Page 167 of The Stalker

She sent her thanks for the attempt and stared blankly at her phone. She was on edge and hated waiting in the unknown, thinking that this must have been how Hayden felt when they’d kept him in the dark about things. It made her think about his friends, and she was sure they’d be as on edge as she was.

She considered carefully, but decided she wanted to see them. She logged onto a database she’d used in the past and was unsurprised when she easily found Sebastian’s number. Even though it was early, she dialed him at once.

“Hello?” he answered almost immediately in a tight voice laced with concern.

“Sebastian, it’s Tatiana. I know Cooper doesn’t want anyone to talk to me, but I was wondering if I could come up and see you guys.”

“You had me at, ‘Cooper doesn’t want us to talk to you,’” he said, sounding amused. “I’ll come down and get you. Are you in the lobby?”

“No, I’m on floor seven. I’ll wait by the elevator. Probably better if you come to my floor, anyway.”

She packed up her laptop and her case files, slid them both into a bag to take upstairs, then made her way to the elevators to wait for Sebastian. He appeared after about a minute, and she joined him to head upstairs.

“How did you get my number?” he asked, sounding curious.

“I have several information depositories that I can check to find information about someone. Phone numbers are about the easiest thing I could look for, but if you gave me ten minutes, I could tell you anything from your social security number to your blood type.” She shrugged.

“In ten minutes? Surely not.”

“Well yeah. I mean, it’s a lot easier for you because I already have a shitload of information about you, like your date of birth, home city, and such. So I can narrow it down easily to find the right person. If I’m flying blind, it takes longer.”

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open on Sebastian’s floor. Daryl Kelly was glaring at them when they walked out.

“Mr. Fox, you’re not meant to go anywhere without me. What is Tatiana doing here?”

“She’s coming to talk to me and the guys.”

“Mr. Powell said that Tatiana has been fired and shouldn’t be given any information about the case.”

“Cooper can eat a dick,” Sebastian snorted.

“And he’s wrong. I haven’t been fired. Only Hayden can do that, and he’s not here, so…” Tatiana trailed off and shrugged her shoulders.

She followed Sebastian up the corridor and into his hotel suite, with Daryl trailing behind them. The bodyguard stayed outside while Sebastian used a room key to open the door. She followed him to the living room of the suite to find Harrison, Gabriel, and Ariana sitting and talking quietly before they looked up to see them.

“Hi, Tatiana,” Harrison said, and gave her a quick smile before it disappeared off his face again.

“Hi, guys. I wish I was here under better circumstances.”

“Do you have any information about Hayden?” Ariana asked.

Tatiana shook her head and said, “I’m sorry, no. Cooper is trying to keep me in the dark, but I do have some sources, and a friend of mine is trying to find out Daniel’s real identity.”

“I still can’t believe he was the stalker.” Sebastian frowned at her as he dropped into an armchair. “I’m so pissed at myself for not going with Daniel and Hayden after the soundcheck.”

Gabriel looked over at him and said, “None of us went with him. He was very convincing, and I didn’t even think twice about it.”

“We should’ve known Tatiana would never leave Hayden’s side,” Harrison said in a sad voice.

She looked over at him, and he caught her eye. He gave her another quick smile, and she wondered if he’d guessed about her connection with Hayden. At the very least, he must know they had feelings for each other if Hayden had texted him about it back before they got together. She cursed herself for never having asked Hayden if he did.

Now you might never get the chance.

She pushed away the thought because it wasn’t midday yet and forced herself to smile back at Harrison. “You’re right. I wouldn’t have. It’s easy to think about what you ‘should’ have done in a situation, but it doesn’t change what happened.”

“True. Anyway, did you have something you wanted from us?” Sebastian asked her.

She pursed her lips and considered it. She didn’t have a reason to come see them, other than to be with other people who loved Hayden and were as worried as she was right now. But they didn’t know that she loved Hayden as well, and she hadn’t become friends with them, or even really hung out with them, except when she was supposed to be doing it for her job. She could see why they wouldn’t expect her to want to be in their company.

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