“Does he know who you are?” Marcus asked.
“He knows my name.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No.”
Marcus exhaled.
“Audrey, you need to tell him.”
“I will.”
“When?”
She looked at the blue quilt.
“Not tonight.”
The next morning Audrey came downstairs before six.
Oliver was grinding coffee.
Lucy sat at the counter eating toast.
“How’d you sleep?” Oliver asked.
“Better than expected.”
“Your contact?”
“Still arranging somewhere else.”
Oliver poured coffee into a mug.
“Sit.”
Audrey did.
She had spent half the night deciding how much truth she could tell without compromising the investigation.
The answer, she realized, was still not enough.
“I left a controlling relationship.”
Oliver’s hands stopped briefly.
Audrey continued.
“He’s connected to a company involved in a property dispute I’m examining.”
“Police?”
“No.”
“Lawyers?”
“Some.”
“Are you hiding from him?”
“In part.”
“Is he violent?”
“I’ve never seen him physically hurt anyone.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Audrey looked at him.
“No. I don’t believe he is physically violent.”
“But?”
“He uses contracts, careers, financial pressure, access. People who depend on him.”
Oliver nodded slowly.
“That can still be dangerous.”
“Yes.”
“The apartment?”
“Someone entered using a credential tied to his office.”
Oliver looked toward Lucy.
“Does he know you’re here?”
“Not yet.”
“Could he find out?”
“Yes.”
“You understand my daughter lives above this cafe half the week.”
“I do.”
Audrey’s voice softened.
“That’s why I can leave today.”
Oliver studied her.
He did not rescue people impulsively.
Hannah used to tease him about turning every emotional decision into a checklist.
It had made him a good restaurant owner.
It had also been how he survived after she died.
Risk.
Options.
Consequences.
“Anyone likely to come here today?”
“I don’t know.”
“Any reason to expect violence?”
“No.”
“If that changes, you tell me immediately.”
“I will.”
Audrey offered to rent the studio for two weeks.
Oliver wrote a simple agreement.
Dates.
Amount.
Separate entrance.
Right for either side to end the arrangement.
Audrey paid in cash.
Too much.
Oliver counted it.
Then returned several bills.
“This covers it.”
“I can pay more.”
“I set the rate.”
Audrey looked at him.
Then accepted the money without argument.
Later that morning she asked another question.
“Could you use help?”
Oliver frowned.