The cameras blinked softly in the dark.
She felt safer. Watched over. Ready to move forward again.
CHAPTER 41
She knewsomething had changed the moment Roy came in.
He wasn’t angry or loud. Just tight, like he was holding on to news he hadn’t figured out how to say yet.
“They put cameras up,” he said, dropping his keys on the counter. “Everywhere.”
She kept her expression neutral. “Cameras?”
“Yup. At the farm, both barns, the house and the driveway.” He shook his head. “Caleb had his guys do it.”
His guys.
She filed that away.
“How many?” she asked.
Roy shrugged. “Enough. He’s got access. Mia, too.”
That was all she needed to hear. The fire hadn’t scared Mia. It’d brought backup.
She nodded slowly. “I guess that makes sense.”
Roy exhaled. “She didn’t even mention it to me.”
There it was.
She tilted her head slightly. “The cameras?”
“Any of it,” he said. “I heard about it after the decision was made.”
His mouth tightened, just a fraction. Not angry. Hurt.
“The fire?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said after a beat. “Someone crossed the line.”
Roy didn’t know—and she wasn’t telling—that other pieces were already in place. The rumors. The cancellations. The small sabotages that never looked connected on their own.
“That kind of thing rattles people,” she said lightly, smoothing her thumb along the edge of her phone. “Makes them overreact.”
“Or lock things down,” Roy replied.
“Exactly.”
Cameras meant the property was closed to her now. No room for mistakes or improvisation.
She picked up her phone, glanced at the screen, then set it back down.
“I just hope this settles things,” she said, her voice mild, eyes watchful. “Mia’s been through enough.”
Roy nodded, but his gaze drifted past her, unfocused.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “She has.”
