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“You know he’s close? He keeps tabs on us both.” Dan chuckled.
“Yeah, well…” I sighed, rubbing my hand across my face. My attention was drawn to the door as an envelope slid under it. I stood there, watching it. Was it going to be like the last one? Would it have a cryptic message in it? Was it something else? Would there be a dead…well, that wasn’t big enough for a dead rat. I shuddered at the thought.
“Are you expecting that to bite you or something?”
Dan moved past me and scooped up the envelope. I wouldn’t take it from him. He wasted no time opening it. The small piece of paper inside came out between his fingers. His brows grew into a tight line.
“What in the hell is this?”
I stepped back from him as he held out the paper. The words ‘I’m watching you!’ stared back at me. My gut churned. I knew who it was from, but I had no proof. I shook my head and turned back to my desk.
“Put it in the trash.” I scooped up my gradebooks and the rest of the papers I needed to grade. My cheeks heated with embarrassment. How did I tell my older, overprotective brother that one of his so-called friends/staff members was a demented person? He couldn’t take no for an answer. Or at least, not from me.
Why be obsessed with me? That made me sound conceited. Maybe he was doing this to others as well. A little seduction, get them in his grip, then squeeze until they choke.
Nope, I was not dealing with a man who didn’t understand or respect boundaries. Not happening. He might have had good intentions in the beginning, but now, he’d gone off the rocker. He was escalating.
It all came down to the fact that I didn’t have proof. Proof. That five-letter word was going to ruin my life. I just knew it.
“Kara? What is this?”
“Nothing. Just throw it away.”
“Who?”
“I need to go. I have things to do before I can get back to my papers.”
“Kara, this is not nothing. Is it a student? Another teacher? It’s a secluded campus, so it has to be someone close.” He curled his fingers around the note and stormed out of my class, looking up and down the empty hallway.
I pushed past him and called out, “Just don’t worry, okay? It’s fine.”
“This is far from fine, Kara!”
“I know…” The words left me in a whisper of breath. I had to get out of here before I completely melted down. Tears stung my eyes. I kept them at bay until I got to my car. In the silence, I let my tears fall, and a sob broke free. If this kept up, I’d have no choice but to leave the school. If I were out of his sight, he couldn’t make my life miserable. Right?
As with most things in life, this wasn’t fair to me, but I’d do what I could to keep myself safe even if that meant uprooting myself and moving on.
The grass had to be greener on the other side.
It just had to be.
Chapter Three
Callum
From my vantage point, I could see my mark. He sat on a park bench, trying his best to ignore the leggy blonde who just so happened to be sitting on the same bench. Hello, Captain Obvious.
Why did they always make it so damn easy? I snapped pictures from my vantage point. I knew my partner, Keith, was on the other side of the park, his phone recording the whole sordid thing. Our mark, Thomas Kincaid III, was a shitty husband—person. He was cheating on his very pregnant wife and his girlfriend with this very upscale working-woman. Her Johns paid through the nose for just an hour with her. This fool, she was bleeding him dry, and he didn’t even know it.
I was amazed daily by the sheer audacity—stupidity—of some people. This surveillance today was helpful to my client’s case and should ensure she got what she was asking for. A divorce, what’s due to her as agreed upon in the prenup, and anything else her high-price city lawyer could get a hold of.
I put my camera down, pulled the notebook I kept beside me open, and made notes for the file. This was a no-brainer for sure. I dropped the pen inside the notebook and closed it. Looking at my watch, I nodded to myself. I had enough time to grab something to eat before I went back and met the guys at the office. I used the earpiece we all wore to tell Keith, “We have what we need, man; back out and head back to the hotel. We can combine everything and send off the written report tonight, then head back in the morning.”
“You got it, man.”
I started to put my car in reverse when my cell rang. I snagged it from the seat beside me, and without looking at the caller I.D., I said, “Asher.”
“Cal, I—we—have a problem.”
