Page 24 of The Burdens We Share
“Ivory,” I assert.
She looks up at me right away. “Why do you allow that woman to speak to you that way? From what I know about you, you would never let anything like that slide.”
Ivory pouts and looks down, “You don’t know anything about me, Dallas.”
Her response catches me off guard. If only she knew how much I actually knew about her. I know the girl has a little sass in her, I don’t call her Little Devil for nothing, but this? This attitude is new. “All I’m saying is that you shouldn’t let her walk all over you like that, agent or not. Does Selene know that Nara speaks to you that way?”
Her head whips at me and her eyes widen, “Do not tell Selene.”
So Selene doesn’t know that Nara treats Ivory that way. Interesting. “Why do you not want Selene to know?”
She takes a long breath and exhales, “Because Nara is the best in the business and if I want to be successful in something other than playing the bass, I need her. That doesn’t mean I have tolike her.”
“I’m sure there are hundreds of other agents who are just as good as Nara,” I argue.
“Can you drop it?” She snaps at me.
I turn my face to find her staring daggers at me. She looks just as perfect when she looks like she wants to stab me as she does when she’s happy, content. I don’t hold her attitude against her. She’s under a lot of stress. “Okay,” I agree.
She crosses her arms over her chest and stares out the window in silence for the rest of the ride.
When we make it back to her house, she retreats to her bedroom and I set up shop at the kitchen counter. I still have a couple of hours worth of security footage to go through considering there are twelve different cameras at the set.
I get so lost in the footage, watching frame by frame, that I don’t even notice the sun goes down and the sky grows dark. I hear soft footsteps coming down the stairs and I don’t look up. I’m almost finished on the last frame and I’m getting incredibly frustrated and angry.
“Are you still watching security footage?” Ivory’s small voice asks from the kitchen entrance.
I clench my jaw and slam my computer shut. I angrily rub my face with my hands, my stubble raking against my rough palms.
“Sorry,” she whispers.
I look up to watch her retreating from the kitchen. She thinks I snapped because of her. “Ivory,” I stop her. I’m not angry at her. I’m angry because of what I have to tell her.
She slowly turns around and sucks in a small breath, “Yeah?”
“You might want to sit down.”
She shakes her head and her face pales, “I’m fine.”
I take a long breath and exhale aggressively, “Your stalker is more advanced than I gave him credit for.”
I watch the panic set in on her features, “What do you mean?”
I try my best to soften my eyes because I know what I have to tell her isn’t easy, but I don’t know how to be soft. “There’s no trace of him on the security footage.”
“W-what?” She whispers.
“He isn’t in any of the footage,” I repeat myself.
She walks closer to the island and grips the edge to steady herself and I straighten. She looks like she might pass out and in this kitchen, she could hit her head and get hurt. I angle myself so that I can grab her if I need to before she hits the ground. “How is that possible?”
I give it to her straight, “He must’ve known that I’d go through the footage to find him. He had to have beat me to it and removed himself from the footage before I got to it.”
Her eyes glaze over, “So what you’re saying is that he’s a step ahead?”
I sigh, nodding. “For now.”
She reaches for her face with her palms, “How did my life get so fucked up?” She asks herself.
