“Don’t pretend that you don’t know what I’m saying,” I say, shoving a hand through my hair.
“What’s going on?” Liam asks, wide-eyed. Pat and Damon are right behind him. They shut the door to the break room behind them.
“Ask him,” I say, pointing an accusatory finger at TJ.
“TJ?” Pat prompts.
“Lex walked in when Nic and I were hugging,” he says with shrug. “And immediately jumped to the conclusion that there was something going on between us. Then being the ass that he is, he threatened bodily harm,” TJ says, straightening his collar and his jacket, brushing an imaginary speck of dust from his sleeves. Although I glare at him, I am feeling like an ass. Nic looked terribly upset, but at that time I assumed that it was because I had caught her in TJ’s arms. Now I am not so sure.
“Why were you hugging her?” I ask, shoving my hands into my pockets.
“Because she was upset,” he says, fixing me with a steady stare.
“Why?”
He pretends he didn’t hear my question. Instead, he turns to the others.
“You know, I think I expressly remember Lex telling us that there was nothing between him and Nic. Wonder why he got so upset when he saw her in my arms?” TJ asks, speaking as if he is an actor in a badly directed play. I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
“TJ, please! Look, I am sorry. I shouldn’t have jumped to any conclusions. Why was Nic upset?”
Was it because of me, I want to add as guilt weighs heavily on my heart. I wish I’d had a chance to talk to her, to apologize.
TJ merely looks at me for the longest time.
“Let’s all sit down,” he says with a shrug. We move to the couch at the extreme end of the break room.
“Lex, you need to get a fucking grip, man. But I will spare you the lecture for now because this is serious.” TJ is no longer grinning or goading me. What I see in his eyes worries me.
“Nic thinks she’s being watched,” he says, looking around at all of us.
“Yeah, she’d told me that she thought somebody followed her on her way back home,” I say.
“Well, it has escalated. She thought she saw something hovering outside her office window. Then again outside the break room window.”
All our mouths hang open as TJ’s words sink in. Our gazes turn to the break room window as one. Of course there is nothing there now, but the fact that Nic is probably being stalked by a shifter makes my stomach tighten uncomfortably.
“This confirms our suspicions,” Damon says in a somber tone of voice.
“Did she get a good look?” Liam asks. There’s a note of fear in his voice, though I can’t tell if it is because Nic possibly saw a shifter, or because a shifter is stalking her.
TJ shakes his head.
“She thinks it is some kind of advanced surveillance technology,” he murmurs.
“That’s good then. A small silver lining of sorts,” Liam says, relaxing a little.
“Whoever it is, is taking reckless chances,” Damon speculates. What he says makes sense. No shifter would risk exposing themselves to human scrutiny.
“That makes them even more dangerous,” he continues, staring unseeingly out of the window. A chill runs down my spine. Damon is right. Whoever it is, is probably unhinged, which makes them unpredictable, therefore dangerous.
“But who is it? And why are they doing this to Nic?” I ask, frustrated with it all.
“We don’t know, Lex,” TJ says gently. “I wish we could do something about it. With Nic’s permission, I am going to put a tracking device on her.”
“Yes. Yes, let’s do that. I will talk to her now,” I say, jumping out of my chair and making my way towards the door.
“Lex.”