Page 69 of Laced With Secrets

“Eventually,” Blake replied. “After I got Katherine to intervene so we could conduct an actual investigation instead of whatever cowboy nonsense Dominic was planning.”

He pulled up the documents on his tablet and handed the device to me. Penny and Jake pressed in on either side, their breath warm against my neck as they peered at the tablet.

“Katherine pulled Vicente’s travel records from June 1973,” Blake explained. “Hotel receipts from Chicago, supplier meeting notes, airline manifests from that era.”

“And some things we acquired through… let’s call them creative channels,” he added.

My eyes widened. “You broke the law?”

“Katherine navigated certain gray areas of information acquisition,” Blake said with the kind of careful phrasing that absolutely meant yes. “But we were very discreet about it.”

“Very illegal, you mean,” I said, mentally picturing Dominic and Blake in black ski masks hacking into databases. The mental picture was so absurd, I let out a chuckle.

“Also that,” Blake agreed cheerfully. “But we verified Vicente was in Chicago the entire weekend Thomas disappeared. FBI and the IRS were tracking him at the time, trying to get something on him that would stick. He couldn’t have killed Thomas himself.”

I felt relief wash through me, followed immediately by suspicion. “What else? What else did you do without telling me?”

Blake and Dominic exchanged another one of their loaded glances that meant I was about to learn something I wouldn’t like.

“During the apartment move,” Dominic began carefully, “we may have implemented some enhanced security measures.”

“What kind of enhanced measures?”

“Additional cameras,” Dominic said. “Upgraded the biometric locks. Extended protocols with Marcus and the security team?—”

“You’ve beentrackingme,” I said flatly.

“Stalker!” Penny burst out, pointing accusingly at Dominic. “I knew Marcus was being extra attentive! You’ve been having him report our every move!”

“Noteverymove,” Dominic defended. “Just… location updates. Periodically.”

“How periodically?” I asked. I bet it wasn’t just ‘occasional’ check-ins. These two looked way too guilty for something that innocent.

“…Hourly,” Dominic admitted.

“HOURLY?!” Penny’s voice went up an octave. “We’ve been tracked like FedEx packages!”

“In our defense,” Blake said, still looking far too amused by all this, “you were staying in my building. I was going to know where you were anyway. We just… streamlined the process.”

“Streamlined,” I repeated. “Right.”

“Made it more efficient,” Blake offered.

“Stalked us,” Penny corrected. “The word you’re looking for is stalked.”

“Protected,” Dominic said firmly. “After you sat down with a known crime family associate?—”

“Who you just said wasn’t the killer!” Penny inserted.

“—we didn’t know that yet,” Dominic said. “And I wasn’t taking chances with your life. Any of your lives.”

Through our bond, I felt his consternation and the underlying terror that had driven him to Hawkins’ office. He’d been scared, and his response was to try to control the situation.

Classic Dominic.

It was exactly the kind of thing that would have made me furious weeks ago. The kind of overprotective, controlling behavior that had led to our massive fight over the Vertex situation.

I’d decided—chosen—to forgive him for that. To move forward. Starting another fight over this felt exhausting and pointless when I could feel through our bond that he’d genuinely believed he was protecting me.