She had started to walk toward the other side of the store when she paused and turned to me. “Hey, Tessa.” She smiled broadly, looking proud to have touched my ex-boyfriend in front of me. “Could you stop following me now? You’re really starting to creep me out.”
I squeaked with surprise, nearly too stunned to answer. I could feel Aiden glaring at me as I nodded. For the first time, I’d been busted while spying. It was humiliating!
With that Chloe spun toward the exit doors, looking completely pleased with calling me out.
“So,” Aiden said to me. I looked over, and he put his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his palm. “I’m not even going to ask what that was about.”
“Good.”
He shook his head. “You make me crazy, you know that, right? I couldn’t keep you out of trouble even if I tried.”
“Probably not,” I agreed. My entire body was tense with the situation. I couldn’t believe I’d been spotted. How was that possible? I’d been so careful.
“And you didn’t have to growl,” Aiden added. “I wasn’t going to get coffee with her.”
I laughed softly. So I actually growled? Even more embarrassing. “Aiden, you could have if you wanted. I’m not trying to hold you back.” But I was just saying that to sound less needy. Fact was, I was trying to hold on to him.
Aiden twitched his mouth, staring down at the table. “About that.” He paused, his green eyes not nearly as sparkly as before. “I was thinking…maybe you should consider dating a little. Other people, I mean.”
My entire body went rigid. I couldn’t respond; I just stared back at him, not moving.
“It’s just,” he continued, seeming to struggle with the words. “You’re so unhappy, baby. And I know I’m the reason—”
“Are you seeing other people?” Please say no. Please say no.
“No.”
I exhaled, completely relieved. But I couldn’t shake the stress rushing through me. “I don’t want to see anyone else, Aiden,” I whispered, trying to smile. “I like being with you.”
He pressed his lips together, reaching out to run his index finger down the skin of my arm. “I like being with you too. Sorry I brought it up.”
Well, glad that was settled. I would have pushed him to explain his thinking, or maybe the old Tessa would have, but I was completely stressed out. I needed to figure out (a) how to catch the copy-Kitten, (b) how to help the squad, and (c) what the hay was up with Aiden and me.
Aiden shifted in his seat. “All right, baby,” he said as he stood up. “I have to take off. You going to be okay to get home?” He glanced over his shoulder toward the books and, for a second, I thought of Joel. How he tried to swoop in and save me from a complete public meltdown.
“Yes,” I answered, climbing out of my chair to walk over and wrap my arms around Aiden’s waist, resting my head on his chest. He sighed, twisting my ponytail in his hand, and then he let me go, leaving me a little chilly.
“I’ll call you this week.” He smiled and turned around to begin walking toward the exit. He didn’t look back at me. Not once.
Slowly I began to cross the patterned carpet toward the glass doors at the front. Oh, wait. My book? I stopped, thinking about my lavender book and where I’d left it. I was about to go back to the checkout counter when something caught my eye.
I turned toward the figure leaving the store, her face ducked and her hands empty and without books. She was wearing a khaki skirt, and by the toned muscles in her legs, I was sure I knew her. I jogged after her, her thick brown hair pulled back into two short ponytails, her pink T-shirt tight enough to show off her athletic frame.
But the minute I was able to get out into the darkened parking lot of the bookstore, she was gone. I swung my head from side to side, looking for her, trying to remember what her car looked like, but she wasn’t there. Neither was Aiden’s car.
I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out if she’d seen me and if she did, why she hadn’t come over.
Because I was pretty sure that I’d just seen my ex-captain. I’d just seen Mary Rudick.
ASSIGNMENT 1
9:00 P.M., SEPTEMBER 18
The operative looked in her hand mirror and slicked on the Midnight Red lipstick that had become her personal trademark. When it was set, she pressed her lips together, smiling.
She’d been getting a ton of cases lately, but this one, this one was special. It was like watching the anatomy of a cheat—something that could easily be a Dateline investigation. She was privy to everything, and now, she just needed to catch the final act.
After slipping a black stocking cap over her head, the operative slid on leather gloves and watched the front of the motel intently. Originally she’d planned on tracking Jenn and Tate tonight, but then she’d intercepted a text from Megan. She’d asked Riley to meet her here, at the Sunset Inn at 9 p.m. She was still amazed that Megan would do that; from her observations, she’d seemed so much classier. Still, the operative knew that this was the moment she’d been waiting for. Finally.
She swallowed hard and narrowed her eyes, looking at the red-painted front door of the motel room. Riley had gone in there close to ten minutes ago, but the operative hadn’t seen Megan arrive. She couldn’t decide if Megan had beaten her there or if Riley was waiting.
With a sigh, the operative reached back into her car and grabbed her satchel. She’d filled it with the night-vision camcorder and an audio recorder, although she’d known it’d be difficult to hear much from outside.
As she strode across the loose gravel of the parking lot, the ground crunched under her black, high-heeled boots. The sound relaxed her and made her feel powerful, even in this cheater-filled world.
When she stepped onto the walkway in front of the door, she paused. The curtains were drawn tight; there was no way to get video. She narrowed her eyes.
Quietly she reached out to try the motel door, but it was locked. She’d figured it would be. With a glance toward the office window, she considered her next move. She pulled the knit hat off her head and shook out her hair. Armed with her deadly shade of red, her secret weapon, she made her way over to the management.
“Excuse me,” she said sweetly through the Plexiglas window to the man inside. He smiled at her, his front tooth missing.
“Hey, there,” he said, a little too friendly.
The operative smiled, trying to hide her revulsion. “I hate to bug you,” she cooed. “I got locked out of room twelve, and my boyfriend must be in the shower because he’s not answering. Do you think I could get another key?” She bit her lip suggestively.