Erin opened the door to Nicky’s room and peered in. Through the gloom, she could just make out her cousin’s form on the bed, fast asleep. She heaved a sigh of relief and shut the door just as quietly as she’d opened it. At least her absence hadn’t been noticed, thank god for small mercies.
She crossed to the kitchen to make some coffee, then called her assistant to get the same brand of ice cream and have it delivered to the apartment while the coffee brewed. Finished with the call, Erin leaned against the counter, resting her head on the cool marble in an effort to calm the throbbing in her head.
Even though her feet hurt from spending nearly the entire afternoon idly roaming the park nearby, trying to get her thoughts and feelings sorted out. It had worked…to an extent, the air and ambience doing a lot to calm her nerves.
Now back home, she kept her mind blank, knowing that if she allowed herself to even so much as think of anything, it would open the floodgates and unleash the storm of thoughts about Ethan. And that was the last thing Erin wanted. Not for the first time in the past hours, Erin wished she could absorb herself in work, making it easier to avoid thinking about him…maybe Kim was right, and she’d put her life on hold for Nicky’s sake. It was time to focus back on work…she could handle most business through her laptop anyway, but first, she needed to see about finding a good therapist to help Nicky.
Her phone rang. Head still down, she reached for it and answered without looking at the screen.
Hello?”
“Don’t hang up.” Ethan said quickly. “There’s something you should know.”
The drive to Ethan’s office took less than an hour and Erin was met by a woman she recognized as Ethan’s assistant waiting in the lobby.
“Ms. Gosling?” The pretty brunette gave her a businesslike smile and indicated for Erin to follow her. “I’m Laura, Mr. Lachlan’s executive assistant. Please come with me.”
Erin merely nodded, her thoughts too muddled to bother with niceties. She followed Laura to the elevators, her mind a whirl as she replayed the phone call over in her mind.
Ethan hadn’t said much, all he’d said was that he’d come across another article about them…this time on the internet. He’d asked to meet, and Erin had suggested she come by his office as she didn’t want him coming to Nicky’s place.
Her hands felt cold, and she thrust them in the pockets of her coat as they approached Ethan’s office. At the door, Laura knocked once, then entered, Erin following close behind. Her gaze fell on Ethan seated at his huge desk, a grim expression on his face as he talked to a young purple haired girl of about twenty who sat beside him hunched over two laptops.
Ethan looked up as they entered and Erin felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of his frown. He rose and nodded a dismissal to Laura then motioned for Erin to take a seat.
“You said there was another article?” Erin asked, ignoring the chair he indicated. Her gaze slipped past him to the girl who hadn’t so much as spared either of them a glance. “Where is it?”
Ethan nodded and towards one of the screens. “See for yourself.”
Erin crossed to the table and turned the laptop so she could see. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the images.
“Oh my god!”
The pictures were slightly blurry, but Erin could still recognize herself, kissing Ethan in his Maserati, then another scene she recalled all too well…the kiss Ethan had used as a distraction in the lobby of The Gosling, and pictures of the both of them entering his apartment building. She scanned the accompanying article and her horror deepened.
“H…how did they get these pictures? And who posted them?” She choked, raising her horrified gaze to Ethan who had moved to stand beside her. Panic bubbled from the depths of her belly, tightening like steel bands around her chest, depriving her of breath. “Oh my God! How many people have seen this?”
“It was posted by Diprave211, and so far it’s got two hundred and fifty three thousand views and counting.” The teen replied in a bored tone, not taking her eyes off the screen she was staring at. “Three hundred and one likes, sixty two comments.”
Erin stared at the girl in confusion. “What?”
“Zoie is an intern from my IT department and I asked her to join us because she’ll be able to help us trace the source of this article and get us some tangible leads towards finding out who did this.” Ethan placed a comforting hand on Erin’s shoulders. “My legal team have already contacted the site administrators and they’ve agreed to take the article down as soon as Zoie can get the information we need.”
Erin tried to swallow, but couldn’t get past the lump in her throat. How many of the three hundred and something people were people Erin was familiar with? No one had said anything yet, but this could do some real damage to The Gosling if any of their top clients got a hold of it.
“I want it down now Ethan. I don’t care about any information…I just want it taken off before someone from my family or a client sees this.”
“If we pull the article now, we’ll lose any chance of finding out who put them up in the first place.” Ethan reasoned. “Whoever did this, obviously has some sort of vendetta against me or you and will probably just find some other way to keep hurting us. I’m especially not comfortable with the fact that this person has been stalking us all along. Who knows what lengths they’ll go if we don’t catch them.”
“And how long is this going to take?” Erin asked, trying hard to keep the hysteria from bubbling over. “Why can’t we just ask the administrators to tell us who posted the article?”
“They can only give us the IP address and the information the user gave when signing up for the site,” Zoie replied, “But that won’t help much, especially if he falsified the information. I’ve set up an IP protocol that…”
“Zoie assures me it’ll only be a matter of minutes and she’ll be able to get us something.” Ethan cut in, taking Erin’s elbow and leading her to an armchair, his worried gaze swept over her pale face in concern. “You look peaked, I’ll get you something to drink.”
He turned to leave but Erin detained him with a light touch of his sleeve. “I don’t want a drink. Please you have to do something about that article.”
Ethan smiled at her in reassurance. “I’ll handle it Erin, don’t worry.” He leaned down to lightly brush a strand of hair from her face, his eyes filled with something akin to tenderness.
“Mr. Lachlan?” Zoie’s excited voice called across the room. “I’ve got something.”
They both hurried to the girl’s side, who was practically squirming in her seat from excitement.
“What have you got?” Ethan demanded, leaning close to gaze at the screen.
“I won’t bore you guys with the details, but I was able to trace the IP address and I think I’ve got the name of the user. Lilian Putney. I ran an Id check and I got a picture and address.”
“That name again!” Erin exclaimed, sharing a look with Ethan. “But it still doesn’t ring a bell.”
“What’s the address?” Ethan asked. “I’ll go over there and see if I can find this mystery woman.”
Zoie handed him a printout of the page and Ethan smiled. “Thank you Zoie.”
The girl returned the smile with a blush and ducked her head in pleasure. “No probs.”
“Will you be going there now?” Erin asked. “I’m coming with you.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea Erin.” Ethan replied, his gaze shuttered as he prepared to leave the office. “I’ll rather go alone and I will get back to you with any news.”
“Not a chance. This woman, whoever she is…has made it her business to stalk me. Like hell I’m going to sit idly by while you go find her.” Erin lifted her chin at him in defiance, her eyes daring him to stop her from going with him. “Don’t waste your breath Lachlan, I’m coming too.”
Ethan’s lips twisted in a cynical smile. “Let’s go then, but you’ll stay in the car while I check out the place?”
“Yeah…not happening.”
“So, Nicky’s called off the wedding?”
Erin blinked in surprise and turned from the window to stare at Ethan in confusion. He didn’t take his eyes off the road, both hands resting with easy grace on the wheel, as the Maserati ate up the miles of freeway.
“Huh?”
“The wedding.” Ethan repeated, “It was cancelled?”
He knew about that? Erin thought in surprise, her gaze trained on his face trying to gauge his expression but his face was neutral. “Oh…how did you know?”
He shrugged those powerful shoulders. “Marcus told me about it.”
Her brain ran through the name until she recognized it as belonging to Ethan’s best friend, Marcus Dressler. She licked her lips and studied him some more, slightly frustrated that she couldn’t get a read off his body language. What was going through Ethan’s mind at the moment? She wondered. Was he elated by the news of Nicky’s breakup? Or indifferent as he seemed to want her to believe.
“Well…Ryan and Nicky had…. a fight and decided to put off the whole thing for a while.” She murmured, turning away to face the window, feeling a bolt of something she was reluctant to identify at the unbidden thought that perhaps Ethan was interested in getting back with Nicky.
It could be true, she reasoned glumly, after all he’d carried a grudge for over five years…so that could just as well mean he still harbored feelings for her cousin and wanted to rekindle their relationship.
Stop thinking about that! She chided herself silently, fists clenching against the pang in her chest. It wasn’t any business of hers anyway if Ethan wanted back with Nicky. What she needed right now was to focus on solving this puzzle of their stalker and then try to put everything behind her.
Her phone rang and she rooted around in her purse for it, grateful for the distraction it offered. “Yes?”
“Hey Erin,” A male voice said, “I don’t know if you remember me, but it’s Todd…Dr. Haskell?”
Recognition dawned. “Hey…hey…Todd, of course I remember you. Hi.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ethan turn to face her, a dark scowl on his face and she held back a satisfied smirk.
Todd laughed, the sound filling her ears. In the back ground, she could hear the sounds of a busy hospital. “Right…yeah…that’s a relief. How are you?”
“I’m good. Haven’t heard from you in a while.” She heard Ethan mutter something under his breath, hands tightening on the wheel, but Erin ignored him.
“Sorry about that.” Todd apologized, sounding genuinely contrite. “I’ve been in Washington for the past few weeks. Just got back last night and I thought to give you a call and see if you’re free for maybe lunch…or dinner anytime soon?”
Her heart skipped a beat and she shot a glance at Ethan to find him openly glaring at her now, his ice blue eyes flashed a warning as though he knew why Todd was calling. She yanked her gaze away and took a deep breath. “I’d like that, but maybe not right away? I’m in the middle of something at the moment, but I will call you as soon as it clears up. Might take a few days though.”
“That’s great.” Todd sounded enthusiastic. “I’ll expect your call then.”
“Ok, bye.” Erin chuckled, flattered despite the man glaring holes down her neck.
There was a tense silence in the car for a few minutes, Erin stealing covert glances at a stony faced Ethan, jaw working as he steered the car off the freeway, towards Oakland.