“So…boyfriends.” Ava broke the silence with forced brightness in her tone, attempting a change of subject. She twisted in her seat to look at Micah. “I still can’t believe you told your dad.”
He rolled his eyes, his gaze sliding to mine in the mirror. “Ididn’t tell him.”
I gave him a wry smile. “It just came out. I didn’t like the way he was talking to you.”
Ava leaned into me, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “Underneath that gruff hockey exterior, you have a heart of gold, don’t you?”
“Am I gruff?” I wondered aloud, and they both nodded instantly.Okay, then.
“So…you two are officially boyfriends. And I’m your girlfriend. Cruz’s girlfriend, too.”
My stomach gave a jolt at Ava’s matter-of-fact words. She’d just said aloud that she was ours. Releasing my hold on her thigh, I gripped the steering wheel tightly, staring straight ahead. “Do you mean that?”
“Yes. I thought you knew.”
I jerked my head. “I-I didn’t. Not for sure.” My voice betrayed me, coming out way too hoarse.
“Gray,” Micah said softly. “Pull over a second.”
Glancing in my mirrors, I did as he said, pulling over at the side of the road and flicking my hazard lights on. As soon as the SUV came to a stop, they were both there, taking turns kissing me, murmuring reassurances in my ears, and the whole time, my heart was fucking pounding out of my chest.
“We deserve some happiness,” Ava said. “No matter what we’re going through, we have each other.”
I swallowed hard, finally accepting her words. “Yeah. We do.”
When the GPS told us we were close to the church, I turned into a small industrial estate, tucking my SUV down the side of a warehouse building. After locking Micah’s laptop securely in the trunk, we kitted ourselves out with some of the new equipment we’d bought. Now was as good a time as any to test it, before we set our trap for our stalker. While we were still waiting for some of it to be delivered, we had a tiny camera and hidden mics, all connected to apps on our phones that would record everything.
When we’d set our equipment up, we moved. Our basic plan was that Ava and Micah would act like they were out for a casual morning walk, passing the church, and I’d come in from the opposite side and go around the back, jogging as if I were in the cooldown phase of a run. Micah had the camera, but if I sawanything of interest when I was on my own, I’d record it on my phone. We all had earbuds so we could stay in constant contact.
We were as prepared as we could be. It was overkill, if anything, but like I said, it was a trial run for our trap. I doubted we’d find anything of interest, and the main thing I was looking forward to was confronting Cruz, getting him all riled up.
Fuck. I had issues.
Whatever. I could deal with that later or never. Now it was time to find out what kind of shit Cruz was getting himself into.
“Gray! Stop!” Micah’s voice sounded in my ear. Immediately coming to a halt, I ducked in between two buildings, dropping into a crouch. If anyone passed me, which was unlikely this early in the morning, it would look like I was tying my shoelace.
“What’s wrong?”
“We’re too late. They’re leaving. Um…Cruz is leaving with some guys?—”
He paused, and I heard Ava say, “Big Dog.”
“What—Fuck. I can run back to my car and follow them.”
“He’s getting into someone’s car. I don’t think you’ll make it in time. He— No. They’re gone.” The distant sound of squealing tires reached my ears, coming from my earbuds and somewhere to my left in tandem.
“Fuck. Okay. Is there anyone else still around?”
“There might be more people inside. I can see the church. The door’s open a bit.”
“Walk past slowly. I’ll come around the back.”
Decision made, I straightened up, jogging toward the white building I could see up ahead. The back was surrounded by ahigh wall with a locked gate, but I gave it a running jump, my hands gripping the top of the wall as I pulled myself up and over.
Belatedly, I realized my actions were completely reckless, because if anyone had been on the other side of the wall—or if there had been cameras around—then I would have been fucked.
As it was, the backyard of the church was silent and empty. The glint of sun on colored glass caught my eye, and I tilted my head, studying the stained glass window in front of me. It depicted a sunburst over water, and a scroll in the center of the sunburst with words written in a curling script. From my position on the outside of the building, they appeared backward, but after staring at them for a moment, my brain processed them.
