“We could have the crew run an electronic sweep on her vehicle and tail her for a little while,” said Berg. “The more I think of it, the more I realize they’d be pretty pissed if I didn’t suggest it to them. Due diligence and all.”

“Can they get into position that quickly?” asked Devin.

Berg nodded. “They’re probably watching this apartment as we speak. Like I said, they move fast. We’d most likely need to make her aware of the countersurveillance, so we could coordinate a point for them to start tailing her. They can assess the tracker situation on the go.”

“They’re that sophisticated?” asked Devin.

“They’re the best,” said Berg.

PART III

PART III

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 19

Marnie Young set her phone on the coffee shop table and tried to act normal. She took a sip of her lukewarm coffee and scrolled through the last few pages of the United States Senate Employment Bulletin again, pretending to give the screen her attention. What the hell had Devin Gray gotten himself into? Actually, the better question was, What the hell had his mother gotten him into? Mrs. Gray had always been wonderful to Marnie, but something had shifted after they’d left for college in 2004.

Helen had been different when Marnie had visited Devin’s house over Christmas of their freshman year. Cold and somewhat distant to Devin and the rest of the family, from what she could remember. She could see the embarrassment on Devin’s face while they hung out in the family room, recounting “war stories” of their first semester in the dorms at their respective campuses, Helen politely nodding and staring off into nowhere—so unlike her previous self.

That was the last time she’d seen his mother. It had apparently gotten worse each year, and he’d never invited her over to the house again. On occasion, Devin had brought his dad along when they’d met up for lunch or coffee, but Helen had never come up in the conversation. Devin’s dad had looked like a shell of the man she’d remembered. Still friendly and talkative, but on more of a surface level, as though he were pretending, which was probably closer to the truth than she’d realized at the time.

The details of Helen Gray’s downfall still remained a mystery to Marnie. All she really knew was that Helen had done a number on Devin and the rest of his family. And it hadn’t ended with her death. In fact, it sounded as though she’d passed on part of her toxic legacy to Devin, leaving him to clean up the mess. A big mess, judging by the precautions he was taking. Nothing about the conversation that had just transpired had been normal, except for one thing: Devin trusted her enough to reach out for help under desperate circumstances.