aren’t convinced, but they don’t have anything else to go on right now. They want to see if you can shed any light on what might have happened, but the concern is that Austin did something to you and you’re dead too. You should be fine when you drive far enough away from the area, but you’re not there yet. So wash what you’ve got and stay fucking put. I’ll bring you a few outfits when I deliver the documents tomorrow.”
“Fine. Do you have to get back to work?” she asked abruptly.
He craned his neck from side to side to ease the tension in his shoulders and made himself relax. “No, I can take a few minutes,” he said. At least he no longer sounded like a crazy man. “What do you need? Are you all right?”
“I’m frustrated and going stir-crazy, and I feel a little stupid about insisting I go to the store, but I’m fine.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You didn’t know about the APB,” he replied. “It just went out, so I know what you said sounded reasonable from your point of view. But I don’t issue arbitrary orders, Molly. You need to trust me when I tell you to do something. Or not to do something, as it were.”
“Okay.” She sounded calmer too. “You’re right.”
He wanted to put his arms around her. Goddamn it. “I’m sorry for biting your head off. I’m on a rampage today. It’s not you.”
“What’s wrong?”
Aside from the fact that I’m losing my fucking mind over you?
He clenched his teeth and didn’t say it. “I didn’t sleep. Too many things running through my head.”
“Ah. Me too.”
Curiosity stirred. “Was there something you needed to say to me?”
“Yes,” she said carefully. “But we don’t have to talk about it right now.” Her measured tone said it wasn’t a lightweight subject.
“What is it?” Someone knocked on his door. “Hang on.” Holding the phone away, he raised his voice. “I’m on the phone! I’ll be with you in a few minutes.” Then he turned his attention back to Molly. “What were you saying?”
“Nothing,” she told him.
He frowned. “That’s not true. If it was nothing, you wouldn’t have brought it up.”
“Bad impulse,” she replied crisply. “What I have to say isn’t urgent, and you’ve got people waiting for you. Go back to work.”
“Fine, see you tomorrow.” He hesitated, reluctant to break the connection. “Don’t hesitate to call if something does turn urgent.”
“It won’t, Josiah,” she said gently. “Everything is fine here. Bye for now.”
He frowned as she disconnected. She was the polar opposite of a needy woman. He ought to be glad. Relieved, even. Instead, he felt like she kept shutting a door in his face—a door he should never walk through but also one he couldn’t seem to keep away from.
The knock sounded on his door again, and reluctantly he pocketed his phone and got back to work.
Around a quarter after three, he received Sherman’s email about lunch on Friday and responded to confirm. He had a feeling some of Sherman’s questions would get answered by the evening news. Still, the luncheon meeting should prove interesting. Sometimes people gave away things by what they didn’t say as much as what they did.
That evening he stayed even later than usual and left the office after seven.
When he approached his car, he scanned it. He’d been taking precautions for so long, they had become automatic.
This time he found something.
He stopped. In case his actions were caught on CCTV, he bent to tie his shoe, and under the guise of that he checked again. A glimmer of magic hovered around the license plate. It was too small and subtle to be a bomb, but he clicked his key fob from where he crouched, just in case. Nothing blew up.
Only then did he approach. Opening the trunk, he set his briefcase inside while he examined the glimmer of magic up close. It was a tracker.
Somebody had decided to keep an eye on his movements.
On the way home, he stopped at an ATM. Then he went to a big-box department store to buy a variety of different things—household cleaners, groceries, paper products, travel-sized toiletries, and a soft-sided carry-on bag.
He also strode through the women’s clothing section to grab a couple of outfits in Molly’s size along with some underwear, a sleep set with a short nightie, a pretty thigh-length robe and matching slippers, and a jean jacket and a baseball cap. He selected a checkout lane far away from