Page 70 of Tempest’s Torment

"What is it?" she asks, voice trembling slightly.

"Rogue found another name,” I tell her, but she doesn't speak, her gaze focused on me, and fuck me, I see the fear shining in them. That look alone almost guts me. "Calloway hired a private investigator out of Hartford." Her entire body locks at my words. I don’t hesitate, and I give her it all. "The PI tracked your name change, he found the apartment, he gave him everything."

She looks down at the cards in her hand. "So... he didn't find me."

"No."

Her eyes shine bright with unshed tears. Christ. "He paid someone who could."

"Yeah."

A long silence settles between us. She turns one of the cards over in her fingers, slowly, over and over again. "That explains it," she says quietly.

"What?"

"The cameras." She finally looks up. "The routes, the timings." She swallows. "I kept thinking he couldn't possibly know Boston that well."

"He didn't."

She swallows hard. "He had someone who did."

"Looks that way."

She stares at the cards for another few seconds. "How many people are involved?"

"We don't know."

She sighs heavily. "But more than one."

"Yeah."

She lays her cards face down, one by one. "I don't think I want to play anymore."

I nod. "Okay."

She sits there for another moment before standing. "I'm just..." She gestures vaguely toward the hallway. "I need a minute."

I look her in the eyes. "Take it."

She disappears into the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind her. I gather the cards into a single pile, shuffle them once, and then put them back in the box. I don't follow her, because the best thing I can do is give her the space she's asking for.

Ten minutes later, she comes back out. Her eyes are a little red; she doesn't mention it and neither do I. She sits beside me on the sofa, close enough that our shoulders almost touch. "Sorry."

"What for?"

"I walked away."

"You needed a minute."

She nods. "Yeah." She nudges my shoulder gently. "You still owe me a rematch."

I look at her. "I was about to win."

She snorts. "You were about to lose."

"I remember it differently."

She shakes her head, her eyes alight with humor. "I imagine you do."