Cody wrapped his arms around himself. “So he was just… watching me? How the hell did he find me here?”
Reid’s brow snapped together. “I don’t know.”
“Reid…”
Reid stepped closer, settling his hands on Cody’s shoulders like he needed to confirm he was still there, and that he was safe.
“He shouldn’t have been able to find you here,” Reid said. “No one should. No one knows you’re here.”
“Then how did he?”
Reid didn’t answer, couldn’t answer, because he didn’t know. By the time they got back to the house, the silence felt different. Heavier. Like something had shifted while they were gone.
Cody barely made it through the front door before his cellphone rang. The sound of it cut through the tension like a blade. It was Diane.
He answered immediately. “Diane?”
“Cody—” Her voice was tight. Controlled in a way that meant it absolutely wasn’t. “I need you to stay calm.”
His stomach dropped. “That’s not a great start.”
Reid was already watching him, sharp and alert and Cody was fairly certain he could also hear what Diane was saying.
“What’s wrong?” Cody asked.
“There was a break-in,” Diane said.
Everything inside Cody went still. “Where?”
“At my office. I just realized. I wasn’t going to go in today, I was planning on working from home, but then I remembered I’d left some paperwork there that I needed…”
Cody’s grip tightened on the phone. “Was anything taken?”
“No.” Diane paused. “That’s the problem.”
Reid moved closer, close enough that Cody could feel the heat of him, hear the shift in his breathing.
“What do you mean, that’s the problem?” Cody asked.
“They didn’t take anything,” Diane said. “They went through files. Opened drawers. Moved things around.” Her voice dropped. “And they left something behind.”
Cody’s pulse started to pound. “What?”
“A letter.”
Of course.
Of course it was a letter.
Cody closed his eyes for a second. “What did it say?”
She paused again, longer this time.
“It referenced your post,” Diane said finally. “The photo. The one with Reid.”
Cody’s chest tightened. He glanced at Reid, whose expression had gone completely still.
“What about it?”
