Free Accept Me by J. L. Mac Page B

about all I can take of his namedropping and bragging.
    When I resurface, My Greene has left the store and apparently so have Lindsay and Trey.
    “Where’d your sister go?” I ask, looking around.
    “I don’t know, but she took off out of here like her hair was on fire. She said she’d be right back.” Brian waves dismissively towards the door as if he’s completely unconcerned. “I emailed you and Damon a copy of my notes. I gotta get out of here. Boss Man has already texted me twice to go get a file from Mike Passarelli,” he says, shaking his head and stowing his tablet in his man purse.
    “Who’s Mike?”
    “His personal snoop,” Brian replies easily.
    “What?” I make no effort at hiding the quizzical look on my face.
    “Yeah, Mike just does all of Damon’s personal snooping into everything business and personal. How do you not know this?” he squeaks in the most dubious fashion.
    “Good question,” I mutter weakly, because I really don’t get why I don’t already know about this guy. Who hires someone to snoop around for them? Someone with interests to protect.
    “Yeah Mike is all macho Bruce Willis, Die Hard style. He’s pretty hot, too. Don’t go getting me into trouble, chick.” Brian points one manicured finger at me.
    “Never,” I assert, holding up my hands in surrender.
    “K. Later, skater,” he singsongs on his way out the door.
    “Peace out, girl scout,” I counter.
    Snoop? Like investigator? Guess I’ll have to ask Damon about more than just the watch tonight.

 
     
     
    When our house comes into view, I see Damon’s truck parked in front. I’m surprised. He rarely beats me home.
    “I’m going to have a nap, Jo,” Grams says as I help her out of the car. “I’ll be in later on.”
    “Okay, Grams. Get some rest.” I follow her down the walkway to her apartment and help her in. I smile and shut the door, then hurry back into the house to get out of these clothes and see what Damon’s doing. I’d like to know all about this Mike Passarelli snoop guy. I’m especially curious to learn if Mike investigated me when we first started seeing each other.
    “Damon?” I call out, waiting a moment for his response. Nothing. I head in the direction of his office, betting that I’ll find my Big Man in there. I tap lightly on the door then open it before Damon invites me in. I never wait for an invitation. “Hey, I called for you,” I say as I enter. “What are you doing?”
    Damon sits behind his desk, reading from a manila folder with a vacant expression on his face. Every nerve in my body goes on high alert. Something isn’t right. He stands without saying a word and rounds his desk, striding towards the door.
    Damon shuts his office door and stands himself between me and my exit. “What did you do?” he asks levelly.
    My heart instantly doubles its pace and I know what’s coming. I can see it in his eyes. He knows. This is happening and I’m not ready for any of it.
    “What did you do?” he repeats in an eerily calm voice. The only response I can register is a series of confused shakes of my head. “Don’t you deny it, Josephine; I saw you with Grams talking to her at the store.”
    “What?”
    “CCTV, Josephine. It was installed yesterday evening.”
    “You were using it to spy on me?”
    “That’s irrelevant.”
    “No, I think it’s completely relevant. What else have you been spying on, huh? Has Mike fed you anything juicy?” I march to his desk and snatch the manila folder up and flip it open. My eyes scan the first few lines before Damon crosses the room and seizes it from my hands, flinging it back onto the desk.
     
    Subject: Edward Cole
    Findings: Substantial debt to various private lending institutions and their affiliates. No known aliases. No known foreign accounts or property. Record of two cellular numbers registered to “Edward Cole.” Surveillance to continue as previously discussed.
     
    Subject: Philippe Geroux, Collette Geroux,