“Careful!” I said a little sharply as I clutched thehandle.
Texas didn’t reply as his eyes flicked back and forth between the rearview mirror and the road. The back end of the SUV fishtailed a bit as he pulled over again and yanked the wheel as we turned onto a two lane street and then sped up. The sedanfollowed.
I worried my bottom lip as I watched the other car. "Should I callsomeone?"
Texas shook his head, frowning as he slowed to a stop sign and then quickly slid into a nearby parking lot, pressing the accelerator as he circled the building. "Can you see what the driver looks like?" heasked.
"No," I said. The windows were too dark, tinted so that I could only see an outline. There was a slight discoloration around the crack in the windshield, but not enough for me to truly see more. "But before we left, I thought I saw a man following us into the parking lot. He was tall, Caucasian, dark hair. He’s the one that got in thecar.”
Texas nodded. "Okay, I'm going to head towards Alex's Diner. That’s a good neutralground.”
“She probably already knows where we live,” I pointedout.
He shrugged. “Whether she does or not, I don’t want to lead whoever this guy isthere.”
"It’s probably someone new she’s hired, right?” I glanced away from the rearview mirror and looked back to him. “I wish she’d just leave usalone.”
Texas' eyebrows drew down low over his eyes as he concentrated on driving, hitting the road again and sliding around another building just as the sedan disappeared around the previous building we had circled. "Probably." He leaned forward, punching a few buttons on the SUV's radio panel and then the ringing of a cell phone started up, echoing out of thespeakers.
"Did you find a dress or do I have to meet you somewhere?" Marvanswered.
"We're being followed." Texas slowed to a stop at a red light. Thankfully, the sedan was nowhere to be seen. "We might have gotten away from them, but it was a dark gray sedan. Crack in the windshield. I didn’t get a license plate number. Maledriver."
"Shit," Marv cursed. "I thought we caught all of her damn PIs. I must have missed one. How many did that bitch have on thepayroll."
And how was she able to pay for them?I wondered. According to Grayson, while she was still richer than the average person, her money was slowly declining due to the split with his dad. If she was blowing money left and right just to have us followed, she must have been getting income from somewhereelse.
"Why is she following us now?" I asked. "Do you think it’s because of what I said to her the othernight?”
"At the gala? I don't know, Sunshine. But she probably knows we've been invited to the charity and that you're attending with Grayson. That probably pissed heroff."
"It seems that everything I do sets her off.” I sighed. “What I said at the Care Center probably caused her to do what she did at the gala, and now…” Something occurred to me. “Do you think she'd go back there?" Iasked.
Marv was quiet. "I'll send Bell and Knix therenow."
Texas glanced at me and cursed under his breath. I didn't have to look in a mirror to know that my face was drained of all color. I felt it when the blood rushed away. A distant buzzing noise slid through my ears. "Don't bother," Texas said. "We'll head therenow."
What could she do?I asked myself.I mean, it wasn’t like she could hurt my mom. Even she wasn’t that crazy. Just crazy enough to have me stalked and followed by dozens of private investigators…I swallowedstiffly.
"Okay, I'll let Knix know and I'll contact this new guy. If I have to call all the PI offices in Charleston, I will. I don't like this bitch hiring people to watch us. It's creepy asfuck."
I nodded even though he couldn't see me because I just didn't know what to say. Something felt off. I reached into my pocket as Texas responded for me. Pulling out my phone, I fingered open the lock screen and scrolled through my contacts. There were no calls from the Care Center. Would they call me if someone new visited my mom? Probably not. What could she do? My brother’s name popped up on the screen—one of my few contacts after he had finally gotten back with me on his new phone number. My finger hovered over him before I clicked away. Though a part of me wanted to call him, I didn’t think anything good would come from me involvinghim.
"Don't worry," Texas said, drawing me back out of my mind. "She's after Grayson because of his inheritance. Your mom’s probably safe. Teddi might have enough money to still remain in the socialite circles now, but you know what Grayson said—she's running out fast. She doesn’t own the world. She can’t have all of us watched at all times, especially not since we’ve gotten rid of most of her PIs. Your mom is in a safe place with lots of nurses and people looking afterher."
I nodded again, still not sure what to say. He was right, I knew that. The likelihood of my mom being put in danger by all of this was slim to none. Now that the thought had crept up into my mind, however…I knew, logically, she was fine, but I just wanted to see her and make sure formyself.
Texas pulled a U-turn at the next light and headed towards the Care Center. Within fifteen minutes, we were pulling up outside. As soon as he parked, I had my seatbelt undone and was out and heading for the frontdoors.
"Harlow!" one of the nurses at the front desk said. "I didn't know you were coming in today,sweetheart."
"Is my mom in her room?" I asked as I bypassed the frontdesk.
"Yes, of course, but you have to signin—"
I didn't stop to listen to let her finish. Instead, I took off running towards my mom's room. My heart raced as I slammed open the door into my mom's room and stopped. There was nothing—no one there—but my mom, who dropped the book she'd been reading when I burstin.
"Harlow," she said with a smile. "You startled me. I didn't expect you to be heretoday."