Tackling Her Obsession with the Tight End

Chapter 14: Insurance

Sarah

I comb through my brain for anyone I’ve ever met named Piper. No one comes to mind. What did she mean? Does she work for Paul?

Caylee and Violet….I left them out there. I rush through the door worried. Their laughing faces come into view the second I am at the end of the hallway. My whole body sags with relief, making me lean on the wall for a few minutes. Hyper vigilant now, I slowly let my eyes wander the room. No sign of Piper, but I do run across someone else that makes my blood run cold. Donovan sitting at the bar pretending to stare into a drink. Another of Paul’s hired problem solvers. That’s not a coincidence.

I'm being followed but not by Paul. I walk back to the table deciding I'll pretend I didn't see him. I doubt Paul even knows I am familiar with all of his hired assholes. I'll send Quentin a text when I get home from my other phone. He was supposed to be watching for them. But as I sneak a glance toward the bar, I realize I can't trust him even that much. I already am extremely distrustful of him considering my plea deal complete in a few weeks.

"Work has been nuts lately." Vi's voice breaks in and I tune back into my friends. "We had to backup everything again. I told Sean I'm thinking about leaving. He basically said to quit tomorrow. I'm just over the constant ransomeware threats." Violet is a financial planner at one of the large investment firms.

"Noah is determined for me to write only, no editing jobs. If he even catches me looking, he reprimands me and lists off all his bullet points for me not doing it." Caylee shakes her head smiling.

"They like to take care of you two. Mags said the cyber attack threats are out of control lately." I say sipping my drink. I'd leave with my shadow being here but I worry that he's simply the only one I recognize. I won't leave my friends here vulnerable.

"We saw a very interesting hype video that Uncle Colby was raving about on Monday night football. You have anything to do with that completely awesome production?" Caylee asks with a smirk.

"It's mine." I admit softly smiling.

"I knew it!" Violet exclaims pointing her finger at me. "It was awesome."

"Thanks. Noah didn't tell you I filmed him?"

Caylee shakes her head. "He said it was a surprise. You know the Jameson genes rubbed off on him while he lived with us and he can keep a secret like my dad."

As we get up to leave, I spot Piper again. She sits at a table with two other women. She’s turned completely away from me when I leave making me wonder even more what the hell happened earlier. On the way back to the house, I text my mom. "Can I stay at the house tonight? I don't feel like driving home."

"You never have to ask. Your room will be ready. We'll have waffles in the morning."

I smile at that. The little simple things you miss with your parents after you move out. I close hers and open a chat feed with Uncle Jared.

"Uncle Jared, I have a weird request. Can I come by tomorrow morning?"

"Always. I'll be home all day."

During waffles Dad launches a mini inquisition about any future work projects involving football. After that, I’m unprepared for Dad's follow up. "Sarah have you seen or heard from Paul Chadwick lately?"

I almost drop my fork. Did he come by here?

"Yes he interrupted a lunch I was having recently." Truth shared, even if not all of it, is usually best with Nutville.

"Is he bothering you again?"

"I told him to go away. I'm not going to get back together with him Dad, I promise." Mom reaches over to take my hand.

"You can come to us sweetie. With anything about him. We can handle him." I give her a smile. I wish they could. They have no idea how evil that family truly is. And mine plays by the rules which means they'd lose against him.

"I will go to war for you Sarah. Don't ever forget that. And don't worry about casualties, Sof is my general and Pop is my war planner. We can't lose with them." Dad says and I nod.

"I know. I love you Dad." I remember when he went after Paul once I confessed a few of the things he said. Dad hauled over and caused Paul to break his arm and cracked his jaw. Paul showed up a few days later. Told me I was lucky Dad was alive. As penance, he punished me instead. The only other time, I thought about running to my family for help was after he interrupted my date with Liam. But he made sure I wouldn't by sending me a present I'd never forget. I shudder not wanting to think about that again.

I drive over to Uncle Jared's. I told Mom and Dad I was coming to ask him for help at work. I text him that I'm in the driveway and he holds the door open.

"Hey Sarahbelle. What's going on?" He looks a lot like Uncle Webb, just a little smaller in size. But he's deadly with a computer.

"I'm having trouble at work with a candy squirrel and I think they tried to get into my computer when I was working on the hype video. They always seem to know when me and my neighbor are away from our cubicles too." I say as I sit at the island.

"Possible jackass competitor and a thief. Let's make sure you catch them then since they could try to sabotage your work. You need a way to spy subtly on your own cubicle and to know how they are watching you." He motions for me to follow him. We step into his home office and he grabs a small black box. "Radiofrequency detector, will search out for hidden bugs and cameras. It's a low grade one but will work for a small office space. And this little beauty." He holds out a miniscule square. I barely see the clear opening on it. "Is a camera. It's small enough no one will notice it. You can hide it in a plant easily. The glass won't give off any type of refraction so they won't catch it if they move around or shine a light to it."

"Umm Uncle Jared, what do you do for a living? Because you are kind of scary with the things I see you pull out."

He nods in agreement. "I work in threat mitigation for a very powerful international cybersecurity group. And that's all I can tell you. If you think it's scary what I show you guys, you'd be terrified of what I don't show you. Mags has a bit of an idea but even she wouldn't know the whole story."

"Thanks Uncle Jared. I'll let you know if it works. My cubicle mate, Ida is pretty pissed off. They found her chip stash and took three bags." Ida had been furious. I must have interrupted them the last time because my photos were all out of whack.

And bonus for me, I have a way to check my hallway for hidden cameras.

Once home, I call Quentin Sharp. He answers on the second ring. "Sarah is something wrong?"

"Yes. One of Paul's men followed me back home to a restaurant with my friends Caylee and Violet. I thought you were going to do something about him following me. What happens if he has them shoot me somewhere? Or is that fine with you?" I'm in no mood for games anymore.

"Sarah I can't keep you under watch 24/7. I do have eyes on you most of the time. And he won't kill you. He thinks he owns you and needs you for this masquerade auction. We got him mentioning it was going to be their biggest event. We'll get through this and lock them up. You'll be free."

"The minute that night is over?" I ask him pointedly.

"It will take a few days to negotiate the end of your sentence but yes basically."

"Not basically. I will do nothing else after that night. I understand paperwork but I'm through with everything." I tell him firmly.

"Of course. If that's it, I need to go. I have a meeting to get to."

"Sure." I say with irritation. I don't trust him. I sit back and think carefully. I will not be their endless pawn. One thing is for sure after that conversation, I am going to come up with my own insurance to get out of this whole mess. I tried once before but then the whole thing blew up in my face. This event should be perfect for me to fully scorch the earth beneath the Chadwick family and free me from the FBI's reach. With that in mind, I call the other person who can help me deciding to go with the idea that's taken root in my mind.

"Mags, I need a big favor. I need a time bomb virus with a complete backup extension. And I need it to spread through the server like wildfire."