Page 69 of Close to the Edge

I walked in and my steps slowed. The last time I was here I was in complete control of my world, my only focus on being bigger, better,badder.

In the space of seven days, the ground had shifted beneath me, attempted to change my orbit. All because of the stunning woman who stopped beside me, her eyes lighting on the space I’d claimed, possessions that proclaimed my success. That fierce yearning to hang on to her clobbered me again. I smashed it to pieces.

No more breaking rules.

“Hang tight. I’ll be right back.” I sprinted upstairs to my bedroom to retrieve the weapons I kept in the safe.

I came down to find her at the window, staring at the ocean with her arms wrapped around her middle. She turned at my approach. “Can’t we just stay here?”

The urge to sayyespounded me. “No. This place is secure enough but it’s in my name. Any fucker with a computer can find it. I need you off the grid.”

Resigned, she nodded.

We headed outside and reboarded the chopper.

“Chance will need to know I’m going off-grid.”

My teeth gritted. “No, he doesn’t. You still have time before your deadline. And frankly, I don’t want him anywhere near you right now.”

Again, she didn’t react as expected. She was either in shock or afraid. Neither of the two sat well with me.

“Lily...”

Her fingers curled in her lap. “What if it’s someone close to me? What would that say about my judgment?”

“You’re not blaming yourself for this.” That ball was squarely in my court.

“Since you don’t knowwhoit is, that’s easier said than done,” she murmured.

I had no answer to that so I remained silent as we reboarded the plane and took off.

There was very little in the way of conversation during the flight.

Many times I opened my mouth to say something, then decided against it.

Action, not platitudes.

Maggie had lined up another SUV for us, and I hightailed it out of the airport with one eye on the police scanner on the dashboard. I wanted to get us to the cabin on the Nevada side of the lake as quickly as possible without attracting attention from the cops for speeding.

Twenty minutes later I breathed a sigh of relief when I spotted the turnoff for the dirt track leading to the cabin. I’d kept it overgrown on purpose. There were no signposts or no trespassing warnings to attract inquisitive neighbors.

The Jeffrey pines lining the track and surrounding the property were ideal for mounting security cameras and other intruder-warning triggers.

I pulled up in front of the cabin in Knots Peak, killed the engine and glanced over at Lily. She was staring at the log building that would be her home until I came through with my assurance to catch her stalker.

My gaze slid past her to the three-leveled property. The one-bedroom dilapidated structure I bought five years ago had been expanded into a no-cost-spared piece of real estate worth ten times its original price.

It was one of three safe houses I owned around the country. The other four were overseas but this was my favorite. On the rare occasion I took downtime from fixing other people’s problems, the cabin was my first choice.

There would be no downtime, though. I’d dropped my guard, messed around with a client and the bastard had gotten close.

Fury and guilt bubbled inside as I threw open the door. “Let’s get you inside.”

I grabbed her bag and walked her to the front door. A palm print and alphanumeric code released the lock.

Rugs spread out in the wide hallway and over polished wooden floors throughout the cabin muffled our footsteps. Exposed oak beams propped up high ceilings in the living room, and light filtered in from a wide window facing the lake.

I stashed her bag in the bedroom before returning to the living room. Still clutching her satchel, she stood at the window, lost in the view.

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