“You didn’t have to.”
Julia slid down, head against the cushions, and closed her eyes. It felt like a bad dream. The play party. The bruises. The realization that someone had been close enough to touch her things. Then, and tonight.
How long had he been watching her? Waiting? And out of all the women in Miami, why had he chosen her?
The break room door opened, making Julia jump. Emily’s grip tightened, almost painfully. The bite of it was actually welcome.
Dev walked in first. Leland right behind him.
“What took so long?” Alec asked. “Miramar’s not that far.”
Dev moved past him without slowing. “We had to make a delivery.”
“What’s the word on Mateo?” Leland asked, allowing no space for small talk.
“Concussion. Fractured femur,” Alec answered. “He’ll recover, but he’s out of commission for a while.”
Dev nodded once. “I’m relieved he’ll be okay, but his absence means we’re down a man when we can’t afford to be.”
“How did your, uh…” Alec’s eyes went to the couch before he concluded, “Follow-up go?”
“It isn’t Parker,” Leland said.
“You’re sure?”
“He had an alibi for tonight,” Dev said, grabbing a chair and sinking into it.
Alec exhaled. “We’re right where we started.”
“No,” Rhys said from the far side of the room. “We’re worse.”
Silence she didn’t understand settled over the room. How could it possibly be worse?
Rhys pushed away from the wall. He crossed to the seating area and sat on the edge of a chair. Gaby perched on the arm. The others gathered closer.
“The early victims disappeared quietly,” he said. “Minimal interaction. He took them and vanished.”
Julia’s stomach tightened when his gaze shifted toward her.
“Now, he’s communicating.”
“The scrunchie,” Gaby said softly.
Rhys nodded. “He breached security to leave a message. He also expected pursuit well enough to remove Mateo from the equation.” His expression darkened. “That’s escalation.”
Dev folded his arms. “Not random. Deliberate.”
“Exactly. Organized offenders avoid unnecessary risks unless their psychology changes.”
Julia already hated where this was going.
“Emotional investment alters behavior,” Rhys continued. “It makes them reactive. Possessive. Dangerous in ways they weren’t before.”
The room felt smaller. Hotter. Like the walls were closing in one slow inch at a time.
Julia wrapped her arms around herself more firmly. “What does that mean for me?”
Leland moved before anyone else answered. One second, he was on the far side of the room. The next, he was beside her. Close enough that she could feel the heat from him. Close enough that she remembered exactly how safe his arms used to feel.
