Page 14 of The Veteran

A ringing phone cut her off. She glanced at the screen and frowned. “It’s one of the women I work with. Is it all right if I answer?”

“Go for it.”

6

SAGE

I accepted the call and lifted the phone to my ear. “Hi, lovely.”

“Hey, sweetheart.” Toshi’s voice was soft, with a slight accent. “I just wanted to check whether your friends caught up with you yesterday. They seemed eager to see you.”

The back of my neck prickled. “What friends?”

“I guess not then.” She laughed. “Two men came looking for you. They said they were visiting the city and wanted to see you while they’re here. They were at the studio shortly after you left and I told them they’d just missed you.”

My stomach dropped. Behind his desk, Kade stiffened and gestured for me to put the phone on speaker. I did. “What did they look like?”

She must have noticed something in my voice because she was quiet for a few seconds. “What’s going on?”

“The men,” I prompted. “What did they look like?”

“Middle-aged.” Her tone told me she wasn’t happy I’d avoided the question. “One was average height, the other short. Both a bit scruffy.”

My empty hand clenched into a fist. “Did they give you their names?”

She huffed. “Some standard white guy stuff. John, I think. Not sure about the other one. Actually, come to think of it, I don’t think the second guy told me his name.”

Kade met my eyes.

“Is something wrong?” Toshi asked. “They were actually old friends, right?”

I sighed. “Not quite. Did they ask you for any information about me?”

“They said they’d just come from your house, but you hadn’t been there,” she said. “I mentioned that following your social media account is a good way to keep up with you since you update it so regularly.”

I pressed my hands to my cheek, feeling suddenly cold. “Did you show them how?”

“Yeah. Although it seemed strange to me that they wouldn’t already know about it.”

I bit my lip, wondering how much to tell her, but I didn’t want her to be at risk if they came back. “They’re not good people, Tosh. If you see them again, don’t let them in. Call the police. I mean it.”

“I will.” Toshi sounded shaken. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.”

“I know.” She was as inclined to see the good in people as I was. “I’ve got to go.”

“Whatever’s happening, take care, okay?”

“I promise.”

She hung up.

“I’ll call Joanna,” Kade said. “This could be an important lead. She’ll need to question your friend.”

I nodded with a sinking feeling. Yet another innocent was being dragged into this mess. I just hoped she didn’t get hurt.

KADE

The call to Joanna connected nearly immediately. I filled her in on what Sage’s friend had said.