“Are you going to shower?” she asks me as she towel-dries her hair.
“I need five minutes to get ready,” I tell her, heading for the bathroom.
“No worries. I’ll do my makeup in here and braid my hair so I don’t have to blow-dry it.”
“Okay.”
I take a quick shower, brush my teeth, and pull on clean clothes. I have a lot to do today, including shopping for and installing a better video system in her apartment. Not to mention trying to figure out who’s stalking her and why. I also have to check in with Erik and possibly my boss, neither of which are foremost in my mind right now.
Shannon is ready to leave when I come out, light makeup on her face and her hair braided down her back.
“Do you always braid your hair?” I ask.
“On days like today, when I want to just get going, it’s a lot less work.”
“It’s cute.” I gently tug it, and she smiles.
“My mother hates it but has learned not to bug me about it.”
We walk downstairs together and I motion to a taxi. “Your phone doesn’t appear to have any kind of tracker on it, so make sure you keep it on your person at all times. Call me on your break.”
“Will do,” she says before getting into the cab. “Thank you.”
I close the door after her and watch the taxi pull down the street. Now I’ll find something to eat and get to work. By the time she’s finished teaching for the day, I plan to have a new surveillance system set up in her apartment and maybe a plan for catching this guy. Or woman. Doesn’t matter to me, as long as we figure this out.
Chapter 10
Shannon
I’m distracted at work again and do my best to act normal. Whatever that means. Sandra finds me in the teacher’s lounge and leans against the counter as I get a fresh cup of coffee. I didn’t sleep for shit last night. Between the stalker situation and having Ace five feet away from me all night, I tossed and turned until almost dawn. I woke up before my alarm went off, and now I’m exhausted.
“You look tired,” Sandra said. “This stalker thing has you worried, huh?”
“Kinda.” I try to be nonchalant.
“Maybe you should see someone, you know? Like a therapist. Maybe it’s all in your head.”
I sigh. “Maybe.” I hate lying to my friend, but Ace made me promise not to tell anyone anything, and it makes sense since we didn’t know who we’re looking for.
“What are you going to do over Christmas? Going home?”
“I don’t know,” I evade. “I was going to, but with this stalker thing going on, maybe I’ll stay and have my mom come here. My place is small, but we can share a bed. It’s not a huge deal and having someone with me might help.”
Sandra makes a face. “Really? You’d stay here? Dude, I’ll be on the first plane to the U.S. the minute finals are over next week. I can’t wait to get out of here.”
“Why do you live here if you hate it so much?” I ask, frowning. “I love Germany, and Cologne is filled with so much history and wonderful food and people and?—”
“It’s just another old, ugly European city,” she said, a bitterness in her voice I’ve never heard before. “When my contract is over at the end of this year, I’m out of here.”
“Oh.” I don’t know what to say to that. “I’m sorry you’re unhappy here. Maybe one night next week we can get dinner or go to the Christmas markets or something.”
“Sure.” She flashes a smile, her previous surliness gone. “Sounds fun. See you later.” She leaves the room and I watch her go curiously. It’s a bummer she plans to leave after her contract is up because she’s my best friend here at work. I’m used to being on my own, though—it seems like everyone I care about leaves me. One way or another.
Ace is waiting for me in front of the hotel when I arrive after work, and after I put down my things, he suggests we go out for the evening instead of sitting at the hotel worrying about what we might see on the new surveillance video feed. He says his buddy Chains is on top of it, and I can’t think of a reason to say no, so we take a taxi to the area by the Cologne Cathedral, which is adjacent to one of the Christmas markets, and join the crowds.
“Have you been to the cathedral?” I ask as we walk up the street.
“Not inside, no.” He shakes his head. “Usually when I’m in Europe, I’m on a mission, so unless whomever I’m following is pretending to be a tourist, I don’t have time for a lot of that stuff.”
