Tease Me (Private Listing #4)

“Peter Martin.” One more piece to the puzzle. But not the only piece, we’re positive. He doesn’t have the access the spy needs.

“Yes, sir. This is still his address.”

“Thank you.” I disconnect the call and grab my suit jacket. I’m only a little late to lunch. Peter was on a lot of the development teams we sent out. There’s also the weekend he tried to get in because he forgot something at his desk. Blake mentioned he seemed enamored with Courtney, which makes sense, because otherwise what would his motive be?

Courtney has motive. We’ve skipped her resume every time for our assistant. Her friendship with Andrea made us all wary. She may be qualified for the assistant position, but we definitely wouldn’t feel comfortable letting her into our lives and never would have offered her the other arrangement.

When I close the door to my office, something moves in the corner of my eye. Patrick stops as he comes out of the break room.

“I thought you were all gone to lunch.” He moves forward, heading to the elevator.

And I thought he’d already left. “Had a phone call to make. You heading out for the day?”

“Got to get back to the office.” He presses the button and glances back at me. “How’s everything going? I mean, besides the espionage and your assistant’s stalker.”

The elevator doors open and we both step on. He presses the ground level, and I press the garage button.

“Business is good. We’ve brought on a few new clients, despite the spy’s attempts.” I lean back against the wall and study him.

Patrick is a good-looking man. A little older than us. Settled, with a wife and kids. He flies under the radar. One of those guys that blends into the background. He’s been our lawyer from the beginning. An up-and-coming star in his firm.

“That’s good. It surprised me your assistant took the offer we drew up.” Patrick holds his laptop bag in front of him with both hands on the handle. He seems like he’s just making conversation. But could it be something more?

“She’s an amazing assistant. We couldn’t have found a more perfect fit for us.”

His face remains placid as a lake. “Good. I know you’ve had issues in the past. I’m glad you’ve found someone who fits you.”

Was there extra inflection on fits or am I imagining it?

His phone buzzes and he glances down at it. “Fuck.”

“Is there a problem?” I ask. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Patrick curse.

He sighs. “I’ve been getting these texts since the benefit. It’s really ramped up since I’ve been here this week though.”

“What kind of texts?”

He shakes his head and hands me his phone.

Unknown:

Don’t even look at the girl if you don’t want me to come after yours.

That’s the latest one. But there are about a half dozen other warnings like it.

“Did you show these to the police?” I ask.

Patrick nods and takes his phone back. “I’m sure it’s just because I’m here every day. Is your assistant still receiving them?”

I sigh. “Yeah. She’s ready for this to be over.”

Patrick nods. “Understandable. Hopefully the police find the guy.”

The elevator stops on the ground floor.

“Have a good weekend.” Patrick steps off.

“You too.” The doors close. There’s something off about Patrick. I’ve never noticed it before, since most of our conversations are business related, but he doesn’t really engage in small talk or nonbusiness conversations. Maybe he’s just an introvert or neurodivergent.