DAYS WERE PASSING quickly; nights were long and aching in all of the wrong places. Lydia woke most nights, battling the same nightmare, and Declan came running every single time. Having him near put her at ease so she could sleep in peace. She needed him. She felt safe at night with him nearby, until morning when she would push him away, her guard firmly back in place.

Though only days had passed, they quickly fell into a routine. The past several mornings, Lydia made her way to the kitchen for a cup of coffee that Declan inevitably already had made and poured for her. This morning was different, however. Her coffee wasn’t made or poured, and Declan’s sexy, happy to see you grin was absent from his expression.

He was on the phone, his demeanor tense, posture rigid, and he had the look of fury on his face. He dropped his white knuckled fist to the kitchen counter with a loud thud and said, “Copy that; give me ten,” before hanging up the phone.

“Dec?” she questioned quietly, almost afraid to know what had happened.

“That was Blake.”

“Okay? And?”

“And he was driving through town and noticed the lights on at Outside In.”

“We don’t open for a few hours.”

“Exactly. Someone had been there. He’s there now waiting for us. We need to get down there and see what kind of mess was made.”

“Oh no…” she whispered, trying to overcome the fear attempting to get the better of her. “I’ll call Meg. We can leave Jax with her. I don’t want to scare him.”

“I’ll meet you outside. I’m calling the boys so they can meet us there.”

“You think it was Tom…” A statement, not a question.

“I think it’s odd that an indoor playground in a place like McKenzie Ridge was broken into, so yes…maybe Tom.”

Luke and Wylie beat them there while Liam hacked security cameras from nearby businesses and sent Dace to follow anything odd that popped up.

“It looks like they only tossed the office,” Wylie said, referring to the scattered papers littering the space. “Looking for money, maybe?”

“Maybe, but the safe is intact and untampered with,” Luke surmised. “I assume this is where any money would be stored?”

Lydia nodded, not sure what to say, still consumed by the mess. There wasn’t a single paper left in its rightful place. They were scattered everywhere.

Wylie shook his head in disgust. “Who breaks in and tosses a kiddie playground?”

“No one from town,” Blake responded, clearly pissed off that someone did this right under his nose. “We don’t have problems like this.”

Wylie snorted. “Except for that one time when Everly went missing. Oh and when Beck McCain ran into some trouble. Then there was…”

Blake cut him off. “I get it, O’Reilly.”

Sorting through papers, Lydia plopped in a chair, frustrated. “I can’t tell if anything is missing – I mean my files are everywhere – hard to tell what’s here and what’s gone.”

“I’ll help you get it back in order, Lydia,” Eva said. Eva had been employed by Lydia for several months and stepped up when Jared, her manager, quit showing up. She was kind, great with kids, bonded with Jax right away. Her olive complexion and raven black hair complimented her curves, which seemed to have Wylie’s attention. She was beautiful, young, and Lydia was happy to have her on staff.

“Could it have been Jared?” Lydia asked, thinking about Luke’s statement about it having to do with money.

“Who the hell is Jared?” Declan asked.

“Jared is, or was, my manager. Kind of my right hand around here. He’s the guy who just quit showing up and we haven’t been able to get ahold of.”

“What do we know about this guy?” Luke asked.

Lydia shrugged, as if there wasn’t much to say. “Young, local, good at his job, works hard, plays just as hard. Not really like him to do this, but he is young. Eva stepped up to fill in until we sort him out. Drafted a termination letter – it’s actually in that mess somewhere I’m sure.”

Luke wanted to rule him in or out, fast. “Do you have a file on him?”

Waving her hand around at the mess, she laughed. “Yep! Somewhere.”

“I’ll call Liam. He does all of the background checks, right? He should have something,” Luke said, walking out of the small office to make the call.

“You’re closing for a few days. We’ll put a sign on the door – plumbing or something,” Declan said, becoming more angry by the minute.

“I can’t just close.”

Declan gave his dare you to challenge me on this look. “You can.”

“It’ll be better this way, Lyd’s,” Wylie offered to break the tension. “We need to get a security system in here and one at the house, too, when we’re finished. He’s playing games, so we need to up ours.”

“I can clean this up, Lydee. It’ll be safe if the guys are here,” Eva offered, earning her a wink from Wylie. “Really, I don’t mind.”

Running her hand through her hair, still trying to take it all in, Lydia reasoned through the stress. “Okay. Okay, but only if they’re here, Eva. You know how to reach me?”

“I do. I’ll call the rest of the staff and take care of the notice on the front door.” Eva was happy to help. She was fond of Lydia and Jax and hated to see the stress mounting on her new friend.

“Don’t worry, Lyd’s,” Wylie chimed in with his charming smile and dreamy eyes for Eva. “We’ll watch out for her.”

Already shaken from what had happened at her place of business, Lydia’s emotions were high and she let out a tortured cry when she walked in the front door of her home. Declan pushed her behind him, grabbing his holstered weapon as he did. In the short time they had been gone, someone had been in her home, giving it the same treatment they had given her office.

“You stand right here; you hear me? Don’t move.” She nodded, and Declan moved through the house.

“Dec…” she whispered, frightened to let him out of her sight, paralyzed by the stinging fear.

He turned and signaled for her to stay where she was and not to say a word.

He cleared the rooms, closets, and any other space that someone could hide in, but there was still an odd noise that they couldn’t identify. Following it the best he could, Lydia now right behind him, they found themselves in the kitchen.

There was blood, plenty of it, and a loud scratching noise. Whatever it was, it was coming from the kitchen. But where was it coming from? Another scratch and thud directed Declan to the pantry. With gun aimed and Lydia safely tucked behind him, he tossed the door open and yelled, “Freeze!”

The floor in the kitchen and into the walk-in pantry had been covered in broken plates and glasses. Sitting there, wagging his tail, was Dick, injured, his white coat covered in blood.

“Oh, my god! Dick!” The dog stood at his name, happy to see them, but immediately sat back down. He knew he was surrounded by sharp glass, and given the injuries he appeared to have, he’d learned the hard way. “How did he get here? He was next door with Jax!”

If the dog was here, where was Jax? The two were inseparable. Declan quickly pulled out his phone, “Logan, Jax? Okay. Yes, he’s here. Break in. No, stay there. Keep Jax there. He can’t see this, and I don’t want you guys walking into a trap.”

Quick to make another call, he paused to tell Lydia that Jax was okay before speaking to whoever was on the other end of the line. “Blake, he was here. Grab the boys. I also need…a vet.”

Within minutes, the place was swarming with police searching the surrounding area looking for their culprit. Wylie had Eva in tow, making good on his promise to keep an eye on her.

“He’s smart – he’s been here before and knows the woods and backroads. He would have come in, just as he disappeared,” Declan reasoned, trying to piece things together.

“Into the endless maze of old Forest Service roads, under a curtain of trees and brush,” Dace added.

“Exactly.”

Luke’s solution was bold and would draw attention, but it fell under his expertise. “We could get a chopper up. Look from the air with better and faster coverage.”

Declan knew this guy, knew how he operated. “Nah. My guess is he was here early, watched us leave and let himself in. He knew we’d head into town and check on his first mess. He’s long gone now.”

“How’d he even get in here?” Lydia said, roaming around the space, taken aback by the mess.

“Broken window – in a bedroom on the north side of the house,” Luke replied, entering the kitchen where they all stood. “That’s why nobody saw him.”

“Nothing but tree’s on that side. Shit,” Wylie said. “We need camera’s up, or he’s coming back.”

Declan’s face reddened as anger consumed him. In a low timbre, he turned to Lydia and said, “Go pack a bag for you and Jax.”

“What? No! I have a mess to deal with…here and at work. I’m not running with my son.”

“I’m getting you two out of here until we have this place better secured. He got too close, Lydia.”

Eva had been quiet, listening to what everyone had to say, and added her own two-cents, “Lydia, I think he’s right. Look at what’s happened to your home. What if you or Jax had been here? I can help with clean-up, I really don’t mind, and nobody’s after me.”

“I can’t ask you to clean my house and office.”

“You’re not, I’m offering. I’ve been here enough to know where most everything goes. Plus, I’m not working, so I have time,” Eva argued, wanting to help her friend.

Doc Bain, the town vet, made his way into the kitchen, unrolling his long sleeves and re-buttoning the cuffs. “Well, Dick had a sore shoulder. Looks like he was probably kicked. The blood on his face wasn’t his. In fact, most of it wasn’t his from what I can tell. My tech and I gave him a good exam, and all we have besides the shoulder are a few superficial wounds on his feet and legs from walking through the broken glass.”

A sigh of relief escaped Lydia. In a very short time, that dog had become extremely important to her son, “That’s great. Thanks, Doc. So the blood…why is there so much everywhere, and why is he covered in it?”

Doc Bain chuckled. “Looks like you’ve got yourself a good watch dog that your intruder didn’t anticipate. I’d say he got whoever did this pretty, damn good, given the mess. The blood belongs to your intruder. My tech has him in the big bathtub. Hope you don’t mind, but she’s giving him a good bath and tending to those foot wounds. A little rest, and he’ll be fine.”

“He was next door – with Jax. He knew. He knew, and he came over here.” Baffled, but grateful, Lydia was glad Declan got that dog.

“Dogs are like that. Have a sixth sense or something. Could’ve smelled the guy, heard, or seen him. Who knows?” Bain said. “Doesn’t surprise me one bit.”

“Lydia, it’s not safe here. Even the dog knows it,” Wylie gently delivered. “Let Dec take you guys to Portland. You’ll be safe at Watermark.”

Watermark Tower ran through her mind, stirring memories of her time with Declan years ago. He was taking them to Portland, to his fortress, to his home.

The emotions that rushed to the forefront were such that she couldn’t reconcile them in the moment. Too much had happened; too much was still happening. She felt defeated and was ready to surrender and let Declan take care of her, protect her, save her.

“I’ll pack,” she started, “but the dog is going with us.”

Eva smiled. “I’ll help you get Jax’s things together.”

The women disappeared in the direction of the hallway that lead to the bedrooms. Passing a credenza that decorated a wall between the living room and hallway Lydia was aiming for, something caught her eye. Stepping back, she scanned the space that held a clustering of photo’s in various shapes and sizes, some knocked over from their unwelcome guest, only a few still upright.

There was something intentional about what remained upright, a pattern, a message. The only pictures that hadn’t been knocked face down, or to the floor, were those that were of Jax only. She looked at them, sitting in a maze-like order, as they each took her to the next and the next, finally leading to what was left for her to see. A picture of Esteban.

“Dec!” she yelled, to which he immediately responded. “This…this one isn’t mine. He…left it. Why would he leave that? Why the pictures of Jax, then…Esteban?”

Pulling her into a safe embrace, he said, “He’s a twisted bastard; that’s why. Go pack baby – we’re leaving.”

Eva linked arms with Lydia. Though she wasn’t in McKenzie Ridge when Esteban had been, she heard the stories; everyone that lived there did. She escorted her down the hall, both offering help and comfort to her friend.

Declan stood in the living room with his brothers, fuming. “How the hell did he get this far and we didn’t see him anywhere? We are the best in the business – the authorities come to us for help – yet we missed him?”

“He’s good, brother,” Wylie offered. “You trained him, Dec.”

Luke interrupted with the rest of the plan, ready to avenge Lydia’s defeat. “You guys will be safe at Watermark. Liam and Dace will be going back with you to help. In the meant time, we’ll keep working here. We have a team coming to assist with the investigation while Dace and Liam are with you – Ronan and Ryker.”

Nodding his head, Declan was relieved to have his brothers’ support and that of his extended family. “Remember, if you find this asshole first, I need him alive. We need to figure out how he got out in the first place. We’re missing something – something big – and need him to tell us what it is. Then I’ll kick his ass.”