Page 28 of Deny Me
Chapter Thirteen
The back wall of the sitting room in the guest suite had three large windows to let light in. They were covered with thick curtains at night to block sight, and sheers during the day to allow light without silhouetting the occupants. King made his way to the edge of the left-most window and inched the edge of the sheers over enough to give him a view of the sweeping backyard that made up the Alexander estate. A pool lay closest to the back of the mansion, with a small pool house to one side that had been remodeled into Ruth’s home when climbing the stairs was no longer an option for her. Beyond that, a wide expanse of patio and landscaping gave way to lawn as the yard sloped upward until, at the very back, it met a wooded area and the perimeter fence farthest from the house.
King tapped his earpiece, and Dain’s voice sounded in his ear.
“I’m on,” King said, careful to keep his voice low and calm. Kim was soothing Becky where they sat on the couch, the teenager crying from the shock of the alarms and knowledge that someone was here to take her and her baby. Charlotte was right behind him, her breath fast and light, probably worried about what was happening that she couldn’t see. No one in this room needed him to add to the agitation.
“Eyes on the target?” Dain asked.
He narrowed his eyes, scanning quickly. “Not yet.”
“He’ll come through the trees,” Saint said. “The bastard went straight to the highest point of the land, farthest from the house.”
“Weakest point of the perimeter.” He waited, not fixating on any one point but keeping his gaze moving across the gently swaying trees. “Not the front gate.” Not that they’d expect anyone to try such a prominent area in full daylight. They hadn’t expected anything during the day, but they’d been ready one way or another.
“Or the sides,” Saint said. The clicking of keys as his teammate typed told King he was scanning the various channels from the equipment they’d set up around the house—cameras, sensors. Those tools would tell the team something about the man coming into their territory.
Including the fact that he’d chosen to invade the one area without cameras, at least until King’s team had set some up, inconspicuously, in the trees.
“King?” Charlotte’s scent hit him as she sidled closer, warm and sweet. At once familiar and shockingly new. “What’s happening?”
A glance across the room showed Becky slowly calming in the quiet now that the alarms had been silenced. And yet two pairs of anxious eyes stared back at him, one wet with tears, both women intent on his every word, any indication of what was happening.
Charlotte dared to grip his arm. He turned toward her, keeping the outside view in his peripheral vision.
“I’m getting intel from my team in this”—he tapped his earpiece—“and I’ll pass it on when I know something definite. In the meantime, I need to focus.” Something that was impossible with Charlotte touching him. As he reached into his pocket to grab his phone, her hand dropped and he could breathe again. “Saint?”
“Yeah?”
“Send the camera feeds to my cell as he moves.”
“Got it.”
To Charlotte, he said, “I’ll be able to see what they see here.” He clicked his phone on and navigated to the app that allowed him to live stream the security cameras Saint had connected him to. “See?”
Charlotte focused in on the screen as he returned his attention outside. A minute later a figure in brown and green camo darted from the woods in a direct line toward Ruth’s cottage. “He’s on the move.”
Saint and Dain both acknowledged the intel, though they could also see it on their screens in the office.
“He’s coming in?” From the sound of cloth rustling, King assumed Kim was standing, ready to cross to them, but he couldn’t have a crowd at the window.
“Kim, please, wait there with Becky.” He spared a few seconds to give her a reassuring look before returning his focus to the man sprinting across the yard. “You’re safe. We know what we’re doing.”
No further arguments came. King watched the figure reach Ruth’s rooms, but he didn’t stop. A stone path led from the pool house to the back entrance of the mansion, a hallway directly between the kitchen and walk-in pantry. It was the only door typically left open for easy access as Ruth came and went during the day. His team had encouraged Ruth to continue the practice, with extra cameras in the area to keep watch. At this time of day, Ruth would be in the kitchen beginning preparations for dinner—the intruder must know that, which was why he hadn’t bothered with caution as he passed her place. Dain would have Ruth and Ben with him now, so there was no worry that the intruder would sneak up on Ruth in the kitchen.
“He knew that door would probably be open,” Elliot murmured in his ear.
“He knows a fucking lot,” Dain agreed. Like the weakest point of the perimeter. And Ruth’s routine.
“Confirms our suspicions,” King agreed.
“What suspicions?” Charlotte asked.
He started to explain but stopped when the view on his cell shifted to inside the house. The back door cracked open silently, a cap-covered head peeking in before the intruder eased through. His quick glance up told King he was looking for cameras.
Too bad for him, Saint’s little toys weren’t detectable at a glance. But the cameras saw him—and got a shot of his face before he ducked back down to focus on traveling the length of the hall.
Saint popped the still onto King’s texts. “Familiar?” King asked Charlotte.
