“There was only one camera still there,” he replies slowly. “But there was evidence of others—scratches on the wood, tiny screw holes, and fingerprint smudges in the dust. I’m assuming you didn’t have anything installed up in the corners of your rooms that you took down, did you?”
“No,” I whisper. “Nothing.” Before he can continue, I ask, “How many?”
Webb’s jaw flexes. “Five. One in the living room, kitchen and each of the bedrooms, and then the one that wasn’t removed.”
“The one that wasn’t removed?”
“There was one camera still there. It was installed above the mirror, kind of behind the light fixture, so Indy thinks it got overlooked.”
A terrible, sickening feeling creeps through me. “A camera above the mirror? Where?”
Anger takes hold of his features. “The bathroom.”
My heart stops. “The bathroom? There was a camera in thebathroom?”
“Yeah.” Webb’s body tenses beneath me. “I’m sorry, Noelle. It’s so… Fuck. I’m sorry.”
Tears spring to my eyes. A cold ache expands inside me.
He was watching me. In my house. In my bathroom. When I was showering, naked?—
A small, pained whimper escapes. “He was watching me.”
“I know, sweetheart.” Webb kisses my head again. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
As my tears burst free, I ask, “What… what if he puts up a video of me naked next time? What if he posts it online? God. He saw me naked. He was in my house. How many times? How often did he?—”
A broken sob escapes, and I bury my face in Webb’s neck.
“Noelle.” Webb hugs me closer. “We’re going to stop him. I promise.”
“But…” My voice wobbles. “Is there any proof? Fingerprints? Anything?”
His voice dips dangerously as he replies, “It doesn’t matter, Noelle. I’m putting an end to this. No matter what. And he’llneverhurt you again.”
CHAPTER 13
WEBB
“Okay, I bypassed the building security.”
In the dark of the car, the light from Tyler’s laptop screen casts an eerie glow across his face. He shakes his head in disbelief. “Considering how much this place charges to live there, you’d think they’d have better security.”
Ace glances in the rear view mirror at Tyler. “That might have been a new record. What did it take you this time? Two minutes?”
“Two minutes?” Tyler scoffs. “More like one. And I probably could have done it faster. Butsomeonedecided he wanted to aim for every pothole in Northwest Portland. And it’s a little hard to use a laptop when the car is bouncing around every other second.”
“I wasn’taimingfor the potholes,” Ace retorts. “They’re everywhere. If I tried to veer around all of them, chances are I’d end up getting pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving. And I don’t think we want that kind of complication tonight.”
Tyler leans forward to flick the back of Ace’s head. “I heard you snickering when you hit the last one. Don’t tell me you didn’t aim for it on purpose.”
In profile, Ace’s lips twitch. “Maybe you should hack into the Bureau of Transportation’s system. Prioritize fixing the potholes in Portland if they bother you so much.”
Then Ace turns from the driver’s seat to look at me. “Can you believe this guy? Complaining about a few potholes after growing up in upstate New York. The roads are covered with potholes up there.”
“I don’t care about potholes,” I snap. “All I care about is getting this done.”
A beat later, remorse hits. I know why they’re talking about potholes, and it’s not because they have an avid interest in the quality of the Portland roads. They know how wound up I am, and they’re trying in their own way to distract me. It’s not their fault that all I can think about is facing that piece of shit Ken Donaldson and making him pay for what he’s done to Noelle.
