Damien
Raven was waiting inside the door of the school and hurried out to the car as I pulled up. I studied her face. She looked calm and happy.
“How are you?” I asked, leaning over for a kiss.
“Good. No trouble at all again.”
“Great.”
In the car, she chatted, telling me about the antics of her kids, her list for shopping on Thursday, the fact that Deb had texted her, excited.
“Her businessman sent her flowers. She’s never received flowers before.”
The businessman had slipped my mind, and I hadn’t delved into him as I had planned to. “I see. So, you want me to leave it alone?”
“Yes. I don’t think you have to worry. She isn’t.” Raven chuckled. “She wants us to double-date one night.”
“Even better. I can check him out in person.”
I parked underground, and we took the elevator up to the main floor. I took her to Leo’s office located in the back of the building, and she gave him the cookies she made him. She entertained him with the story of the mice she hid under the cushions, exaggerating my reaction and making him laugh loudly. He was thrilled with the cookies and winked at her. “I got more. My wife wants an evening out without the kids,” he whispered, loud enough for me to hear.
Raven nodded and winked back. “We’ll talk,” she mouthed.
She stood, lifting her bag and rounding the desk to hug Leo. As she went by his handheld scanners, a constant ping went off. She stopped frowning. “What is that?”
I met Leo’s eyes, slightly shaking my head.
“A door alarm that needs fixing,” he said. “It’s been going off all day, driving me nuts.”
“Oh, annoying,” Raven replied and hugged him. “Thanks again.”
“Anytime.”
I took her elbow, heading upstairs. In the elevator, I turned to her, pressing a finger against my lips, indicating she needed to stay quiet. She frowned as I slipped her bag off her shoulder, carrying it. I led her into my office, then into the back, shutting the door firmly behind me.
“Okay, you can talk.”
“What’s going on?”
“You walked past one of the extra scanners we use to search for bugs. It went off,” I explained.
Her eyes widened. “Bugs?”
“Listening devices. Tracking devices. If you had walked through the detectors at the front door, they would have gone off as well.”
“But…” She looked around wildly. “You know about them. You added them.”
“No. Ours would register with the scanner. Whatever this is wasn’t from me. They’re blocked in this room—there are extra precautions taken here so nothing gets through, even the most sophisticated devices. Leo will be up in a minute, and we’ll find where they are.”
“How?” she asked.
“Let’s find it first and figure that out.”
Leo came in, grim-faced. It only took us a minute to figure out there were two bugs. One listening and one tracking. Both were on a little fuzzy animal Raven had clipped to the outside of her satchel. I held it up, showing her the tiny devices.
“Did you leave your satchel behind at some point when you were out with Andy?”
She frowned and thought it over. “Yes. He spilled his coffee the first day I met him, and I went to get napkins. The bag was on the seat between us. Would that be enough time? I was only gone a moment.”