Page 124 of In Shadows We Dance

A cramp knots my neck as I jerk upright.

North west.

The realization strikes like lightning, electricity surging through my veins. Maps flood my screens, possibilities crystalizing into something real. They wouldn’t risk going east. Too many major cities, too much surveillance. South leads to borders and complications they’d want to avoid.

But north west.

A fierce pride courses through me. She’s created a compass rose. The perfect clue. She knew I’d see it, knew I’d understand. I picture her dancing in my ballroom, in the school’s dance studio … the precision, the flawless execution. Just like the damn clue she’s left me.

She’s left me the first step to follow her.

Pride gives way to something sharper. Something dangerously close to admiration.

I drive my fist against the desk, monitors rattling at the impact.The ache in my knuckles barely registers as I drag my focus back to the screens. Cities, towns, and routes begin to take shape. They’ll hide her somewhere remote enough to disappear, but not too far from civilization. Small enough to go unnoticed. Somewhere they think I won't look.

Somewhere similar to Silverlake Rapids …

The search narrows as I input variables. Population under seven thousand. Remote but functional. An hour’s drive from any major city. My tracking software updates, scanning possible routes. The roses gave me a direction, but not distance. They could be anywhere from the next state to the Canadian border.

It’s a puzzle, and I’m putting the pieces into place, one by one.

Agent Miller’s words crawl back into my head, laced with contempt.

Stay away. Let her go. Find someone else to play with.

Like she’s nothing. Like she’s just another girl. Just another toy.

The thought sends rage through me, hot and violent. My fist slams down again, the pain a fleeting satisfaction. The memory of her dancing fills my mind. Her fire, her defiance, the way she blazed to life under my attention. The thought steadies me.

They don’t understand. Theycan’t.

Because this isn’t just possession anymore.

My fingers pause on the keyboard, the screens flickering as data pours in, while a truth I didn’t expect settles over me.

She trusts me.

The thought stops me cold.

I picture the roses again. The shoes. It wasn’t just a clue to her direction. It was a challenge. A message. Achoice.

She’s trusting me to follow her. To find her. The way I promised I would.

It shakes me, winds around me, burrows deep into my chest, right where I thought nothing could touch. I don’t even recognize the person I was when I first saw her. Back then, she was prey. Something to chase, to corner, to torment. Now?

Now she’s something I can’t afford to lose.

The crash footage continues its endless loop, the perfect misdirection, the background to the realizations playing out in my head.

The clue she left isn’t just a cry for help. It’s a promise. A declaration. She’s not running away from me. She’s pulling me to her. And I’ll follow.

I’llalwaysfollow.

Let them think they’ve won. Let Miller and his team believe they’ve taken her away from me. They don’t understand the game we’re playing. They don’t understandus.

My custom software scans cameras, traffic data, weather reports. Every tool, every resource I have focuses on her. Her strength. Her mind. Her choice.

She’s not prey anymore.

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