Diaz's gaze shifted to Colby."Keep her close."
"That's the plan," he said, and something in his voice made Sabrina's throat tighten.
Diaz's eyes moved between them, taking their measure, and something like approval flickered through her expression before she smoothed it away."Good.I'll call when I have anything worth reporting.In the meantime, if you see so much as a candy wrapper out of place on this property, you call me directly.Not Jason, not Hank, not anybody else.Me.Clear?"
"Clear," Sabrina said.
Diaz left in a spray of gravel, the patrol car's taillights disappearing around the curve of the road.The sound of the engine faded until the field went quiet again, just birdsong and the rustle of leaves and the pounding of Sabrina's own heart.
She stared at the place where the car had been and tried to slow her breathing."I hate this."
"I know," Colby said.
She turned to face him, the stake still in her hand, the weight of everything pressing down on her shoulders."It's happening again.First the inn, now this.It feels like I'm standing in the middle of some twisted board game and someone keeps reaching down to flick my pieces off the table.Every time I try to set something up, every time I start to build, something knocks it down."
He reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, his touch gentle against her temple."You're not a piece on someone else's board."
"It feels like it," she said."It feels like I don't have any control over what happens to me.And you didn't sign up for this when you decided to help me build a cabin.You signed up for lumber orders and me obsessing over cabinet hardware and paint colors.Not cops and footprints and evidence bags."
"I signed up for you," he said simply."The rest is background noise."
Her throat tightened until swallowing hurt."You say that like it's easy."
"It's not," he admitted."But it's true."
She looked back at the cabin frame, the cut string, the broken stake, the trailer with its violated door.All of it pressed around her like walls closing in.
"I'm scared," she admitted, the words coming out raw and small."I don't like walking onto my own land and wondering who else has been here.Who might be watching.Who might come back.I finally let myself want something again, let myself believe I could build a new life out of the ashes of the old one, and now this."
"And now someone's trying to scare you off," he said."So we make it as hard as possible for them to do that.We don't give them what they want."
"How?"she asked.
"Step one," he said, holding up a finger."You're going to stay at the cottage with me.Not your car, not a hotel, not some temporary arrangement.My place, where I can make sure you're safe.No argument."
"The cottage is your space," she protested weakly."I've already invaded your kitchen and your couch and your entire routine."
He cut her off with a look that was equal parts exasperated and tender."You're not invading anything.We both know that.This just means we quit pretending you might go somewhere else."
Heat climbed her neck that had nothing to do with fear.
She glanced down at her hands.They were trembling, just enough to make the stake wobble in her grip.She let it drop to the ground and pressed her palms against his chest instead, needing the contact.His T-shirt was soft and sun-warmed under her fingers, and beneath the fabric, his heartbeat thumped steady and strong.
"You shouldn't have to rearrange your entire life because mine is cursed," she said.
"Cursed?"he repeated, one eyebrow lifting."That's a strong word."
"You don't call two major crimes in a year a pattern?"she asked.
"I call it a reason to keep you close," he said."I like having you under the same roof.I like knowing you made it back safe when you go to the store.I like that you hum when you make tea and leave your coffee mug on the counter instead of putting it in the sink.This isn't a hardship, Sabrina.This is me getting more of something I already want."
Her breath hitched, catching somewhere between her ribs."You want that."
"Yes," he said.Plain and simple and completely without decoration.
Something inside her eased and twisted at the same time, relief and fear tangled together in a knot she couldn't untie."What if this escalates?"she asked."What if whoever did this decides to do more than cut string next time?I can deal with being a target.I've had practice.I don't know if I can deal with you being dragged into it too."
He tipped his head slightly, his eyes holding hers with an intensity that made it hard to look away."You think I'm not already in it?"
