Alec’s response is immediate. Fierce. “Hazel. Don’t say that. Of course you should have come here.”
“Absolutely,” Knox says. “This is not your fault, Hazel.”
“But,” I start, “now Lark might be in danger. And Rory and Winter. If I weren’t here…”
“It’s always a risk,” Gage interjects. “Ourjobsbring risk. For every case we solve, there’s someone who’s unhappy about it. Someone who might want revenge.”
Enzo nods. “It’s why we take extra precautions, Hazel. It’s why Knox and Gage have extra security at their houses. It’s why everyone has a tracker and we’ve trained the women in self-defense.”
What they’re all saying makes sense. But it still doesn’t ease the knot in my chest.
Alec scoots his chair closer to mine and wraps his arm around my shoulder. Then he kisses my cheek, his lips warm against my icy skin. “This is not your fault, sweetheart. No one blames you. I promise.”
Before I can respond, a loud crackling noise bursts from the TV speakers. A man’s face appears on the screen. He grimaces at the sound and fusses with something in front of him. The crackling stops.
“Sorry, guys,” he says. The tips of his ears go pink. “Dove’s been messing with my laptop again. Ithought I'd found a good hiding spot, but apparently not.”
Knox smiles at the man. “Hey, Matt. How’s everyone doing?”
The man, who I now realize is Matt, one of the guys from the Texas branch of Blade and Arrow Security, beams. “They’re great. Isla is wonderful as always. She’s staying home full-time to be with the kids. Dove’s already talking in sentences. And Eagle—” His expression softens. “He’s amazing. Just amazing.”
Alec nods at Matt. “Hey, man. Thanks for joining us today.” Turning to me, he explains, “Matt is married to Isla, who’s Rory’s best friend from college. Dove is their little girl, and Eagle was just born a couple of weeks ago.”
“Congratulations,” I tell Matt. “That’s really exciting.”
He smiles at me. “It is.” A beat later, his expression sobers. “But. I understand you’re having some trouble. I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks,” I reply. “And thank you for agreeing to help.”
“Of course,” Matt says. “Anything I can do?—”
“Hey guys.” Another face appears on the screen, this time a serious-looking man with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. “Sorry about the delay. We had a problem at the ranch and I just got back.”
Enzo gives him a quick chin lift. “It’s no problem. I hope everything at the ranch is okay.”
“It is. Just a leak, but we got it handled.” His attention moves to me. “You must be Hazel. I’m Swede. Or Axel, if you prefer.”
“Axel is his real name,” Alec explains. “But most everyone calls him Swede. Swede’s out in Montana, working for a security company out there called Brotherhood Protectors. We help each other out whenever we can.”
“Swede is their tech guy,” Enzo adds. “Like Matt is for the team in Texas and Alec is here.”
Alec turns to me. “They’ve been consulting on your case. But given the developments from last night, I thought having them join the meeting would be helpful.”
“Actually,” Swede says. “I think I may have found something.”
“Oh?” Alec leans forward. “You didn’t mention anything when we spoke last night.”
“I discovered it early this morning,” Swede replies. “It may turn out to be unrelated, but I think it’s worth looking into.”
Matt perks up. “What did you find?”
“Well.” Swede pauses. Several soft clicks float through the speakers. “I was trying to figure out a connection to the game. Since we know they didn’t hack into Hazel’s computer to access her game data?—”
“They didn’t?” I look at him in surprise. “I thought they must have. How else could they know about my character? And Jess’s?”
“Your computer is secure,” Alec answers. “I checked it when you came to GMG. No malware, no keystroke logger, no backdoor access—nothing. And I updated all your security. There’s no way anyone can get into it.”
“Then how?—”
