“We need to move,” Janine said, her eyes wide with fear. “I don’t know what’s happening or why, but we can’t stay here.”

“It’s okay,” Addison told her, hugging her close, but her pulse raced at a dizzying speed. The events of the previous night had terrified her as much as they had terrified Janine. Try as she might, Addison had no idea what to make of them. Something about the fake police officer screamed Marcus’ name to her, but that thought seemed improbable.

Marcus wouldn’t be keeping an eye on her, would he? He had always made it very clear that she could leave whenever she wanted to, and the only reason Addison had stayed as long as she had was because she had wanted to.

What had Tavia said to her that first day?

“I have no proof, but girls have just disappeared, ones who Marcus has liked better than others.”

What if it wasn’t Melissa who made them disappear? What if they had all rejected Marcus and he’d had them killed?

It was almost laughable, but Addison was in no mood to laugh. She was gut-wrenched, wondering what would have happened to them if the police had not followed up on the 9-1-1 call, even though Addison had told them not to come. The intruder had taken off through the fire escape just as the cops appeared, but a foot chase after him was futile, and the roommates were left to shiver in fear.

“We have someone out here for the night, in case he decides to return,” a detective assured them. “But I think you two may need to up your security measures or find somewhere else to go in the meantime.”

“How can we move?” Addison demanded. “We don’t have money, and breaking the lease is going to cost us, too!”

“We’ll figure it out,” Janine replied. “Addy, we’re in danger here!”

“Come on,” Addison said, rising from her bed, where they had been for the last two hours. “Let’s get out of here. We’ll go to the diner for breakfast.”

Janine shook her head. “We can’t leave Roscoe here with the door kicked in! If the landlord comes to fix it, who knows what Roscoe will do.”

“Bring him with,” Addison said. “I just can’t stay here a minute longer. I can’t think.” They made their way out of the dilapidated building, nodding to the police officer outside. “We’re going for breakfast,” she told him. “Can we bring you something back?”

His eyes shone with gratitude. “No, thanks, Miss Dryden. I’ll keep watch while you’re gone, though. You two don’t need to worry about anything.”

“He says that now,” Janine muttered. “But in a day, they’ll be gone, and we’ll be corpses on the floor.”

“We will not!” Addison snapped. “Stop saying that!”

“You don’t know that!” she replied. “What was with all the questions he was asking us about finances?”

“I have no idea. He wasn’t making any sense at all, but I don’t think he was a junky or anything. Maybe this is a case of mistaken identity.”

“He knew our names, Addison!” Janine exclaimed. “Both of our names! How many roommates in Toronto have our names?”

“I don’t know!” Addison exploded. “I don’t know, okay? I’m grasping at straws because I’m scared too, Janine! I don’t know what to do, either!”

A part of her wanted to pick up the phone and call Marcus. If he wasn’t involved in this, he would probably know what to do, or he would at least be able to give her some ideas. But if he was involved…

Addison shuddered to think of what would happen if he was a part of it. Her fingers trailed over the cell in her purse as they made their way toward the bus in silence.

“We need to move,” Addison agreed, sighing. “What other choice do we have?”

Olivia and Ramon stared at them in shock as they explained what had happened the previous night.

“Oh, my god!” Olivia gasped. “You have to come and stay with me!”

Janine and Addison exchanged a look and chuckled mirthlessly.

“Olivia,” Addison began, “you already have two roommates in a two-bedroom apartment. Where are you going to put two more and a dog?”

Olivia crinkled her nose and looked down at Roscoe.

“Yeah, the dog can’t come,” she said heavily. “But we will make room for you two!”

“Whoever is after us could still be watching us,” Addison reminded her, eyeing a group of newcomers walking into the diner. “I’m not putting you in the middle of this mess.”

“Do you think it’s your billionaire bastard doing this because you left him?” Olivia asked bluntly, and Addison bristled.

“No!” she said sharply. “I don’t believe that for one minute.”

Janine stared at her. “Is he mad at you?” she asked, and Addison shook her head.

“No!” she protested, her voice rising an octave. “It’s not Marcus, okay?”

Why are you protecting him? a voice in her head demanded. Who else could it be? But Addison did not want to entertain the thought. The Marcus she knew was not a bastard. He was loving and generous. So what if he couldn’t commit to her? That didn’t make him a stalker, or a killer.

“Addison, I know you think it could be him,” Olivia said, and Addison’s hands clenched into a fist.

“You have tables,” she pointed out, turning her head to indicate the end of the conversation.

Olivia grunted and went to deal with the customers as Addison sat back, planning what they should do next.

“You have to move,” Ramon said, as if determined to pick up where Olivia had left off. “It’s not safe for you girls.”

“Janine, maybe you can go stay with your parents for a while until I can figure out a way to get us relocated,” Addison suggested, the wheels in her head turning. However, something told her that no matter where they went, they would be found.

Moving is just prolonging the inevitable, she thought grimly. We need a better plan than that. A plan like running from Toronto and living underground for the rest of our lives.

The bell rang, and Addison’s head whipped around to look at the entranceway again. Her blood froze as she watched a beautifully dressed woman look around the diner, too-wide tinted glasses on her regal face. She gazed in both directions, and as her eyes rested on Addison, fear clutched her heart.

Addison knew her. She worked at Williams Industries.

A caustic smile lit the woman’s face as she strolled toward their table, her heels clicking methodically against the linoleum floor.

“Addison Dryden?” she asked, slipping the sunglasses off her face and revealing a set of steely blue eyes. Suddenly, two men anchored the woman on either side.

“May we see your identification, ma’am?” one asked, and Addison stared at the men in shock, her expression matching the dark-haired woman’s.

“What the hell is this?” the stranger asked in surprise. “Get away from me.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” said the other man, “but Miss Dryden is under police protection. May we see your identification, please?” It wasn’t so much a question as a demand.

Addison and Janine exchanged incredulous looks. They hadn’t realized they had been followed.

“She knows me,” the woman protested, but Addison could only shrug and look down as the detectives stood firmly at her side, waiting. The brunette’s mouth became a line of annoyance as she dug into her handbag for a wallet, thrusting her license and card in the detective’s face. “Are you happy?” she snapped. “My name is Tatiana Dupris, and I’m the chief financial officer at Williams Industries. I could have your testicles on a plate for this!”

“Just doing our duty, ma’am,” the tall cop replied, examining the picture with meticulous eyes. He glanced at Addison. “Do you know this woman, Miss Dryden?”

Addison half-nodded. “I—I’ve seen her in the office,” she replied slowly, and Tatiana seemed to relax slightly as the men stepped back.

“All right. Thank you, ma’am.” They disappeared back to their spots near the counter, leaving Tatiana to stare after them, shaking her head.

“Our tax dollars at work,” she sighed. “Harassing citizens.”

“What are you doing here, Ms. Dupris?” Addison asked, glancing nervously at her.

“May I speak with you privately?” she asked, and Addison wanted to say no instinctively.

“You can speak to me in front of my friends,” she replied with more assertiveness than she felt, but the woman shook her head.

“I’m afraid I can’t. It’s a private company matter and it is for your ears only.”

Addison didn’t know what to do, but the last thing she wanted was to show weakness before the woman standing at the table. Ramon seemed to immediately sense her vulnerability.

“We’ll be right here, Addy,” he told her in a firm voice, and when she looked at him, she could see the encouragement in his eyes. It gave her the motivation she needed to slip from the booth and follow Tatiana toward an empty table in a quieter section.

“Forgive me for intruding on you like this,” she said. “But we have a rather delicate matter that I believe you can help us with. Now, what I am about to tell you cannot go any further than the space between us, do you understand? You can’t tell your roommate, your friends, your mother, no one.”

Addison nodded slowly, already unsure of whether she was going to like what she was going to hear or not.

“Someone has been embezzling money from the Williams accounts, slowly and systematically,” Tatiana said. “In one month, more than three million dollars have been taken.”

Addison blinked at the number. “Wow!” she gasped. “Who?”

“Well, our first thought was you,” Tatiana explained curtly, and Addison felt her heart stop beating.

“What do you mean by ‘our’? You and who else?” she whispered. Tatiana’s smile froze on her face.

“Let’s not make this any more unpleasant than it needs to be, dear,” she said condescendingly, and Addison felt her face flush in humiliation.

Marcus thought I was stealing from him, she realized. That’s why he was angry. He thought I stole money from him and skipped out because of it.

Indignation and fury coursed through her, but she resisted the desire to spring from the table and run away, tears burning behind her eyelids.

“Anyway, through an investigation, we learned that it was not you,” the woman continued, as if she had not dropped a bombshell on Addison, shattering her entire existence.

“That man from last night,” she mumbled. “He was sent by Marcus?”

“That went a little further than it should have, obviously. I mean, now the police are following you around. What an amateur that man is.” Tatiana rolled her eyes.

“He wasn’t trying to kill us?” Addison asked, and Tatiana laughed genuinely, amusement lighting her blue eyes.

“Kill you? Of course not! Although that does explain the look of terror on your face right now.”

“Tatiana, what do you want from me?” Addison demanded angrily, her knuckles white as she gripped the table.

Tatiana looked at her in surprise.

“We want you to come back and work at Williams Industries,” she replied, and it was Addison’s turn to laugh.

“No way,” she replied shortly, rising to her feet. “I have no interest in ever seeing any of your faces again.”

She especially didn’t want to see Marcus. How could he have ever believed she would steal from him?

I didn’t know him at all, she thought, and I guess he never really knew me, either. She felt as if she had lost him all over again.

“Sit down, Addison.” Tatiana’s voice was like whiplash, and Addison found herself obliging, despite her resolve to be strong. “You’re not thinking clearly.” Addison gritted her teeth and waited. “We only want you to come and help us uproot the real thief. Your presence there will shake her up, undoubtedly.”

“Why do you think that?” Addison asked dubiously. “I am not a threat to anyone there.”

Tatiana sighed, as if Addison were causing her physical pain. “Have you not heard a word I’ve been saying, dear? We thought you were responsible for taking the money because someone set it up to look that way. The withdrawals coincided with your arrival and stopped with your departure. Whoever is stealing the money does not think they have been caught, and if we put you back in the fold, they will continue to use your presence as cover.”

Blood slowly drained from Addison’s face as the reality of the situation set in. She had been someone’s patsy. But whose? Had it been Tavia? Melissa?

She eyed Tatiana. It could’ve even been her.

“Well?” Tatiana asked. “Do you have the guts to stand up for yourself and clear your name, or are you going keep letting people walk all over you your whole life?”

Addison glared at her. What did this woman know about her life? “Don’t you have people who can look into this for you? Like the jackass who broke down our apartment door?”

“I’ll have that fixed for you,” Tatiana assured her. “And to answer your question, of course we do…”

She trailed off, which made Addison wonder what she was missing.

“But?” she asked when Tatiana did not immediately respond. The brunette seemed to be debating what to disclose to her. “If you want me to do this, I think I deserve to know why it’s falling on my head to fix things.”

Tatiana grimaced.

“We would prefer not to involve anyone else in the company,” she confessed, and Addison realized that Marcus was embarrassed that he had brought this to his doorstep. She wondered what Tatiana had to gain by staying quiet, but she was sure the woman had her reasons.

“After I find out who did this, I can leave?” she asked, and Tatiana nodded.

“If that’s what you want. I will see that you are compensated for your efforts.” Tatiana rose, slipping her a card as she brushed off her pants. “Call me when you have decided, but I beg you not to take too long. If you decide not to do this, we will need to devise another plan.”

“I’ll do it,” Addison said suddenly, and Tatiana’s eyes grew large.

“Really?” she said, sounding surprised. “I was sure you would want to agonize over it overnight.”

Addison smiled coldly. “Maybe I’m sick of being so predictable,” she replied.

Tatiana met her gaze, and Addison saw a glimmer of appreciation fall over her face.

“See you Monday morning,” she said, leaving the diner without a backward glance. As soon as she left the diner, Ramon, Janine, and Olivia rushed over to her.

“What the hell was that all about?” they asked at the same time.

Addison chuckled and flopped back into the booth. “The good news is, no one is trying to kill us, Janine. We can go home and call off the police.”

“What?” asked Janine.

“Why?” Ramon questioned.

“How can you be sure?” Olivia demanded. The questions were rapid-fire and from three different directions. Addison held up her hand.

“The bad news is,” she continued, “I might end up on someone else’s hit list.”

The diner was almost unbearable as her friends bombarded her with questions, but Addison barely heard a word. The anticipation of seeing Marcus again blocked out everything else.