Clover looks at me then, really looks at me, and I see the questions swirling in her eyes.
Is it okay that they’re here? Are they safe?
I nod, because she needs this—needs them—and maybe I do too.
“I should call home,” she says suddenly. “The girls. I need to make sure they’re okay. That she hasn’t?—”
“Already taken care of,” Grant says, holding out his phone. “We have people watching all of them. Discreetly, of course. They don’t even know they’re being protected. Roman discarded your phones earlier so no one could trace you. We’ll replace them when this is over, but you can call them on this burner phone if you’d like.”
Clover nods almost frantically. “Yes. Please.”
Grant makes the call. The familiar sound of a FaceTime ring fills the air twice before a woman answers. “Grant Harrington? Calling me? Am I in some kind of trouble, or did Clover put you up to this?”
“Madi,” Grant says smoothly, but I see the tilt of his lips. There’s affection in his expression for the little family Clover hascreated for herself, and it touches me with an unfamiliar pang of gratitude.
“The one and only. Where’s Clover? Is she okay? She’s been radio silent, and we had a deal. I’m going to kick her cute little butt all over Happiness when I finally get my hands on her.”
“I’m here,” Clover says, her voice shaking as she takes the phone from Grant’s hands. “I’m fine. I just—I needed to hear your voice.”
“Clover?” Madi’s tone switches to a protective one I know well. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Nothing. Everything. I can’t—” Clover looks at me helplessly, like a lost child, so I take the phone.
“Madi.” I hold it to my face so she can see me. “Clover’s okay. We all are. But there’s been a situation, and we’ll be incognito for a while. If you see anything unusual, you’re to call one of us immediately.”
“Define situation.” Madi’s voice is sharp now, on edge, hyper-focused. “Because if someone hurt her?—”
“No one’s hurt her, but someone is trying to. Which is why you must tell us if you notice anything strange. Anyone out of the ordinary. Anyone following you. Literally anything that doesn’t quite fit in Happiness.”
There’s a pause. “You’re serious.”
“Deadly.”
Another pause. “There was a woman in the Chug, my coworking space, a few days ago. She was older, dark hair, incredibly rude. She was drinking coffee and watching people for hours. She didn’t even have a computer or a book. I thought it was weird, but Elle said she was probably just a tourist.”
Ice creeps through my veins. “Madi, think, and be as descriptive as you can. What did she look like?”
Grant sorts through the evidence we’ve collected, then snaps a photo of a younger looking Terra. He looks to me and I nod.
“I don’t know. Mid-fifties maybe. Sharp features and a sharper tongue. I tried to make small talk with her, and she practically ate me alive. She had an intensity about her that made me uncomfortable, but to be honest, I didn’t think too much about it because Grey’s company is bringing all sorts of winners to town these days. Why? Is that who’s been stalking Clover? Who is it? What does she want?”
“Valen,” Braxton, Madi’s husband, barks into the phone over her shoulder. “What the fuck is going on?”
Clover’s face is so pale she’s nearly blue. “It’s her,” she whispers. “It’s Terra.”
I keep my tone level. “Grant’s going to send you a picture. She’s younger here. Can you tell me if this is who you saw?”
We wait in the silence, but it only takes three seconds for Madi to gasp. “That’s her.”
Fuck me. “We have no reason to believe that she’s still there, but I need you to call Elle and Savvy. Right now. Have them go to your inn and stay there. We have a team on standby to monitor the situation. Just stay together. Don’t go anywhere alone. And if you see that woman again, you call this number immediately, understand?”
“You’re scaring me,” Madi says.
“Valen,” Braxton hisses again.
“Trust me,” I say. “It’s not you she wants. We’re simply being cautious.”
“It’s Clover I’m worried about, you idiot,” Madi snaps, and Braxton growls.
