Chapter Eighty-Three
Xavier
By the time Jake’s truck pulls into the driveway, the sun is up and nothing is moving in the trees. My hands ball into fists. I’m tired of this guy’s shit.
Behind me, the back door opens and closes as Ruby’s friends step inside with her. They arrived within minutes of her call and are retreating to the kitchen to warm up. She couldn’t ask for better friends if she tried.
Jake’s truck door slams. Boots on gravel. “Alright,” he says as he walks up beside me. “Show me.”
I don’t answer. Just point. His gaze follows to the photo of Ruby in the kitchen, taken at a distance. Likely the tree line near the house. My tape measure hanging near it.
Even though I touched the items before we realized what they were, I put them back where we found them so Jake could get a clearer picture of what we’re dealing with.
“Jesus.”
“Yeah.”
He stands, eyes already moving, pen, fence line, tree line, then toward the driveway. “Someone is fucking with you. You say this was from your truck?”
“Yeah, it’s been at least a couple of weeks.” I raise my shoulder. “Or longer. I noticed it was missing one morning when I was leaving here. They could’ve taken it from here or a job site. Hell, it could’ve even been when I was at the office.”
His jaw tightens as he walks over, studies the items closer, then exhales through his nose. “That’s creepy as fuck.”
“Thank you for that.” Because that part’s obvious. Someone snuck onto a job site and took my tape measure. Maybe when I was on the phone. Or went to lunch. Or right in front of my fucking face. Who knows.
And Ruby? No matter how much protection I place on her, someone is still standing outside the capture zone, watching her. Taking photos. And leaving gifts.
Jake glances back toward the house. “Ruby okay?”
“She says she is.”
Jake nods once, like he knows what that means. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”
He heads for the house without waiting. I follow, one last glance at the yard before stepping inside. The warmth hits wrong after the cold.
Ruby is on the couch between Bella and Emily, a blanket pulled around her shoulders. Squirt’s pressed tight against her shin, low and watchful.
Ruby’s eyes track everything. Door. Windows. Us.
Jake leans over the laptop on the coffee table. “When’d you go to bed?”
“Maybe four.” Her voice is steady. Too steady.
Jake scrolls through the screens. We left Bella and Dominic’s place before midnight. Clearly, we didn’t drive around town until 4:00 a.m. But I’m not answering any of those questions, and Jake’s not asking.
The footage runs fast. Wind pushing through the trees. Branches shifting. A raccoon cuts across the yard and disappears. Nothing.
Jake slows it down. I’m already leaning closer. Something’s off. I don’t see it yet, but I feel it.
“There,” I say.
Jake pauses. “Where?”
Son of a bitch. I point to the bottom edge of the screen. “Right there.”
At first, it’s nothing. Just shadow. Then it moves. Low. Wrong. Not crossing the frame, skirting it.
Bella leans forward. “What’s that?”
Jake zooms in. The image distorts, but the movement holds. Someone. Keeping low. Staying out of center view.
Ruby’s voice is lower now. “They knew where the cameras were.”
“Looks like it.” Jake’s face remains expressionless. He skips backward. Plays it again.
This time, I track it all the way from where it disappears to where it reappears. Where it never fully comes into frame. “They’re using the edge.” I step closer, pointing again, jaw working in anger. “Bottom corner. That strip isn’t covered.”
He leans in, eyes narrowing. “Damn.”
The angle’s off. Just enough. Leaves a narrow slice of ground out of view. If someone stays low, they move through the yard without ever fully showing up. That shouldn’t have happened. What if something had happened to Ruby? I block the thought as fast as it swept in.
Emily crosses her arms. “That’s creepy as fuck.”
Jake shakes his head. “No. That’s planned.”
Ruby’s grip tightens on the blanket. “They’ve been watching.”
No one argues with that.
“We need to fix that,” Jake mutters.
I’m already moving before he finishes the sentence. The back door swings open again, cold air cutting through the room as I grab the ladder and head for the corner of the house. I’ve got it up before Jake even steps outside.
“You see the angle?” Jake looks up.
“I see it.” I climb, loosen the bracket, tilt the camera down.
“Lower it,” Jake calls. I adjust again. “Now left.” Another shift. I lock it in place.
I climb down, grab the laptop, check the feed. Better. No gap. No easy path through. I scan the yard again: tree line, fence, driveway, running it through in my head.
Entry points. Blind spots. Timing. How could I’ve been so blind? I should’ve accounted for someone staying low.
Bella glances toward the woods. “You think they were out there when you came outside?”
“Probably. I don’t see why not. They wanted to see our reaction.” Closer than I thought. Way fucking closer than I thought.
Emily shivers. “That’s terrifying.”
It is. But that’s not what sticks. It’s how they moved, how they knew. The ladder comes down with a dull thud, and no one says anything.
The porch creaks behind us. I turn. Ruby steps out despite the girls telling her not to. She stops near the edge of the steps, eyes moving over the yard. The pen. The truck. The camera.
“How long?” Ruby’s knuckles are white as she grips the blanket. “How long have they been watching?” Tears spring to her eyes. “And when are they going to fucking stop?”
Her tears are like a punch to the gut because I can’t answer any of those questions.