Chapter 57 No More Waiting

Chapter 57 No More Waiting
The house moves differently after that. Quieter. Sharper.
Like everyone inside, it understands something has shifted, even if no one says it out loud.
By the time I come downstairs with Patrick, the kitchen has turned into something halfway between a command center and controlled chaos. Phones sit scattered across the island beside half-finished coffee cups, and Josh stands near the counter, speaking quietly into his phone, while Mike watches the security feed on one of the tablets.
Jake looks up first when we walk in. His gaze flicks briefly between Patrick and me before settling somewhere safer. “Morning.”
“Barely,” Patrick says.
Jake’s mouth almost lifts.
Almost.
Drew moves toward me immediately, pressing a warm mug into my hands before I can ask for it. “Eat something before the caffeine hits your stomach.”
I take the mug anyway. “You all really decided that feeding me is your life’s purpose.”
“It’s become a group project,” Jake says lightly.
The tension in the room eases just enough for air to move through it again.
Just enough.
Mike doesn’t look away from the screen. “SUV moved twice in the last hour.”
That drags everything tight again immediately.
Patrick steps beside him, his attention locking onto the tablet. “Pattern?”
“Slow passes first. Then parked.”
Josh ends his call and slips his phone into his pocket. “Security company’s increasing coverage at the gates.”
“That won’t matter if they’re testing response times,” Mike mutters.
Patrick’s jaw tightens slightly at that.
Not visibly to most people.
Enough for me to notice.
I lean against the island, wrapping both hands around the mug while the conversation shifts around me, strategy replacing uncertainty now that everyone finally has something concrete to push against.
“They followed us yesterday,” I say quietly.
The room stills slightly.
Mike looks over first. “What?”
I glance toward Patrick briefly before looking back at the others. “Patrick switched routes after we left the courthouse.”
Jake straightens slightly. “And?”
“They stayed behind us for three lights,” Patrick says evenly. “Then backed off.”
Josh’s expression hardens immediately. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“Because I needed to confirm it first.”
Mike lets out a sharp breath through his nose before looking back toward the screen again. “This is getting sloppy.”
“No,” Patrick says calmly. “It’s getting deliberate.”
That lands heavier.
Because deliberate means planned.
And planned means escalation.
Drew sets a plate down beside me before finally speaking again. “You still think this is about pressure?”
Patrick’s attention stays on the security feed. “Partly.”
“And the rest?”
“He’s trying to see how close he can get before we push back.”
Silence settles after that.
Not empty.
Thinking.
Jake rubs a hand slowly over the back of his neck. “You really think he’s behind all of this directly?”
“No,” Patrick says. “I think he’s directing it.”
That distinction matters.
I can feel it in the way the room changes afterward, tension shifting from uncertainty into something more focused.
Josh folds his arms across his chest. “Then we stop waiting.”
Patrick finally looks away from the screen.
“Yes.”
The single word settles hard into the room.
Mike straightens slightly. “You got something in mind?”
“I want names first.”
“You think the driver’s local?”
“I think nobody sits outside our gates that comfortably unless they know exactly how far they can push.”
Jake’s expression tightens. “Meaning somebody’s talking.”
Patrick doesn’t answer.
He doesn’t need to.
The implication settles on its own.
A chill works slowly down my spine as I look down into my coffee, the surface still trembling faintly from where my hands shifted around the mug.
Patrick notices immediately.
His hand brushes lightly against my back as he passes behind me, grounding instead of drawing attention.
“He’s trying to make you feel cornered,” he says quietly.
I look up at him. “Maybe it’s working.”
Something dark flickers briefly across his face before disappearing again.
“No,” he says evenly. “It isn’t.”
The certainty in his voice should feel impossible after everything happening around us.
Instead, it steadies something in me.
Mike grabs his keys from the counter. “I’ll head into the city.”
Josh looks over. “For what?”
“Plate trace first. Then I’ll start checking cameras along the courthouse route.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jake says immediately.
Mike glances at him once before nodding. “Fine.”
The movement around the room starts again after that, purposeful and fast, without becoming frantic. Josh heads back toward the office to take another call while Mike and Jake gather things near the door, the tension inside the house sharpening into action now that decisions are finally being made.
Drew stays beside me.
Patrick does too.
That feels intentional.
I look toward the rain still falling steadily outside the windows before speaking again.
“You said earlier that these changes things.”
Patrick’s attention shifts fully back to me.
“Yes.”
“How.”
His gaze holds mine for a second before he answers.
“Because before this, he was testing distance.”
My stomach tightens slightly. “And now?”
“Now he’s testing access.”
The words settle cold and heavy inside my chest.
Drew’s hand tightens briefly around my shoulder before falling away again.
Across the room, Mike opens the front door while Jake pulls his jacket on beside him, both of them already focused on what comes next.
Josh reappears from the hallway at the same moment Patrick’s phone vibrates against the counter.
The room is still.
Patrick picks it up immediately.
His expression doesn’t change while he reads the screen.
That’s what makes my pulse spike.
“What?” Josh asks quietly.
Patrick looks up slowly. “We’ve got movement.”
Everything in the room tightens at once.
“Where?” Mike asks.
Patrick’s gaze shifts toward the front windows. “Closer than before.”