Page 33 of Venomous as a Snake

“Is he in my fridge?”

Drew gives me an amused grin. “I don’t understand what he’s looking for. Have you started hiding things in the fruit drawer?”

“He’s looking for proof.” My sigh becomes a hiss when the intruder wanders into my laundry room and dumps out a basket of dirty clothes. “And he found it.”

The man holds up Walker’s shirt, snaps a picture, and continues searching through my house.

Pimp meets him at the top of the stairs, meowing obnoxiously as he gives the man those judgy yellow eyes. He turns left, and my Maine Coon trails behind, just out of reach, while screeching at the loudest volume possible.

I peck a quick kiss on Drew’s cheek. “See you later.”

“Where are you going?” he yells at my back.

“There’s a tracking chip in my wallet,” I call from the hall. “I’m going to drop it in his car before he leaves.”

* * *

I park four houses down and pull the tracker from behind my driver’s license. It’s a tiny thing, maybe the size of a nickel, but twice as thick. It’s connected to the security app one of Drew’s guys made.

I dart across the yards of my neighbors, slowing to watch the windows of my house. When I see no movement, I ease around the bushes and check the handles on the passenger side of his car.

They’re locked.

But the driver’s door isn’t.

I drop the tracker into the plastic part around his steering column, knowing most people don’t check there. Even if they look, they wouldn’t find this tracker without pulling the entire dash apart.

I close the door quietly, bumping my shoulder against it to make sure it’s shut. And then I disappear between my house and my neighbor’s fence, kneeling behind a large flowering bush to conceal myself.

I open the app and watch him circle back through my house, making sure everything looks as it should. That’s when he sees one of the decoy cameras. He scrubs his hand over his face like he can’t believe he fucked up. But then he shrugs, as if he thinks this doesn’t matter.

I simply wait.

Watch.

He leaves, and I return to my car. The app will pin each stop he makes, so we’ll know where he eats and sleeps.

I would tail him the old fashion way, but I need a disguise.

Technology affords me the time to get ready.

I fucking love the thrill of a good ambush.

* * *

The waist-length dark brunette wig looks strange on me, but I don’t dislike it. I add loose curls to the soft strands while I monitor my phone screen.

The man, Clumsy, spent the last few hours at a ritzy hotel about thirty minutes from me. I’m tempted to show up and tell the front desk that I’m his girlfriend here to surprise him. But there are too many cameras in a place like that.

I know because I called Ali. And he called the guy who made the app… Forrest.

The same Forrest that lives with Walker behind me?

I didn’t ask.

Clumsy is on the move again, heading toward downtown Meena Beach. There are a few bars and nightclubs in the area, so I prepared to search for him. But he makes it easy for me.

Easy-ish.