I frowned. “How… ?”
“How did we know?” Lenore prodded. “The author world only seems big. It’s actually relatively small.”
“But…” Then I figured it out. Lenore wasn’t only my agent. “I’m going to kill Nathan.”
She chuckled. “He didn’t tell me. Annette, with the author event, did.”
“How did she know?”
“Did you guys think you were flying under the radar?” Carly challenged. “You guys have been all over TikTok since you were filmed in that hearse together.”
All the oxygen whooshed out of my lungs, and it took me a moment to recover. “When were we filmed?”
That question threw Carly. “Did you go on more than one hearse tour?”
“No, but I rented that hearse for just the two of us.” I was more bothered than they would understand, and it wasn’t because I didn’t want people to know about my relationship with Bree. “Where is this video?”
They exchanged a look.
“I’ll find it,” Carly said automatically and picked up her phone.
“Why is this an issue?” Lenore asked.
“It’s not an issue,” I replied. “It’s just … we’re not public figures. At least not the way a Hollywood star is. How would random people know who we are?”
“There are pictures on the back of books for a reason.”
“Okay, but how much overlap do you think Bree and I get between our readers?”
“I’m guessing it’s not a lot.” Lenore shrugged. “I still don’t understand why you’re so worked up.”
She couldn’t understand. “There was a guy at the reader events. He was being creepy with Bree. Someone vandalized my yard too. I just… I wish I’d known.”
“You don’t think there’s somebody out there stalking you, do you?”
“Not necessarily. But it’s weird.”
“Well… are you okay doing your book tour with Bree, or should we make other arrangements?” Some of the light had gone out of Carly’s eyes. Instantly, I collected myself. I was overreacting. Or at least I hoped I was.
“No, I want to do the tour with Bree. Make sure she’s up for it, though.”
“Her agent should be contacting her with the offer today,” Lenore assured me.
“As long as she’s okay with it, I’m okay with it.” The idea of traveling with Bree made me positively giddy. There was just one little problem.
“Here’s the video.” Carly handed over the phone.
I watched it. Twice. For the most part, it was innocuous. It showed Bree and me getting in the hearse together. That didn’t bother me. What did bother me was that the video had been edited, and there were various shots of us through the open roof of the hearse as we were taken from location to location.
“Someone followed us the entire time,” I said.
Lenore’s eyebrows moved together. “I never really put that together, but you’re right.”
“It’s creepy. Somebody followed us for hours.”
“Any idea who?”
My mind immediately went to Joey. “Yeah. Actually, I do have an idea.”
