Fox shot me a look. “You’ll need more copies than that.” He rolled his eyes. “Who do you think I am, Adler?"
“Right.” I smothered a smile. He was always pretty particular about making sure he never lost any digital work.
He gave me a sly grin, taking the device without comment.
I stood awkwardly, watching as he got to work. When I noticed him slip into his zone—focused, fingers dancing over the keyboard, completely absorbed—I turned and meandered to my room.
He probably wouldn’t move from that spot for hours.
I collapsed onto the bed. Even though I slept well last night, I still felt drained. Panic attacks always left me wrung out, like my nerves were raw or something.
I laid there, wondering whether I should sleep or start editing footage. I needed to revise the script, figure out how the interview fit into the narrative. Or I could work on setting up more interviews.
But my gaze wandered around the room, and I grimaced at the mess. It had been days since I’d picked anything up. Dirty clothes were thrown on the floor, papers were stacked on the nightstand, and that mirror I’d knocked over, who knows how many nights ago, was still face down on the dresser.
With a sigh, I got up and started half-heartedly tidying. I popped in my earbuds and queued up the latest episode ofSplintered True Crime—Emersyn’s podcast.
It still amazed me that she’d agreed to work on this documentary with me, on top of her own workload. I admired her strength—especially after everything she’d been through.
A chill shuddered through me. I couldn’t ignore the possibility that the reason the Shadow Stalker had agreed to speak with me in the first place was because of my proximity to Emersyn.
One thing was certain: I wouldn’t let him use me. He wouldn’t get anywhere near her if I had anything to do with it.
I was only half paying attention when I finally reached for the mirror. I lifted it slowly, expecting shattered glass to fall…but it didn’t. The mirror was mostly intact, except for the sharp sliver that had cut my hand when it had first fallen.
The relief was short-lived, though. Something odd peeked out from behind the glass.
I leaned in, squinting. There, tucked behind the broken glass, was a black cord. My heart leapt into my throat. My brain made the connection faster than I could process. The black cord was connected to what looked like the very edge of a tiny lens.
Ice flooded my veins. My fingers shook as I yanked on the cord, not caring if I cut myself.
A small, black device popped free.
A camera.
24
Fox
Augusthadalreadysweptthe cabin twice with the detection device, but it wasn’t until the second pass that he found the last one—tucked discreetly behind the smoke detector in the hallway.
“That’s three,” he muttered grimly, holding the small black lens between his fingers. “Someone is definitely obsessed with keeping tabs on her.”
I stared at the camera, rage igniting in my chest. My jaw tightened until my teeth ached, and my fists curled so hard my nails bit into my palms. The idea that someone had been spying on Skye—in her most vulnerable moments—made me sick.
And I hadn’t even noticed.
I dragged in a slow breath through my nose, trying to temper the storm churning inside me. “Call Whize.”
This was becoming more than we should handle alone. It was time to start an official report, and Whize was already familiar with what was going on with Skye.
August didn’t argue. He turned and stepped outside to make the call.
Thecabin felt wrong now. Tainted. Like every inch of it had been touched by something foul. Every shadow seemed to leer. Every wall felt like it had eyes. I glanced at Skye, standing silent near the kitchen, her arms folded tight across her chest. Her haunted look only deepened the wrongness that clung to the room.
I dropped into my seat at the dining table, yanking my laptop and flipping it open. My fingers moved on instinct, booting up my tools, calling up programs and directories like muscle memory. August came back inside as I was plugging in the micro-SD cards from the cameras.
“He’s on his way,” August said. “Told us not to touch anything else.”
