Page 60 of The Huntress and Her Hound

“He has security cameras,” I mutter, picking up my pace. My head is still spinning from the encounter I had with the stranger, but I compartmentalize it and continue on. I’ll dig into the phone later when I’m alone and this shit show is over.

“Turn them off,” Henry snaps.

“Well, that would be simple if I was at home. I’m not. I’m running down the fucking street, asshole.”

“Run faster.”

I roll my eyes and turn the corner, darting into the lobby of the apartment building. I punch the elevator up button, and wait, sucking in a deep breath. When the doors slide open a couple of people step out and I slide past them.

“You there yet? I’m killing time a block away,” Henry asks, still sounding annoyed.

“Almost.” I sprint for the apartment and punch in the code, opening the door. Cash greets me with a growl and then wiggling butt. I give him a pat as I make my way to my makeshift cave, and a few moments later, I’m plopped down in the desk chair. I shut off the security cameras and send the feed to my computer. “You’re good to go.”

I swap to the headset, and ready myself. “Don’t waste a bunch of time. If something gets tripped, you’re fucked. The response time is literal minutes to this place.”

“I hear you.”

“Don’t make a mess,” I warn him.

“Some of the best cleanup crews are in Vegas,” Henry retorts.

I choose silence to that—because he’s right—and then I dig the other phone out of my pocket. I should’ve checked to see if it had any trackers on it before I brought it, but it’s too late for that. I’ll run a scan on it after I see what’s there. I set it on the desk, that smiling picture of Cher almost eerie now that I can really take it in. I realize suddenly she’s in a school uniform, her dark hair in careful waves.

But she’s not looking at the camera.

Furrowing my brows, I slide to unlock the phone—and it does instantly, no passcode required. Something about that really bothers me.

“Where is he?” Henry’s voice jerks me back.

“Um,” I look up from the phone to the computer, scanning the footage. Sure enough, my eyes land on the target within a few seconds. “Master bedroom. Probably about to shower, since he’s getting naked and all. Thought you said he was at a party.”

Henry grunts with no explanation, and I go back to the phone, seeing that there’s nothing there. There’s no service in the top right-hand corner, and it doesn’t take long for me to assume someone purposefully handed me this. My stomach lurches as there’s only one thing for me to click on.

Photo gallery.

I don’t like anything about this, and just as I go to press it, Henry comes back on, flashing across the bedroom screen. Shit. I set the phone down and give my full attention to the camera feed. I have to wait to investigate until I know Henry is in the clear.

His shadow-like figure slinks along the master bedroom, and in my headset, I can hear the shower running. It’s a smart move to grab him in the shower, honestly. It makes the cleanup easy. I turn the volume up and wait as he slips into the bathroom.

Keeping my eyes focused on the screen, I hold my breath. Two soft pops later, Henry emerges from the bathroom.

“Done,” is all he says. “Call in clean-up crew.”

“Why did you use the most obvious—”

“Just call in for cleanup.” He cuts me off. “I’ll be back, and you better be ready to tell me what the fuck you’re up to.”

That’s why he did it like this.

I’m pissed, and in silence, I go through the protocol, calling in cleanup and covering the footage as quickly as possible. It’s tedious work to ensure it’s done properly, and by the time I finish, Henry is walking through the door. I grab the device with God-knows-what on it and shove it in my pocket.

His footsteps are heavy, and that fact alone is evidence shit is about to go down between us. I pull up Cher’s location and check one more time, seeing that she’s still at work. It probably won’t be hard to come up with an excuse to leave now. I’ll need the air.

Henry appears in the doorway as soon as I close out of it. “Spill it.”

“Spill what?” I glare up at him. “I did what I was supposed to. Cleanup crew is on their way, and no cops have been called.”

“Why were you at a penthouse across from my sister’s work?”

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