Page 13 of Choosing Stella

I reached for my phone slowly.

“Can I show you?”

“Yes.”

I opened The Network app and pulled up the completed safety check.

Talbot read the timestamp.

“This was entered when?”

“After I left the penthouse.”

“It proves you entered the check-in.”

“I know.”

Her eyes lifted to mine.

“You understand it doesn’t establish where you physically were when you did it.”

“I told you I left him standing in the penthouse. I didn’t say the app was a tracking device.”

Dempsey shifted his weight.

“What happened during the tarot reading?”

I frowned.

“Why?”

“Please answer the question.”

I took a breath.

“He asked what he should be watching for. I pulled three cards. I told him the spread suggested instability and conflict inside his trusted circle.”

“Which cards?”

My mouth went dry.

“The Tower. Five of Swords. Three of Pentacles reversed.”

Dempsey went still.

“What happened to those cards after the reading?”

“I packed two of them.”

“And The Tower?”

I already knew.

The cold moved over my skin before he said it.

“Antonio asked to keep it overnight.”

Talbot’s pen paused above the notebook.