4
As much as I would have loved to drive Colby home before heading in to work, especially with Black Hat scrutinizing me, I needed to see Camber and Arden to reassure them I was okay after yesterday’s drama.
With a social circle of one, Colby lived for take your moth to work days.
A chorus of haunted moans greeted me when I pushed into the store.
“Welcome to…” Camber glanced up from behind the counter. “Rue.”
“Rue?” Arden shot out from the back room. “You’re here.”
Hand behind my back, I twisted the lock and the sign to give us a moment alone.
“We need to talk.” I examined the sidewalk through the glass but saw only locals. “Let’s go in the back.”
The back room was my office, the supply closet, and our workspace all crammed into one.
Three of us barely fit without bumping elbows, which would have been fine if they weren’t spitting mad.
“I thought we agreed you would stay home.” Camber tapped her foot. “Why are you here?”
“I agreed to consider staying home.”
“You freaked when that guy came in yesterday.” Arden folded her arms. “Why aren’t you freaked now?”
This was the worst part, having to tap-dance around the truth to keep them safe from my world.
“The guy who came into the store wasn’t the ex.” I had to temper this lie with facts to smooth the lumps I had created in my story. “I was shocked when I heard his voice, and I flew into panic mode.” That much was one hundred percent real. “I let you guys think the worst, and I’m sorry for that.”
The harsh frowns knitting their foreheads eased a fraction as they absorbed what I was telling them.
“Who was he then?” Camber’s scowl cut deep. “Why was he looking for you?”
“He’s one of the cops who handled my case.” I kept to the mental script I’d recited for Ms. Hampshire. “He heard my ex was in the area and came with his partner to warn me.”
“Why not call you?” Arden drummed her fingers on her elbows. “Why drop in without warning?”
They were not making this easy. It warmed my heart. But it also had me breaking a sweat.
“I changed my number.” I was honest there. “I stopped checking my old email address.”
“How did they find you?” Camber quit tapping her foot. “It was the store, wasn’t it?”
“It wasn’t the store.” I wouldn’t let them shoulder that blame. “It was my tax returns.”
Okay, so most paras didn’t pay taxes. We paid tithes to our covens, packs, clans, prides, etc.
A bucket of doubt dumped over Camber. “You used your home address?”
“I used a business mailing service that gave me a physical address, which was their store. Then I paid the fee to have my mail forwarded. Rinse and repeat seven times, with each address in a different state. The last stop is my post office box here in town.”
“They staked out the post office.” Arden pulled on her bottom lip. “I saw that on True Crimes once.”
“Maybe.” I had to get out the rest. “They want me to help them put my ex away for good.”
The girls reached for me, each one taking a hand. Their palms were sweaty, and their hearts beat loud.
A bare whisper passed Arden’s lips. “Are you going to do it?”