I grip the sides of the papers, my stomach fluttering with joy. “God…”
If I thought I was busy now…I laugh out loud.
But then, my phone rings. I startle. Setting the blueprints on the table, I pull out my cell. Checking the screen,I brace myself to see Lucas’s name, frustrated that he pops into my head again, but…it’s an unknown number. Just a local area code. It could be a customer.
“Hello?” I say, holding the phone to my ear.
But the other end is silent.
I wait until finally… I hear a breath in my ear.
I stand up straight. “Who is this?”
It’s a moment, then two, and I hear them breathe again before I’m about ready to hang up.
But then he speaks. “You locked the tower,” a man with a smooth voice I don’t recognize tells me. “Didn’t you?”
Every muscle in my body tenses, and I walk out of the surveillance room, keeping my eyes peeled. “Who is this?”
I try to harden my voice, but it comes out with a shake.
“I’m the one who left it open for you.”
The smirk in his tone crawls up my spine.
Drifting into the great room, I spin slowly, scanning every corner. “Why?” I ask.
“I wanted to see what you would do.”
So he was in here. In my shop too. Is he the one who left the phone that night?
“Whatwillyou do?” he inquires.
“Are you Deacon?” I press instead. “Or Manas?”
His low, deep laugh curls into my ear, making me uneasy. “You caught up quickly.”
“How do you know I haven’t been piecing it together with my family since the beginning?”
“Because I hear their conversations too,” he retorts before adding. “Quinn.”
My skin crawls. He knows my name.
Maybe it wouldn’t be hard to figure out. All anyone has to do is look at my website.
But I stifle a shiver anyway. He’s watched me from behind the mirror. At night. In the early morning when I was alone.
I swallow to wet my dry throat. “Where are you?”
“On the roof.”
I shoot my eyes up to the hatch, seeing my bike chain still wrapped around the handle.
“Don’t bother texting for help,” he tells me. “I’m better at this than you are.”
I back away, ascending the two steps up to the kitchen where I can keep an eye on the tunnel toward my shop and still watch the roof hatch.
“Where is Manas?”
