Page 30 of Guarded Knight

“Seems like a pretty effortful state,” I joke.

Rio releases a one-syllable laugh but doesn’t glance away from his screen.

Gabriel throws a question to Rio. “You’re a hundred percent sure? I’m not saying anything if you’re not sure.”

Are they talking about me?

“Hundred percent,hermano,” Rio answers.

Gabriel walks across the room, masculine strides, powerful stature, and he puts all that muscle and man down in the seat next to me. “I asked Rio to use the GhostEye software to trace the owner of the cell that sent those photos.”

Rio glances up with a serious expression, even more serious than usual. “It was a burner phone.”

“I know, but can’t you track anything?” I ask. “Something that leads us to Cameron? Like where did he send the text from? Maybe he was at his house, or work…”

Rio and Gabriel share grim expressions.

Gabriel explains. “Cameron had location services off, so Rio used cell tower triangulation and, it’s not as accurate in more rural zones, but it’s showing the text was sent from… Mount Hamilton. An hour from here.”

I’m speechless. Cameron is in California? And not only that but an hour from here or even closer? I told Xander I shouldn’t have come where I know people.

He continues but he’s softer now, probably rightfully reading my shock and knowing I need a landing pad.

“Anton will be back with intel from Santa Fe late tonight, so I’ll talk to him in the morning. I swear to you, Lara, we got it covered. If Anton couldn’t find evidence of him doing these things, we’llmakeevidence.”

A trap. I know my brother. I know Gabriel. They don’t like being on the defense long before they get on the offense, and Anton seems to have been cut from the same cloth.

“You’re with me,” he reassures me, “but just…” his eyes blaze with double meaning, “Stay with me.”

He means for me not to pull any shenanigans. But just like when he said that in the past, my heart flickers, searching for more meaning in it.

Back then, I wanted ‘stay with me’ to mean love. Forever. Now, all I can afford to hear is protection, temporary. If I let myself blur those lines, I’ll lose more than Echo Valley; I might lose myself in him again.

When I realized Gabriel and I weren’t meant to be, something I’d believed my whole life, it broke me. Knowing I couldn’t handle him near me and still be happy was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made.

But right now, I have a stalker to focus on. My body. My safety. My heart has to wait.

I swallow bravely, but dry grit passes over my tongue. “Copy that.”

By late afternoon,we pack up, and Gabriel drives us home. I notice his eyes keep flicking to the rearview mirror, and not once have we made eye contact.

Does he think we’re being followed?

“You okay?” I ask quietly, turning myself, expecting to see Cameron’s Nissan tailing us.

Nothing.

“Yeah. Fine.” But his tone is clipped.

“Why do you keep looking in the rearview?”

He pauses as if considering what information to share. “You know why.”

My stomach tightens. “But have you actually seen something?”

“Don’t worry. I got you.”

Freya knows everything and grabs my hand. “It’ll be fine.”