Page 74 of Beckett
But first, she needed rest. Real rest, not the exhausted collapse that came from running on empty.
“Come on,” I whispered against her hair. “Let’s get you somewhere more comfortable.”
She stirred slightly, eyes fluttering but not quite opening. “Don’t leave.”
“Never.” The word came out before I could think about it, but I meant it down to my bones.
I stood carefully, lifting her with me. She weighed nothing—months of barely eating, of living on adrenaline and terror, hadstripped her down to muscle and determination. Her head lolled against my shoulder as I carried her out of the conference room and down the hall to one of the smaller offices we’d converted into a crash space for long operations.
The couch wasn’t much, but it was better than the conference room chairs. I eased her down onto the worn leather, and she curled immediately into herself, knees drawn up, making herself small. A defense mechanism so ingrained she did it even unconscious.
I found a blanket in the closet—army surplus, rough wool, but warm. I draped it over her, tucking it around her shoulders. She mumbled something I couldn’t make out, then her breathing deepened again, the kind of fatigued sleep that came after emotional hemorrhaging.
I crouched beside the couch for a moment, studying her face. Though asleep, she had lines of tension around her eyes, her jaw slightly clenched like she was ready to run even in dreams. One hand had escaped the blanket, fingers curled into a loose fist. The other was hidden, probably pressed against her stomach—another defensive position.
“Sleep,” I told her quietly, though I knew she couldn’t hear me. “I’ve got watch.”
The walk back to the conference room felt longer than it should have. The main room was empty when I entered, but I knew they’d be waiting.
I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to the group:
She’s sleeping. Main conference room.
Within minutes, they filed back in. Hunter came first, phone pressed to his ear, voice low and sharp—probably already mobilizing resources. Coop followed with his laptop, already typing before he even sat down. Aiden moved in last, silent asalways, but I could see his mind was already running through tactical scenarios.
I reconnected Travis’s call, and the monitor flickered back to life. He hadn’t moved from his desk, but there were two more empty energy drink cans in his growing graveyard.
“How is she?” Hunter asked, setting his phone aside. “Hell of a birthday present for you.”
“That’s for fucking sure. She’s completely drained. Finally sleeping.” I dropped into a chair, suddenly feeling every one of my thirty-four years. “She cried herself out completely. Don’t think she’s slept more than a few hours at a time in months.” Maybe not even when she’d been in bed with me.
“Can’t blame her,” Coop said, still typing. “What she described… That’s psychological torture. Designed to break someone down systematically.”
“Theeye for an eyemessage is bothering the fuck out of me,” Aiden said, his deep voice cutting through the room. “That’s not random.”
Travis cleared his throat through the speakers. “Already running searches on that phrase connected to Seattle. Looking for patterns, similar incidents, anything that might give us a thread to pull.”
“Good.” Hunter’s scarred fingers drummed once on the table—his thinking pattern. “We need immediate measures and long-term strategy. Coop, you’re on first watch rotation. I want someone with eyes on Audra twenty-four seven.”
“Already worked out a schedule,” Coop said, turning his laptop toward us. “Four-hour shifts, overlapping coverage during transition times. We can maintain it indefinitely.”
“Security at Pawsitive Connections needs upgrading,” I said. “The property’s too open, too many access points. And we need to get her another dog.”
“Jet’s not enough?” Hunter asked.
“Jet’s emotionally supportive, but he’s proven he’s not going to cut it as a security dog.” I thought about the dogs I’d been working with. “Duke or Atlas would be perfect. Both have completed advanced protection training. Atlas especially—he’s got the temperament for personal security work. We’ll trade Jet out for one of them.”
Neither Jet nor Audra was going to like that, but her safety was more important than Jet’s attachment issues.
“We need to go back over the grocery store parking lot too,” Hunter said.
“For fucking sure.” My jaw tightened. That bastard had been right here in the middle of Garnet Bend. “Coop, you saw Audra in the grocery store, right? Was there anything you remember that might be relevant?”
He shook his head. “Nah, man. She was buying steaks, and I mentioned it was your birthday. She seemed excited. Definitely not nervous.”
So she’d found the note after she came out of the grocery store. That made sense.
“I’m pretty sure the grocery store doesn’t have extensive CCTV of the parking lot,” Travis said immediately. “Not much happens out there. But I can check.”
