The Roommate by Kiersten Modglin (best way to read books .TXT) 📕

suggest right away, making sure you changed all your passwords. Does that include your banking, your emails…”

I nodded along. “Yes. Yes.”

“Okay, good. That’s the biggest thing. Have you noticed your phone overheating any? Or when you’re on calls, do you ever hear clicking noises in the background?”

“No,” I said. “Nothing like that.”

“Those are big signs, so you should be on the lookout. That’s a dramatic conclusion, but I did want to make you aware. You should keep an eye on your phone bill, too. If you see any calls or texts that you didn’t send, you need to get a new phone straight away, ’cause you’ve definitely been cloned.”

“But wouldn’t the antivirus get rid of the clone?”

“Sometimes,” he said, “but not always. You could try factory resetting your phone too, if you’re worried about it. But…” I could tell he was registering the stress on my expression. “I mean, if it’s just a one-off with a text message, who knows. I just wanted to warn you, just in case. I’m sure there’s some other explanation.”

I nodded, staring at the phone. Suddenly, Elias’ sticky note over the webcam didn’t seem so crazy. “Well, I appreciate you checking it out for me. I’ll keep a close eye on things.”

“Sure thing,” he said, reopening the door. “Holler if you need me for anything else or if it starts acting up again, but short of factory resetting it, the next best thing if it does is to get a new device entirely.” He paused. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Yep, definitely. I’m sure it was just a miscommunication. I appreciate it.” When he left my office, I tucked my phone in my drawer for safekeeping…just in case.

Chapter Fourteen

I was distracted by the argument all day, hardly able to focus as I toured a new venue and negotiated contracts for two of my clients. The deals were good, but even as I delivered the news, I couldn't bring myself to celebrate.

I bounced back and forth between worry over my phone and frustration about how I’d ever get Addy to believe that I hadn’t sent the message. The easiest explanation was that Rory had crafted the message, but I had no idea why my daughter was working to tear us apart if that were the case. Perhaps it was simple shortsightedness and she’d believed lying was the easiest path to getting her way.

I thought briefly of asking Elias what he could tell me about apps that could create fake text messages or the idea that someone may have hacked or cloned my phone somehow, but decided against it. As much as I wanted to, I still couldn’t bring myself to trust him completely. And besides, like Addy had pointed out, no one else knew about Italy. It had to be Rory. It was the only explanation.

Still, I’d changed my passwords on my phone yet again, feeling uneasy about everything that had happened and having no idea where to direct the emotion.

After a long day of zoning out, having to ask people to repeat themselves, and having to reread entire paragraphs of contracts, when I looked up and realized it was after four o'clock and I still needed to get across town to pick up Rory, my heart fell.

I'd been so distracted, I hadn't even noticed time creeping by as quickly as it did.

I stood from my desk, logging off the computer and rushing out of the office and straight to my car. I connected my Bluetooth and instructed it to call Addy. It was my third time calling her since our hang up, so I didn't expect her to answer this time either, but I had to try.

After one ring, it went to her voicemail. "Hey, I'm on my way to pick up Rory for soccer… I'm, uh, I'm hoping to see you so we can talk about things. We probably won't have time before, but I'm going to talk to her on the way there, and maybe we can all sit down and talk when she's done." I paused, not sure what else to say. "Anyway, I'll see you in a bit. Call me back if you can. I…I love you." I felt the need to apologize, though I had nothing to apologize for, so I chose to end the call instead.

I bobbed and weaved through traffic, catching a few middle fingers and horns, but I honestly didn't care. I needed to get to Rory as quickly as possible. If I was late again, especially with Addy already mad at me, there was a good chance she'd void our agreement entirely.

As I veered off onto the exit that would take me onto the interstate, my phone began ringing, the shrill sound of my Bluetooth's ringer carrying through the car. I hit the button on my steering wheel to answer the call.

At least she was calling me back now. "Hey!"

"Hey, Wes." She sounded exhausted. As if she was dreading talking to me. Maybe I’d become exhausting.

"Listen, I just want to say—"

"You don’t have to come pick Rory up," she said at the same time.

"Wait, what?" I demanded. "Now that’s not fair. I know you're mad, but you can't punish me like this. We agreed I'd take her to practice on Thursdays. That was the deal."

"I know what the deal was, but she got a ride from one of her friends."

"How could you let that happen? You knew I was coming to get her."

"Truth be told, it slipped my mind. Today's been nothing but an argument with her. She's furious because she feels like you told her she could go and now we're ripping that away from her, and… She just needs some space. She deserves some space to work through it. She's just a kid, Wes, and we're putting her through a lot."

"I know she's just a kid," I said angrily. I wanted to argue about the text message, but, at the same time, I just wanted to bring peace to the situation. "I