Page 66 of Guarded Knight

Anton positioned the Santa Fe break-ins with explanations. Maybe the girls left a first-floor window open and forgot. But getting into the apartment in the ten to fifteen minutes Freya was out? It still seems a high-risk break-in with a need for a lot of intel. It doesn’t put me at ease that Freya wasn’t diligent with the locks seeing as Lara has a stalker.

Unless he has a key to both places.

This thing is a shitshow. We’re setting a trap for a man we have no proof was here. And it is time for the trap. We’re getting nowhere, GhostEye has found nothing incriminating on Cameron besides what Anton found in New Mexico, and to top it off, the CCTV showed Cameron was at work that night. Not that I’ve put it past him to splice it or to have an agreement with his manager who Anton said looked slippery.

And today, Ant also told me that one of our two desired locations will be free this weekend. Arthur is headed to an exhibition in Carmel with Kat. His hut in the woods will be empty. We first identified it as a location because we can surround it on all sides, but a stalker would view it as isolated.

Trap it is. Cameron has been here, and we need to end this. I told Xander I’d take care of it and I pride myself on keeping my word.

If it works, Lara can move on with her life and we stop a bastard from ever harming her or another woman. If it doesn’t, Lara has an evening in Arthur’s art retreat hut, and we have a failed stakeout.

We need to take the bull by the horns.

Anton clears his throat, his eyes hardening. “Actually, Lara, if you have a minute, it’s probably time we all talk.”

Anton shoots me a look that says now or never.

Her eyes widen. “Okay. Whoa. That was two shades more serious than usual. I thought you were the sunshine and he was the grump?” She hitches her thumb toward me.

Anton pushes off the truck. “Should we head upstairs and talk?”

I shake my head. “Not here. The place could be bugged. And it isn’t fair to stress out Freya over this.”

Anton doesn’t argue.

Lara’s jaw tightens, but she doesn’t argue either. I open Anton’s truck door for her to climb inside and follow her into the backseat.

Anton slides into the driver’s side, his jaw set like stone. He’s steady, always has been. And together, we’re lethal. Cameron’s not going to get past us. I’ve faced worse than him in the dark corners of this world. But the threat feels personal this time.

“All right,” he says. “We can’t just sit back and wait for Cameron to make the next move. We set a trap. We end this.”

Lara crosses her arms over her chest. Her eyes flash that cold fire that is absolute catnip to a guy like me.

“Let me guess,” she quirks an eyebrow, “you need a lure and I’m the bait.”

Anton smirks. “Quick as a whip, you are.”

“Should I remind you who my brother is?” She smirks back. “Did Xander ask you to keep him alive so he can torture him, too?”

He didn’t. But it’s a good idea.

Anton laughs. “You’re wasted in a desk job, Lara.”

I’m glad she’s still feeling brave and even finding humor, but this isn’t funny for me. It’s not that I don’t trust Lara to be smart, hell, she used to get around me and Xander when we were younger. And I trust Anton and me to outwit a basic civilian. Still, Cameron was slick enough to plant a smoke bomb under our noses. If he can pull that off in fifteen minutes, I’d be a fool to underestimate him again.

Putting him in jail is the only option. She can’t go on living with a shadow behind her all the time. Once he’s behind bars, she can breathe.

And… leave.

The thought settles heavy in my gut. We haven’t even had a chance for me to figure out how to be her friend. If I’m supposed to stay in one place to heal, it isn’t going to be easy not to chase her.

I focus on the plan to take my mind off her leaving. “We control the ground. We control the outcome. We’re looking to put Cameron in the slammer so we need him to commit a crime. Trespassing will land him in jail for a while. A restraining order won’t.” I say it more for myself than for her. “That’s the only reason we’d do this, Lara. It’s a long-term solution.”

If it were up to me, I’d go rogue. Make it so that he went behind bars, never wanting to come out again. There would be nothing left for him. Not even his legs to stand on.

“I can handle it.” Her features fill with determination. “Just tell me what to do.”

She is Xander’s sister through and through. I know she must be scared. She knows this isn’t playtime anymore.