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“First, the video camera by my front door started glitching. The doorbell would go off for no reason. Or the video feed would cut out completely. Little things; confusing at first, then unsettling. Then someone hacked into my email and sent my boss and coworkers inappropriate messages.”

Matt’s hands pause above his keyboard. “What kind of messages? Was it your work email or your personal one?”

“My personal one,” I reply. “But whoever did it—Daniel, I believe—knew enough about my coworkers to make the emails believable. Like one where Iaccidentallycc’d my boss complaining about him being a dictator. Or the email I allegedly sent that called another teacher fat and lazy.” I pause. “I liked her. And she was dealing with medical issues that made her tired and gain weight. I wouldneverhave said something like that.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t,” Erik soothes. He pats my hand, and I belatedly realize it’s shaking. The anxiety I’ve worked so hard to control after everything with Daniel is roaring back with a vengeance.

Just finish this. Get through it. Stop dragging it out.

“I thought he’d get tired of it,” I continue. “But then he took it a step further. My social media was hacked. All these awful AI generated images were posted on my profile; me wearing barely any clothes, making out with random guys, dancing on bars… I was a teacher. I could get in trouble for something like that. And Daniel knew it.”

Erik’s eyes flash with anger. “Did you go to the police?”

“Eventually. After a series of men showed up at my apartment, claiming I’d agreed to—” Heat flushes my cheeks. I’m not a prude by any means, but talking about this in front of four men, three of whom I barely know, isn’t my idea of a great time. “They thought I was going to have sex with them. Apparently someone pretending to be me had posted on some dating website for people with… different kinks.”

“Do you know what website it was?” Matt asks.

“No.I should have asked, in hindsight. But I was so shocked when the men showed up… I’m not judging anyone for their preferences. But they weren’t mine. And I definitely never posted on a dating site, looking to have sex with strangers.”

Erik grits out a low curse. “The police wouldn’t help you?”

“There was no proof. And no real crime had been committed. The officer I talked to said unless there was evidence?—”

“It’s fraud, at the very least,” Cruz interrupts. His voice has an angry bite to it. “Stalking, possibly. Harassment. Slander. And this officer just turned you away?”

“Maybe if I’d kept pushing, I could have gotten further. But by then… I was scared. Stressed. I couldn’t sleep, eat…” My voice wobbles. “I just wanted to get away from all of it.”

“Tate.”Erik scoots his chair closer to me. His knees brush against mine, sending a rush of electricity across my skin.

Though I’d much rather think about Erik and what his touch does to me, I force myself to finish the story. “After the police sent me away, that’s when I began to think about moving. I’d always liked visiting the Adirondacks as a kid, and I did an internship in college up there, studying loons on Saranac Lake. Leaving teaching was a risk, but with everything that had happened with Daniel, I was ready for a change. Then I foundthe job posting for a property manager in Tupper Lake, with housing included, and it sounded perfect. Quiet, a house that wasn’t registered to me…”

“And he just left you alone once you moved?” Niall frowns. “After everything he’d done?”

“I got a burner phone and a post office box over an hour away. I stopped using social media, changed all my passwords… I did whatever I could think of to hide my location. And after the first couple of weeks, when he kept calling my friends asking where I was, it seemed like he gave up. I haven’t heard anything from him in nearly six months.”

“But you think he could be involved,” Erik states. His tone is hard.

Does he think I’m lying? That I’d tell them this whole story just for fun?

“Yes.” My voice wobbles again. “I do. Don’t you? He obviously has computer skills. Enough that he hacked my email. My social media. He made those images of me. He sent—” Another wobble. “He sent strange men to my apartment to havesexwith me. Of course I think he could be involved. What if he’s been planning this whole thing as revenge? What if those people died because of me? What if?—”

“Tate, it’s okay.”

“It’snotokay.” My words tumble out faster and faster. “This could be my fault. Because I broke up with him. Because I ran away instead of dealing with it.”

“Tate. No.” Erik grabs my hands. Holds my gaze. “Even if this asshole is responsible, which I’m not saying he is, what happened isnotyour fault.”

“It’s not,” Niall echoes.

“But thosepeople.” Hot tears escape, scalding my cheeks. “The man with the orange sneakers. What if?—”

I know I’m dangerously close to losing control. But it’s impossible to tamp down all the emotions crashing into me. To ignore the memories; not just of the island, but those awful months of uncertainty, never knowing what Daniel might do next.

“That’s it.” Erik stands abruptly. His face could be carved from stone. “We’re done. Anything else we need to ask Tatum can wait.”

Niall nods. “That’s fine. We’ve got plenty to go on for now.”

“No, I can keep going.” I brush at the dampness on my cheeks. “This is important.”