I heave out a breath.“In Kansas City too?”
“Aye, but nae inside because ye never left your house after the trial…until ye did and came here.”
“You never left your house?”Eddie asks me softly.
I shake my head, and my jaw aches from clenching that much history.The detective knows about Penelope “Penny” Seskeny, about the past, but he doesn’t knowmeduring that time.The only reason James does is because he watched me, stalked me, for five years until I was finally ready to come to Wichita for vengeance.
Eddie takes the hint about not wanting to talk about Kansas City and moves on with drilling James.“So you followed her like a fucking stalker psycho?”
“The point,” James says as he steps closer to me, his voice dropping to something dangerous and soft, “is that someone tried to take ye today, Prayer.And if I hadnae been watching—if your daddy monster hadnae lost his shite and scared them off—you’d be dead right now.Or worse.”
He’s right.And I can’t find it in me to be angry with him about it because he saved me.He and Shadow Daddy saved me.
I nod.“I’m not angry with you.”
“What?”Eddie’s jaw works as he ticks his gaze between us.“He violated your privacy, Sera.Your autonomy.He stalked you in Kansas City, and now he’s stalking you here.That he thinks he has the right—“
“But you’re also angry he watched,” I press.“That he saw us.That he sawyou.”
Eddie doesn’t answer.His silence is answer enough.
I look between them.James, vibrating with violent fury and territorial jealousy.Eddie, rigid with professional outrage masking something more primal.And behind me, through the open door, Shadow Daddy—a suffocating, jealous presence because two other men are standing too close to what he’s already claimed.
It’s like they’re my court and my powder keg at the same time.My Fist, my Mind, and my Shadow.
I take the tablet from Eddie, rewind the footage, and watch it again.The figure in black slides into my car, and I freeze the frame, trying to make out anything—height, build, gait.But it’s too grainy.
“Itcouldbe Red Hands,“ I say quietly.“Or it could be someone else.We don’t know who this is.We don’t know what they want.We don’t know if they’ll come back.”
Inside, another crash.The shadows pulse, aggressive and demanding.
“And to figure this out, we can’t even function as a team,” I continue, “because you’re all too busy pissing on your territory to actuallythink.”
I look down at the tablet again and fast-forward to the image of the figure running away.
He’ll come back.Whoever it is, if I’m now in his sights, he’ll come back.
“If you truly want to protect me, we need rules,” I say.
“Rules?”James’s eyebrow arches, and I almost laugh at the way he says it, like he’s never heard of the concept and doesn’t care for it.
“Boundaries,” Eddie corrects with a pointed look at James.“Protocols.”
“Call it whatever you want.”I meet each of their gazes in turn.“But right now, you’re liabilities to each other.And to me.And I can’t afford that.Not with whoever that was”—I gesture to the tablet—“still out there.And not with Vincent.”
Inside, the crashing stops.The shadows still like Shadow Daddy is finally listening again.
“So here’s what’s going to happen,” I say, my voice steadying, finding the cold, hard core of control I need.“You’re going to tell me where every camera is, James.All of them.And then we’re going to decide which ones stay and which ones go, and the ones that stay will need to be upgraded so we can actually see something that doesn’t look like we’re viewing it through mashed potatoes.”
James nods.
“And you,” I turn to Eddie, “are going to run this footage through every database you have access to.See if the gait matches any known suspects.See if we can get anything useful.”
“I can’t use illegally obtained—“
“Then don’t put it in a report,” I snap, then work to control my tone.“Just look.For me.”
Nodding, he ducks his head to look me in the eye so I can tell he means what he’s about to say.“I will.I’ll do anything.I’ll also dust your car for prints and search the interior for hair and fibers.”
