Amanda dropped to her knees and grabbed him, burying her face in his fur.
My chest loosened one notch.
Then she looked up and saw my face.
And whatever was on it made her go still.
“What happened?” she asked, voice steady even though her shoulders were tight.
I started toward her, but Ranger’s hand caught my vest.
“Let me clear first,” he said.
His eyes swept the yard. The porch. The fence line. The dark beyond it.
Only when he nodded did he let go.
I crossed the last few feet and stopped in front of Amanda. Smoke pressed against her leg, alert but quiet.
“We found eyes,” I said.
Her throat worked. “On the warehouse?”
“On us,” Brutus said behind me.
That landed harder.
Ghost stepped in without a sound, holding the lookouts phone. He angled it so she could see without taking it. The screen showed a photo. Grainy. Slightly blurred.
Our gate.
The fence.
The upstairs window.
Amanda’s face.
For a second, she didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Like her brain stalled before the meaning could catch up.
Then her breath hitched.
Someone had been here.
Watching.
Close enough to see her through glass.
Her hand lifted halfway, then dropped back to her side.
“Someone was outside,” she said quietly. Not a question.
“Yeah,” I said. “He must have taken it earlier. When we caught him, he was at the warehouse watching the lane. The picture was sent before we grabbed him.”
Her knees didn’t buckle this time. She just went still, too still, like her body had locked everything down at once.
Smoke growled low, sensing the shift in her heartrate.
“Was he taking pictures of the compound or just me?” she asked.
