Chapter 32
Before Steve could answer, I reached down and snatched the phone from his hand. One look at the screen reminded me why I'd been avoiding that photo in the first place.
Studying it now, I couldn't help but wince. Maybe I did look alittleho-baggy, but I hadn't meant to.
From his spot on sofa, Steve turned around to face me. "You see 'em?"
I shook my head. Mostly, I saw a couple of nipples that were obnoxiously perky – and on clear display through the soaked fabric of that thin, white blouse.
Stupid rain.
Steve gestured to my phone. "Upper right corner."
I looked again, but I still didn't see anything. Confused, I enlarged the photo and zoomed in where he indicated. Finally, I saw them, two shadowed figures slinking around the side of a decrepit, brick building.
They wore baggy jeans and dark hoodies, with the hoods pulled low over their faces, probably because of the downpour. Between their hoods and the rain, I had no idea what they looked like, but I could still make out their basic forms. They weren't middle-aged businessmen, that was for darn sure.
My stomach sank. Sothat'swhy Jake had wanted me to look at that photo again? Was he trying to make a point? If so, he'd succeeded. But why hadn't he just told me?
Trying for a bravado that I didn't quite feel, I said, "Okay. So I wasn't the only one who got caught in the rain. What's the big deal?"
"It looks to me," Steve said, "like they were following you."
"Oh come on," I said. "They were not."
"You sure about that?"
I lifted my chin. "Sure enough."
"Uh-huh." He gave me a dubious look. "You gonna bet your life on it?"
"No. Because that's a stupid bet."
"Except you did."
Okay, this made zero sense. "What do you mean?" I asked.
"The minute you walked down that street, you were betting it would be alright." He snorted. "Now,that'sa stupid bet."
"Yeah," Anthony agreed. "Talk about a longshot."
I made a sound of irritation. "There was no betting. I hardly even thought about it."
Steve extended his index finger and shot me with an imaginary gun. "Exactly."
Damn it. When did he get so smug all of a sudden? I looked to Anthony and said, "It wasn't a longshot." I summoned up a smile. "See? Here I am. Safe and sound."
Anthony shrugged. "Hey, someone's gotta win the lotto." He turned to Steve and said, "You know what we should do?"
"What?" Steve asked.
"We should find those guys and ask 'em."
Steve gave a slow nod. "Yeah. We should."
Horrified, I looked from Anthony to Steve and back again. "Ask them what?"
"If they were following you," Anthony said.
