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“Gentlemen,” the officer says, utterly oblivious to the way my entire body locks up. “This is Kyle Pearson. He’s in town consulting for us. He’s our security and cyber guy, so he’d be the best one to look at those emails with you. As I mentioned, he’s been looking into the other ones you’ve reported.”

I see his mouth move and I hear the words, but they don’t make sense. There’s no way.

Kyle? A consultant? For the police?

But then his lips curl into a smirk, and he looks a little too pleased. “Funny running into you guys again. Seems we can’t stay away from each other, huh?”

I clench my jaw so hard it hurts. Funny isn’t the fucking word for it.

There’s no wayKyleis here tohelp uswith this case. The case where we’re ninety-nine percent surehe’sthe one behind the emails. Not the one fucking helping us.

The more I think about it, the sicker I feel.

Kyle has shown up every single time we’ve left the house since he first talked to us—at the bar, the farmer’s market, and now here. Not to mention, we’vebarelyleft the house, and instead of looking nervous or surprised, he seems thrilled that we’re here asking forhishelp.

And he’s wearing that fucking leather jacket.

But my thoughts snag on something he told us the night we met—he said he was in town for construction.

I’m kicking myself right now because we should’ve called the police to come to my house. Instead, I was so anxious to get out of there. We should’ve had them sweep for fingerprints, but I’m sure Kyle would’ve blamed it on him being there if they had found any of his DNA.

This whole thing is so fucked.

I glance at Logan, and if looks could kill, Kyle would already be a dead man. Logan is glaring at him with the most hateful look I’ve ever seen on his face.

I swallow hard, trying to keep my voice level as I speak. “You…work here?”

Kyle lets out a chuckle at my disbelief. “Sort of. I’mhelping upgrade their systems, making sure they’re up to date with tracking and cybersecurity. Pretty much all the station’s online systems. You’d be surprised how outdated some of these police systems are. Your case came inrighton time for me to be able to take it over,” he smiles, and I want to puke because it all clicks.

It’s why we’ve had no luck tracing the emails. The police have been handing them straight to Kyle, the same person who is sending them. Matt’s been chasing a dead end this whole time because Kyle’s already two steps ahead, orchestrating the entire thing. He sent those cryptic emailsknowingwe wouldn’t be able to trace them. Knowing that he’d be the one the officers would turn to since he’s their ‘cyber guy.’

“I thought you were here for construction?” Logan asks, his voice cold, every word laced with suspicion.

“Huh. Did I say that?” he taunts.

Logan’s jaw tightens. “Yeah. You did.”

Kyle lets out a small chuckle once again, and it makes my skin crawl. “Must’ve been a misunderstanding,” he says easily. “I do plenty of consulting gigs. Last one was construction. Plus, I’m working on a construction project of my own right now for something special.”

Logan shifts slightly next to me, but I don’t take my eyes off Kyle. He’s too smooth and far too comfortable lying through his teeth. He shouldneverbe in this room.

He must not want Logan asking questions, though, especially in front of his temporary co-worker, because he leans forward across the table just enough to invade Logan’s space. “What’s with all the hostility, man? Thought we were getting along just fine, no?”

To his credit, Logan stays eerily calm, despite the tension rolling off him in waves. “Hostility?” he repeats, tilting hishead. “That’s an interesting word choice. Considering all the hostile shit Ryder’s been dealing with lately.”

Kyle’s expression doesn’t change.

Does he know we’re onto him? If he does, he doesn’t seem worried about it. But why would he be when he’s the one standing here with a temporary badge? The truth is, unless we can catch him red-handed, his word will always and forever outweigh ours.

I don’t know what the hell we’re supposed to do next. But Logan’s not backing down.

“You know all about that, right, Kyle?” Logan taunts. “Some creep’s been emailing Ryder and got this delusional crush on him. Thinks I’m the problem. I’m sure you read all about it in those emails you’ve been sending. I mean, reading.”

Kyle blinks, but gives nothing away, and my heart is in my throat at Logan’s jab.

“Sounds pretty messed up,” he says evenly.

That piece of shit.