knew that was a naïve thought. This wouldn’t stop until the fucker was caught. Until then, I had to grit my teeth and push on.
“Stef.”
“What’s new?” Since…I glanced at the clock. One and a half hours ago.
“I feel…”
“What do you feel?” Maybe I was a therapist in a past life, because how convincing did that sound?
“Like I’m being watched.”
I tensed up, grabbing for the pen and paper on the coffee table. My movement put Daniel on instant alert.
He feels like he’s being watched.
“Like, as in God is always watching, or, a ghost or some shit?”
Daniel grabbed his phone and sent off a quick text.
“No, like, the authorities. Or Rivers.” He’d also told me he’d worked for Rivers Enterprises, but no further details.
“Grayson? I’m pretty sure if he knew where you were enough to be watching you, you’d already be arrested. So don’t stress about that one.” This was how I’d been told to play it. Act like a co-conspirator and like I was on his side. Rooting for him against Grayson. It was what did my head in the most.
“Have you seen him?”
“Grayson? Nah, not for ages.” Not since those stolen moments after the FBI briefing. Man, I missed him. “What about you?”
Daniel’s eyes widened at my boldness, but I was nearing the end of my rope and felt like I needed to break out of the cage I was in. Either that or I was losing my mind and my edge.
“Yeah. I’ve seen him a lot.”
I scribbled that on the notepad and showed it to Daniel.
“Is that a fact? Anyone would think you liked the guy.”
“I do like him.”
What. In. The. Ever. Loving. Fuck? “Oh. I didn’t know that.”
“Why do you think I’m doing all this?”
“To be honest, I don’t have a clue.”
“I just want his attention. I had this great idea for a computer program, but the project manager was a total fuckhead about it. I mean, it pushed the envelope from a uh, legal standpoint, but it would have made such a difference to Rivers’ Enterprises. The man himself would have recognized that. He would have loved it. But I was fired before I could show it to him. Got escorted from the building and all.”
“Man, that sucks.”
“Yeah.”
Jesus, we’dnevertalked about Grayson this much before. It made me wonder what was going on.