Catching Sam: Book 2 of 5: The MacDonald Brothers by Emily Matthews (best mystery novels of all time TXT) 📗

Her phone rang, and after checking the caller ID, she answered it. Hearing Sam’s voice calmed her worried mind. Dang, she would miss him.

She probably had a few days to a week before Wayne figured out where she was, so she should start easing away from Sam now.

“Hey,” she said.

“Good morning. I was calling to find out when you plan to cash in your time with me,” Sam said.

“Funny you should mention that. I need help with something very soon,” she said. “Are you doing anything this Saturday?”

“I’ll clear my calendar,” he said seriously, and her heart swelled a little. He was so sweet. She knew he would help her regardless of whether she’d “purchased” him or not, but this was as good an excuse as any to get him to help.

“Awesome. Just come over any time. I’ll be home.”

“Sounds good.”

“Look, I’ve got to go. Talk to you soon?” she asked right before hanging up. It was borderline rude, but she needed to start putting some space between them.

Backing off without an explanation was a risky move. What if he thought she wasn’t interested and moved on? If she had to stay away too long, it was possible he wouldn’t be available when she was free to pick things back up. Or what if she pissed him off by shutting him out and he just lost interest altogether?

She rehashed the debate about telling him the truth but, once again, decided to leave it as a last resort.

Not only did she not want Sam to find out she was still married, she was legitimately worried about what Wayne would do if he found out she had anything to do with the super-rich and powerful Sam MacDonald. To protect Sam from Wayne, she would keep him in the dark and out of sight for as long as needed.

She just needed to make it to the weekend, keeping Sam at arm’s length, get the security system set up, and then just wait.

Hopefully, Wayne would show up, take no for an answer, and leave as quickly as he came. If she could wrap it all up in a weekend, maybe Sam wouldn’t even notice. It was probably wishful thinking, but she had to stay positive. There wasn’t much else she could do at this point.

Having worried enough for now, she ran down to the cafeteria to buy a half sandwich and a couple of cookies to go. Though she still wasn’t hungry, she knew she would be once her mind calmed down. She wrapped a white chocolate macadamia nut and put it on Beckie’s desk and then ran a plain chocolate chip down to Gayle in accounting. She was going through a rough divorce, and Annie thought she might enjoy it.

Thinking about someone other than herself was a tactic she’d learned that helped keep her mind off her own problems. Plus, she just loved doing things for others and seeing how happy the simplest of things made people.

It hadn’t taken Annie long to realize that the group of people she was working with here were completely different from those in the San Francisco office. The team was made up of the best of the best and were all hard workers. Each had a separate area of expertise. The fact that none of them were graphic designers meant no one was going to be after her to do their work. She wouldn’t know how!

Having realized she wouldn’t be taken advantage of if she were nice, she dropped the bitchy attitude and quickly became friends with most of them. She even made peace with Cooper.

After delivering the cookies, she returned to her office and buried herself in work.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Saturday rolled around, and Sam still hadn’t had much more than short phone or text conversations with Annie. He wasn’t sure what to expect when he showed up but rang the bell with hopes of an afternoon in bed.

She answered, wearing sweats and a frown. Her hair was mussed, and what makeup she wore looked like it was from yesterday. “Hey, thanks for coming. I need your help.”

“Sure. You paid for me. Your wish is my command.” He smiled, trying to get her to relax.

“You paid for yourself,” she said dryly. “But I need you, so I’m not going to quibble. Follow me.”

She led him to the kitchen island, which was covered in security cameras and different sized white boxes. “I’m hoping you can install this for me,” she said, verging on desperation.

“What is it?” he asked.

“It’s a security system I bought online. I got a great deal, and it came right away, but I didn’t think about the installation part. I’ve called everyone in town, and either they don’t want to install a product that isn’t theirs or their time frame to come out is weeks to months away. I’d like to get it up and running as soon as possible.”

“Okay. I can probably help.”

“It’s actually two systems,” she confessed. “The little boxes are door and window alarms, and the cameras are a separate system that record for a day at a time and also have a live feed that I should be able to see on my phone via some app.”

He picked up the manuals that had come with the systems and flipped through them quickly. “The boxes are all wireless, so that will be easy. I’ll have to install the cameras, but they’re wireless too, which makes it a lot less work. Then we’ll just have to hook you up to the apps that control them. I think I can handle this.”

She heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed a little. “Oh, thank you. I’m so glad it won’t be too much work.”

He went to reach for her, but she sidestepped him, went to the coffeepot, and poured herself a cup. “Would you like some coffee?”

“No, thank you. Is everything all right? You seem a little distracted,” he asked, walking over to