Page 53 of Shadowing Her Stalker

“Well, I hired her long before I actually met her,” she said slowly. “It was at the start of the pandemic lockdown, and we couldn’t turn out content fast enough.”

Wyatt unhooked his seat belt and turned to look at her. “So your relationship has always been remote?”

“Yes. I mean, we’ve met since then, obviously,” she said with a helpless wave of her hand. “But we’ve never shared office space. A lot of LYYF’s staff works remotely.”

“How did she come to work for you?”

“One of the programmers,” she said with a frown. “They are cousins or something?” She brushed the fuzzy details aside. “Anyway, she was doing some travel booking for Tom, and then Chris. When we opened the offices in Mountain View, Chris and Tom took offices there and they have someone on-site. Being based in Southern California, it only made sense for Zarah to focus more on me.”

“But she doesn’t do stuff for you in person,” he clarified.

“No. She didn’t even want a desk at the production studio.” She shrugged. “Like I said, she lives out in the Valley. It doesn’t seem like a long way away when you look at a map, but when you factor in LA traffic...”

“And the airport?” Wyatt asked, making a winding gesture with his hand.

“Is even farther.”

“Can you try to find out why she’s picking you up? You know, subtly?” he asked, looking troubled. “Without giving away anything about where you are?”

She rolled her eyes. “Gee, I don’t know,” she drawled, settling into her seat. She typed out a message with her thumbs but before she hit Send, she turned the screen to him for approval.

CB: You’re sweet, but it’s too far away. Don’t worry about me.

“Perfect,” Wyatt said with a nod.

She sent the message and let out a long sigh.

The silence stretched taut between them. Finally, he broke it. “What are you thinking?”

She mustered a small, sad smile. “I’m thinking maybe I should give them all what they want.”

“Who? And what?” he asked cautiously.

“Everyone. No one thinks I deserve my thirty-three-and-a-third of LYYF. Maybe I should sell out and go do something new. I mean, it’s not like I wouldn’t have options. I’d certainly have the money to coast for a while.”

“Wait until after next week and you’d probably have the money to coast forever,” he pointed out.

“Ah, but they don’t think I’ve earned a big payday. People aren’t assaulting innocent neighbors and burning down my house because they’re hoping I sell after the stock offering. They want me out now. And what does it matter? Either way, I’ll have more money than I need.”

“What if selling isn’t enough? From what I’ve seen and read, some people think you should be paying LYYF for the pleasure of putting together their award-winning content.” He gave a little snort. “No. Don’t sell out because they—whoever they are—want you to. If you want out, make sure you leave on your terms.”

Her phone buzzed and she looked down. Another message from Zarah had arrived.

Zarah: It’s no problem. See you soon.

“I have a feeling she knows I’m not on the plane,” Cara said, her tone morose.

“Okay, so tell her.” He gestured to the phone. “Let her know you talked to the LAFD and they said there was no reason to hurry back so you changed your mind.”

“Tell her I stayed in Arkansas?” she asked, her forehead knit with concern. “What if someone’s reading our texts?”

“You can make it sound like you decided to head to New York early. Might be the better idea,” he added. “Let them try to find the needle in the haystack there.”

Cara set her jaw. At last, she nodded and began to type.

CB: So sorry. Spoke to LAFD and they said no need to hurry back. Canceled flight. I’ll deal with the house after the IPO. Probably head to NYC early. Go home. I appreciate the thought!

Then she turned the phone off and tossed it into the console. She caught his quizzical look and pulled a face.

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