Usually when we find that sort of thing, it's too late."
"Nathan was watching me?" Just the thought sent a violent shiver through me.
"He was stalking you.
The blackmail demands he made on your stepfather and Cross were just an escalation of that.
I think Cross was getting too close to you, and Barker felt threatened by your relationship.
I think he hoped Cross would step away if he knew about your past."
I held the towel to my mouth, in case I became as sick as I felt.
"So here's how I think it went down."
Graves tapped her fingertips together, her attention seemingly on the strenuous drills below.
"Cross cut you off, started seeing an old flame.
That served two purposes - it made Barker relax, and it wiped out Cross's motive.
Why would he kill a man over a woman he'd dumped? He set that up pretty well - he didn't tell you.
You strengthened the lie with your honest reactions."
Her foot started tapping along with her fingers, her slim body radiating restless energy.
"Cross doesn't hire out the job.
That would be stupid.
He doesn't want the money trail or a hit man who could rat him out.
Besides, this is personal.
You're personal.
He wants the threat gone without a doubt.
He sets up a last-minute party at one of his properties for some vodka company of his.
Now he's got a rock-solid alibi.
Even the press is there to snap pictures.
And he knows precisely where you are and that your alibi is rock-solid, too."
My fingers clenched in the towel.
My God .
The sounds of bodies hitting the mat, the hum of instructions being given, and the triumphant shouts of students all faded into a steady buzzing in my ears.
There was a flurry of activity happening right in front of me and my brain couldn't process it.
I had a sense of retreating down an endless tunnel, my reality shrinking to a tiny black point.
Opening her bottle of water, Graves drank deeply, then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.