“But why?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out.”

Chapter Thirteen

“How did he leave so fast?” I frowned as Jakob and I left the building and headed for his car.

“Almost as if he were tipped off.” Jakob drove off.

“You think Joseph told him?”

“I think there was no CVS trip.” Jakob nodded.

“Why didn’t we ask Joseph?”

“He’d deny it.” Jakob slammed his hand against the steering wheel. “Fuck!”

“What are we going to do now? We don’t have access to Larry. We don’t know who Maxwell is. David’s gone into hiding. We don’t know who the lady in the photograph is. What do we have?”

“We have Steve.” Jakob sounded thoughtful. “We know he was working for someone who wanted to intimidate both of us. And at this point, I don’t think it was Larry.”

“You don’t think he was working for David?”

“No.” Jakob shook his head. “His loyalties were stronger to me than to David.”

“But he turned on you.”

“Yes, he did. But I refuse to believe it would be for someone like David. He couldn’t stand rich kids who’ve been handed everything on a silver platter. He wouldn’t have done this for David, and I don’t think that David would have hired him anyway. What would David care if we got close? Why would he want us both intimidated?” Jakob shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense. At first, I thought it had to be David. That’s why I pretended to be Mattias when you accused me. I wanted you to think you’d caught me out. I wanted you to think you knew everything.”

“Why?”

“Because I knew that if you knew that there was no Mattias, you’d keep digging. And I didn’t want you in any more danger. Not when I knew someone was out there trying to scare us both.”

“You were worried about me?”

“I didn’t even want to let you go, but I knew you wouldn’t trust me. My best bet was to let you think I was Mattias and let you go home.”

“But you couldn’t stay away. You still texted and called me and left that weird note.”

“I texted and called you because I had to be in contact with you. I didn’t leave you any note.”

“Yes, you did, the night you snuck into my apartment.”

“I only snuck into your apartment the night we had sex.” He looked at me with a worried frown.

“You didn’t cross out Jakob and write Mattias on a letter?” I asked, perplexed, my brain working fast. “The person hadn’t broken in. They had to have had a key.”

“Who has a key?”

“Well, you do. How else did you get in?”

“I was given a copy of your keys . . . by David.”

“What? Why would he do that? And how did he have them?”

“I assumed you’d given him a copy?”

“No. He never even came to my place.” I shook my head and then gasped. “Do you think he snuck into my apartment that night?”

“Possibly.” Jakob nodded. “But not because of you, because of me.”

“Because of you?”

“He wanted to bring me out into the open. He knew I’d find out and he knew that I’d have to get involved again.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I let you return, I came back as well, but I didn’t tell him. I knew he’d want to know what had happened, but I no longer trusted him. He must have realized that something had gone wrong when you called him from the hotel. We were meant to be on that island for two to three weeks. That was the original plan. He obviously knew you’d arrived back, and he was calling me, demanding to know what was going on. I didn’t answer him. I needed time to think. I think David realized that and he was trying to get to you. I think that’s why he was trying so hard to turn you against me and convince you I was Mattias and couldn’t be trusted. He knew when I didn’t contact him when I got back that I was onto him. After Steve went rogue, I knew that there was a lot more going on than I’d thought.”

“You keep saying that! Why didn’t you tell me that when we were on the island?”

“Would you have wanted to listen to me then? You didn’t trust me. And obviously it was for a good reason. I needed to regain your trust by letting you go. I needed you to know that I never had any intention of harming you in any way.”

“I wish you’d at least tried to tell me.”

“I’m sorry.” He reached over and squeezed my hand.

“I have a question for you about the company.”

“Sure.”

“So this merger that’s about to go through, do you think that’s the only reason David wanted me gone?” I sighed. “I don’t understand why he didn’t try and kidnap me again when I returned, if he’d wanted me out of the way so badly. The merger hasn’t gone through yet, has it?”

“The merger goes through tomorrow,” Jakob muttered.

“Where do you think David went?”

“No idea.” Jakob sighed. “I think our best right now is to go back to my place and look at the clues again.”

“Why does it feel like we keep going around in circles? Every time we want to talk to someone they disappear.”

“That’s why I’m not letting you out of my sight. I don’t want you to disappear again.”