17. Dante
DANTE
After staying up all night, monitoring the live camera feeds outside of the motel to make sure the men didn’t return and Rose was safe, my coffee is keeping my eyes open and my head clear.
It’s gone cold since it’s been sitting in a travel mug all night, but it’ll have to do until I get to the city.
I couldn’t risk the men from yesterday or any new threats coming back for Rose, so I parked down the road from the motel and kept my eyes on the screen that showed the parking lot all night.
I didn’t have time to put cameras in Rose’s new room, but since she was only staying one night, I figured monitoring her from the outside would have to do.
And I was only minutes away in case something did happen.
My eyes snap to the screen at movement from Rose’s new room as the door opens and Rose emerges, looking just as tired as I feel.
Clearly, she didn’t sleep well. If only she knew I was keeping watch over her, she could have slept knowing she was safe.
She passes a small turnoff that you wouldn’t even see from the road unless you know it’s there, and as soon as she is a decent distance down the road, I pull out and turn south toward the city and toward the woman who has quickly become my reason for existing.
I’m driving an older-model black BMW sedan, which I keep covered and hidden in the woods on my property for purposes just like this.
Black is one of the most common car colors, making up about a fourth of the market for all vehicle types and about seventy percent of BMWs, so it’s the perfect choice to blend in with the public.
The license plates and VIN are even legit.
Since I’ve had this car for so long, I’ve been able to make it the perfect follow car.
Overall, it was an uneventful drive back to the city following Rose.
She stopped for gas and an iced coffee about an hour into the trip, and as soon as she drank about half of her coffee, she changed her music playlist to one of her favorites: 80s Hip-Hop & Rap.
This woman’s mood can usually be influenced by the level of sugar and caffeine in her system, and today is no different.
As soon as I see Rose pull into the gated underground parking garage connected to her secure building, I can breathe a little easier.
I can’t physically watch her today, so I’ll have to rely on the cameras I have in place in her apartment as well as the tracker on her car and phone in case she decides to run out for something or meet with vendors.
I’m hoping she spends most of the day inside working like she said she was going to so I can take care of my own errands while I’m here.
I have also been checking the cameras in my house to ensure Luca and his team are working only in the areas Rose instructed and nowhere else.
I know Luca has been curious about the basement, but it’s highly unlikely he’d even be able to find the entrance, let alone bypass the security measures I have in place to get through the door.
But I’d rather keep an eye on things there as well just to be safe.
I guess the silver lining in all of this is that Rose will be spending less time with Luca.
I wonder if she told him about what happened to her room?
I’ll have to check her texts and call logs later tonight when I have more time to decompress from the past twenty-four hours.
First things first, though. I need to talk to my boss about the newest developments and figure out our next steps.