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“Yeah. You’re going to be bruised. Does it hurt to swallow?”

“No,” I say quietly. “Cass?”

“Yeah?” she asks. I turn and she is sitting with Oscar beside me.

“Did you say, ‘The power of Christ compels you, bitch,’ then hit him with a bible?” I ask and everyone bursts out laughing.

“I did. That bible was heavy,” she says with a proud grin. “I’m sorry I wasn’t…”

“I wasn’t paying attention. I was distracted and turned around to go put something back. I wasn’t thinking. I believe he would have found a way. anyway. I also don’t think he knew you were there,” I tell her.

“It concerns me because it means he knows our movements,” Julian says. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the first time you two leave on your own, he shows up almost immediately.”

“Yeah,” Oscar agrees.

I scream when Jasper pulls the door open but slap my hand over my mouth. “Sorry,” he says. “Cassidy, girl. I have never in my entire career had the privilege of watching a security camera and seeing such a tiny woman beat the hell out of a man with the Bible.”

“Did you…” she starts to ask.

“No. He got out of the back entrance and disappeared. He’s in town, though, so that is helpful. We know he has a goal, so we will use that against him,”

“Goal?” I ask.

“Well… He is obviously after Cassidy, but he’s also coming after you. He’s angry enough to make mistakes, and what he did today was a mistake on his part. He cornered you without even glancing around him. Anyone could’ve been with you, including the dogs,” he explains.

“He’s spiraling,” Cassidy says.

“He’s what?” I ask.

“Spiraling. It’s like… when serial killers, and criminals in general, feel cornered as police start closing in on them, they feel trapped. They are desperate to continue their crimes, but they are basically too stressed out to be able to function, so they start fucking up. They leave behind evidence where they just generally make mistakes that they would not have made before. They are more volatile and sometimes escalate, but it helps lead to their capture.”

“Basically,” Jasper says. “So, going forward… stay on the property. The gate should only ever be opened for law enforcement, like Carrie or myself. No one else. No other cop is randomly going to come up on that property.”

“Hold on,” Ryan says from the front. “Why emphasize to not let any other cops on the property?”

“We believe that he is getting help from someone to get tips and I have a strong suspicion that it is a cop or another detective,” he says. “It’s none of us, and it’s not the FBI, so we are going to limit the interaction with you to a few select people. The agents that have been on patrol with you all will remain. They’ve been completely vetted, and I do trust them.”

“What about that one creepy cop who grabbed my ass?” I ask.

“What?” Julian snaps.

“Yeah. The… He was the one who was with you the day I was attacked when you were at the hospital. He tried grabbing my ass a few weeks ago when I went to the station to give you something.”

“Hmm,” Jasper says. “That is… I’ll look into it.”

“What?” I ask.

“That’s my boss,” he says. “His name is Captain Jack Anderson. I’ll talk to Carrie when she gets here. The FBI has officially taken over the case, so it should be easy enough to keep him away from you.”

“Wait, does that mean you…”

“After this case, I am going to the FBI,” he says with a smile. “I have been working on it for a while now. Jack doesn’t know that I am going yet, though. He’d kick me off this case, and I wouldn’t be able to get as much information between the cops and FBI.”

“Got it. Top secret,” I say as I make motions as though I am zipping my mouth closed and tossing away the key.

“Go home, and if you need something, let me know. Do not leave the house by yourself again,” he says firmly. “If you need a break from the boys, go on a walk inside the property.”

“I’m pretty sure if we were running around on the property. They would probably hunt us down and fuck us against a tree or something,” I laugh.