Chapter 8
Shannon
While I’m gratified to discover I’m not going crazy, now that there’s a real threat, I’m both terrified and sad.
It’s beyond my understanding that someone can hate me enough to want to scare me like this.
Whoever it is knew I was out tonight because all the instances of weird things happening have been when I’m not home, except for the night my phone was temporarily missing.
I have no way of knowing what their end game is, but it can’t be good and now not only am I frightened, but I’m embarrassed by my behavior toward Ace earlier today as well.
He came to Cologne at my mother’s request to help me, and instead I accused him of being the bad guy and got bent out of shape over my stupid diary.
In the grand scheme of things, that was ridiculous.
Yes, he invaded my privacy, but that was nothing compared to someone possibly trying to cause me physical harm.
“Whatever you’re thinking,” he says as we walk toward my apartment. “Don’t. This isn’t your fault.”
“How do you know?” I ask. “What if it’s because I gave a kid a bad grade and they committed suicide or something and now their father wants revenge?”
He glances at me. “Has that happened?”
“Not that I know of, but what else could it be? I honestly don’t think this has anything to do with my ex, and I don’t have enemies that I know of. I was a kindergarten teacher in D.C. and now I teach high school literature.”
“Your family? Your mother? Your father probably had enemies.”
I stiffen. I hate the idea that my father had enemies. He was one of the best human beings I’ve ever known and I’m not sure I’ll ever get over his death.
“I know you don’t want to hear that,” Ace continues after a moment. “But we have to consider every possibility.”
“I suppose.” I unlock my apartment, and Ace walks in ahead of me, turning on lights and pulling a gun I wasn’t expecting from his pocket. He checks closets, the bedroom, the bathroom, and under the bed. Then he stuffs the gun back in his jacket and turns to me.
“Take what you’ll need for a few days.”
“Okay.” I pull a small bag out of my closet and throw in two work outfits, my pajamas, a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and some toiletries.
I add a pair of flats I often wear to work and zip up the bag.
I’m probably forgetting something, but there’s nothing I can do about that now.
I’m anxious to get out of here because my apartment feels tainted.
“You okay?” Ace’s voice is soft, and I nod, though I can’t look at him. I’m still embarrassed about my behavior and unsure what to say.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he says, lifting my chin and looking into my eyes.
“I don’t even understand what you’re doing here,” I say after a moment.
“I know, and we’ll talk about everything once we’re at the hotel.”
I take a moment to water my plants since I might be gone a few days, and he fiddles with the nanny cam after asking me where it was.
“What are you doing?” I ask him.
He puts a finger to his lips, so I wait until we’re out on the street.
“The intruder might have left a bug, so I didn’t want to say too much. I’ll come back and do a thorough search tomorrow while you’re at work, but until then, be very careful what you say. I’m going to check your phone too.”
I shudder slightly, even though I’m not cold.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “I’m right here.”
“I know, but…” I glance over at him. “Why are you here?”
“I told you, your mom called me and—”
“Yes, but why you? Why would she think of you to help with this?”
He looks confused. “Didn’t she tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“What I do for a living.”
I shake my head. “Our conversation was very brief.”
“Honey, when we met ten years ago, I was getting ready for a mission in the Middle East.”
“I know. You told me.”
“Not for a deployment.”
I blink. “I’m confused. You mean…” I stop walking and cock my head. “What are you saying? Are you…”
“Intelligence.”
“CIA.”
“Yes.”
I close my eyes. So many things make sense now.
Things I didn’t even articulate in my head but confused me, nonetheless.
The fact that he didn’t have a social media presence.
Not coming to my father’s funeral. The way he all but dropped off the face of the earth after our evening together.
When he said he might not be coming back from the Middle East I assumed he was being deployed by the military.
Good grief, was I na?ve or what?
“By the look on your face, I see this surprises you,” he says as we get to his hotel and walk inside.
“A little,” I admit. “I guess I thought you’d just moved on with your life and didn’t care enough about my dad, or me, to be at his funeral.”
He shakes his head. “You have no idea how much I hated missing it. But I was in the middle of something I couldn’t just walk away from.”
“It makes a lot more sense now.” I follow him into the elevator.
We don’t talk as we ride up to the fourth floor. We step out, and he unlocks the door to his room. It’s small but efficient, with a double bed, a desk and chair, an armchair, and a small closet. The bathroom is off to the side and I excuse myself for a minute.
I don’t have to go, but I need a minute to collect myself. Everything I thought I knew flew out the window with that video. And now I’m sharing a hotel room with Ace freakin’ Ross, the man I’ve been thinking about for a decade, who happens to work for the CIA.
I splash some water on my face and wash my hands.
He’s at his laptop when I come out and he smiles. “Feeling better?”
“I don’t know.” I sink into the armchair and rest my chin on my hand. “I’m a little overwhelmed.”
“I’m sure.” He’s typing something.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting ready to send the video from your nanny cam to someone I work with. Can you unlock your phone and let me play with the app?”
“Sure.” I type in my password and hand him the phone.
He works quickly and efficiently, tapping on the keys. Now that we’re alone, and I feel relatively safe, I have my first opportunity to really look at him.
He’s still the same Ace. Tall and lean, with cropped red hair and bright blue eyes, he’s even more handsome than he was a decade ago. There are some lines around his eyes that weren’t there then, and his hair is shorter, but he’s still the man of my dreams.
I wonder what he’s seen and done as a spy and how it’s changed him.
Not that I truly know who he was before, though the glimpse I got was probably more telling than it should have been.
He was a perfect gentleman, but also flirty and sexy.
The kiss we shared was stolen, somewhat innocent, and the kind of memory that most people probably forget not long after it ends.
I hung on to it because nothing else ever came close to the romance and majesty of that moment. He was every young woman’s fantasy come true, and every man after him paled in comparison.
And now he’s back in the form of a knight in shining armor, throwing me into an emotional tailspin I’m not sure I can deal with. On one hand, I want to get as far away from him as humanly possible. On the other, I never want him to leave.
In spite of the fact that we don’t know who or what is going on with my stalker, I feel safe with Ace.
I should have asked my mother more questions, but when she admitted she called him, I didn’t give her a chance.
I was furious about the diary and a dozen other random things, so I told her I would call her later.
My plan was to get drunk at that pub.
Instead, I found proof of the stalker and called Ace. So, everything came full circle even though I don’t know much more than I knew a few hours ago.
“You okay?” Ace glances up and I manage a little shrug.
“I’m getting there.”
“I’d like you to power off your phone until I’ve had a chance to make sure it doesn’t have some kind of tracking device on it.”
“Don’t they all have that?”
“Well, yes, but a regular person wouldn’t be able to get access to the internal GPS on your phone. I’m talking about something extra added as a way of following you, beyond the phone’s generic tracking options.”
“Okay.” I do as he asked and then turn to stare out at the night sky.
His hotel is on a quiet side street, so it’s relatively dark out.
The buildings across the street are mostly abandoned at this time of night and the only illumination comes from the moon and a few streetlights.
The darkness actually makes me feel better, as if it’s somehow hiding me.
That’s ridiculous, but I’m okay with ridiculous right now.
“Let’s talk.” He closes his computer and turns to me.
“You first.”
He seems surprised but nods. “Well, I was recruited by the CIA when the military sent me to college. I fell into it by accident during a military intelligence training exercise in conjunction with the CIA. I had an affinity for languages and a high IQ, both things they looked for. I went to college while I fulfilled my commitment to the military, and your dad was part of the transition.”
“Have you ever been married?”
He shakes his head, though a tiny smile plays on his lips. “No, why?”
“Curious, I guess.”
“Honey, if I’d thought there was room for a woman in my life, there isn’t a chance in hell I would’ve left your virginity intact the night we met.”
I blush but smile anyway.
“What else do you want to know?”
“How much of my diary did you read?”