Page 89 of No Headlines Please

With growing dread, I asked, "Who?"

"The guy you dumped dirt on."

Maddox? "But…why would he buy you beer?"

"Because I promised to keep an eye out."

I gave a hard swallow. "You don't mean…for me?"

"That's exactly what I mean. He showed me your picture on his phone. Gave me your name, too."

I stared, incredulous. "And you never thought to mention it?"

He stared back. "I did mention it. This morning in the lobby, remember? You acted like you knew what I meant."

"But I thought you meant that picture of me with Tessa."

"What picture?"

"The one in her apartment."

He looked genuinely baffled. "Why would I be in her apartment?"

"I dunno…to repair something?"

"I don't do repairs," he said, as if this should be obvious. "We got a service for that."

And now, I was desperately recalibrating as I tried to recall this morning's conversation with Walt. "And what did you mean by funny business?"

"Oh, that? I just didn't want some guy you didn't know hassling you, that's all."

It was incredibly sweet. And yet, Walt had taken a beer-bribe for something. "But you were still gonna spy on me?"

He bristled. "No. Keep an eye out, like I said, tell you a friend was looking for you."

"Well…when you put it like that…" Still, I had to ask, "But you didn't think that whole situation was weird?"

"Hey, it's not that weird. We get people visiting here all the time. Why do you think I got that beer policy?"

"Wait…there's a policy?"

"Yeah, except it's not written down." He shrugged. "Folks want favors all day long. If I didn't ask for something on the side, I'd be dealing with nothing but problems."

I had problems, too. And right now, my biggest problem had a name.

Maddox.

In my mind, I could practically see him, not in the penthouse, but in the main doorway to the lobby. We had reached that door at the same exact time, with him going out just as I was heading in.

At the time, I hadn't thought anything of it.

But now, I was thinking plenty. Had he orchestrated our collision on purpose?

It suddenly struck me that I didn't even know his last name.

None of this was adding up. My thoughts drifted to that other guy in a suit, the one standing on my doorstep over a year ago in West Haven. He'd warned me they were watching. But I still had no idea who "they" were.

Shit. Suddenly, all of the trouble I'd left behind was feeling way too close.