Page 193 of Hate to Love You

“Right, but she was there. With all of them. And heard everything they said. And what if Igor was just a—”

“Catalyst,” I finish for him.

“Right,” Cal nods. “What if he was the first? What if she applied for the job to get close to him? And then, separately, what if Boris, Jacques, Noah were targeted because of that meeting.”

My finger taps along the armrest of the wicker chair I’m sitting in as I consider her theory.

“That’s a possibility,” I finally say.

“We just have to figure out what her motivation for killing them is,” Cal says, sitting down across from me. “That’s the only thing we have yet to understand.”

Trying to remember what we discussed at the Walston Street meeting, my mind is immediately drawn to the notes Abby took.

Boris—wants to know if there’s grandmas he can kill.

Jacques—will “extract” information.

Noah—will help his brother “extract” information.

At the time, I remember thinking they were quite comical when she had typed them up and put them on my desk. But now, they seem to scream her motive.

“Actually,” I say slowly, the pieces slowly slotting into place. “I might.”

Cal looks at me tilting his head.

“She had an abusive ex. What if that’s somehow her target? Men who hurt people?”

“Well, Boris did have those three girls who accused him of rape.”

“He did rape them,” I say, shooting him a look. “He just made sure none of them talked.”

“Well, if she’s after men who hurt people,” Cal says, blinking rapidly. “We’re fucked. Because the only three people left from that meeting are you, me, and Oleg.”

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “If Abby wanted to kill me, she would’ve done it already. And she’s had access to you nearly every day.”

“Which just leaves Oleg,” Cal says, the smirk spreading on his face echoing the one on my own.

“Sounds like bait to me,” I grin watching him nod.

There’s no way for Cal to know, but I’m desperate to catch Abby in the act. As morbid as it sounds, I have this insatiable desire to see how she’s been systematically killing my men for the last few weeks.

…And I have no idea why.

“I have a plan,” I say quietly. “And I think it could work, but I need to sort out some details first.”

Cal nods before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.

Oh shit…what now.

“There is one other piece of business I need to discuss with you,” he says cautiously. “But you’re not going to like it.”

“I haven’t liked any of this,” I sigh, instantly clenching my jaw. “But what is it?”

From his suitcoat Cal produces a small white envelope with my name on it.

“This was delivered to your office this morning,” Cal nods, handing it to me. “I’ve already opened it.”

Flipping up the envelope flap I realize that it contains three pictures.