“Why?”
“Honestly, it’s my wife’s birthday tomorrow. I need to send her something before she bites my head off,” he lies.
I know he would never be so careless about getting Natalie a gift… And they already celebrated her birthday a month or two ago.
I hate that I know that, and I think that means Malec is my friend.
“Oh, he orders from the Blue Ridge Florist Company online. He says that they’re more efficient than the local flower shops.”
And anonymous.That’s the same florist Liv’s stalker used.
“Thank you, I’ll have to check it out. Can you write down Landon’s phone number for me?”
“Why?”
“I’d like to talk to him, too. Rule out his involvement in today’s incident.”
“I don’t know…”
“Someone tried to hurt Miss Greenwood. The faster we can rule out innocent parties, the faster we’ll catch the person who wants to hurt her.”
“Okay… I guess.” He hands her a notepad, and she pulls out her phone to find the number she needs.
“What’s Landon’s last name? So, I know when I call him?”
“It’s Smith.”
“Ah, right. Thank you. You’re free to go.”
She scurries out the far door, and Malec turns in his seat to look at us through the window.
Someone is lying.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Liv
My laptop jostles in my lap as Hayes drives me home. He hasn’t spoken since we left Malec’s office, and I haven’t been able to shut my brain off.
I can’t fathom that Mr. Arkett is the one stalking me. It’s been so long, and I’ve never had any reason to believe he’s held onto any idea of me.
I don’t use Facebook, I haven’t logged on in years, but I open it reluctantly, searching ‘Landon Arkett’.
A few profiles come up in the results, but I think I’ve forced my brain to forget what he looks like. I have to click on each one before I recognize anyone. Even the profile that I think belongs to him doesn’t convince me.
It’s private, but there are profile photos visible when you click through them. It isn’t until I see the one from years ago with visible facial scarring that I realize that I definitely have the right guy.
Still, there isn’t any reason for me to believe that he’s up to no good. All his profile pictures over the last ten years are boring. One in sunglasses. One with a woman I don’trecognize. A sports team he must like. And, a selfie that looks like he did when he was my teacher.
“What are you looking so serious at?” Hayes asks as he pulls into my driveway. I shut my laptop quickly.
“I forgot to send an important email.”
I shouldn’t lie to him, but I’m terrified of what will happen with Arkett back in the picture. If we find out that he’s my stalker, chaos will follow.
Hayes will lose his temper, and I can’t deal with the repercussions. Not again.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” He asks after walking me to my door.
