“You think it’s her,” Anja said quietly.
“I think she’s got something going on,” Kayne admitted.“I think she’s lying about a hell of a lot.And I think Chloe’s scared to admit it.”
“She’s not the one who installed this.”Anja tapped the bag.“This was done by someone meticulous and patient.Danica’s neither.She’s a chaos gremlin with a credit card.”
That startled a short, humorless laugh out of him.“Fair point.”
“But,” Anja added, voice firming again, “it doesn’t mean she didn’t give someone access.Willingly or not.”
He rubbed the back of his neck.“Should we tell Chloe?”
Anja hesitated.“Not yet.She’s rattled.The ladder shook her, and her sister’s turning her inside out emotionally.If we drop this on her now, she’ll blame herself and possibly fall apart.”
“She’s already close,” he murmured.
“Then we keep her steady,” Anja said.“You tell her when we have something actionable.Until then, we keep her out of the crosshairs and off the guilt treadmill.”
Kayne nodded, appreciating the exercise-related metaphor despite himself.He trusted Anja.If she said wait, he’d wait.But that didn’t cool the anger simmering below the surface.
He lifted the bag and held the tiny camera up to the light.“This thing was watching her walk these halls.”
“Someone wants to track her patterns,” Anja said.“This isn’t a thrill or intimidation device.It’s recon.They’re studying her routines and vulnerabilities.”
Kayne’s blood iced.“So they can get closer.”
Anja’s grim eyes met his.“Exactly.”
A memory struck of Joel Erickson, slinking around where he didn’t belong, eyes always lingering a second too long.“Erickson,” he muttered.
“I thought of him too,” Anja concurred.
Kayne placed the evidence down with a deliberate calm he did not feel.“We shut down every point of access they think they have.”
“And find the next camera,” Anja said, “because trust me, there’s more.”
Kayne exhaled.“Then let’s hunt.Starting with Joel Erickson.”
God help the man who put eyes on Chloe, because Kayne would make damn sure those eyes never watched anything again.
#
Kayne didn’t like looseends, and Joel Erickson had just slipped clean out of his hands.
“He didn’t show,” the foreman said.“No call.No text.Which ain’t like him.Guy was a screwup, sure, but he always showed.”
Kayne clocked the hesitation.The way Hal’s eyes flicked away.The unspokensomething’s wronghanging thick in the air.“Where does he live?”
Hal hesitated again.Then, “South side.Over by the old rail spur.Place is a dump.”
Kayne was already accessing the photo he’d snapped of Erickson’s contact information the other day.He found Chloe in the new manager’s office, going over instructions with Robin.She looked up when he rapped on the door, that reflexive lift of hope in her eyes cutting deeper than it should have.
After excusing herself, Chloe stepped into the hallway, her brows raised in question at seeing Anja and Leo behind him.
“We’re going out,” Kayne said quietly.“Anja and I.”
“Where?”
He didn’t lie, just edited.“Following up on something.”
