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When he finished, Dr. Garcia set her pen down and leaned forward. “Can you walk me through your thought process—and how it evolved—from the moment you entered the room?”
Asher shot her a questioning look but did as asked. And except for a few flickering glances at the others, he kept his gaze on Ellie as he spoke. As if to reassure her that the experience hadn’t left any lasting scars. He ended his retelling, noting how quickly they’d fallen asleep once in the guest room.
Ellie sat back, two thoughts occupying her mind as she considered Asher’s experience. The first was how grateful she was for his decision to move them. If he hadn’t, they never would have discovered the device. The second was a bigger, scarier thought. If the device was responsible for his unease as well, even after such a short exposure, what might it have done to her psyche over the past several months?
“I think that’s it,” Chad said, cutting off any further speculation. He cast a look at Sabina, who nodded in agreement. “You can head out now, then, Ash,” he added with a gesture to the door. Like a guard releasing his cousin from questioning.
Asher’s gaze darted to her, and she gave a tentative nod. She wanted him there with her—and judging by the look on his face, he didn’t want to leave. But life had other plans. And his work at the hospital mattered.
“You’ll be at Cody’s tonight?” he asked her.
Again, she nodded. “I’ll go to Sofia’s after this. She’ll want to know what’s going on. And now that her parents have gone back to LA, we can spend the day together. I’ll follow her over tonight.”
He hesitated then flattened his lips as he rose. “Thanks, JJ,” he said. Her therapist was busy scribbling in a journal, and she waved off his gratitude with her free hand. “Call if you need anything,” he said. The look he gave encompassed her, Chad, and Sabina.
“Of course,” Sabina replied.
Then, after one more lingering glance at her, he turned and strode out of the room. As if he had to do it quickly or he’d change his mind.
Ellie watched him leave through the tall windows on either side of the door. When he was no longer in sight, she turned to Chad. “Okay, my turn. What do you need to know?”
Three hours later, Ellie’s shoulders and back hurt, her eyes itched, and she wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep for the rest of the day. Retelling each and every one of her episodes hadn’t been as hard as living them, but she was still exhausted.
“Ellie?” Dr. Garcia said, drawing her attention back to the room. And away from thoughts of sleep. “We need to look at your phone,” she said when Ellie’s eyes met hers.
“My phone,” she said with a frown. Everyone in the room nodded. “What am I missing?”
Dr. Garcia flashed her a sympathetic look. “Each one of the episodes that didn’t take place in or near your room involved your phone. More specifically, the music on your phone.”
“Taking the last three as an example,” Sabina said, jumping in. “You told us that before you threw all your clothes in the car to come up here, you were listening to music and reading a script. Then in the car, you’d just turned the music on twenty minutes or so before the accident. At Asher’s house, he told us he turned your music off when he walked in.”
“You think someone might have tampered with myphone?” she asked, unable to hide her horror. Her life, like most people’s, was on her phone. If someone had gained access to it, they’d be privy to just about everything except her innermost thoughts. Not to mention that if someone wanted to terrorize her, her phone was the perfect device. No one would think to tie it to a specific event because it was always on her. Or when not on her, nearby.
“It’s not just the music, though,” Ava said. Ellie shifted her gaze to the young woman whom she’d known for many years. Ellie had even acted in two of Ava’s father’s films and costarred alongside her mother in another. Ava had the looks, talent, and connections to make it in the movie industry, but technology—and specifically, cybersecurity—was her calling.
“There’s more?” Ellie asked.
Ava made a face, reminding Ellie of the nearly ten-year age difference between them. “Your calendar and notes are on it, too,” Ava said. “As are your voice messages. If someone had access to your phone, it’s not hard to mess with those things.”
The scope of Ava’s implications sank in slowly. Like the infrasound device, they were a double-edged sword. If someone was using her phone to mess with her—adding appointments, removing them, deleting voice mails, that sort of thing—then it might explain the rest of the incidents she’d experienced. But the thought of someone toying with her to that extent was terrifying.
She gave a jerky nod. “I left it in my car. I forgot to charge it last night and the battery was dying. I plugged it in on the way here, then forgot it.” She dug in her purse for her key fob, but when she started to rise, Leo stood.
“Why don’t I go get it,” he said.
Leo Gallando was another member of Sabina’s team. He’d remained quiet throughout her recounting, although he’d taken copious notes on his computer. He looked a few years younger than Ava, and with his sharp features and deep, dark eyes, was an arresting young man. Not quite movie-star gorgeous, but something more…interesting.
She shook her head at her musings and handed her fob over.
“Should I drop it off with Collin in the lab before coming back?” he asked, directing his question to Sabina, who nodded in response.
When the door shut behind him, Ellie turned to Chad and Sabina. “I know this sounds prima donna-ish, but I’m going to need my phone.”
“We’ll get you a new one,” Chad said. “But you’re going to have to stay out of touch with folks for a few days. We need to figure out if your device was, in fact, tampered with. And if it was, to what extent and by whom. During that time, you shouldn’t let anyone know that we’re investigating or give anyone access to your new device.”
Ellie frowned. “I haven’t given anyone access to myolddevice.”
“Likely not intentionally,” Sabina said. “But my guess is that we’ll find it was cloned, then hacked.”
