As Noia picks up Goonie and heads for the kitchen, I look over to see Ryder sitting at the kitchen island in front of a laptop.
Resting his hand protectively at the small of my back, Jax leads me across the room. “Any updates?”
Ryder shakes his head. “Nothing yet. But we’ve got three sets of eyes hangin’ out in the woods across from both your places, just in case.”
“I’ve made up the downstairs guest room for you two,” Noiasays, squeezing my arm. “And there’s leftover dinner if you’re hungry.”
“Thanks.” I try to muster a smile and fail. “Maybe. How about a drink first?”
“You should eat something,” Jax murmurs in my ear. “It’s been a long day, and we might be in for an even longer night.”
Noia nods in agreement. “Come on. I’ll pour you a drink and make you a plate. I made chicken enchiladas.”
As I tag along behind her, I glance over at Jax. He’s already deep in conversation with Ryder, his expression tense as they look at the laptop screen. Whatever they’re planning, I hope it’s enough to keep us all safe.
Goonie jumps onto the counter to watch as Noia pulls a container out of the fridge. Despite my protests of not being hungry, my stomach growls.
Reaching into the cupboard, she pulls out a bottle of whiskey. “I think we could all use something strong right about now,” she says, grabbing four tumblers.
Pouring a generous amount in each, she slides them across the counter. The burn of the first sip instantly helps to settle my frayed nerves.
“Thanks,” I murmur, taking a seat as she puts the enchiladas in the microwave.
Jax moves to sit beside me and squeezes my thigh. The warmth of his touch is comforting, grounding. I lean into him and take another sip.
“Food will be ready in a minute,” Noia says, looking at me with concern. “You two look like you’ve had quite a day.”
Heat floods my cheeks. If she only knew what we’d been up to before Dylan’s text killed the mood.
The microwave beeps, and she divides the enchiladas onto two plates, setting them in front of Jax and me. The spicy aroma makes my stomach growl again.
Jax cuts into his enchilada and takes a bite, then pulls out his phone, glancing over at me. “I’m going to call Dylan, see if he can link our security alerts together with Ryder’s laptop. Even though we can see ours individually on our phones, it might be a good idea to have them linked just in case so we can all get an alert at the same time. And, if anything goes down...” He exchanges a look with Ryder, who gives him a curt nod. “...then we can watch from here.”
fifty-three
Dylan answerson the first ring. If I were at home and had access to my computer, I’d be able to do this myself, but, since we’re holed up in the woods with our best friends, we need him.
I set the phone down and put it on speaker.
“You’re on speaker, man,” I say, voice firm despite the knot of anxiety tightening in my gut. “Listen, before you start pulling feeds, you need to know the landscape has changed. Ryder called in a favor. He’s got three of his Marine brothers stationed in the woods across from my place and Sasha’s.”
“Marines? Nice.”
“Yeah, so if you spot movement in the perimeter or heat signatures in the woods, don’t flag it as a threat unless someone moves in on the house. I don’t want to alert the cavalry on our own guys unnecessarily.”
“Understood,” Dylan says, tone shifting to all-business. “I’ll mark those zones as friendly but keep the motion triggers active for the structures themselves. Now, what do you need?”
“Since I don’t have access to my computers, I need you to patch everything through to Ryder’s laptop. I want my externalcams and every angle of Sasha’s system visible on one screen here. We can’t be toggling between apps if shit goes down. We need a central command.”
“Easy peasy. I’m bridging the IP addresses now. Give me thirty seconds to bypass the handshake protocols.”
Ryder turns the laptop so I can watch. The laptop screen flickers, goes black for a heartbeat before a grid of nine different camera angles pop up. My driveway, Sasha’s front porch, her back patio, and the side yards—it’s all there in high-def night vision. Everything looks quiet. Other than the hanging plant on Sasha’s porch moving slightly in the wind, all is still.
“Okay, feeds are live,” Dylan announces. “Resolution is crisp. I’ve got a direct line to the cloud, so there’s zero lag.”
“Perfect,” I say, running a hand over my hair as I lean in closer. “One last thing. I need a fail-safe. If anyone—and I mean anyone—breaches a door or window at Sasha’s place, I want a priority alert sent to both my phone and Ryder’s. Bypass the silent notification; make it loud.”
“Done and done. I’ve synced the sensor triggers to push directly to your devices. If a fly sneezes on a windowpane, you’ll know. If either house is breached, it’ll send an alert.”
