Page 26 of Stalker

“If you say so.”

Grumbling, he returned to searching for his phone, his usual activity. A full minute of silence passed while I was sucking down my drink.

“Bad boy,” I hissed.

“What?”

“I was wondering if you were coming up for air.”

“Just checking on Mark.” He continued flicking through Instagram.

“Mark?”

“My new guy.”

I chuckled and licked salt off the rim. “Checking up on him already.”

“I just wanted to see if he changed his status to in a relationship.”

“After a few days?”

“Four weeks, but who’s counting.”

“You’ve been holding out on me.”

“A guy must keep some secrets even from his best friend.” Groaning, he tossed his phone aside. “Life is a disappointment. Now, what does old Mr. Wells want you to do?”

Cash always made me smile. “Investigate the Blackwell Group for acts of extortion, blackmail, that kind of thing.”

“With regard to their secret society.”

“If it exists,” I scoffed.

He leaned over the table. “Oh, I think it exists.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Do you remember when I was dating Braxton?”

I narrowed my eyes. “You’ve dated so many guys I can’t keep track.”

He acted as if he was going to throw his coaster at me. “Hush. I’m being serious. Braxton owns that microchip firm out of New York. They sell mostly to gaming companies. He mentioned the Obsidian Society on a couple occasions then clammed up.”

“What did he say?”

“That it existed and he’d been invited to participate in the games.”

“Games.”

“To determine worthiness.” He laughed. “Very cutthroat stuff so I gathered from what he said. He acted as if the tests were going to mirror what happened in the game Dark Nights.”

“Why did he clam up?”

Cash was now glancing around the restaurant to see if anyone was paying attention. They weren’t. “I finally got out of him after a few arguments that he’d been required to sign an NDA. They have an attorney on their board and more at their disposal, so he took it seriously.”

“An NDA for a contest,” I mused.

He cocked his head. “Big money at stake. The company is worth billions.”

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