Page 61 of Mountain Security

I’ll destroy your life like you destroyed mine.

She had to read the words three times to understand them, and even then, they weren’t making any sense.

“I …” Yvette licked her dry lips. “I don’t understand.”

19

* * *

Alex

Alex forced himself to unclench his jaw.

He was going to give himself a massive headache if he kept this up.

He’d spent all afternoon at thegendarmeriewith Beau, Ry, and Hugo. Together, they’d gone through every single frame from the security cameras, looking for whoever had dropped off the fake bomb.

Alex had stepped out for a breath of air, but Ry and Hugo were still looking. They’d made it clear they would look through everything for as long as they needed to, until they found something.

Tristan and Lorenz ran out of the elevator. They’d both been in a training session in the mountains, but had rushed back when they’d heard what happened.

Tristan enveloped Alex in a hard hug.

“You okay, man?” he asked.

Alex patted his friend’s back before extricating himself gently. “I’m okay. There was no bomb.”

They were still waiting for forensics to get back on the exact component of the package, but it appeared the device had been completely harmless, designed only to scare Yvette.

It’d certainly scared Alex. Even now, hours after the incident, he could close his eyes and see Yvette’s expression as she’d realized what was inside the package. He could still feel the panic of those moments, where he’d been so sure he was going to lose her.

At first, he’d wondered about the almost Hollywoodian theatrics, of adding a ticking clock.

But of course it made sense, because there had been no bomb. Whoever had planted it had wanted to instill the fear of God in Yvette, but hadn’t actually wanted to hurt her.

Or not yet.

Alex’s molars clenched again as he recalled the message.

The next one will be.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Lorenz said.

“Alex?” Hugo asked, popping his head out.

Alex looked up at his friend’s strangled tone. He rushed back to the other room, where the TV screen on the wall was frozen, showing a figure walking into the building.

A figure wearing a small backpack.

On his laptop, Ry pulled up another video, of the same person, this time walking out of the building and down the stairs. He looked at the time stamp on the bottom corner.

Fifteen minutes later.

The coat was the same. Everything was the same. Except the backpack was gone.

Something sour rose in Alex’s throat.

He had to find Yvette.

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