“Hey, Marty, it’s Rosie. Listen, I know I already owe you one—okay, about seven or eight—but I really need a favor. It affects my mom. She’s really ill, as you know, and the doctors say she hasn’t got long left.” Rose swallowed hard and tried not to look across the café towards her mom. “There’s this guy with her, never leaves her side, someone I’ve never met before. He says he’s some kind of freelance consultant. Mom won’t tell me any more than that, and he won’t break his client privilege. There’s something not quite kosher about it—the timing, the secrecy, and he’s really…weird. Also, I’m almost positive there’s someone surveilling us. Pretty sure it’s the new guy he's keeping tabs on. Mom doesn’t appear to be in any distress, but I don’t wanna take any chances. Anyway, if you could track down any information on a Bellamy Smith or Smythe from El Paso, that would be fantastic. He’s mid-twenties, Caucasian, blonde, says he lived in the UK for a while when he was younger. Check out the relevant Texan registries—accountants, legal, criminal—whatever you can think of. I’d do it myself but I really don’t want to leave the two of them alone. Please get back to me as soon as you get this message. There’s a complimentary blow-job in it for you.”

She threw the last bit in as a joke. Poor Marty had a crazy jealous wife and Rose loved to stir things up. It was more detailed than her usual curt messages, but she wanted to find out as much as possible before her brother Andy got there and threw a hissy fit like the man-child he was.

“Hey, sorry. Work stuff. Home?” she asked her mom and her mysterious chaperone; the two now walked arm-in-arm.

“Yes, I think that’s enough for me for one day.” As if sensing her daughter’s unease, Blythe offered Rose her other arm, so the three of them left the park together. Out of the corner of her eye, Rose spotted the mysterious cyclist, who was now on foot. He kept a much more discreet distance, but he was still following them. That much she was sure. Rose said nothing but kept tabs on him. He followed them out of the park and for at least three more blocks, then she lost sight of the stalker.

***