33. Cross
Chapter thirty-three
Following Siren back into the house, we head for the loft, trudging up the narrow steps single file.
At the top, Bones has to duck to avoid hitting his head on the low ceiling, but we all head toward the security room.
It’s small, but it only serves one purpose.
The door is already open, so we all cram into the small room to review the footage.
Siren throws themselves down into the rolling chair in front of the bank of screens and monitors set up along one wall, all nine of them flickering to life to show a different camera angle, two from inside the house and the rest covering the perimeter of the house and barn.
“Did you manage to catch the fucker who left that package?” Joker asks in a low growl.
I glance at him, finding him shifting from one foot to the other restlessly, his gaze shifting back toward the stairs every few seconds.
I put a soothing hand on his arm, which pulls his attention to me for long enough to give him a gentle smile.
He sighs and shakes his head, but he at least stops fidgeting.
“Yeah, but it’s weird. Let me pull it up,” Siren says, words a little distant as they focus on the screens.
It takes a few minutes for Siren to rewind to the point they’re looking for, all the screens moving at the same time.
Animals flick onto the screen, their eyes glowing white in the infrared night vision gaze of the security system.
Deer, raccoons, foxes, and even Darla, the local bear, make appearances until right before dawn.
Siren stops the footage suddenly, sitting up straight.
“There you fucking are,” they mutter under their breath, hitting the play button.
All of us lean toward the screens, looking for what Siren is talking about. It takes a few seconds, but I spot the movement in the trees in the camera pointing down the driveway away from the house.
“There,” I say, lifting a finger to point to the screen, and the human shape I can see moving through the darkness of the trees toward the house.
“Male, judging by the height. Not much else, though,” Bones mutters, almost to himself.
“Just give it a second,” Siren replies, pointing to another screen.
A few seconds later, the figure appears along the tree line close to the house, emerging along the north side of the house, where the bedroom hallway terminates, and more specifically, where Delilah’s room is.
It’s hard to say if the intruder knew about that, or if his movements were just a coincidence, but I’m suddenly very thankful that there are no windows in the storage room.
Heaven knows what would have happened if this guy had actually seen her.
“Well, he’s either stupid as fuck, or woefully underestimating who he’s fucking with. Didn’t even bother to hide his face,” Joker sneers.
I follow his gaze, watching as the prowler almost casually saunters along the side of the house, in full view of multiple cameras, the package tucked under one arm like he’s a postman, just stopping by to make a delivery.
No rush, no worry, just bold arrogance. Siren pauses the video once he enters the small circle of light near the front porch, and we get our first good look at the bastard.
By most standards, he would be considered conventionally attractive.
Square jaw, neatly trimmed blond hair, a strong brow, proportional features.
It’s hard to tell his eye color from these angles, but my guess would be brown.
He’s wearing baggy clothes, so we can’t see what his actual build is, but he doesn’t look like he’s overly muscular. Truly, he looks average, ordinary.
“These are clear enough that we should be able to run his face through some recognition software, see if there are any hits,” Siren says into the silence.
“I have a feeling that nothing is going to come up,” I mutter, frowning slightly.
“What makes you say that?” Bones asks, not aggressive but still firm.
“He’s too…casual about this. If he could be found that easily, you think he’d hide his face a little bit,” I reply thoughtfully.
“Or, like I said earlier, he could be a stupid cunt and not know what the fuck he’s doing,” Joker throws back.
I shoot him a half-glare, not appreciating his tone. I know why he’s on edge, but acting on emotions isn’t going to help us right now.
“I’m not saying we don’t try, but I’m also not going to be surprised if nothing comes back,” I say, settling on diplomacy for now rather than picking a fight.
“We could ask Delilah if she recognizes this guy,” Siren suggests.
“No.”
Joker and I speak at the same time, but to my genuine surprise, Bones’s voice also joins us. I blink at our prime alpha in surprise, but he doesn’t look at me, keeping his golden gaze fixed on the monitors.
“If that stuff came from her old nest, then this guy obviously has a connection to her. It would be faster—”
“I said, no.”
Bones’s voice is a low snarl, full of his subaudible alpha dominance that sends a shiver down my spine, even though it’s not directed at me. Siren swallows hard, looking away from our prime alpha, face slightly pale.
“If you say so,” they mutter, already working on taking screenshots of the man’s face from every angle we have.
“I’m going to check on Delilah,” Joker announces, not even waiting before turning on his heel and heading back toward the stairs.
Once his footsteps disappear down the hallway below us, I let out a long sigh, looking at Bones and Siren.
“I don’t like this,” I mutter, rubbing my eyes.
Bones lets out a long, agreeing sigh, the sound slightly muffled by his mask. We’re quiet for another few moments before Siren pushes back from the computers, turning around and getting to their feet.
“I don’t like it as much as the rest of you. But what are we going to do? It’s not like we can call up the five-oh and report it,” they say, moving to lean against the back of one of the couches.
“Do we need to move locations? Just for a while? Maybe throw this guy off our trail?” I suggest.
“If he found us here, there’s a strong chance he’ll find us no matter where we go,” Siren counters.
“And that’s another thing. How the fuck did he find us? We weren’t followed and no one saw us leave the scene, right?” I ask, getting a little heated.
“I hate to suggest it but…” Siren trails off, rubbing the back of their neck.
“Well, you can’t just start a sentence like that and not finish it,” Bones says after two long heartbeats of silence.
“Is there a chance she’s got a tracker on her?”
As soon as the words are out of Siren’s mouth, all noise around me fades. I didn’t see anything in my physical exam, but I wasn’t exactly looking for a tracking device. And I wouldn’t put it past that fucking facility to put them in the patients without their knowledge.
“I…I can try to see if she’ll agree to a more thorough exam. But if we find one…”
I trail off, my mind already working. I hope like hell there isn’t one, but in the event there is, who knows what I’ll need to do to get it out. But I shut down my train of thought before I can spiral. First things first. I need to speak to Delilah.