All Chapters of Half A Stranger: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

SERENAThe car ride to Zane’s estate was quiet, except for the hum of tires against wet asphalt. I sat in the back seat, papers spread across my lap, while the driver who was also Zane’s security, judging by the earpiece and the way his eyes kept flicking to the mirror, said nothing. He’d only given a brief introduction as Pete and murmured a “no” to me when he’d come to pick me up at my hotel and I tried to sit in the front with him.With nothing to do but enjoy the scenery, I decided to look over Lori’s schedule. Her father’s assistant had sent it over along with the NDA and contracts. For some reason, I expected her to be enrolled in an overwhelming amount of afterschool activities, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that wasn’t the case. She had ballet and piano lessons and French classes, but it was nothing too crazy.Pete finally stopped at a black gate, put his head out the window to scan his face, and then drove us down the longest driveway I’d ever seen. The house was even

ZANEAfter a long day at work, I met Pete in my home office for a debriefing, where he went over the day’s events, and gave me his observations. He was telling me about Lori’s day and the car ride to school, when he leaned back with an expression I knew all too well.“What is it?” I asked.“I don’t know, boss.” He rubbed his jaw. “There’s just something about her. She seems very guarded, yet skittish at the same time. She flinches when a door shuts, and she’s hyper aware of her surroundings. I think maybe she observes… too much.”I couldn’t disagree with him. I also had my suspicions about her.“Keep an eye on her,” I said. “Don’t make it obvious.”“Always.” He stood, gathering his tablet, and paused at the door. “Lori liked her, though. A lot. She talked about comic books the whole way to school. Wouldn’t stop, actually.”That stopped me for a second. “Lori doesn’t like to talk to anyone in the car.”“She did today.” Pete shrugged, like it wasn’t his job to have an opinion on it, and