Page 12 of Tracing Her Stolen Identity (Secure Watch #2)

Someone had been harassing her and she had just accepted it as normal.

Nothing frustrated him more than her letting someone get away with that.

The old Sky never would have. Then again, the old Sky could physically hold her own in a fight.

This new Sky? The one who now depended on people more than she ever wanted to, he was sure, couldn’t.

It would take very little to harm her physically, something she was likely cognizant of at all times.

It was easier to sit and take it until someone intervened than push back against the aggressor.

He clicked on the bolded email and began reading the report from his friend Iris.

Mina had hired her a year ago when she met her at a doctor’s office.

She’d been inquiring whether they had any coding positions open and was dejected when she’d been told no.

Mina had struck up a conversation with her, as Mina did, and learned she had a degree in cybersecurity but struggled to keep a position because of her traumatic brain injury.

Working at Secure Watch was easier because she could work alone and at night, two things she needed to focus.

Over the last year, she’d been an integral team member as they grew after the Spiderweb case landed at their door.

By the time they’d shut down the website someone had created to take control of every video camera in the world, they couldn’t keep their name out of the news.

Before they could take a breath, the phones were ringing off the hook and desperate people were hoping Secure Watch was the solution to their current nightmare.

They’d hired several more techs and finally had a handle on things, but it was all hands on deck when big cases broke.

He scanned the body of the email. There was only one Miles Bradshaw who was an artist in Duluth.

It hadn’t taken Iris long to narrow things down and forward him the information.

Reece spent the next hour clicking the links, reading articles and searching his background report.

When he leaned back in his chair, he could do nothing but shake his head.

The dude was a bit unhinged. After checking out his artwork, Reece agreed with Skylar that his work was good but highly commercialized and not what the art crowd in Duluth seemed to be looking for.

There was no doubt that he was talented, but apparently, he wasn’t a good listener or observer.

If he had been, he might have changed his techniques and found a way to sell more art.

Clicking back to the other tab, he typed in the name of the person he was most interested in.

Reece had planned to bring him up last night, but by the time they’d finished discussing Miles, Sky was done.

He couldn’t blame her. She’d had the rug pulled out from under her yesterday and a lot of information thrown at her.

He’d talk to her about her brother after she rested and could look at things more objectively.

There was little objectivity in the Sullivan family regarding Silas Sullivan, but Reece didn’t wear those blinders or rose-colored glasses.

Working in law enforcement had taught him one thing: if an adult wanted to disappear, they’d either make it look like an accident or fall off the grid entirely to avoid being found.

If their body wasn’t discovered within a year, it rarely was.

If they were still alive and off the grid, the chances of finding them after a year were equally slim.

Reece firmly believed that Silas had left of his own free will.

Where he’d gone was still the burning question on everyone’s minds.

According to his mother, Sky’s parents finally gave up on the private investigators and internet searches.

They’d realized that if Silas left on his own without providing forwarding information, then he didn’t want to be found.

If he was dead, there was nothing they could do until his body was located.

The police didn’t believe a crime had been committed and wouldn’t investigate, so there was little the family could do but wait to see if Silas contacted them.

According to his parents, they’d given up looking for him years ago.

Reece couldn’t blame them. Silas’s mental health was always unstable, and that only worsened after Sky’s accident.

Their parents had gotten him help and wanted him to attend college, but Silas was only dedicated to sleeping and playing video games.

After a few clicks, he was into a background program where he started looking for all Silas Sullivans. Did he expect to find him? No, but he had to start somewhere, and at least he’d have this much done by the time Sky was up and ready to talk about the elephant in the room.

“Reece?”

He snapped his attention away from the computer when he heard Skylar call from the bedroom. “Sky, are you okay?”

A quick look at the computer clock told him it had been four hours since he’d started researching Silas. It was almost 6:00 a.m., which surprised him. He minimized the programs and stood.

“I have a big problem.”

Reece was in the room before she had finished speaking. “What’s the matter?”

“Look.” She pointed at her chair, which was listing to the left.

“Looks like you’ve sprung a leak, my lady.” He pulled a chair over and tipped her chair onto its back before he pulled the wheel off. “The tube is popped.”

“How?” she asked, stymied. “It’s just been sitting there.”

“If I had to guess,” he said, lowering himself to the end of the bed. “A piece of glass from your house yesterday is the culprit.”

“Land, I mean, Reece, I used the chair for hours after that.”

“You did,” he agreed, not commenting on her use of his nickname.

He didn’t care what she called him as long as she was safe.

“But it could have taken that long of you rolling the chair over the spot on the tire before it nicked the tube.” The tire was so flat that he could easily pull it off the rim, and, sure enough, a shard of glass fell out.

“There’s a tube in my suitcase,” she said as he showed her the split-open inner tube. “I always carry spares, but the tire is a problem.”

“I don’t think so,” he said, running his thumb along the inside of the tire until he found a small slit.

“It cut the tire slightly, but that’s easy enough to fix.

There’s some epoxy in the garage that I can use.

Once I’m done, I’ll return to help you get ready while the tire dries, but the chair will be out of commission for an hour. ”

“Sure, go ahead. I’ll wait here,” she said with a tight smile.

“I’ll be right back,” he promised, grabbing the tire and the old inner tube and heading for the door.

“Reece?” He paused by the door and turned back to her. “Thanks.”

“I told you, we’ve got you. There’s no need to thank me every time.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” she said, resting her head on the pillow. “But you’d have to be in my shoes to understand why.”

All he could do was nod once in understanding and head to the garage to MacGyver his ex–best friend’s wheelchair tire so they could make a fast getaway if the need arose. All he could think was Sometimes, life is weird .

* * *

S ETTLED ON THE couch after a breakfast of pancakes and coffee, Skylar watched Reece working in the kitchen as he cleaned up.

His casual humming as he wiped down the counters and washed the dishes made it seem like any other morning in any American household, but that would never be them.

Especially since they were hiding out in the middle of nowhere while trying to figure out who had imploded her life.

Sky inhaled a deep breath and noted the slight twinge in her chest. She’d cried herself to sleep last night, her face buried in a pillow so the man who had come to her rescue wouldn’t hear her.

The last thing she wanted was to end up in his arms again.

Check that. She wanted to be in his arms, but she understood what a bad idea it would be if she wanted to get through this and go back to her life without him.

Her life was already dull and lonely. When she returned to her duplex, it would feel nothing but desolate now.

She’d already been considering a move to a bigger city but had vetoed it because accessibility was unaffordable for a starving artist.

Sure, she could use her settlement money to set herself up somewhere, but she wanted that money to last as long as possible, and her life in Duluth would allow for that.

Maybe she just needed a change in scenery.

When this was over and she could move around the world again as Skylar Sullivan, she’d buy a plane ticket and visit her parents in Florida.

A little sunshine on her face would be welcome after all this.

“Can I get you anything?” Reece asked as he walked into the living room.

She glanced up, surprised by his presence. “Do you have a piece of paper? I thought of a design. I want to draw it out so I don’t forget.”

“There must be something here somewhere,” he said, glancing around the computer setup. “Wait, I know. Be right back.”

When he disappeared down the hallway, she pushed herself back into the couch and propped the pillows under her knees that had shifted.

When she wasn’t in her chair at home, she had a lift recliner that she sat in, which kept her trunk and back supported.

Here, she had to improvise to keep herself from getting sore.

“I noticed this last night in my bedroom,” he explained, handing her a sketch pad. “Charlotte must have left it here.”

Skylar took the pad from his hand and flipped it open. It contained several sketches that looked like the start of a logo. “Charlotte was the one who killed the Red River Slayer, right?”