Mason shrugged. “It was bound to happen anyway. The writing was on the wall for years now.”
I wanted to yell at him, to tell him that part of their separation was his fault for taking off. But what good would it do me besides venting my frustration? And in another way, I felt a little guilty myself. If I hadn’t ratted him out, maybe he’d have never left to begin with? But what was done, was done. I needed to stay focused on the task at hand.
If I can stop thinking about Mason every other second, I thought.
It annoyed me that even after all this time, I was still heavily attracted to him. So much for out of sight, out of mind. Course it’d worked for a while, but now that he was back in front of me, it was all flooding back.
“Anyway,” I said, intent on changing the subject. “Rosemary Collins. I told her that she’d be the first to know if I found out information on her daughter’s killer—”
“You can’t have any contact with her,” Mason cut in immediately. “None at all. Not right now.”
I began to protest. “But I wouldn’t tell her about the video—”
“None!” Mason snapped. His expression softened when he saw the hurt look in my eyes. “I’m sorry, Carly. I’m just looking out for you. We have no idea who the mayor has watching the woman. You can’t contact her in any fashion. Doing so might put us both at risk . . . and ruin everything we’re trying to work toward. Think about it, it was her daughter — you can’t expect her to not tell anyone. She’ll go telling anyone and everyone who’ll listen.”
My cheeks reddened with embarrassment. How could I be so stupid? Mason was right. I should’ve known better.
“You’re right,” I muttered. “I was being stupid.”
Mason shook his head. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. I can tell you’re emotionally invested in this and it’s easy to get confused. Just don’t worry about Rosemary right now, okay? We’ll get her the closure she deserves. I promise.”
“Okay.”
“Now, you asked how we’re going to load this video onto your blog. I think we should use the university library. It should be easy to blend in. Of course, once it’s on your blog, you’re going to be just as much of a target as I am.”
I arched an eyebrow, and Mason paused, licking his lips as if considering if he should tell me something else. “There are other people watching me. They have eyes everywhere and probably have more resources than whoever is trying to cover this up. That’s who I’m worried about . . . ” His last sentence was ominous.
A weight settled on my chest as the reality of what I was involved with set in. On top of running from the authorities, Mason had enemies.
“Who are these people?” I asked, trying not to sound too cynical. It was hard to believe some random group of people could have more resources than whoever controlled the coverup, but hey, I could be wrong. “And what do they want?”
Mason set his jaw. “I can’t tell you right now.”
“Can’t? Or won’t.”
“A little bit of both.”
What the hell have I gotten myself into? What if his enemies are real and they really are watching him?
Mason’s fears, real or imagined, didn’t matter now. It was too late to turn back — I was in too deep, too emotionally involved.
“I gotta say, what you’ve alluded to, some powerful enemies dancing in the shadows. It sounds a little far-fetched, but considering I just saw a video of the mayor murdering a young girl, I guess I believe you. You’re going to have to tell me about these people sooner or later, though,” I said firmly. “I deserve to know what I’m dealing with here.”
Mason nodded. “You’re right . . . and I will as soon as we get this video out there. But trust me when I say, these people don’t fuck around.”
He gave me an intense look that drove his point home and I felt a chill in my bones.
I shivered. Mason was dead serious. “Fine,” I said finally. “I’ll take your word for now. I’m going whip up an article I want you to post along with the video.”
“Oh yeah. I was going to ask you about that. What did you have in mind?”
I tapped my fingers thoughtfully against my cheek, my excitement pushing away the foreboding I’d felt moments before. “Um, I think something simple, and let viewers draw their own conclusion. Along the lines of . . . this video was sent to me by an anonymous individual. Viewers are invited to come to their own conclusions as to the identity of the man in this video. Something like that.”
“Hmm. Sounds good.”
Done with his breakfast, Mason pushed back his plate and became silent, his sparkling green eyes stabbing into me.
I shifted in my seat, literally squirming beneath his gaze.
“What?” I asked.
“You’ve grown into such a beautiful woman,” he said softly. “I always thought you would, but to see it in person . . .” he trailed off, his eyes boring into my face.
Blood rushed to my cheeks.