Page 125 of I'm Watching You

Lindsay didn’t like the concern in his voice. ‘What?’

‘That grate on your living room ceiling shouldn’t be there.’

She stared at it. She’d never noticed it before.

‘Let me get a ladder.’

Lindsay folded her arms around her chest. ‘Sure.’

He was back in less than a minute and on the ladder. He undid the screws and popped off the grate. Drywall and paint tore. He peered into the hole.

Lindsay stood on tiptoe. ‘What do you see?’

He removed a small electronic device. ‘A camera.’

She felt sick inside. She’d heard about cameras like this. They were easily found on the Internet and were used by people to spy on other people.

Someone was spying on her.

Someone was watching her.

Steve climbed down from the ladder. He handed her the camera. It was small, compact, and state-of-the-art. She knew this model could send a signal up to seven miles away.

Lindsay rolled the device between her fingers as she glanced behind her trying to imagine the angle of the camera. ‘It would have recorded everything happening in the living room.’

The Guardian. He’d been watching her.

Steve shook his head. He looked worried. He had full access to the units and he’d be the first questioned by the police.

A deep sense of shame washed over her. She felt violated. The Guardian had been spying on her during her most private moments. She remembered the other night when she’d been awakened by the phone. She’d had the creeps then and sensed she was being watched. Had he been watching her then? Had he been the one to call her?

Lindsay dug her cell out of her purse and dialed Zack’s number. He answered on the first ring. ‘Where are you?’ He sounded terse, and in the background she thought she heard tense voices.

Her hand shook as she shoved it through her hair. ‘I’m okay. I’m at my town house. My maintenance man found a camera in myACvent.’

A heavy silence followed. ‘Don’t move, I’m only five minutes out.’

‘Thanks.’ She wanted him close, wanted his protection. She could have listed seven reasons off the top of her head why it was wrong to depend on him, but right now she didn’t care about reason. She needed Zack. And she knew he would be there for her.

Steve held the screwdriver in his hand in a tight grip. ‘I didn’t have anything to do with this.’

‘It’s going to be okay,’ she told Steve. ‘The police are coming.’

Steve looked worried and he started to pace. ‘I didn’t do this.’

His agitation caught her off guard. He’d always been so easygoing and quick with a joke. ‘No one said you did.’

He shook his head. ‘They might think I’m guilty when they discover that I have a police record.’

Lindsay stared at him and her concern grew. Truthfully, she knew nothing about him. Steve could be the Guardian. ‘What were you in jail for?’

He shoved out a breath. ‘It doesn’t matter. I have a record.’

Lindsay glanced toward the open door of the town house. ‘I’m going to wait outside.’

He nodded. ‘Me too.’

Hugging her arms, she ran out into the sunshine and moved away from Steve.

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