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“Yes, I did. I thought we were friends. Can’t friends check up on each other? Especially when one of them is travelling alone.” My bullshit-o-metre is pinging. It usually does when Gary opens his mouth, but it’s going off for a different reason now. He knew I needed to do something personal. I never at any point told him that I was travelling, though. Did he guess? Maybe, but why is he calling so often? That’s unusual. Yes, he’s creepy and sleazy, but not stalker-y. Something isn’t right.
“Gary, do not call again unless it is work related. In fact, even if it is, email me. I’m busy.” I slide my finger across the screen to end the call. I need to get back to my room now.
“Everything okay? He sounds fun.” Callie is glaring at my phone.
“I need to check something. Let’s go to my room.” If I’m right, we need to move and fast. Chris and Callie pick up on my increasing discomfort. We pick up our things and head to my room. Once inside, I direct them to the balcony. “Look, I can’t have you seeing what I’m about to do. Can you sit here until I call you in?” They nod.
I set up my laptop on my bed and connect my phone. It takes me all of twenty seconds to confirm my fear. Gary, the slimy little bastard, has hacked my phone. I feel the heat of anger rush up my throat. I want to scream. I am religious when it comes to screening my tech. The company gives us new phones and laptops every month. They are untraceable but the company can gain access in case an agent… colleague needs a helping hand for any reason.
I last checked in Sweden. He must have waited before hacking it. But why? Is it all about him being a Grade A creep or is he in Betty’s pocket? I know it sounds like a leap, but it is more than possible. If he is in her employ, then I have a massive fucking problem. The higher ups have to know. It’s vital, but that means that I would have to explain what I’m doing here with Callie and Chris. Shit, shit, shit.
Okay breathe. You can figure this out, Daisy.
First thing, I need to scrub my phone. No wait, if I do that he will know I have found his hack. Okay, I need a new phone. I run a check on my laptop to make sure that it’s clean. It is. I would have been surprised if he’d managed to hack that. His skills are basic, which makes it worse that I got hacked by him in the first place.
I turn my phone off for now and pack away my laptop. Callie and Chris enter the room mere seconds after I call them.
“Okay, we have a slight issue.”
“What?” they say in unison.
“Gary hacked my phone. He’s been tracing me ever since Sweden.”
Chapter 9
Callie
For the love of beans. Could this get any more fucked up? It’s bad enough we have to deal with Betty. Now we have some random called Gary getting involved. I mean, really. If I get thwarted after six years by someone called Gary, I’m going to lose my shit.
“Does he work for B?”
“I don’t know. I’m so sorry.” Daisy looks upset, but seriously pissed. If I were Gary, I would run away. I have seen Daisy lose it twice in our life and both of those times were terrifying. The first time was when Daniel, her little brother, stole her diary and began reading it in front of everyone in the playground. He couldn’t walk straight for a week. I’m pretty sure Daisy significantly reduced his ability to have children that day. The second was when we were fifteen. A guy grabbed her ass in the street. Daisy punched him in the throat. It was the single best thing I ever witnessed.
“No apologies, Daisy, we just need to know if he is a real threat.” I don’t want her feeling bad. We have to get proactive now. My days of running are over. I’m ready to take the fight to Betty. My blood is boiling at the thought of someone following Daisy. If anything ever happened to her… I can’t even vocalise what that would do to me.
“Give me some time. I’ll find out if Gary is on her payroll. If he is, that changes everything.” She shoos us out of her room. It doesn’t take a genius to know that whatever Daisy’s profession is, it’s not working for the local council. I’d guess the government. I’m not going to pressure her into revealing something that would get her into trouble though.
Chris flops onto his bed. We haven’t had a chance to speak alone since last night. I want to make sure he’s doing okay. This shit is a lot to cope with. “Chris, you alright?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” he laughs. We sit in silence for a few moments. “Callie, you have to end all this. From what you’ve told me, Betty will never stop.” Of course he is right. I was naïve to think that she would let me disappear. Even if I hadn’t taken the book, she would have come for me, eventually. Queen B doesn’t like to lose, and she doesn’t like to be made a fool of.
In her eyes, I humiliated her in front of “the family.” Betty spent so long grooming me and showing me off to everyone around her, so proud that I was her heir. I demolished that little fantasy when I left. She will want me to suffer for it. Maybe it’s because of Chris or Daisy. I’m not sure, but I know that continuing to run isn’t an option. People who I care about are in the firing line now and I won’t stand for it.
“Should we start planning while we wait for Daisy?” He’s as keen as I am to get this done.
“Yes. As I said earlier, the book is in four pieces. We can get the first one relatively quickly. It’s here in Spain.”
“Okay, so let’s think about transport. We should play it safe. Let’s use my name to hire a car. If this Gary twat has been tracking Daisy, he might know the aliases you were using.”
“I doubt it. Daisy is pretty adamant that her laptop wasn’t compromised. There is no way she would keep any information about me on her phone.”
“But we can’t be sure, Callie. It doesn’t seem smart to use any of your names right now. We can’t use Daisy’s either. Mine, well, no one knows me from Adam!” He does have a point. We really have no idea who is involved and what they know.
“Okay, you arrange a car.”
Chris sets about making arrangements. I sit on the balcony trying to gather my thoughts, which are all over the place. So much is happening. I just want it all to stop. I want to be able to do all the things regular people do. Go to a job I hate, spend eight hours bitching with my colleagues before going home to my house, where my wife is waiting for me. We eat dinner and then veg on the couch watching a Netflix series we’re excited about because the story line hints at a lesbian relationship, only to be disappointed when said relationship is just a kiss and the show gets cancelled. Is that so much to ask for?
Daisy interrupts my daydream. She has a big smile on her face. “Gary is just a creep. He isn’t working for B.” Her body language is relaxed. I drop my head to my chest and start laughing. I have no idea why it’s happening. I think my body is finally reacting to all the stressful crazy shit that is going on. Once I’ve calmed down, I look at Daisy. She is smiling and her eyes are sparkling. She is who I want to come home to after a long day at my shitty job. It was always Daisy.
