Page 33 of Secret Shifters Next Door

I covered my hand with my mouth. Luis had found us. Somehow, he’d tracked us all the way here. He was in this town, and he’d done this. In broad daylight. Why had no one stopped him? Had they watched and laughed, or were they too afraid to do anything? I was starting to shake when thick, strong arms wrapped around me. I jerked and screamed. Luis was grabbing me, trying to pull me into a car. I lashed out, trying to fight him off.

“Harley. Harley, stop. It’s me. It’s Tate.”

His voice cut through my panic, and I looked up into his face. I collapsed into his arms, tears streaming down my face. The girls were behind him. I hated that they’d seen the graffiti on the smashed car.

“Let’s get you out of here,” Tate said. “Girls, follow me.”

He put an arm around my shoulders and ushered me to his truck. Jordyn and Mariah hurried along behind us. I wanted to comfort my girls, but fear had a vice grip on my chest. Luis was dangerous. He was the reason we’d moved here. But I never expected him to follow us halfway across the countryand vandalize my car. That was more than dangerous—it was psychotic.

The girls and I buckled ourselves in, and Tate pulled away from the scene. He was speaking, yelling instructions into the phone, but I was in too much of a haze to take in what he was saying. Even as dazed as I was, I was surprised by how happy and relieved I was that Tate had been there.

“Momma?” Jordyn asked in an uncharacteristically meek voice. “Did Luis find us?”

I couldn’t answer. Simply couldn’t get the words out. Mariah answered for me.

“Yeah, I think he did.”

We got home, and Tate hustled us into our living room. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Before I could let myself believe Luis was outside, Tate opened the door, and three strange men walked in, each shaking Tate’s hand as they stepped past him. I breathed a sigh of relief. Tate knew them. Mariah and Jordyn sat on either side of me.

Tate pointed at each new arrival. “This is Miles Kelly, a private investigator. That’s Steffen James, security program developer, and Blayne Walker, our security analyst. These are the guys I work with. I trust them with my life, and so can you.”

Miles sat down on the ottoman in front of me and looked me in the eyes, “Mrs. King, do you have any idea who might have done this to your car?”

“Luis. It was him. I know it,” Jordyn said, her voice just a step away from a yell.

Miles glanced at Jordyn before his questioning gaze landed on me again. I took a breath and steadied myself.

“Luis is my ex. We dated for several months.” I sent a sideways glance in the girls’ directions. I didn’t want to air my dirty laundry in front of them.

Tate seemed to read my mind and gestured to the girls. “Hey, guys, how about we get you into your rooms? Your mom needs to give Miles all the information she can. No need for you to be here for that.”

For a moment, I thought they’d argue, but they stood and went upstairs. I let out a small, relieved breath. I loved my daughters, but there were some things they didn’t need to know.

“Luis is my ex. A while back, I found out he was cheating on me. Had cheated on me multiple times with different women. When I broke things off, he started stalking me, texting me, showing up at the girls’ school, always being visible. But it got more intense and scarier. I finally got a restraining order. That was when he had some associate approach me to threaten meandthe girls if I didn’t withdraw the order. That was the last straw. A friend of mine offered to rent me their house out here so I could get away from Luis. It looks like he found me...”

Miles glanced at the other men. “I think you’re right about it being this Luis guy. If I had to guess, he hired his own investigators to track you down.”

“Is it really that easy? I didn’t tell him where we were going. Only my friends knew. They wouldn’t have said anything.”

Miles nodded. “Fifty years ago, a private investigator’s job was much harder. Now? Even if you’re extra careful, any PI worth a damn could track someone down. Really great when you’re the one looking, not great when you’re the one trying to run. He probably had a team pull up your medical records too. I’d say he knows about the baby, which might be what brought him out here.”

My eyes widened, and I glanced from Miles to Tate. Tate didn’t look ashamed or embarrassed. Miles shrugged. “Tate’s not just my business partner, he’s also my best friend.”

Of course he would have told his friends that he may have knocked a woman up, and that she now lived across the street. Iwasn’t even mad. In fact, it was a relief not to have to go through the entire story with someone else.

Miles asked me more questions, but it was a struggle to focus with Tate walking all around the house and murmuring to Blayne. The two of them pointed at windows and doors, then at the ceiling. I narrowed my eyes when Blayne started marking spots around my house with a pencil.

Ignoring Miles, I called out, “What the hell are you guys doing?”

They turned around, their faces bearing twin expressions of surprise.

“Sorry, um, we were marking the best areas for the security system. Spots for alarms, heavy locks, cameras, motion detectors, the whole shebang,” Blayne said.

I blinked. “That sounds really expensive, I can’t afford that,” I said, addressing Tate.

Tate shook his head and waved me off with a dismissive gesture of his hand. “Don’t worry about it. You aren’t paying for it.”

“What? Tate, no. I can’t let you pay for such an extravagant gift, or whatever you want to call this.”

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