Chapter 106


    Okay. I gently tug her braid, nting her face toward me. “Just saying.” I brush my lips over hers.


    Leaving Ana to soak a little longer in the bath, I get dressed and wander through to my study for


    Sawyer’s debrief. Mrs. Jones is in the kitchen.


    “Evening, Gail.”


    “Mr. Grey. Wee home, and congrattions once again.”


    “Thank you. Your sister okay?”


    “All good, sir. Would you like anything?”


    “No, thanks. I have some work to do.”


    “Mrs. Grey?”


    I grin. “She’s in the bath.”


    Gail smiles and nods. “I’ll ask her when she’s out, sir.”


    At my desk, I check my e-mails. Then buzz Sawyer. A momentter there’s a brisk knock at my door.


    “Come in.”


    Sawyer enters and stands before me, looking cool, calm, and professional in his suit and tie. His


    demeanor makes me so mad. Slowly, I get up from my desk and, cing both hands on it, lean toward


    him. “Where the fuck were you?” I shout.


    He takes a small step back, surprised by my outburst.


    “What the hell were you doing that you weren’t ready to leave when we were?” I fold my arms, keeping


    a rein on my temper.


    “Mr. Grey.” He holds up his hands. “We were patrolling the grounds, like you asked us to do. And we


    didn’t know you were leaving.”


    Oh.


    “Also,” he adds, getting into his stride, “I’d noticed the unsub. It arrived while we were out patrolling and


    I was going to investigate, when you came out of the house.”


    Ah.


    I sigh, somewhat mollified. “I see. Okay.” I should have told them we were leaving. And I know if Taylor


    had been with us, he would have left his colleague in the car.


    “And Mrs. Grey set off at one hell of a pace.” He raises a disapproving eyebrow.


    I want tough at his response. I feel his pain, but I remain impassive. “She did,” I admit. “Though you


    should have caught up. You’re both trained in defensive driving.”


    “Yes, sir.”


    “Don’t let it happen again.”


    “Yes, Mr. Grey.” He looks a little contrite. “Sir,” he says. “The unsub didn’t follow us. He or she arrived


    shortly before you were leaving. I logged the exact time I noticed the car. It was 14:53 and they did not


    exit the vehicle. They knew where you were.”


    I pale. “What does that mean?”


    “That someone could be watching your parents’ house, sir. Or watching us here. Though I think we


    would have noticed if we were followed to Bellevue.”


    “Shit.”


    “Precisely. I’ve written a report for you and forwarded it to Taylor and Mr. Welch.”


    Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org.


    “I’ll read it. Where’s Ryan?”


    “He’s still on the road to Pornd.”


    “Still?”


    “Yes. Let’s hope the unsub runs out of gas,” Sawyer says.


    “Why do you think the driver’s a woman?” I ask.


    “From the brief glimpse I got, I thought their hair was tied back.”


    “That’s not definitive.”


    “No, sir.”


    “Keep me updated.”


    “Will do.”


    “Thank you, Luke. You can go.”


    He turns without a word and leaves my study while I sit back down at my desk, relieved that I don’t


    have to fire him or Ryan, though I’ll be d when Taylor’s back with us tomorrow evening. I


    contemte Sawyer’s theory; perhaps someone is watching my parents’ ce. But why? I should call


    my father, but I don’t want to worry him, or my mother.


    Shit. What to do?


    My iMac has been nagging me about thetest update to its operating system, so I decide to install it,


    and open myptop to check my e-mails and Sawyer’s report.


    I’m reading when my phone buzzes.


    “Barney,” I answer, surprised that he’s contacting me on a Sunday.


    “Wee home, Mr. Grey.”


    “Thank you. What is it?”


    “I’ve been going through the CCTV footage in the server room and I’ve uncovered something.”


    “You have?”


    “Yes, sir. I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to share it with you. I hope you don’t mind. But I figured you’d


    want to know. I’ll e-mail you a link and you can take a look yourself.”


    “You figured right. E-mail it to me now.”


    “Doing it.”


    “Will you stay on the line?”


    “Yes, sir. I’m anxious for you to see it.”


    I smile. Barney is protective of his server room. I bet he’s as pissed as I am by the unwee breach.


    His e-mail pops into my inbox; I open it and click on the link and I’m taken to a site I’ve not seen before.


    There are four different boxes that look like they might be monochrome views of my server room at


    Grey House. “Barney, you there?”


    “Yes, Mr. Grey.”


    “What am I looking at?”


    “This is the GEH security hub. If you click the y button in the menu on the left-hand side of the


    screen at the top, the footage from all the cameras within the server room will y.” I do as I’m asked,


    and the footage ys four different views of the room. At the bottom center of each feed there’s a date


    with a timer. It reads 08/10/11 07:03:10:05 and the milliseconds on the clock fly by. Via these four


    views, I watch a tall, slim man enter the room. He has scruffy dark hair and he’s in pale, possibly white,


    coveralls. He walks to one of the servers, bends to the floor, and ces a small ck item that’s hard


    to identify between two of the server cabs. He stands and nces down at his handiwork, then,


    keeping his face fixed on the door, leaves.


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