“I wanted to make sure you were safe.”
I thought back to Julia’s warning not to trust Nasser. I’d pretty much blown off her advice, but now I wondered.
“What if Nasser was behind both break-ins?” I asked Lulu, who I called as soon as I got home. The creepiness of that possibility shivered through me.
“I can’t believe you kept that second break-in a secret until now,” Lulu complained. “Why would you do that? I tell you everything.” She actually sounded hurt.
“Can we just focus on Nasser right now?” I asked as I went around the house making sure all the windows and doors were locked.
“Fine,” she said with attitude. “Why would Nasser break into Ali’s car and office?”
“What if Nasser was up to something shady financially? Ali did do the taxes for Nasser’s law firm. Maybe he had proof.”
“Do you really think Ali would risk his CPA license to cover up Nasser’s shady dealings?”
“No, Ali was a straight arrow, especially about accounting.” I racked my brain. “What if Nasser just wanted to scare me?”
“Why would he do that?”
“We know he’s had a thing for me. What if he wanted me to be so afraid that I needed him to come over and protect me bodyguard-style?”
“He’d have to be a real sicko to do that. Did Julia say why she’s suspicious of Nasser?”
“She just said she doesn’t trust him, that he was jealous of Ali.”
“I mean anything is possible—”
“My God.” A thought suddenly came to me. “Nasser has my security code.”
“He does? Have you changed it yet?”
“No, but I’m doing it right now,” I said determinedly. “If Nasser thinks he can scare me out of my home, he’s got another think coming.”
“Calm down. We don’t even know it’s him. An attorney caught breaking into someone’s house would probably lose his license, wouldn’t he?”
“I’m not saying it is Nasser for sure. But I am changing the code. Just to be safe.” The ground beneath my feet felt shaky again. Had I been wrong to place my faith in Nasser? Who else couldn’t I trust? I sighed, fatigue settling into my bones. I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and hide out from the world for a few hours. “OK. Let me go. I’m meeting Ian for brunch tomorrow.”
“What?” she asked. “You’re meeting the stalker?”
“In a public place. It’ll be fine.”
“Are you completelymejnoona?” Lulu went ballistic. “Who invites a known stalker to coffee? It’s like you’re trying to become his next obsession!”
“There are still so many unanswered questions. I need to find out whether Ian has some of the answers.”
“Yes,” Ian confirmed after agreeing to meet me at a busy lunch place in Arlington. I’d found his number on Ali’s mobile. “I was the guy at Lizzie’s apartment in Maryland. She wanted me to stay out of sight when her estranged husband visited.”
Something inside of me relaxed a little more. For another person to confirm that Ali hadn’t been involved with Lizzie solidified the truth for me. Ali loved me. Whatever else he kept from me, at least he wasn’t unfaithful.
“Is it true that you stalked Lizzie?”
He grimaced. “‘Stalked’ is a little strong. Lizzie has always been a melodramatic girl. I didn’t do half the things that she accused me of. But I am working on my issues with a therapist.”
“Therapist?” I wrapped my hands around my mug, soaking in its warmth. “What made you decide to seek counseling?”
“Lizzie called the police on me. Seeing a counselor was a condition of having any potential charges dropped.” He spoke around a healthy bite of roast beef sandwich. “I did get too caught up. I needed the wake-up call.”
“How did this thing with you and Lizzie start?”
