Page 14 of The Spy Who Ghosted Me

Ew. Nanas weren’t supposed to say things like that. “I don’t even want to know what that means.” While I grasped the concept, I preferred not to ponder on it. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me.

In the background, the dulcet tones of my aunt and Mama were heating up.

“You’re just jealous. You always have been,” Mama accused Aunt Vivian.

“Me? Jealous? Your daughter is marrying a plastic Ken doll. Why would I be jealous of that?”

Hmm. I think Aunt Vivian hit the nail on the head with that one. Soren was pretty plasticky.

“He’s Norwegian,” Mama defended him. “That’s how they look.” Obviously she had no idea what she was talking about.

Aunt Vivian laughed at her. “Whatever you say, baby sister. Just mark my words: their marriage ain’t gonna last.”

It was a good thing Lexi and Soren were still acting as if they were auditioning for Step Up and weren’t privy to this conversation. Lexi would have lost it on Aunt Vivian. I had to wonder if Aunt Vivian was only saying those things out of spite, or if she also had a bad feeling about Soren? I didn’t get to find out, as she, Faith, and Georgia turned and walked out with their heads held high.

“Looks like I need to go have a talk with my daughters again.” Nana stopped manhandling Cash, only to wink at him. “Don’t worry, darlin’, I’ll be back for more.”

Cash chuckled while I wanted to vomit.

Nana shuffled past me and patted my cheek. “Sorry, baby girl, there is just something about that man.”

Ugh. Why did everyone keep saying that? Probably because it was true. But I knew there was more than meets the eye with him, and I intended to find out what it was. While I was at it, I would uncover who my sister was marrying too. I turned and shoved the cupcake in my mouth. I had some research to do. My only hope was that whatever I found wouldn’t cause too much drama.

Cash

“WHERE ARE YOU?” IVY DEMANDED to know.

“Why?” I whispered into the phone as I lowered my night vision binoculars, not wanting to admit I was currently hiding in some bushes, surveilling Sabrina’s cabin.

“We have a minor problem. Your girlfriend has turned herself into Nancy Drew.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean she’s currently lighting up the internet searching for you and Soren. She’s taking a deep dive into his investment firm and supposed clients. She’s even looking into purchasing facial recognition software and googling the most-wanted lists around the world. What does she know about Izan?”

I had to hand it to Sabrina—her intuition was spot on. Unfortunately, it was also dangerous. “Nothing as far as I can tell, but she’s bothered by him.” Which was why I was keeping an eye on her. I didn’t like the way Izan looked at her. He knew he wasn’t fooling Sabrina, and the last thing we needed was to make Izan nervous. Nervous criminals did stupid and often terrible things.

“Well, I can only shut down so many sites and delete so many pictures of you before she gets suspicious.”

“She’s already suspicious.” I hadn’t helped in that arena by warning her about him.

“You need to fix that.”

“It’s late. What do you want me to do about it now?”

“You’re a man, she’s a woman—figure it out. Meanwhile, I’ll do what I can on my end. The last thing we need is to draw attention to Izan or you. Your girlfriend got camera happy tonight and snapped photos of both of you, and she’s trying to find sites where she can upload them to find more information.”

I smiled to myself. Sabrina surprised me. I’d figured since she’d already scoured the internet for Cash Denton after I disappeared three years ago, she wouldn’t do it again. It’s not like there was much to find, other than that Cash Denton was a business analyst based out of New York City. He enjoyed the theater and collected artwork from around the world. There were no photos or contact information available. Cash was almost as invisible as I was.

“I’ll do what I can,” I promised.

“Have fun with that, darling.” Ivy hung up.

I doubted there would be fun involved, seeing as Sabrina hated me and was growing increasingly irritated by my presence. Not that I blamed her. She was a smart woman to keep her distance from me—I would disappoint her yet again. I slid the small-but-powerful binoculars into a hidden pocket inside my jacket and made sure the coast was clear before I emerged from the bushes.

I’d done surveillance for years, but it felt creepy spying on her like this. It wasn’t as if I’d set up cameras in her cabin ... yet. But I would if I had to. For her safety, of course. Our organization, for better or for worse, worked outside the law. It was why governments loved to hire us.

I straightened out my jacket and ran a hand over my hair to make sure there were no leaves or debris clinging to it. On the walk over to her cabin, I racked my brain for a plausible reason for intruding upon her tonight, especially since she’d blown me off at the bridal shower. That had certainly been an interesting party. I’d been to raves that were tamer. I had to hand it to Callie Belle: she sure knew how to break up a party. Police forces around the world could take tips from her. She was none too happy with either of her daughters—Lexi for turning her shower into a brothel, and Sabrina for leaving early. I’d tried to smooth that one over, saying it was my fault. Her nana had gotten handsy with me, after all, and I do mean handsy. I’m sure that bothered Sabrina. But I had no idea that Sabrina had left so she could start spying on Izan and me, or that she had taken more pictures of me. She was good—I would give her that.

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