Chapter 32 Before
BEFORE
Hey friends.
Sorry for the old-fashionedness of certified mail. But this is the safest way I could think of to communicate.
Plus, this way I know that only you have signed for these packages. I’ve specified that you’ll have to do it with proof of ID: Carolina Stewart and Ashley Paxton. No spouses, no kids, no partners, whatever. No one else.
But you already know that, because you’re reading this letter.
I’ve written it by hand so that you’ll know it really is from me.
You’ll also see that I’ve included a new phone.
(Ash, I can practically hear the wheels turning in your head. But no, this isn’t an elaborate way to announce that I’ve been cast in a Mission: Impossible movie.)
I get why you’d think that, though. This whole thing is convoluted and ridiculous, but it’s the best I could come up with to let you know about the situation.
I have some bad news.
We have a lurker.
Someone’s been watching us this whole time.
You probably have a ton of questions—who is the lurker? How do I know this? What do I mean by “watching us this whole time”?
There are lots of fancy technical terms for it, but the gist of it is that we haven’t ever been alone. Not even in that very first meeting, and not in any of the ones since.
Right now, we have to keep texting like normal and acting like normal and meeting online like normal on our regular phones and computers so we can catch them out.
But we can talk and text freely on our new phones.
DO NOT tell anyone about them. Keep them somewhere safe.
Don’t connect them to any other accounts.
They each have their own lines that are separate from your phone numbers.
I’ll foot the bill, of course. Make sure they’re never out of your sight or pocket. Don’t let anyone else have access.
The expert I’ve been consulting (more on that when we talk) thinks it’s very likely that whoever’s watching us can access one of our computers, even from far away. Like I said, they’ve been watching all of us since we met.
And they may have been watching one of us for much, much longer.
xx,
Hope