Page 64 of Cyclone

I needed to tell Owen.

But first...

I needed to get off the street.

Fast.

As I peeled out of the parking lot, my mind raced ahead, calculating possibilities.

It could be nothing.

A mistake.

A lookalike.

But I knew better.

Nobody “accidentally” watches you like that.

Nobody “accidentally” tracks a ghost.

My past, the one I thought I had buried six feet under—had just come back to life.

And if I wasn’t careful, it was going to bury me for real this time.

35

Jude

By the time I pulled into the lot at The Golden Team offices, my heart was pounding so hard I could barely hear myself think.

I parked crooked, half on the line, but I didn’t care.

I slammed the truck door and rushed toward the front entrance, punching in the security code with shaking fingers.

The second I stepped inside, River looked up from behind his desk.

One look at my face, and he was already pushing back his chair, standing.

“What happened?” he asked, voice low and serious.

Not a hint of teasing now.

“I need to talk to you,” I said, my voice tight. “Now.”

He nodded once, motioning me toward the small conference room off the main floor.

I moved quickly, barely noticing Sean and Gage in their office glance up from their desk, their easy smiles slipping into frowns as they followed us.

The second the door clicked shut behind us, River turned to me, arms crossed, face unreadable.

“Talk.”

I told him everything.

The man on the pier.

The way he watched me.

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