Chapter 60 Chapter 60
Chapter 60 Chapter 60
The headlights disappear almost as quickly as they appeared, swallowed back into the rain beyond the front windows while tension settles hard across the kitchen.
Josh reaches the entryway first, pulling the curtain aside just enough to look through the glass while Mike moves toward the security monitor again, frustration already tightening his expression.
“Tell me that’s one of ours,” Jake mutters.
Patrick doesn’t answer immediately. His attention stays fixed toward the front of the house, still and unreadable in a way that means he’s listening to more than what’s happening in the room.
Then—
“It is.”
The pressure loosens slightly.
Not gone.
Just redirected.
Josh opens the door a few seconds later, cold rain and wind sweeping briefly into the house as a man steps inside wearing a dark jacket soaked through at the shoulders. He’s older than the others by at least ten years, broad-shouldered, calm, and completely unsurprised by the tension waiting for him.
His gaze moves once through the room before landing briefly on me.
Respectful.
Assessing.
Then back to Patrick.
“You weren’t kidding about the weather,” he says, dryly.
Mike exhales sharply through his nose. “Jesus Christ, Liam, next time call before you show up looking like a hitman.”
Liam completely ignores that, already pulling out folded papers from inside his jacket while Patrick steps forward to take them.
The room shifts subtly around him.
Not dominance exactly.
Recognition.
“You drove the perimeter yourself?” Patrick asks.
“Twice.” Liam glances toward the windows. “You’ve got someone sitting farther down the road now. Different vehicle.”
That lands badly.
Josh shuts the door firmly behind him. “You sure?”
“Yes.”
Mike swears quietly under his breath while Jake pushes away from the counter, tension immediately returning to the room in full force.
Patrick unfolds the papers slowly across the island while Liam steps closer beside him, rainwater still dripping faintly onto the hardwood.
“Plate traces came back empty,” Liam says. “Both vehicles are clean.”
“Stolen?” Josh asks.
“Most likely cloned.”
Patrick’s jaw tightens slightly at that before smoothing again.
I watch the entire shift unfold around the kitchen, almost without words, everyone moving instinctively toward positions they already understand while Liam points out routes across the map Patrick laid out on the counter.
Do not panic.
Preparation.
That realization settles heavily inside my chest.
This isn’t new to them.
Or at least not unfamiliar.
Jake notices me watching and steps closer, lowering his voice slightly. “You okay?”
I nod once, though I’m not entirely sure it’s true.
He studies me for half a second longer before bumping his shoulder lightly against mine. “You’re doing better than Mike.”
“Hey,” Mike snaps immediately without looking up from the maps. “I’m doing amazing.”
“You threatened a printer twenty minutes ago.”
“It knew what it was doing.”
The tension cracks just enough for air to move through the room again, and to my surprise, Liam’s mouth almost lifts slightly before disappearing again beneath business.
“Courthouse photos showed up online an hour ago,” he says, sliding another paper toward Patrick.
That stills everything.
My stomach tightens immediately.
Patrick picks up the page first, but I already know what it is before he turns it enough for the rest of us to see.
A photograph.
I left the courthouse between Josh and Mike, with Patrick walking slightly ahead.
Taken from across the street.
The SUV.
Jake’s expression hardens instantly. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“They posted it where?” Josh asks.
“Private forum first,” Liam says. “Then it got copied elsewhere.”
Mike looks up sharply. “Who’s running the account?”
“Burner profile. No history.”
Patrick’s gaze remains fixed on the photograph for several seconds too long before he finally sets it back down carefully.
“He wanted confirmation,” he says quietly.
No one argues.
Because there’s proof now.
Drew moves beside me without drawing attention to it, his hand settling lightly against my back as he looks down at the picture on the counter.
“You can barely see her face,” he says.
“That’s not the point,” Patrick replies.
No.
It isn’t.
The point is that someone was close enough to take it.
Close enough to follow.
Close enough to wait.
A chill works slowly through me despite the warmth of the kitchen, and before I can fully pull myself back together, Patrick’s attention shifts immediately toward me.
His gaze sharpens slightly. “Emmy.”
“I’m fine.”
The answer comes automatically.
He doesn’t call me on it.
That somehow feels worse.
Liam watches the exchange quietly before speaking again. “There’s something else.”
The room tightens immediately.
“What?” Josh asks.
Liam reaches into his jacket one more time before setting a small folded piece of paper onto the counter.
Water stains darken the edges.
Patrick unfolds it first.
His expression doesn’t change.
Mike notices anyway. “Patrick.”
Slowly, Patrick turns the paper around.
My stomach drops.
It’s another photograph.
Older.
Me.
Years younger, I stood outside my house, holding grocery bags while looking over my shoulder toward something outside the frame.
Or someone.
The picture wasn’t taken recently.
But the message written across the bottom definitely was.
Still watching.
Silence crashes through the room all at once.
Not shocked.
Something colder.
Jake swears quietly under his breath while Josh’s entire posture hardens beside the counter.
Drew’s hand tightens slightly against my back.
Mike looks genuinely furious now.
Patrick stays completely still.
That’s the worst part.
When Patrick goes still like that, it means something inside him has just locked into place.