Unravel Me

“You had a date?” I sat down and took a sip of wine. “Stephanie Ann Tempe, are you keeping secrets from me?”

She rolled her eyes, sitting down. “Not really. He’s just some guy I met last week. We’ve gone out a couple times. Nothing to get all excited about.”

“Last week? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You were busy with Alastair. I didn’t want to intrude.”

“For crying out loud. Telling me about a date isn’t intruding. Stop being ridiculous.”

“It’s not important.” She waved her hand. “What are you going to do about Nathan?”

I took a long sip from the glass. Dealing with Nathan wasn’t my main concern. Telling Alastair about this weighed heavily on my mind.

“I think— I’m not sure if he’s the one behind it.”

“Are you nuts? This is his dirty work. I have no doubt.” Her ice blue eyes flashed with determination and anger. She despised him almost as much as I did.

“That’s the thing. It does reek of him but it’s too perfectly arranged. I mean, really. Is he cocky enough to invite me to dinner under the false pretense that he has some big juicy gossip about someone only to scare the shit out of me by leaving an envelope filled with pictures at my doorstep? He’s an asshole but he’s not that twisted.”

While Stephanie droned on about Nathan’s ability to manipulate various situations, I thought back to the birthday party I went to at Sydney’s. I thought I’d seen something flash in the sunlight. A car windshield? A camera lens? My head pounded.

“Have you told Alastair yet?”

I snapped out of my reverie and looked up.

“No. It’s, like, three in the morning over there. I’m not waking him up.”

“You have to tell him.”

I bristled at her tone. Honestly, one minute she’s warning me about him and the next she’s pushing me to run to him for help.

“I will, I will. Relax.”

“Before you go see him this weekend.”

“What are you, my mother?”

“I’m only trying to help.”

“Really? Then mind your own business for once, please. I’m not a defenseless animal who needs rescuing.”

We stared at one another for a minute, tension billowing through the kitchen. Sometimes being her friend tested my patience. I knew her concern came from a good place and I appreciated it, my only problem was she didn’t know when to back off.

“Fine.” She sighed. “You can stay here as long as you want. Have you thought about going to the police?”

“Yeah. I just don’t know what they can do. There wasn’t a threatening note or anything. A pile of pictures in an unmarked envelope doesn’t exactly scream mortal danger.”

Stephanie pursed her lips. “You were followed. I think you should at least file a complaint or something. That way it’s on record and if something else happens they’ll know this is a recurring problem.”

Rubbing my temples, I nodded. Working in the news enabled me to establish good contacts at the police department. I knew who to call if I decided to go down that road. Exhaustion creaked through my body.

“I’m beat. Thanks for letting me stay here.”

Stephanie circled the table and hugged me. Even though I had a flesh and blood sister, she was as close to me as Dayna. We could fight like cats and dogs or have disagreements but our bond remained unbreakable. I could always turn to her, no matter the circumstance.

“The guest bedroom is all made up,” she said, squeezing me tight. “Seriously. You can stay here as long as you need.”

That was as close to an apology as I was going to get for the time being.

Once I snuggled under the blankets, I reached for my phone. I wanted to call Alastair but I didn’t want to worry him. He’d probably flip out and fly back here. His little quirk about always needing to know if I was safe was no joke. Telling him wasn’t an option until I knew all the facts. He didn’t need added pressure, especially with everything he was dealing with at work.

And then there was Nathan. What am I going to do about him? Anxiety churned through my body. I tossed and turned forever before finally falling asleep.

The next day was uncomfortable to say the least. I was jumpy and paranoid. I nearly suffered a panic attack in the afternoon walking to the bathroom at work when I heard footsteps behind me.

“Hey, Lia.”

I spun around, my heart beating a mile a minute. Katie Vitale, our morning show reporter, stood next to Edit Bay One. Her eyes widened at my blatant display of fear.

“Didn’t mean to startle you. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. My mind is just littered with a zillion things.”

She grinned, tossing her strawberry-blonde hair over her left shoulder. “Ugh, I know the feeling. They’re having me cover the Malone trial starting tomorrow. I’d rather stay on the motel explosion.”

“I think we’ve milked that one for all it’s worth.”

“Well,” she huffed, “I guess. Hey, are you going to be around this weekend?”

“Nope. I’ll be out of town.”

Folding her arms, Katie sized me up with a shrewd glance. “Visiting the competition?”

Her slightly sarcastic tone irked me. Not everyone at my station was dazzled by that fact I was dating our biggest rival’s newly minted CEO. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. “I’m visiting my boyfriend, yes.”

“Must be nice to get all this time off. I asked to use a vacation day next Monday so I could go to Panama City for the weekend. I was told I’m needed in the area just in case something new breaks in the motel story, which you so succinctly described as being ‘milked.’ Obviously, Bruce sees it differently. But you get to flitter off to Scotland. You have Singleton wrapped around your finger, don’t you?”

Funny how a few snotty words from someone could turn me from being paranoid to exasperated in less than ten seconds. I clenched my fists in an effort to control whatever response was about to be unleashed.

“I’m not taking any time off, not that it’s any of your business. I switched my schedule with Louise.”

Giving me her best whatever stare, Katie turned on her heel and sauntered down the hallway. This wasn’t the first time she’d voiced her opinions on my love life. When I dated Nathan she’d made it clear I’d landed the biggest catch since Kate nabbed Will and I should marry him immediately. Sometimes working in a newsroom was like being in high school.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon reordering stories in the rundown and editing scripts. Sydney and I chatted about her upcoming cookout bash at the lake house. She and her husband, Ray, have been throwing this late summer party for as long as I’d lived in Orlando. Aside from the massive fireworks display at Lake Eola on the Fourth of July, the Makeeda family soirée was the biggest event of the season.

By the time I settled into the control room for the broadcast, I’d managed to push aside my annoyance over Katie and my trepidations over the photos.

I decided to stay with Stephanie one more night and headed home on Thursday. Everything looked exactly as I’d left it. Pictures were still scattered across the living room floor. I shoved them back in the envelope and tossed it on the kitchen table.