My half-chuckle cuts her off. “No, Quinn.” I’m smiling, not that she can see. “I’ve been with KOAN for a hot minute. I’ll give it at least a year.”
“Well, we’re looking into it.”
I rub the back of my head, thinking through the ramifications. “Anything pulled on Gabriel?”
“No. Just you. We tracked the request to a private investigator.”
“What’s this PI’s specialty?” I pose the question but I’m pretty sure I know the answer—local PIs are mostly hired by spouses who suspect cheating, but a paranoid spouse worried about a man living in his ex-wife’s home with their daughter might do the same.
“He’s been in business for fifteen years. Doubles as a bounty hunter.”
“What’re you thinking?”
“We’re looking into it. We don’t think it’s anyone fearing Alicia—mainly because we don’t think anyone of that caliber would hire this guy—but if this is just intel gathering, they might.”
“But they didn’t look into Gabriel.”
“Exactly. And he’s been at her office every day. That’s why Hudson wanted me to call you—get your thoughts.”
“My gut says it might be her ex-husband.”
“Huh. Because you’re living in the house?”
“It’s a theory.”
“Is he the jealous type?”
I think back to my one interaction with Richard. He didn’t look pleased to see me, but I read it as concern that Alicia had gotten herself into a situation that might endanger their daughter.
“I don’t have a reliable read on that.”
“Understood. Well, we’ll get the information on who hired him soon enough.” I don’t ask how she plans on doing that as I imagine her methods might not be entirely legal. “Eyes open.”
“Copy that.”
The call continues with polite small talk—me asking if everything’s okay down there and her confirming I’m still doing alright up here. When the call ends, I text Gabriel.
* * *
Me: You want lunch?
* * *
He spends a lot of his time in the lobby of Alicia’s offices. Sure, some days he’s following her all over DC and even Manhattan, but for the most part, he’s stuck on a dull routine.
He responds in the affirmative and I get his order.
Forty-five minutes later, I’m in the parking lot of Alicia’s DC office, sitting on a bench that faces the office building’s entrance, eating a burger.
“You really think her ex hired a PI?” Gabriel wipes ketchup from the corner of his mouth and angles himself on the bench like he’s studying me to see what he can read in my reaction.
“It’s possible.”
“You, but not me. Because you’re in the house?” Gabriel leans back on the bench, sunglasses reflecting the street. Always scanning. The man doesn’t stop gathering intel, even over a burger.
“Well, has he seen you?”
“That day at the station,” he says. “They were both running hot—shock, guilt, protective instinct. Hard to see past that.” What he’s saying is Richard didn’t seem to notice him.