Tiger Mom (Killer Moms #4) - Eve Langlais Page 0,12

he’d wager a mother on the run from an abusive ex. She had the look. Surprised to see him, then wary, as if worried that he’d rat her out. Ted would never do that. He preferred to help women find their confidence after some asshole took it from them. Then, at one point, when the demons inside his head got too loud, he sometimes made sure those assholes were taught a lesson about beating on others.

Given the whole change in name, she might be in some kind of witness protection program. She was a scientist. She could very well be testifying against a pharmaceutical company. They had deep enough pockets to make life dangerous for those who thought to spill their secrets.

The many reasons she might want to be someone else had him drumming his fingers on the desk and hesitating. However, he wasn’t a man to leave a mystery alone. He was protected behind his layered firewalls. No one would know of his interest. He typed in Portia Stalone.

To his surprise, a litany of data surfaced. A full background, including schooling back to kindergarten, her driver’s license, social media. She had a full and well-documented history. Especially for someone who hadn’t been born with that name…

Odd.

And he knew just the type of people who would be interested in that kind of oddity.

Chapter Three

A tired Portia sucked back coffee as she read Mother’s overnight surveillance report. Turned out Ted resided where he worked. While they couldn’t be one hundred percent sure he hadn’t left, given a lack of cameras in the area, cellphone pings showed Ted not moving from his building. He didn’t call or text anyone, just hopped on the internet and watched Youtube fishing videos for a few hours.

Boring. Not the kind of thing she’d have expected, but then again, she didn’t really know him. The Ted she knew in high school was a jock. He lived and breathed football when he wasn’t making some girl swoon.

She had no idea what kind of grades he got. Was he smart? She’d certainly not heard of him needing a tutor.

Why did she even care? His intelligence had nothing to do with anything. The man appeared utterly dull.

Nothing to worry about.

Fifteen minutes of the treadmill while watching the morning news, followed by a shower, and a light breakfast meant she was out the door by eight-thirty. She dropped the girls off at school and then spent the time until she had to pick them up at her lab.

She’d figured out a way to atomize the truth serum. Now, for a delivery system that wouldn’t stand out or get picked up by security. Debating the merits of a lapel pin versus an umbrella handle, she quickly readied herself to leave when Mae texted. We’re done.

Her girls set their own school hours, sometimes choosing to remain until the early evening if working on something they found interesting.

Not today.

The moment she picked them up, they started talking about their upcoming lesson with Ted. So eager. And yet all Portia wanted to do was go home, slip into some comfortable clothes, and read in bed.

However, she wasn’t about to stifle their enthusiasm. The washed uniforms were in a gym bag in her trunk, alongside the satchel with their piano music books and their jazz shoes and outfits for the dance lessons she’d made them take. Her girls proved to be graceful on their feet. However, they got easily bored, claiming dance had no real practical usage. Would they think the same of martial arts?

Entering, her gaze moved right to Ted. He had a way of drawing the eye. A tall guy at over six feet, his hair had a bit of a shag to it that went well with the groomed beard he sported. The gi he wore, a two-piece outfit of loose pants and a wrap-around jacket, the fabric black unlike those of his students in white, showcased his muscular build.

It took Lin saying something she missed for Portia to realize that she stared while Ted stood behind the counter, talking to a parent. Kids warmed up on the mats, and she was glad to see she wasn’t the only adult in the beginner class. They were, however, the only ones not yet dressed. Her girls walked to the locker room to change, leaving her standing with her own outfit in hand.

The parent left, and Ted eyed her. “Didn’t have time to switch?”

“I came straight from work. I didn’t know the girls would want