"You will," he agreed."But I'd rather you didn't have to climb out a stuck window in the dark if something goes sideways.Windows should open when you need them to."
She folded her arms across her chest, leaning against the doorframe."You really think he'd come here?To your house?"
"I don't know what he'd do," Colby said honestly."That's the problem.I don't know him, don't know his patterns, don't know how far he's willing to go.Until I do, I treat him like he might do anything.That's how you stay ahead."
He moved to the hall closet, reached up to the top shelf, and pulled down a small cardboard box he'd shoved there when he moved in and never thought about again.Inside was a set of battery-powered motion sensors he'd bought on impulse and never installed.
"I picked these up when I first got the place," he said."Meant to set them up and then life got in the way."
She raised an eyebrow."You own motion sensors and forgot to put them up?You, the man who notices when a cabinet hinge is off by two degrees?"
"Life got busy," he said."Consider this me catching up."
He stuck one sensor near the front door, positioning it so it would catch anyone approaching from the porch.Another went by the back entrance.A third mounted high on the wall near the hallway, covering the route between the bedrooms and the rest of the house.
Each one blinked to life with a tiny red light when he tested it, and a soft chime confirmed that the motion detection was active.
"If anything trips those, they chime," he explained."Not high tech, nothing fancy.But better than nothing.Better than wondering."
"So in addition to the sticky cabinet and the squeaky faucet, I now have a robot army," she said.
"The cabinet and faucet build character," he said."These tell you if someone's where they shouldn't be."
He opened the junk drawer in the kitchen, rummaged until he found a pack of wooden shims, and then went to each of the windows.He wedged the shims into the tracks, creating resistance that would slow anyone trying to force them open from outside.
"This won't stop a determined person," he said, testing one."But it'll give us time.A few extra seconds of noise before they get through."
"Us," she echoed softly.
"Yeah."He met her eyes."Us."
She watched him for a long moment, something working behind her expression."I don't want to be the woman who can't walk across a room without a chaperone.I spent years feeling like I needed permission to exist.I don't want to go back to that."
"You're not," he said."You're the woman who's smart enough to let someone stand next to her while the world's being weird.There's a difference between needing a babysitter and accepting backup."
Her mouth flattened like she wanted to argue, then gradually eased."So I'm not a damsel, I'm a project manager with a security consultant."
"Exactly.You're in charge.I'm just...infrastructure."
She exhaled, some of the tension bleeding out of her shoulders."Okay.I can live with that framing."
He stepped back, surveying the small house with fresh eyes.The locks were basic but solid.The motion sensors added a layer of early warning.The shims would buy them precious seconds if anyone tried the windows.It still didn't feel like enough.It might never feel like enough, not until Diaz had a name and a pair of handcuffs ready.
But it was something.It was what he could control.
Sabrina reached for his hand again, as if she could read the restless calculation still running through his head."If you turn this place into a fortified bunker, I'm going to start labeling your tools with passive-aggressive sticky notes."
"That's fair," he said."I'm aiming for secure, not suffocating."
"Good."She squeezed his fingers."Because I'm on board with alarms and locks and sensible precautions.I am not on board with you installing a tracking chip in my ankle."
"Tracking chip wasn't on the list," he said."But thanks for the vote of confidence."
Her laugh came easier this time, some of the genuine warmth returning."You're trying to help.I know that.I'm grateful, even when I'm being difficult about it."
He turned his hand in hers and laced their fingers together properly."We're facing this together.That's the whole point.Not me deciding everything while you sit in a corner.Together."
Her gaze softened, the hard edges of worry smoothing into something closer to hope."Together sounds...really nice, actually.I'm not used to it, but I'm trying to get there."
