Chapter 19 Cassian’s Past #2
One in the scarecrow near my mother’s garden, aimed at the back of our house.
I never thought to check it, since it didn’t directly face Sabine’s window.
But I see now how wrong I was. The angle wasn’t meant to see everything.
Just enough. Just enough to catch whether the light in her room is on.
You can barely make it out on the edge of the feed, but the signal is there.
And then the rest appear. The cameras I should have found but somehow didn’t.
The dead space behind the refrigerator vent.
A baseboard in the hallway.
One disguised as a panel, even though I know I checked that hallway. I swept it again and again.
For days, I tore through every vent, every outlet cover. I pulled apart baseboards, crawled under the floor, over the ceiling. I even went under the damn house.
And I still missed these.
Because he planted them knowing I’d be searching. He planned for this. He set traps just for me.
Jesus.
“I have to give it to you,” he says, nodding like some smug, haunted philosopher. “You really made it difficult to get a clean visual on your pretty little sister.”
My stomach twists at the way he says it.
It’s one thing to feel the dread in your veins, knowing some unhinged creep is out there, fantasizing about putting his sleazy hands on her.
But hearing him talk like this, face to face?
Hearing that obsession when he says her name?
That’s something else entirely.
Still, I have to push the revulsion down.
Right now, for Sabine’s sake, I need to stay focused.
“But it’s not my first rodeo,” he goes on, his nod turning into a self-satisfied smirk like he’s replaying some fond memory. “I’ve done this for a while. I know how to get around watchdogs like you.”
“Yeah?” I say, curling my fists under the restraints, pressing my nails into my palms. I don’t care about the pain. I welcome it. It’s the only thing keeping me grounded.
“And how’d you pull it off, then?”
He laughs. Full-on laughs.
“My, let me tell you. It’s nice, actually, having someone curious about my process. The other girls were just as captivating as your sister. Some even had brothers or fathers trying to protect them. But none of them ever made it down here. There’s something different about your family, I guess.”
Oh, fucking hell.
“Just spit it out,” I snap. I can’t help it.
He pauses. Raises an eyebrow like my tone is some petty offense he’s willing to forgive. I can feel the condescension settle between us.
“Your gut about Eli was right,” he says, and the sickness in my stomach spreads up through my chest, into my throat, across my temples, until my whole body is pulsing with it.
“What?”
“You heard me. Eli,” he repeats, casually. “That first time you saw him outside your house? He was telling the truth. He was waiting to drive Sabine to work. But that day you let him in? That was the first time he’d ever actually been inside.”
I breathe in through my nose. Exhale. Breathe in again.
“You watched him closely that day,” he continues.
“And you did well. If you’d kept that up, you would’ve made my job a lot harder.
But the friendlier he and Sabine got, the more she let him in, the less she wanted your help.
Obsessions are like parasites, my friend.
As long as you keep them to yourself and stay in control, you thrive.
You make all the right moves. You get what you're after. But the moment you share that obsession, the moment someone else’s opinion starts to matter—”
He clicks his tongue. “You’re finished. That’s what happened to you. You were sharp. Careful. Then I made Sabine feel safe again. She started trusting my absence. Started influencing you.”
“Eli works for you?” I ask. It’s obvious, but I need to hear it. My brain can’t keep up. The logical part is lagging behind, like it’s been shoved aside.
“Oh yes,” he says. “For quite a while now. And before you start beating yourself up for not noticing sooner, let me finish. Anyone in your situation would get tired of constant surveillance. And having another man around who could carry some of that weight? Of course you let go a little. Not your fault. When Eli started showing up more often, you gave him some slack. You stopped following him all the way to his car. Stopped checking if he circled the block or lingered near the side yard before leaving.”
My blood runs cold.
Because he’s right.
I remember the shift perfectly.
I remember Eli waving as he walked out, saying something casual and forgettable.
I remember the part of me that wanted to believe she was safe, because she believed it.
Just for a moment.
But that was enough.
He sits back down, folding his hands like he’s finished delivering a sermon. But I can see it in his eyes, his favorite part is still coming.
“And the beauty of it is,” he says, “Sabine still doesn’t know. Not really. Eli’s been keeping her steady. Distracted. She confides in him. About you, about her fears. And he listens. So well. You’d be surprised.”
I try to breathe, but my ribs ache. My wrists burn. My vision pulses at the edges.
I say nothing.
I just hold his gaze.
What is there to say?
The snake was right under my nose the entire time.
And even though I suspected him at first, it didn’t matter.
I still let him in.
Let him slither through the cracks.
Fuck.
That’s when it hits me.
I thought this man’s obsession was something I could fight. Something I could outrun, outsmart, shut down if I just stayed vigilant.
I memorized every lock, every creak in the floor, every shadow cast by headlights turning the corner.
I thought if I stayed sharp, I’d be the line he couldn’t cross.
But he was never trying to cross it.
He was already inside.
And now I can see the whole picture, clear as day.
This game we played?
He had already won before it even started.
I was always supposed to lose.