My chest goes tight. “I never thought. I should have.” Fear makes my words spill out faster. “What if I brought them here? What if this was just a test, and they’re somewhere outside, waiting? What if whoever did this tipped off the police andthey’re on their way? I’ll be arrested. You guys will get in trouble. What if they think Eden had something to do with it?”
I can feel the panic taking over my body. Tears I’ve been holding back through sheer force of will make a bid to escape.
“Bea. Hey. It’s okay.” Indy touches my chin, turning my head to face him. “Calm down. It’s not that bad.” He throws a pointed look at Tyler. “Right?”
“It’s not.” He sighs. “I’m pissed at myself for not thinking of it. But there’s no reason to panic.”
Rafe circles his finger in a smallget on with itgesture. “I think Bea’s scared. Understandably so.”
Guilt darkens Tyler’s gaze. He looks directly at me as he says, “I’m sorry Bea. I should have looked into your phone right away. But I did some quick research. It’s not in police custody.”
“Which means whoever hurt Bea took it.” Indy’s features are like stone. “They stole her phone after they knocked her out. And they used it to send her fucked-up messages.”
Tyler nods. “That’s what it looks like. Which tells us this guy is very tech-savvy. The average user wouldn’t even know where to begin to do something like that. Keeping the signal open, hacking into it, projecting messages to the sound processor… This guy knows what he’s doing.”
“Canhe find Bea?” Rafe asks. “I’m not going to pretend I understand how all of this works. But if there’s some sort of IP address involved, or a GPS location…”
“In theory, yes. He could.” Tyler looks even more upset with himself. “And I should have thought of it.”
Nausea rises. “So hecouldcome here. Or send the police.”
“I doubt he’ll send the police.” Rafe pauses. “Though we can’t be one hundred percent certain of it.”
“Bea. Sweetie. Don’t cry.” Indy brushes away a tear I didn’t realize I’d shed. “It’s okay. We’ll fix this.”
Turning his attention back to Tyler and Rafe, he glances between them as he says, “So. It’s possible this asshole could come here looking for Bea. Or he could send her location to the police.” His jaw sets. Fire burns in his eyes. “I’dloveto see this coward show up here. I’d be happy to show him just what happens to men who hurt innocent women.”
“But the police,” I insist. “If they come. You can’t keep them out. And then you’ll get in trouble.” I cast a frantic look around Indy’s living room. The walls feel like they’re closing in around me. All the air feels like it’s being sucked from the room.
“I was talking to Tyler about it on the way over,” Rafe says. His voice is enviably confident. “And while I’d like to see this guy try to break in here, with the small possibility of the police finding out, I think it would be safer to move Bea to a different location.”
I clutch Indy’s hand, squeezing it hard. My heart lurches unevenly. While I haven’t been at B and A long, just a little over a week, I’ve begun to feel comfortable here. Safe.
“And what if they track her there?” Indy retorts.
“Impossible.” Tyler gestures at the phone resting in my lap. “The implants are only paired with this phone now. I reprogrammed them so the old phone can’t connect. So wherever you go—” He looks at me. “You’ll be untraceable. I know I screwed up before, Bea. But I won’t let it happen again.”
His obvious guilt makes my heart twist.
I’m not upset with Tyler. How could he ever have anticipated this? They’remyimplants and I never thought about them turning into something dangerous.
So I go over to Tyler and give him a hard and fast hug. “It’s not your fault. If anyone should have thought of it, I should have.”
“Your fault?” He blinks. “It’s my job to take care of this kind of thing. Of course it’s my fault.”
Rafe coughs. “Maybe we could save the self-recriminations for later?”
Tyler offers me a tiny smile. “I guess he’s right. But Iamsorry.”
I hug him again. “Don’t be.”
As I return to my seat, Indy wraps his arm around me again. And despite the tension of the situation, the closeness feels nice.
Better than nice, really.
Honestly, I wish I could just climb back into his lap. Bury my face in his neck and let his reassuring strength comfort me.
But as my dad used to say when I’d whine about something I desperately wanted—the newest game system or the delicate diamond necklace in the local jewelry store or the dog I always wanted but didn’t have time for—wishes are all fine and good, Bea. But it’s what we do with the reality in front of us that counts.
