Page 9 of Obsession

Interesting. My mind raced with more questions. Maybe it was only because I was injured. Perhaps my body had shut down other systems to focus on the pain.

I needed to test the theory. Take out some variables. I had to see her again.

“We need to make sure she doesn’t say anything,” Cole added.

“She just saved Nathan’s life.” Grace’s concern turned to annoyance even as she leaned against her husband. “You owe her. You can’t do something to her.”

“We won’t, Sunflower.” He ran a hand down her back, soothing her uneasiness in the way couples seemed to do. I would’ve hated it. “But we might need to scare her. Make her believe the worst, so she stays quiet.”

“Vander.” Her tone held a warning. I felt a twinge of the same… emotion. I wasn’t very good at naming them. But I suppose it was worry. Concern for the girl whose voice captivated me.

“I’ll do it,” I spoke as I sat up on the table. There was no pain yet; the lidocaine hadn’t worn off.

“What?” Cole raised a brow. She’d been right. We were brothers, and I had another; Angelo. Vander was my cousin.

“I’ll keep an eye on her. Make sure she stays quiet.” I stood and headed out into the hall.

“Nathan.” Vander snapped as they followed, but I was already stepping into Cole’s office.

It was a standard office, not like the room we’d left. There was a glass desk, a computer, and all the usual pens and office supplies. Across from it was a couch and coffee table. He also had a small bar set up and a few bookshelves. I didn’t understand the bar or alcohol in general.

Why would you want to dull your senses? But we made a lot of money from people who wished to do exactly that. The crowd in Luminescence was still growing as we spoke. We could see them through the one-way glass walls.

“You’re not exactly in a fit state to follow her.”

“I don’t need to.” I felt their eyes on me as I tapped away on the keyboard.

Images appeared on the computer, and I swiped to the next. And next. And next. I was looking for dark curls. Brown eyes. Golden skin.

There.

Her driver’s license filled the screen. For a moment, I lost myself in her picture. Her gaze seemed to look straight at me. Like she could see inside my mind. I wondered if she could understand it. So few could.

“I already know who she is.” I turned the computer around so they could look. “We swipe everyone’s ID as they come in.”

“We need more than just her name.” Cole sighed. He was always a little exasperated by me. But he needn’t be. I knew what they’d meant.

“I have the computer skills to find out everything. Her family and friends. Past jobs. Likes and dislikes. Including any useful information to threaten her with.”

Give me a few hours, and I would know every secret she tried to hide. If she had a drug habit or liked to gamble. Stole from her work or cheated on her fiancé. Former fiancé.

Maybe I would also learn why she intrigued me. I would tear apart her life until I figured it out. Because once I found a problem, I needed to solve it. And this fixation I was forming for her was definitely a problem.

6

Nathan

The door clicked almost silently as I pushed it open. Not that it mattered; this was a quiet building of working professionals who were all gone during the day. Including Lark.

Lark Liddell, only child, born July 18th to Bernice and Edgar Liddell. Both had Ph. Ds while Lark was an MD. They did research at a pharmaceutical company.

Lark had worked at Sayton City Hospital as an emergency room doctor until a few months ago. Then she’d up and quit. Took a teaching job at the university.

It didn’t make sense. All her performance reviews were excellent. Patients liked her. And she seemed to love it. She had strived to get the position. Why leave?

Just another mystery I needed to solve.

That was why I was here, walking through her dark apartment. I needed answers. Craved them. My mind filled with images of her. Stories online I’d found going all the way back to middle school.

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