He nods. “I agree. Finally, I need to ask you about the investigation into the building site collapse near the waterfront.”

“Yes . . .” I say, warily.

“We believe that Mr. Graves is involved somehow or at the very least, has a keen interest in that site. Has anything he said or done since the collapse occurred that leads you to believe or suspect he could be responsible?”

All of the air in my lungs rushes out of me as his words hit me. Lives lost, because of a what? A man’s fixation? Obsession? Revenge?

“Shit!” I stand and walk to my window, subconsciously looking out towards the bay and the still-empty building site. “We did have some plans go missing for a day, maybe more, after the accident. Cal/OHSA wanted them to compare to the construction manager’s copy and we couldn’t find them.” I mentally kick myself; Grant and I didn’t even question it at the time.

I turn around to look at Detective Lawrence once more. “It is a distinct possibility. He was in my office when we found out about the collapse. We’d had a scene downstairs with Jodi; she was trying to get in to see me but security had been advised to not let her or any members of the press through the lobby. He offered to go downstairs and placate her. Then Grant told me today that he threatened her, said I asked him to see her out. Holy fuck!”

“That corroborates what Mr. Richardson told us during questioning, and also fills in a few blanks,” he says. “Was he in the office all morning?”

“I don’t know. He always tells us when he’s coming into the office and when he has classes. My assistant could tell you if he was here that morning.”

“Okay. I’ll ask her shortly.”

I move back to the desk and slump into my chair, leaning an elbow on one of my knees and gripping a hand behind my neck. Looking back over the desk at him, I ask, “What do we know?”

“We believe you could be in danger from Mr. Graves. We cannot locate him. His car and cell phone were left at his apartment and his family has not heard from him since early yesterday morning. We have tracked his movements from the office yesterday, to his apartment last night, then to Ms. Harding’s restaurant and from there he went to Georgio’s Bar. We do not have him on camera putting anything in Ms. Malestrom’s drink but it’s our belief that he did drug her and after she went outside for some fresh air, she called you.”

“Jesus,” I spit out, my mind a blur as I try to process everything the detective has told me. “Lucia? She’s at her apartment then she’s going back to my house later this afternoon. Is she safe? Do I need to get her to go somewhere?”

He bites his lip then shakes his head. “We have no reason to believe that Ms. Harding is a target. Everything we found is focused on you. There were a lot of news reports written by a Ms. Carmen Dallas, and we found evidence of emails between Mr. Graves and an anonymous email address too, we’re working on tracing the owner right now. Hopefully our search on his desk and computer here will give us more to go on.” He pauses and tilts his head, studying me for a moment. “On second thought, I would probably recommend you get in contact with your girlfriend and ask her to be vigilant today. Maybe she should not be alone until we locate Mr. Graves.”

Then that feeling of foreboding returns ten-fold at the very thought of Graves getting anywhere near Lucia, especially if he sees it as a way to get to me.

“I’ll call her. I’ll call her right now.”

“I’ll just go check in with the officers conducting the search,” Detective Lawrence says, standing up from his chair.

I nod, fear choking me as I pick up my desk phone and call Lucia’s cell.

“Hello?” she answers after a few rings.

“Hey, it’s Cal,” I reply, with a huge sigh of relief.

“It’s only been a few hours, Cal. Surely something can’t have happened already?”

My responding laugh is hollow, not at all normal, and she picks up on that straight away. “Cal, what’s wrong?”

“Are you at your apartment?”

“Yeah, I’ve just been packing up my clothes into suitcases, then I was going to call by the restaurant to update Gino and head home.”

Home.

“I don’t want you to be alone. Until the police find Graves, we need to be extra vigilant. He’s not in the right frame of mind right now and is getting desperate. Whatever is going through his head, it’s not rational, and they think he might go after you in order to get to me. Can you stay with Gino?” Just the thought of Graves anywhere near Lucia has my blood running cold.

“Why, Cal? What’s happened?” Her voice lowers to a whisper.

“The detective investigating Graves has just been in with me. They’re searching Graves’s desk and office here. They think he drugged Jodi and left her to fend for herself. They can’t find him and when they searched his apartment, they found some . . . things about me.”

“About you?” she asks with a tight voice.

“I’ll explain later, but I need to know you’re safe.”

“I’ll be safe, Cal. We’ve been through too much to have anything stop us now,” she says softly. Her voice is resolute, her words definitive, yet she fails to hide the slight tremor in her tone. She’s scared, and all I want to do is reassure her that everything is going to be alright.

“They’ll find him, Luce.”

“They’ll find him. Then we can all move on,” she replies, ever hopeful.

“Call me when you get to the restaurant?” I ask.

“Of course. You stay safe, Callum Alexander. I have a lot of plans for you and they all involve you coming home to me.”

This time, I laugh, and I do it honestly. “Wouldn’t want to put a crimp in your plans.”

“No, definitely not.” I can tell she’s smiling now, and it buoys my heavy heart.

“Goodbye, Lucia.”

“Bye, Cal. I love you.”

“Love you too,” I reply before ending the call.

Apart from the detective coming into my office to tell me they had concluded their search and would be in touch, the rest of the day was uneventful. Annie ordered in lunch for Grant and myself and at four o’clock, we sent a company-wide email out explaining that Gregory Graves had been terminated from the firm and would be considered a trespasser if he was seen in the building.

Just before six, Annie comes in and delivers a set of papers she’d been working on.

“Thanks, Annie,” I look up and say, being met with a half-hearted smile. “Everything okay?”

“They will find him, right?” she asks me quietly.

“Yes, they will. Do you need someone to walk you to your car?”

She breathes out a sigh of relief, her shoulders relaxing as soon as I make the offer. “I think I would. I just can’t seem to relax today.”

“Annie, Graves has nothing to gain by targeting you. But if you can give me a minute, I’ll escort you to the parking garage.”

“I can do that,” Grant announces, appearing in my doorway.

I sit back and look over at him, switching my gaze between the two of them. Annie’s eyes are looking over at Grant dreamily, her fantasy knight in shining armor coming to her rescue.

“That would be great. Thank you, Mr. Richardson.”

“One day you’ll cave and call me Grant,” he teases, but I know it’s mostly for show. All day he has been on tenterhooks, his body tense, as if he’s waiting for something bad to happen at any moment. Dealing with him as well as my own trepidation has made the day go slowly.

“Never,” she replies haughtily, making both of us laugh. She turns toward me. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Have a good night, Annie,” I reply, and nod to Grant as he steps aside to let her pass.

“I’ll be back soon and then we’ll leave together?” he asks. Gone is the joking and teasing, concern taking its place.