Page 3 of Shadowed Obsession

Clattering sounds flood the space between us, and the broom smacks the floor. My breath hitches as his feet pull him slowly toward the bottom of the stairs. His hands raise in surrender, hisfocus on me. At this moment, I consider why I didn’t just lock myself in my room, but it’s too late for that.

“Who do you work for?” I bellow.

His lack of response unnerves me.

My trembling hands remain on the weapon, nervous to fire again, but I will if he approaches me. Unable to enjoy awkward silence, an inner thought tumbles from my lips, betraying my stance.

“Do you plan to kill me?”

One of my grandmother’s many mantras rings true as my index hovers the trigger on standby.

Klarke’s don’t hide from danger, they incite it.

2/

a new assignment

César

45 days before ‘the incident’

Overwhelmed with the silence, I tap my fingers rhythmically on the arms of the leather chair. I glance at my watch to see how much time has passed when I hear hushed voices outside the door.

“I don’t know about this,” I hear a woman’s voice whisper-shout.

“Bloody hell. You’ve got to toughen up,” another voice counters, and the knob turns.

I whip my head forward as the door clicks and heels clack along the hardwood. Glancing up, I see Dara Hale with her brother, Dax, holding a thick manilla envelope likely containing the details of my next assignment.

Should I be taking on more work at this time? Absolutely not. But here I am.

Hale Whiskey has outsourced me for years. They’re a European-based whiskey manufacturer currently expanding their American distilleries.

I’m often hired for surveilling and blackmail cases, usually for members of their board or to get intel on competitors.Blackmail is strongly discouraged in my line of work as a private investigator, but I tend to bend the law often and the pay isalwaysworth the trouble.

When their uncle Theo launched their Austin headquarters, he was determined to make an impact, hiring me for any and everything necessary to solidify their brand in the States.

I respected him greatly as a businessman, and we developed a good working relationship. That is theonlyreason I was open to maintaining my contract after he retired. His nephew and niece took over recently, not skipping a beat with assignments.

Unfortunately, some things simply can’t be taught.

Dara speaks first. “Glad you could make it,” she welcomes with a nervous smile, extending her free hand to me.

I quickly shake and release it.

Dax crosses over to repeat that motion, greeting me as well. “Good to see you again, Cesar,” he says.

Fucking gringos.

“César. Repeat after me: seh-sar,” I correct, maintaining eye contact.

Mi abuelaalways says, “If you want respect, never let anyone mispronounce your name. Correct them every time.”

I keep my eyes locked on him as he shifts uncomfortably and clears his throat. “My sincerest apologies, César,” he corrects himself slowly as he sits at his desk facing me.

His sister comes around to stand beside him, clutching that envelope like she’s afraid to hand it over. There’s tension in the air, and I don’t usually feel on edge around them, but there’s something’s off about these two today.

After twenty or so odd jobs for this family over the years, I’ve gathered they’re ridiculously wealthy and peculiar. They’re also British and can’t be in a room together for more than ten minutes without bickering.

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