Page 22 of Stay Scared

“Long enough to notice when you stopped ordering food.”

He says it without apology.

I remember seeing his shoulders reflected in the front window while I worked. A quiet man behind me, easy to dismiss because he never demanded anything from me.

“You tracked my uploads.”

“I tracked you.”

“That is substantially worse.”

“It is.”

The simplicity of the answer steals the argument I was already preparing. I look at his hands instead. Those fingers once pushed my charger across a table without touching me. Now I understand how much distance existed between the gesture and the truth.

“Did you ever speak to me because you wanted me to notice you?”

Owen looks down at the mask. “I wanted you to turn around on your own. If you actually looked at me, I might have told you why I was there.”

“That would have required honesty.”

“It would have.”

He raises his eyes again.

Cade watches him. “You sat behind her every morning?”

“Not every morning.”

“You know what I meant.”

“I understood you perfectly.”

Cade takes one step, but the glowing mask raises a hand and stops him.

I turn toward the only man still hidden. “You’re still wearing yours.”

The illuminated eyes hold mine. “You ended the scene.”

“And you said masks come off.”

“My participation ended when you used it.”

“That isn’t what you promised.”

His hand rises toward the clasp near his temple, then stops. The hesitation interests me more than I want it to.

Cade has our history between us. Owen has months of watching from places I never thought to search. This man has built his authority into the mask itself.

“Open the exit all the way first.”

He enters a code. The panel retracts completely into the wall, leaving an opening wide enough that I can leave without touching any of them.

He steps aside. “If you walk out now, staff will take you to the exterior gate.”

“What about the fourth mask?”

Cade looks toward the corridor. Owen does the same. The glowing mask waits a fraction too long.