Caleb forced himself to look around again, every surface suspect. Every corner too open. “She was being recorded,” he said. “In her own damn kitchen.”
Titus straightened. “This wasn’t random.”
“No,” Caleb agreed. His jaw tightened. “This was planned.”
He didn’t look away from the pig. “Finn, grab a towel so I can wrap this,” Caleb said.
Finn moved instantly.
“We’re going back to the campus,” Caleb said. “Now.”
Because whatever this was, it didn’t belong here.
And neither did the illusion that Mia had ever been alone.
CHAPTER 47
No one saida word on the way back to the Brotherhood campus. Tires hummed against the asphalt, and the silence pressed heavier with every mile. Caleb rolled his shoulders once, then again, trying to ease the tightness crawling up his neck. It didn’t help.
Mia.
With so many thoughts crowding his mind, he welcomed the silence. He sent a thought out into the universe—a useless habit he couldn’t stop. Like she might somehow hear him.
“I’m coming, sweetheart.”
His fingers tightened on the steering wheel until his knuckles ached. He hadn’t realized how hard he was gripping until the pain registered.
Then the image of the pig forced its way back in.
Who put it there?
Whoever did knew Mia’s routine. Knew her kitchen. And that meant they had a hand in her kidnapping. Could Roy have done it?
Nah. Caleb shook his head. Roy reacted. He didn’t plan. Roy wasn’t that careful. Which meant someone else had planted it.
But why?
That was the one thing he couldn’t wrap his head around. Mia was a caterer. Not a politician or a whistleblower. She didn’t have enemies. Not the kind that kidnapped you. The questions stacked up until his head ached. How did the pig ever get into her kitchen? Who had access? And was it the same person behind the fire, the bad luck and all the other things that had happened?
By the time he turned onto the gravel drive heading to campus, his jaw was tight and his shoulders ached from holding himself together.
There were more cars than usual parked outside. They got out of the truck, and he heard dogs barking.
“Melissa’s running a training session,” Finn said.
That meant command central was locked down from the library side. They accessed it through Chase’s office instead.
A concealed door behind his desk opened into the inner operations room. Dex sat in front of a bank of computer screens, shoulders hunched, eyes bloodshot, like he hadn’t moved in hours.
“Any luck?” Caleb asked, already bracing himself.
“I tracked Roy’s truck as far as I could,” Dex replied. “He pulled off onto a back road with zero camera coverage. After that, he disappeared.”
“Where?” asked Finn.
Dex rattled off the road name and nearest intersection.
Disappointing didn’t even begin to cover it.
