Page 81 of My Vigilante Valentine

Chris’s apartment was just like his mind—organized chaos that somehow worked. Multiple monitors displayed scrolling data, and there was evidence of the midnight oil he’d burned last night in the form of an empty take-out container.

“Nice setup,” I said, nodding toward his made-for-TV workstation.

“Thanks.” He gestured for us to sit on the couch. “It’s not quite Batcave level, but it gets the job done.”

I shot Luna a look. “You two and the superheroes...”

“Get used to it,oh, fearless leader.” She dropped onto the couch as if suggesting Rocky and Bullwinkle could even sit at the same table with superheroes, then pulled me down next to her. “So, what did you find?”

Chris held up a finger. “First things first—I’ve been trying all day to find something on that guy who was at the restaurant’s bar. I have a clear shot of him from the restaurant’s security footage?—”

“How did you get that?” Luna asked, sounding impressed.

“They keep it in the cloud,” he replied with an easy shrug. “The only problem is, no matter what system I hack into, I haven’t been able to find him on facial rec. Dude’s a ghost.”

Luna and I sighed in unison. We still weren’t even sure if the unremarkable man who’d been watching us had anything to do with this, but it was disheartening to hear that he was so hard to track down.

That had to mean he was involved. Who couldn’t be pulled up on facial recognition software these days? And, more importantly, how did he have the skills to stay hidden?

“Guess he wasn’t such an Average Joe, after all,” Luna murmured.

“Keep working on it,” I said, belatedly realizing I’d sort of barked it like an order. I softened my tone a bit in the name of good team building. “If he’s our guy, I’ll be shocked. He didn’t look like he could win a fight against a high school wrestler, let alone me.”

Chris’s face took on a focused edge as he pulled up several windows on his main screen. “I will, but now lemme show you this other stuff. I found a pattern.”

Luna and I exchanged a glance as he rambled about a bunch of tech stuff that I didn’t understand.

Then, his tone changed as he clicked through several files, bringing up what looked like a surveillance log. “The Valentine Villain doesn’t just randomly pick couples. He watches them first. Studies their routines, their favorite spots, their social media presence.”

“Hunting them,” I murmured.

Chris nodded. “Yeah. And get this—all of the victims had connections to local businesses. Not just as customers but as regulars or owners. The kind of people who show up so often that everyone knows them, and the staff knows their orders by heart.”

Luna sat forward, her shoulder pressing against mine. “Like Sam and Fatima at Wilde Brew.”

“Yep.” Chris’s voice softened. “They were probably targeted because they were so visible there. The Villain must have seen them during their study sessions.”

The thought of that monster watching Luna’s customers—watchingher—made my blood boil. My free hand clenched into a fist, and Luna squeezed the one she was holding.

“So, what’s the plan?” she asked, her voice steady despite the tension I could feel in her body.

“I have it all mapped out, but we have a few days to lay the groundwork, or traps—of the dating in public places variety—before his next kill.”

This time, I had to squeeze Luna’s hand as her whole body snapped to attention.

“How do you know that?” she whispered.

“Long story short, a very intense algorithm that scans the?—”

“Virtual streets,” I cut in, shooting Luna a wink.

And just as I’d hoped, some of the tension left her body.

“Send us whatever you want us to look over for the groundwork,” I told Chris. “That way, we know what we’re doing in the meantime.”

“Will do.” Chris grinned. “That said, I know we’ve been doing a lot of training since this all started, but never in the field.”

“For a good reason,” I bit out.

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