Page 94 of Nowhere to Hide

Leo nodded. “He’s escalating for sure. The cops in Salem are being willfully ignorant of the fact. They’d rather look at it as...what do they call it? Misadventure?”

I fisted my fingers. “More like prey. She wanted to get away from the crowds of a hotel bar and stupidly went down to the docks alone.”

“The real question is how long was he watching her? At the bar or was he just waiting for someone to be alone. Nyx broke into the Salem PD’s system.”

“And?”

“It was boat rope. Heavy duty, not the nylon kind that you probably use on yours. So it means he went there with intent. If it was as ritualistic as you mentioned, it’s not exactly the amount he could lift off one of the boats in the area.”

I cracked my knuckles. “No. And the way he did it meant he took his time. That was bold as fuck.”

“Another escalation.”

“It is.”

“This is kind of a delicate question.”

“Just spit it out.”

Leo dipped his hands into his pockets. “You left everything behind when you left. Do you have something for protection on your boat?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“And I can trust you not to do something stupid with said weapon?”

“Is this your delicate way of asking if I’m going to off myself?”

“You do look a bit strung out, Locke. You can’t deny that.”

My best friend is talking to me in my head—no big deal. And I think about that bottle of bourbon over the sink far too often, other than that I’m peachy.

“I didn’t ask for her to be my problem.”

Leo’s eyebrow arched.

“I’m just speaking plainly. I wish I’d never seen her on that dock—but if I hadn’t, she’d probably be dead. So she’s mine.”

“You keep telling yourself that.”

I stared at the floor. “All it can be.”

“You know my feelings on getting involved with a client.”

I lifted my gaze to his. Leo didn’t have to say it.It was what got Milligan killed.

Once Milligan and Alyssa got involved he never should have been on her detail. I should have been the one to cover him. Instead, I got him killed.

“Just be careful.” Leo’s voice was understanding. “This isn’t one of our usual cases. Stalkers and assassins we have protocols for—this is something else entirely. If you need help, I want you to call us in.”

“She’s not a paid client.”

“I don’t fucking care. I’m not losing another one of my team.” His silvery blue eyes were sharp with anger. “I’m going to have Nina dig deeper into the files and see if she can find anything else that overlaps. Keep your damn SAT phone close will you?”

I nodded.

“And don’t go off grid again. I want check ins every other day.”

When I opened my mouth to tell him to fuck off, he stared me down.