“You’re a good tenant. Always pay on time, no wild parties, put the recycling in the right bin. I don’t like it when someone bothers one of my folks,” Fredericks answered. “I’ll let you know if they come back and get that email right out to you.”
Scott ended the call and lowered the phone. He stared into the distance with such a look of despair that Justin reached out and took his hand.
“Talk to me. How are you feeling?” Justin asked.
Scott took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Pursued. Threatened. Scared. I hadn’t planned to go back to Albany for a couple of days, but it’s different knowing that Ican’tgo home. I’m thinking they somehow figured out I survived the crash.”
“You’ll be safer here. We were already talking about moving in together,” Justin said. “I know you want your things, but we’ll be able to get them eventually. If you need more clothes, there are stores and the internet delivers, even all the way up here.”
“I know.” Scott squeezed Justin’s hand. “And I appreciate you being willing to move the timeline up without warning. I’m just really spooked. I guess I thought the suit guys would assume I died in the crash and give up.”
“If they went to Albany, then they know who you are.” Justin felt scared and angry that the men responsible for the crash were still targeting Scott.
“Yeah, I don’t know how, but they got my name and address. I don’t have coworkers they could threaten since I don’t actually work from an office, but it’s creepy to be stalked like that,” Scott confessed.
Justin checked the time. “Let’s get something for breakfast. I’m going to have to go meet my clients before too long. Why don’t you check your email for those videos from your landlord? We should get those over to the sheriff ASAP, and to Liam. He’s got his hacker hat on to see what he can do to find out who hired Dumb and Dumber and follow the money trail to the real power.”
“I don’t want anyone else to put themselves in danger for me,” Scott warned.
Justin shook his head. “Liam’s fine, and he loves this stuff. With all his library know-how, he’s amazing on a computer. And the sheriff is working through normal channels. We’ll get to the bottom of it.”
While Justin whipped up scrambled eggs and toast for them, Scott logged into Justin’s laptop. The email from his landlord had already come through, with a link to share the surveillance video.
“Got it. I’ll send it to Armel and Liam,” Scott said. “It’s grainy and not the best pictures, but at least it’s something.”
“How would you feel about going to the library instead of Bear Necessities?” Justin asked as they began to eat. “I’m just thinking that the coffee shop is more public, and the suit guys are still looking for you. The library has less foot traffic, and Liam could keep you company and still help you stay a little more out of sight.”
“Works for me if he’s okay with it,” Scott said. “Except there’s no coffee.”
“I promise you lots of coffee when we get back home,” Justin told him. He gave Liam a call and then nodded to Scott when he hung up.
“Liam’s on board. He thought it was a good idea for you to go there, and if you have other ideas for how he might find the hitmen or their bosses, you can tell him. There might be something in your research that turns out to be more of a clue than you realized.”
“Unfortunately, my phone was destroyed in the crash, and I don’t know if there was enough signal for it to have uploaded to the cloud. Those photos would have come in handy,” Scott said.
“We’ll find a way, regardless,” Justin promised.
Scott put the borrowed laptop in his backpack, and they headed out to Justin’s SUV. “Stay safe,” Justin admonished when he pulled up in front of the library. He gave Scott a peck on the lips.
“You, too,” Scott replied. “See you soon.”
Justin waited until he saw Scott disappear inside the building before he pulled away. A thought occurred to him, and he called a friend. “Amy? Hey, it’s Justin. Does your magic include tracking?”
Amy Criswell chuckled. “Hi there yourself, Justin. The answer is yes, depending on the kind of tracking. What’s up?”
Justin filled Amy in about the search for Scott’s attackers. He finished just as he pulled into his parking spot near the dock.
“You’re the third person to call me about that.” Amy chuckled. “First, the sheriff. Then Liam. Now you. I feel very popular.”
Justin felt relieved to learn the witch was already involved. “Can you help?”
“It’s always easier when I have more specifics,” Amy replied. “Names. Something that belonged to them. That makes the process faster because I can use the time looking for solutionsinstead of hunting for details. But yes, I think I can help. What did you have in mind?”
He told her about the suit guys’ visit to Scott’s apartment and the video footage. “Would that be useful to you?”
“Oh, yeah,” Amy said. “I can use that.”
“Scott just sent it to the sheriff and to Liam. Do you want me to send?—”
