Page 32 of Take A Chance

“What’s in Rome?”

“Financier... why are you so nosy today?” He cut a huge bite of steak and speared it with his fork. “Say, how is that live-in sex toy you got working for you now?”

While he chewed it vigorously, I managed to squash the urge to shout at him. After the moment Emma and I shared last week, no one would ever be allowed to speak about her like that again, least of all Colin.

I scowled and finished my bite of salad before saying, “Look, I appreciate your sense of humor, but if you ever say something like that again, you’re going to feel how that punching bag at the gym feels when I lay into it.”

“Woah, geesh!” He spoke with his mouth full, a bit of juice dribbling down his chin. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Just because you see women as objects doesn’t mean they are. Got it?” I stabbed a crouton, hoping to pick it up with my fork, but it crumbled. Frustrated, I dropped my fork and took a swig of my beer. I didn’t give him room to respond to me. I continued. “Last week, something strange happened.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, a few weeks ago, I noticed some lights across the back fence. I thought nothing of it, but that was the morning I was followed.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Colin continued eating as I talked. Of course it wouldn’t rattle him because he wasn’t emotionally invested. That was part of the reason I knew I could trust his intuition on this, because he would give me third-party advice.

“So, then we were out shopping. We got some ice cream, and this man comes up to us, standing merely a few strides away, and he just stands there and stares at us.” I was still bothered by that moment because Emma’s reaction was so strong, as if she’d seen him before or knew him. “He had a camera. I’m pretty sure he was the same guy.” No longer hungry, I pushed the salad dish away from myself.

“Weird... I told you to look into her.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I really wished I had another beer, but the waitress wasn’t around.

“I mean, look over there.” He pointed to a table across the tiny outdoor dining area. “That kid is not eating at all. Right? No plate, no glass, just his iPad in hand.”

I studied the family for a moment. Two parents, busy eating their food while their teenage son was absorbed in technology, not at all aware that we were staring at him. It was a common sight these days, to see kids with their faces in some sort of device, but nothing I’d consider conversation worthy.

“What’s your point?”

“My point is, that waitress keeps asking if the kid wants something.” Colin had a cocky look on his face, but I was still lost.

“You’re going to have to spell it out for me like I’m three.” I rolled my eyes and turned back to face him. He was shaking his head.

“I mean, the people who do business with the father sometimes want to come after the child.” His eyes narrowed at me. “And sometimes if your father is powerful or dangerous, those people can not only come after you, but also people you care about or are in business with.”

“You got that from watching a family eat food?” I scoffed, chuckling while I waved the waitress over.

“Yeah, I did. And honestly, you know nothing about her or her past. What if she is messed up in shit you want nothing to do with?” He took another large bite and continued, speaking while chewing again. “What if you just hooked up with a woman whose ex-husband is hunting her because he wants her back? Or she dumped her child somewhere and those are private investigators hunting her for the police? What do you really know about her?”

“We ran a background check. No criminal record.”

“But you know nothing else. Have you looked at her socials? Checked her bank accounts, asked about her parents?” Colin swallowed and stared at me intently. “Blake, there is a lot wrong in this world, and if you don’t fully vet the people in your life, you’re running a risk of being swindled.”

“Emma is not swindling me. Alright? And no, I haven’t looked into her because I fully trust her.” Instead of ordering a new beer, when the waitress approached I handed her a crisp fifty and stood. “Thanks for lunch, Colin. I have things to do.” What I didn’t tell him was that the things I had to do were things he'd just brought to mind. I trusted Emma explicitly, but having a look at her socials might clue me in so I could protect her better. If this guy’s face, which was permanently seared into my mind, was on her socials somewhere, I might be able to track him.

“Beef up security,” he muttered.

“What?” I stopped and waited for him to answer me.

“I said, beef up security. If people are coming to your house, watching you, you need to beef it up. Get Wilem to hire more men, give them bigger guns, whatever.” He waved his fork around in the air as he spoke. “You can’t be too careful.”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

As I climbed into the car with Gary, I pulled up my Facebook. Emma Clarke must have a profile of her own. What twenty-something didn’t? So I searched for her. The name pulled up over twenty thousand profiles, a few of which had no profile picture. I started scrolling them, looking for one with a picture that resembled Emma, but I scrolled for at least ten minutes without any sight of her face. So I started looking at each individual profile that had no image attached to it. Most of them were ghosts, someone deleted things and moved on, but some of them had posts and such. Regardless, it was a dead end.

Then I got a call, a client needing me to respond to a crisis on their behalf. “Gary, take me to the office,” I told him, deciding the hunt for Ms. Clarke would have to wait. Colin was wrong. I knew it. Emma had nothing to hide. I had full confidence that whatever was going on was more about someone in my life, not someone in hers. She loved Katelyn. She would tell me if something she had done or was wrapped up in might endanger my child. She would never put Katelyn in harm’s way.

This entire situation was frustrating, and I knew I had to get to the bottom of it. The client's crisis required my immediate attention, and I had no choice but to put Emma out of my mind for now.

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