Page 65 of Without a Trace
He watched me for a long beat, like he was measuring out how much to say. “They’re not here for fun, sweetheart. You think this is a vacation? A birthday trip? It’s a fucking stakeout.”
I blinked. “Why?”
He stepped even closer, lowering his voice. “Because you’ve got them wrapped around your finger.”
I stiffened. “That’s not—”
“Don’t lie. Not to me,” he cut in. Voice sharper now. “You sleeping with them? Both of them?”
My mouth dropped open. “Fuck you.”
He grinned. “That’s a yes.”
I stepped back automatically. His smile didn’t shift. He didn’t follow.
“They think they’re protecting you. Maybe they are. But the truth?” He lowered his voice. “You’ve got no idea what you’re in the middle of. No clue who you really are.”
I swallowed. “Then tell me.”
He just smiled again—crooked, knowing.
“You ever wonder why they’d burn the world down for you?”
That one hit somewhere deep.
He turned without another word, cigarette trailing smoke like a fuse.
“Start wondering.”
Scarlett
Ididn’t speak on the walk back up the hill.
Didn’t stop at the kitchen. Didn’t look at anyone. Just slipped inside the house and went straight up the stairs like I hadn’t just been cracked open on the dock.
The hallway smelled like wood and dust and last night’s secrets.
I pushed open the bedroom door, dropping onto the edge of the bed, breathing like I’d run a mile.
Lena appeared in the doorway first, followed by Sloane.
They looked at me like I was a bomb they weren’t sure how to handle.
“Are you okay?” Lena asked, stepping in slowly.
“No.”
Sloane flopped onto the bed beside me, legs crossed. “Okay, so what the fuck is going on?”
I stared at the wall. “I wish I knew.”
“You said something earlier—about secrets. About them lying. Who were you talking about?”
I shook my head. “All of them.”
Sloane blinked. “Even Alden?”
“Especially Alden.”
