Page 52 of Property of Anchor

That was three days ago.

My stomach dropped to my damn boots.

“Holy shit,” Cross whispered.

The image was zoomed in, like it’d been taken from the trees.She had a mug in her hand.Her hair was up in a bun.She was looking down at something, maybe her phone.

I didn’t realize my hand had clenched into a fist until I felt the crack of my knuckles popping.

“This means someone’s been watching her,” Bob said grimly.“On the island.”

Behind us, the front door creaked open.

“Uh, hi?”

We all turned at the same time.

Pearl stood just inside the doorway of the clubhouse, her hand still in a half-wave like she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be there or not.Her hair was damp, curling around her shoulders, and she was in a soft hoodie and jeans.A far cry from the way she’d looked tangled in her sheets not more than an hour ago.She looked fresh, warm from the shower, but her lips still a little swollen from our morning.

She smiled slowly, unsure.“Am I interrupting something?”

I shot to my feet.Pushed back from the barstool so fast it scraped loud against the floor.“No,” I said too quickly.“You’re good.”

She took another cautious step in as her eyes flicked over the group of guys who were all now doing a shit job of pretending they hadn’t just been staring at a picture of her on a USB drive we found in a goddamn coffin.

“What’s going on?”she asked, her voice careful but not timid.

“We were just…” Skull began, but his voice trailed off.

“Working on some stuff,” I finished for him, my voice low as I moved toward her.

She looked at me as her brow pulled together.“Is everything okay?”

I couldn’t lie to her.Not anymore.Not after this morning.Not after the photo.

“We need to talk, doll,” I murmured as I got to her.I gently rested a hand at the small of her back and steered her out of the room.“Come with me.”

“Anchor,” Skull said behind me.I didn’t turn around.

“Not now.”

I led her down the hallway, around the corner, and into the back office—my office.I closed the door behind us and leaned against it.She stood in the center of the room, looking at me with wide, questioning eyes.

“There’s something I need to tell you,” I said, and her brows shot up.

She didn’t speak.Just waited.

“I need you to stay calm, alright?”I said.

“You’re scaring me.”

“I know.I don’t mean to.”I took a breath and stepped toward her.“A USB drive turned up today.Lost found it in a coffin.”

Her eyes widened more.“A coffin?”

“It’s part of the haunted house stuff.Props.It was trashed by kids.He was cleaning it out.”I raked a hand through my hair.“The drive had pictures on it.”

“Of what?”