Page 53 of Shadowing Charlotte
I stared at the text, another mysterious number I'd never seen before, my hands shaking violently.
Chapter forty-six
Alexander
Isat in the cafe across from Hewart, my laptop open. Since I'd started sleeping at Charlotte's, I'd been toting half of my belongings around in the trunk of my car. I called Zane as I scrolled through the endless job listings.
"What's up?"
"Looking for a security position. Charlie is worried. You know of anywhere that's low risk?" I asked.
"So, you guys are a sure thing, now?" he countered. After Charlotte had kicked me out of her house in the middle of the night, I'd told Zane everything while I'd deleted the photos from Tarot. We'd spent very little time together in person since then.
"I've been staying at her place," I replied. The words made me smile as I reflected on how much had changed since that night.
"I've got a couple of connections; I can ask around. No one is going to pay what that rich fuck was paying you, though."
"That's alright. Just something to put money in the bank."
"Alright, let me make some calls," he told me, the line beeping as he hung up.
The entire morning was a blur of coffee and wanted ads, none of the jobs truly interesting me. I waited for Charlotte to call me on her lunch; instead, I watched a patrol car pull up and park in front of Hewart.
My knee bounced anxiously as I stared across the street, fighting the urge to storm into the building and check on Charlie. As the officer departed, my phone rang, the picture of her popping up on my screen.
"Everything okay?"
When Charlie informed me that Adam had been in her house, I saw red, my entire body going stiff with rage.That piece of shit!
She'd called the police. I let out a sigh, relieved that she'd done the right thing this time. Still, I wondered if the officer would actually follow through with charging him. My phone rang again.
"Hey."
"I found something, but it's sporadic," Zane informed me.
"And?"
"It's private security. Special events, celebrities, that kind of stuff. A couple days a month," he explained.
"Experience?"
"Doesn't matter. I know one of the guys. Just get your card up to date and give Leo a call." Zane gave me a number, and I typed it down on my laptop notes before we hung up.
Private security could be good. A few jobs a month without a full schedule that would intrude on spending time with Charlie.
At exactly five, I crossed the street and waited for her and the entrance. "You should call your dad and let him know you're changing the lock," I suggested, wrapping her hand in mine.
"I don't want to talk about that right now. I don't even want to think about it. I just want to go get my Jeep." She sounded completely drained.
"You alright?" I asked. Charlie merely nodded, looking paler than I'd ever seen her. Worry gnawed at my innards. "Maybe you should think about taking some time off and going home."
"I'm not going to run from him," she replied quietly.
She said nothing else, staring at her feet as we walked the short distance to the parking garage. I watched her chew on her bottom lip, the way she did when she was anxious, but she remained silent.
"What is it, princess"?" I asked, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
Charlie shook her head. "Just tired," she murmured. Her answer was a familiar kind of lie, a placation. For years, my mother had said the same words to my father, bottling up her emotions while her mind was screaming. "I just don't want to think for the rest of the day."
