Damon swears under his breath, stepping toward the monitors, scanning useless camera feeds. The jammer might be fried, but Jason was methodical. He didn’t just cut off communications—he erased their trail.
But he made one mistake.
“He wants us to chase him,” I say, realization clicking into place.
Damon turns sharply. “What?”
“This wasn’t about disappearing,” I explain. “If he wanted to vanish with them, he would’ve taken more time, covered his tracks even better. But he left just enough for us. He wants us to come after him.”
Zane leans forward, eyes dark. “Yeah, but where?”
I run a hand through my hair, thinking. “He wouldn’t risk staying close. The first place we’d look is an abandoned property, but Jason’s not that sloppy.”
Damon’s jaw clenches. “Then what? We just sit here?”
“No.” I shake my head. “We figure out where Jason thinks we’d never check.”
Silence settles, heavy and tense. We’re missing something.
I spread out the photos we found in the deer blind, each one making my stomach churn. Shots of the house from different angles, timestamps proving he’d been watching us for days. Maybe longer.
“This isn’t his work,” I say, scanning the meticulous placement of the cameras, the way the surveillance was set up. “He doesn’t have the skillset for it. He probably hired someone.”
Zane exhales sharply. “Or used people from his criminal network.”
Damon studies the images, his fingers tapping against the table. His expression is dark, unreadable. But I know the fury underneath.
“But how does he keep finding us?” I ask. “We ditched the bug in the bear. We switched safehouses. We’ve been careful.”
Damon’s jaw tightens. “We didn’t take her far enough away, and he spread a wide net to find us.”
The thought makes my stomach turn. He knew we’d come here. He was waiting for us to get comfortable.
Damon suddenly slams his fist against the table. “Leaving Mia and the girls vulnerable.”
The room goes quiet. We all feel it—the rage, the failure, the fact that Jason played us.
Zane exhales, pacing the length of the room. “Alright. Let’s think. He didn’t just snatch them randomly. He planned this. That means he has a location in mind. A place he feels safe.”
Damon nods once, all business now. I drag a hand through my hair, the weight of everything that happened today bearing down on me.
The maps, the photos, the deafening silence where Mia’s voice should be.
“Do you think it’s our fault?” I ask, the words coming out hoarse. “That we let ourselves get distracted?”
Zane exhales sharply, jaw clenching. “No.” But there’s something hesitant in his voice.
Damon shakes his head, hands braced on the table, but he doesn’t deny it outright. “We should’ve been ahead of him. Anticipated the next move. Instead, we got comfortable.” His fingers curl into a fist. “Worse part is, I never got to tell her. I should have never left the way I did.”
Zane leans against the wall, arms crossed. “I think it’s pretty clear all three of us like her.”
Damon doesn’t respond right away, but his silence speaks louder than words.
I shift on my feet, suddenly restless. “I told her,” I admit.
That gets their attention. Damon straightens, and Zane’s brows snap together.
“Youwhat?” Zane barks.
