“Say it,” I said, my voice rough.
Dad hesitated. When he finally spoke, the seriousness in his tone made the room feel smaller. “I do not believe Vesper is the only danger. Someone else is involved. Someone with influence and patience. Harmony reappearing, her mother’s files, her connection to Marcel, all of it is stirring old ground.” He leaned forward and tapped the desk once. “Someone is offended she is alive and unafraid.”
My jaw clenched. “So we’re dealing with more than one threat.”
“It’s possible,” Dad said quietly. “And Harmony is the common thread. That makes her the target, whether she intended it or not.”
Becket closed his notebook. “The ghost account that pinged is active again. Whoever is using it knows how to erase a trail. They wiped half of Marcel’s digital history the first time. They know exactly what they’re doing. My contact at the provincial level has been updating me.”
Dad looked at me. “She should never be alone. Not until we understand what this is. Do you understand me, Eric?”
“I understand. Wasn’t planning on leaving her alone.” I felt the significance of what he was not saying. He remembered Rosalie. The reminder of what happens when the wrong person feels threatened. I rubbed a hand over my jaw, trying to ease the tension that had been lodged there for days. “I checked the bakery cameras like Becket asked. There was movement at four this morning. The angle is blocked, so there’s nothing clear.”
Dad didn’t soften. “Someone could be testing your perimeter.”
The knot in my stomach pulled tighter.
Becket stood. “I’ll go by the orchard tonight and set additional cameras and maybe add more lighting. If someone is moving through the property, we’ll know.”
Dad nodded. “And have Asher stay close.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Asher?”
Dad’s jaw tightened. “He’s been around more lately. Watching the orchard. Watching the bakery. Checking in at the community center without announcing himself. I noticed.”
That was an understatement. Asher had drifted through the last five days like a restless shadow, pretending he was just bored while quietly scanning every dark corner he walked past.
“If he wants to hover,” Dad continued, “at least let him do it with purpose.”
I felt a faint flicker of emotion. Pride. And relief. “I can talk to him.”
“No,” Dad said. “Leave your brother to me, he’s feeling a sense of responsibility. I want him to own it.”
That startled me. Dad rarely stepped between Asher and his choices unless something was truly serious. Before I could respond, my phone buzzed.
Harmony.
My pulse jumped the moment her name crossed the screen.
Harmony:Can you come early? Something feels wrong.
I didn’t even realize I had stood until Dad’s voice cut through the air.
“Go,” Dad said, reading me without me having to say a word. I had already grabbed my keys and was headed out the door.
Dad added, “Bring her straight home. We’ll meet you there.”
Dad was calling the whole family for a meeting, minus Phoenix. I was relieved my older brother was a way from this mess, enjoying his honeymoon, after everything he had been through to get to that point. Dad’s words also had me feelingemotional. We were a family pulling together for Harmony. She was a part of us whether she believed it yet or not.
“I’ll be back soon,” I said.
Becket nodded. “Call if anything feels off.”
I didn’t waste another second.
Harmony needed me. Every instinct in my body warned me whatever had been circling us for days had just stepped closer. Traffic blurred past me only as shapes and colors. I drove faster than I should have, but every minute between me and Harmony felt like an hour. Her message repeated in my mind with a steady beat.
Something feels wrong.
