One Night Only

Part 24

"Walk with me." 

Stevie didn't realize right away that the stranger was talking to her. He casually wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she tried to shrug his arm off.

"Who the hell are you?" 

"You're being watched." The man said, confusion crossed Stevie's face. "You have no reason to trust me, you don't know me, but I work with Lindsey." 

She had just walked out of a doctor's appointment and was about to call Lindsey to let him know, how it went. But there she was, being told by a man, she'd never met before, that she was being followed. 

"I can't trust you." Stevie said. However, he didn't exactly look threatening, so the two rounded the corner, where he stopped. "Are you going to explain this to me?"

"My name is Greg. Lindsey and I are colleagues. I have my car parked on the other side of the street, I'll drive you home or wherever and we can talk." 

"Call him." Stevie asked, she wasn't about to get into a stranger's car.

Greg sighed, but he understood. He quickly dialed Lindsey's number and handed his phone to Stevie. He assured that he knew Greg and it was completely safe to go with him. Still a bit hesitant, Stevie gave a small nod of her head and followed Greg to his car.

"Who's watching me? Why is someone watching me?" Stevie questioned as soon as she got in the passenger's seat.

"How much do you know about what we do?" Greg glanced at her.

Stevie went silent, realizing that she didn't actually know, what Lindsey did for a living. "He told me, he has a boring office job."

"Well, boring it is not." Greg shook his head, stopping at a red light. "I don't want to get into too much detail and I certainly don't want to land Lindsey in trouble, but uh, he hates being called that, but it's essentially, what he is - a PI."

"Huh?" Stevie frowned. Did she know anything at all about him? Was any of what he'd told her true? 

"That's for him to explain. Anyway." Greg took a turn to the left. "We're working on this case. Clearly, we've messed up somewhere a long the way and the man we're investigating, knows something's up."

"Okay, but how am I involved in all of this?" 

"Well, the man is looking into us too. Lindsey received some pictures from your recent trip. Pictures of the two of you..." Greg trailed off, giving Stevie a moment to process the information. "Lindsey asked me to keep an eye on you."

"Keep an eye on me? Is someone stalking me? What the hell is going on?" She felt like she was dreaming of herself in some sort of spy movie. 

"Maybe nothing's going on." Greg shrugged his shoulders. "It's just a... precaution."

The use of that word didn't put Stevie at ease at all. "Am I in some sort of danger?"

"Honestly? I don't know. But I think, it's just a scare tactic, so we back off." Stevie went quiet. A moment passed and Greg turned to look at her. He wasn't used to dealing with emotional women. "Seriously, don't worry."

"How am I supposed to stay calm?" Stevie scoffed. "Why hasn't Lindsey told me any of this?"

"Because we can't spill any details. I'm sure, he didn't think it would come to this. I hope this doesn't come out wrong and if it does, I didn't mean it that way." Greg slowed down at another red light. "You weren't supposed to get involved in this in any way. Lindsey had a task of getting close to a certain family, but he met you and the whole thing just kind of became a disaster."

"Getting close to a certain family?" Stevie repeated after Greg. "Are you trying to tell me that Lindsey and Lauren-"

"Hey, I'm not getting into all that. I've told you everything I could." Greg interrupted, relieved that they were almost at Stevie's. "Too much, actually."

Greg tensed up, when he turned to look at Stevie again. She was staring straight ahead, he could hear her heavy breathing. He pulled up to the side of the road and wasn't sure of what to do. He hoped, she would just get out.

"Uh... I could stay here for a bit if you want?" Greg offered, but Stevie shook her head. 

"No, thank you. I'll be fine." She gave him a small smile and pushed the passenger's side door open.

Stevie entered her apartment building. She glanced back over her shoulder, now having a feeling that someone's eyes were on her. She shook her head, trying not to dwell on it. Rummaging through her bag, Stevie looked for her keys as she took slow steps towards her home. She stopped to unlock her door, when she felt a hand on her shoulder, startling her.

"Jesus! You scared the hell out of me." Stevie turned around, clutching at her chest. "I wasn't expecting you." She said, swallowing uneasily. 

"I bet you weren't." Lauren replied.