“I thought Addison said she was going to stay in tonight and pack.”
“That’s what she said.”
He shook his head. “Then why did she just leave her apartment?”
“Wait, how do you know she left?”
“I have a tracking device in her phone.”
I widened my eyes at him. “What the hell, dude? Don’t tell me you’ve rigged my apartment with cameras, too?”
Ty rolled his eyes. “No, I haven’t. Until your father officially accepts the nomination and the Secret Service assigns someone to you, I can’t possibly trail your ass and hers at the same time.”
“In the meantime, you decided to put a lojack on Addison’s phone?”
“It was a necessary evil.”
“You know she would flip her shit if she found out.”
“At first, but then I think she would see reason once I explained about all the potential nut-jobs who could be stalking her.”
I rolled my eyes. “Nice one, scare her into submission.”
Instead of a comeback, Ty studied his watch, his brows lined in concentration. “Maybe she decided to go grab something to eat?” I suggested.
“That’s what I originally thought, but she’s en route somewhere.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“She’s in a cab or on a bus.” Ty squinted. “Okay, she just got off on 8th Street.”
“Well, 8th Street is full of restaurants, so that makes sense if she’s getting something to eat.”
“But why would she travel that far to eat alone?”
I sucked in a breath as a feeling of being sucker-punched washed over me. “She’s going out.”
“Yeah, ace, that’s pretty obvious.”
“No, I mean, she’s going out-out, like she’s meeting up with someone.” Swallowing hard, I added, “A man.”
“You don’t know that. She could be meeting up with some friends.”
“Then why didn’t she tell me? Why did she lie about staying in and resting?”
A worried look flashed in Ty’s eyes. “I don’t know. I just know Addison isn’t the type to break a deal. She knows what is at stake. She couldn’t possibly be seen in DC with another man without causing a complete scandal.”
“The more I think about it, the more I realize she’s been a little secretive lately, like taking hushed phone calls in the middle of the night—not to mention, the last two times we’ve been back home, she’s left to go visit her brother in Arlington.” I shook my head.
“I’m starting to think visiting her brother is code for getting the D.”
Ty snorted. “Once again, Addison doesn’t impress me as the type to screw around. If anyone was going to do it, it would be you.”
“Well, I’m not the one sneaking off to 8th Street, am I?”
Ty didn’t respond. Instead, he looked at his watch again. “She’s stopped somewhere.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know, it’s not that advanced. It only tells me an address, not the name of the place.”
I slammed my palms down on the table, causing the water glasses to shake and overflow. “Okay, enough speculation. Let’s go bust her cheating ass!”
Pursing his lips at me, Ty countered, “Don’t you think the more rational thing to do would be to call her? Or maybe just ask her about it in the morning?”
“When in my life have I ever made a rational decision?”
Ty snorted. “Never.”
“Exactly.” Since he still didn’t appear completely convinced, I said, “Okay, Mr. Protector, what if someone recognizes her and slips a roofie in her drink to take compromising pictures to sell to the press?”
My suggestion sent the wheels in Ty’s head spinning in overdrive so fast I could almost see smoke curling from his ears. “They could take advantage of her,” he growled.
“Yes, they could,” I goaded.
Just as the waitress appeared to take our drink order, Ty bolted out of his chair, almost toppling the middle-aged woman to the floor. Always the gentleman, he reached out to steady her. “I’m very sorry ma’am, but we have to go.”
Without even checking to see if I was behind him, he started for the door. After joining him in two long strides, I pulled out my phone to let Charlie know we were ready to be picked up. When Charlie let me know he was just across the street, Ty and I darted into traffic and began weaving our way to meet him. Charlie had just scrambled out of the car to get the door when we met up with him.
“Would you like a different restaurant choice, sir?”
“No. I need you to take us to—” I glanced back at Ty.
“143 8th Street,” he answered.
Charlie gave a quick nod as Ty and I got into the car. Once he shut the door behind us, he hustled back around to get inside. Since it was a Friday night, traffic was slammed, and my impatience grew as we inched along at a freakin’ snail’s pace.
As I drummed my fingers against my thigh, I kept a constant look at Ty’s phone. At any minute, I expected him to say that she was on the move again, but he never did. Wherever Addison was, she appeared to be staying there.
“There it is!” Ty suddenly exclaimed. Of course, it would be on his side of the car. I practically dove across him to peer out the window. “Looks like a club,” Ty remarked.