3. Evgeny #3
I stay hidden, watching from the same spot when she eventually puts his leash back on and leads him back to her apartment. Wanting to stick around long enough to convince myself she won’t be leaving again, I get back in my car and make a quick call. Niki answers on the first ring.
“What’s wrong?”
“How do you know I’m not just calling to say hi?” I ask him.
“Because it’s after midnight and you rarely call to just say hi,” he says, and I cringe at how late it is.
“Shit, man, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how late it was. Did I wake Sav or the kids?”
“No, everyone’s still asleep. Don’t worry about that. Just tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong,” I start to say, but then I add, “I mean, nothing horrible happened. I’ve just got a nosy reporter hounding my ass. I need her watched. I just want to make sure she’s not snooping around.”
“What’s her name?” His tone changes, going straight into work mode.
“Harper Reed,” I tell him. “She works for The Beacon. She’s recently been assigned the DeMarco case, and she wanted to know why I wasn’t representing him.”
“Smart lady,” he says above the sound of his typing. After a few seconds, he adds, “This will be her first big story. Looks like she mainly covers smaller stories. She’s going to be hungry, Ev. Watch out.”
“Yeah, I picked up on that.”
He gives a soft laugh and then recites the address I’m currently sitting at. “She lives alone,” he says, and I stay quiet until he adds, “If you’re interested in knowing that.”
“Why on earth would I be interested in that?”
“No reason. Just thought I’d throw that out there.”
“I really don’t think a reporter is anyone I should be spending time with,” I tell him.
“What better way to ensure she doesn’t say anything?” he asks.
“I know you’re joking so I’m not going to bother answering that. Can you put someone on her tonight? I just want her watched. Nothing more.”
“Of course. I’ll make sure it’s done and let you know if she starts snooping around again.”
“Thanks, Niki. Tell Sav and the kids I said hi.”
“I will, but you can just tell them yourself when we see you this weekend.”
“Word travels fast,” I say.
“Of course it does. Uncle Vitaly already put it in a group chat.”
The heavy sigh I give says it all. Niki laughs again before hanging up.
I spend another twenty minutes making sure Harper doesn’t leave her apartment before I finally leave, hitting a drive-thru on the way home because I’m too tired and hungry to do anything else.
When I do finally get into my bed, it’s a lot harder to fall asleep than usual.
I keep thinking about the nosy-as-hell reporter with the pretty blue eyes and a tenacity that would put most lawyers to shame.
I like her drive, even if it infuriates me at the same time.
The next few days are Harper free, and I tell myself that’s a good thing.
I expected her to show up after I had the security guard fired and insisted they install more security cameras, but she never showed up, never even called my office.
Niki’s latest text said she’s been going to work, spending a lot of time at the courthouse, and then going home.
For all intents and purposes, she’s been behaving herself.
The problem is I don’t trust it. I’d seen the hunger in her eyes when she’d been in my car, and it wasn’t the kind that made me think she was seconds away from ripping my clothes off.
She’s hungry for a story, downright ravenous for it, and it doesn’t make any sense that she’d just let it go.
She knew I was holding out on her, that there’s more to me not taking the DeMarco case than just an over-scheduling conflict, and yet she’s just letting it go?
I don’t believe it, not for one second, and it has me on edge.
I think about bowing out of tomorrow’s big family supper, but I know it will only hurt them.
It also wouldn’t surprise me if one of them came to get me.
We’re very careful to not be seen together, but it wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility for Sasha to hide in a dark corner only to ambush me and haul me to my sister’s.
Last year’s Christmas comes to mind. Niki had disabled my alarm so Sasha could sneak in and hide in my garage.
He’d done it wearing a Santa mask, and it had taken a long time before I could look at a Christmas decoration without my heart giving a quick jump. He still laughs about it.
Dropping my pen onto the pad of paper I’ve been scribbling notes on, I take off my glasses and rub my tired eyes.
It’s Saturday. I should be enjoying a day off, but I haven’t had one of those in so long I can’t even remember it.
I hope I used it wisely, but I probably just thought about work and then hit the gym to try and make it stop.
I need to get out of the house. I’m antsy and irritated and sick to death of take-out food.
Before I can change my mind, I grab my keys and make my way downstairs to my car.
A trip to the grocery store may not be the most exciting day-off excursion, but it’s more than I usually do, and it’ll give me a chance to rest my eyes before I finish the other stack of paperwork I need to work my way through.