Page 138 of Capturing You

He pulled over onto the gravel shoulder two miles beyond the mansion. The moon was low in the sky, glimmering off the black Atlantic waters beyond the low stone wall separating the road from a rocky decline.

He checked his security system on his cell phone.

“What are we doing?” Brooklynn asked.

“Just making sure I’ve had no visitors.”

“We’re going back to your house?” Was that fear in her voice?

“Only if it’s safe.” He scrolled through camera views, seeing the familiar scenes—the front, garage, side, and back doors, the forest near the entrance to the cave, the dock, the beach.

There’d been no alerts, no activity all night.

“All is well.”

“They’ll look for us.” She swiveled and peered through the rear glass as if bad guys might careen around the corner any second.

“I think they’ve convened in town.” He kept his tone calm, which didn’t reflect how he felt at all. “Also, they have no reason to believe you’ve been staying with me. Remember, nobody’s been able to confirm that.”

She pulled her knee up on the seat to face him. But she didn’t let go of his hand. “They broke into the garage the other night. They must think?—”

“They left a tracker on the truck and on this car.”

She stiffened, her eyes wide.

She loosened her grip on his hand, but he held on.

“I found it. I took care of it.” He explained how he’d attached the tracker to the vehicle at the gas station. “They’ll believe I’m gone. And you were last seen in town. Nobody got a look at me at the library. I hit both guys from behind. They won’t know it was me.”

“But…” She closed her eyes. “Niles turned toward you.”

“I hit him before he saw me.”

“You think.” Her eyes opened again. “But what if you're wrong?”

Forbes replayed the scene in his head. “He didn’t see me. I made sure of it.”

“But—”

“Only Lenny suspects you’ve been staying with me.” Forbes told her about his run-in with her ex-boyfriend in town. “He’s why I drove Grandmother’s car. I didn’t want him finding you through me. So unless he’s involved, I think we’re safe.”

“Not Lenny, I don’t think. But Nathan.”

“Lenny’s partner?”

“I texted him from the library, and he responded. I assumed he’d send the police or at least come himself.”

There had been no police near the library. None had come even after they’d escaped. No sirens, no lights.

Forbes swallowed hard. He’d always believed that someone in the Shadow Cove PD was involved with The Network at the time of the murders. “How old is Nathan?”

“Younger than I am.”

Then he’d been recruited by someone, and that someone was probably also a cop. Which meant…

“Who did you send the photos to?”

“Oh!” Her eyes widened. “I sent them to the police department email address, but Nathan was the one who told me they’d been forwarded.”