137 — SIMON AND THE SAFE

After destroying the phone like Tariq had advised, Alex woke up with the sun and set about discarding the pieces in different dumpsters in the city.

Two hours later, he returned to his apartment to prepare for work.

He’d originally intended to give it a day or two before he tried to crack open the safe, but yesterday’s events made him realize that time might not be on his side.

If he really had a stalker, he had to get his job done before the stalker decided to become bolder.

Thirty minutes later, a sleek, black, tinted car arrived to pick him up. Alex got into the backseat beside Tariq.

Tariq took one look at his dark circles and muttered;

“Bad night?”

Alex sighed deeply.

“Let’s just say I wasn’t able to sleep a wink.”

“Did you do what I asked?”

“Yes. The phone is in different parts of Madrid as we speak.”

Tariq nodded.

“Good. Good.” After a moment of silence, he asked again; “did you read the journal?”

Alex shook his head. “Nope. I still haven’t found the courage to go beyond star