Eliana lowered the cell, realizing the call had ended.
The cab driver slowed the vehicle, and she spotted the entrance to her building. She swiped up on the screen of her phone and held the device to the unit on the back of the seat that displayed her total. A notification popped up on her phone, indicating that the receipt was being sent to her email.
“Thanks for the ride.” She pushed the door open and climbed out, slamming it behind her.
“You want to tell me what that was?”
Eliana glanced to the right and saw her town car parked on the curb, and Tony standing on the sidewalk. “I needed some air.”
He strode over to her, his body tense and frustration on his face. “You’re going to hide in your apartment? Until when?”
“Maybe I just need to take a shower and change my clothes.” She also wouldn’t mind checking on Patience, even if it was late in the day.
“And then what’s the plan?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
“How about letting the Shrine figure that out? We will loop you in, and you can be part of the investigation.”
Eliana didn’t respond right away. It still seemed entirely too much like signing on for a lifetime of being part of a group most people considered to be criminals at best. “I’m so tired I can’t think straight. I’m worried about Luci. I’m worried about Carolena. I’m worried about Carlos.” She lifted her hands, then let them fall back to her sides. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, or what questions to ask.”
“What did Lydia Rosenberg have to say for herself?”
Eliana lifted one eyebrow. “You mean you weren’t listening to the conversation?”
Tony shook his head. “We know you spoke to someone. The fact it was Lydia was a guess.”
Seriously? And she’d walked right into giving up the caller’s identity. “Can you find her from the number? Maybe hack into her life and uncover all her secrets?”
Tony almost smiled. “The number was blocked.”
“Well then, I guess you had better try and find some other way of figuring this out aside from using me to do it. That’s probably why you’re following me around. Not to protect me, but because things keep happening to me and if you’re near me the next time, then you’ll have all the intel there is to know.” She spun around and stomped over to her front door, not really caring if she looked like she was throwing a teenage tantrum.
Why did she have to be an adult anyway?
Eliana used her key to open the front entrance and went in with Tony right behind her. He grabbed the door and held it for her as she entered. “I’m not going to say thank you,” she muttered.
He did chuckle then. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
She turned to him before going up the stairs. “Why are you following me?”
“Because things keep happening around you, and if I’m next to you, then I might get intel.” He frowned. “Or I’ll learn all the intel there is to know. Is that what it was?”
She stood perfectly still, not reacting to that. Not even shifting her expression.
“Look me in the face and tell me you don’t need a bodyguard.”
Her eyes filled with unshed tears. “Carlos needed a bodyguard, but no one was there to help him.” Maybe Halstood, but look how that turned out? Anyone else with him might’ve been killed just as easily.
Tony touched her shoulder. “I’m going to work with the Shrine to find him. But I’m also here to keep you safe, and right now that’s the priority.”
“Why did Maizie call you Bear?”
“Let’s get to your apartment, drink some coffee, and I’ll explain the whole story.”
Eliana figured she didn’t have much of a choice. He was going to hang out at her place for the duration of the time she spent there, whether she liked it or not. If she got a good story out of it and learned something about her family history, that would be a good thing. Or, at least, less of a waste of his time.
She trotted up to her floor and spotted Patience’s door, slowing her roll. “That’s my neighbor’s place. The door shouldn’t be open.”
