“I haven’t had the chance to fill Thea in on what’s happening yet.”

“When were you planning to do that?” Cox Nelson asked neutrally. At six-foot-four-inches, Cox was tall, dark, clean-cut, athletic, and built like the former Navy SEAL he was. His eyes were a pewter color, intelligent and sharp—they didn’t miss a beat. He radiated pure male energy, Gabriel noted.

Already I felt better knowing he was here to watch over Mackenzie and Thea in my absence.

“This morning,” I confirmed. “But Mackenzie interrupted my conversation with Thea, and then you and Fran arrived.”

A smile crossed my face as I thought about the look in Mackenzie’s eyes when she saw this massive man standing next to Fran. It was a good thing Fran was average height with a kind smile; otherwise, Mackenzie probably would have turned tail and run, fast, in the opposite direction.

There was a knock on my office door. “Come in.”

Thea opened the door and stopped short when she saw Cox, looking questioningly at Gabriel.

“Come in and close the door behind you, Thea. There’s someone I want you to meet—he’s with Fran, and you’ll meet Fran after Mackenzie’s Tai Chi lesson.”

Thea closed the door and seemed to draw herself up to her full five-foot-nine inches as she strode forward, extending her hand confidently toward Nelson. “Hello, I’m Athena Brady.”

There was a slight flicker in Cox’s eyes—respect, I wondered?

“Hello, Athena, I’m Cox Nelson. I’m with SOS Security,” he offered as he took a step forward, shaking her hand firmly.

Thea immediately turned toward Gabriel, her eyes filled with questions.

“Please sit down, Thea, and I’ll answer all those questions and fill you in on why Fran and Cox are here.”

Thea grabbed the chair closest to her, and Cox took the other one, both seated across from me, a coffee table between us.

I looked at Thea. “Before Mackenzie interrupted us this morning, I had begun to tell you that I invited a few members of the SOS Security team to come here during my absence.” To her credit, Thea remained silent, and I could see she was processing the information as quickly as I doled it out. “In the past, I’ve had a small security detail keep their eye on Mackenzie, and this all started after my wife’s death. Although as of late, most of this has been done via tech and security cameras.”

A flicker of anger crossed through Thea’s eyes, but she remained silent.

“The security firm raised some concerns that it’s possible someone may be following Mackenzie, which I learned just yesterday. They immediately sent agents here—Fran and Cox—to help determine if there’s cause for concern, or not.” I waited for a response, but Thea sat stoically in her chair. “Fran and Cox will be nearby during my absence, although you probably won’t see them apart from Fran’s daily visit to the house for Mackenzie’s lessons.”

Thea stood in one swift move, and placed her hands on the back of her chair, leaning forward, her focus on me. “And why am I just learning about this now?” she asked, her eyes seething.

“Which part?” I asked.

Her eyes narrowed. You could cut the tension with a knife.

“Let’s start with the fact that there appear to be security cameras in this house that I was unaware of before this moment. From there, let’s move on to the fact that there are details I clearly should have been made aware of regarding your wife’s death if you hired a security firm to follow Mackenzie and there were concerns about her safety—if not prior to my employment, certainly immediately following my hire.” Her eyes never wavered from mine.

I could feel Cox’s eyes looking back and forth between Thea and me; he appeared to be enjoying the exchange, his eyebrow arched, like he was eagerly awaiting my reply.

“Please, sit down, Thea.”

“Don’t patronize me.” Anger dripped into her voice.

“Fair enough. I’ll start with the security cameras. They are predominantly focused on the grounds outside, and apart from that, there are only two others in the public areas of the house, focused on entrances and exits.”

“How dare you keep this information from me.” She pushed away abruptly from her chair and paced toward the bookcase, then reversed her steps, coming back to stand in front of me. “Continue.”

Feisty. “Regarding my wife’s death, many of those details are classified, and it wasn’t information I would have divulged to you prior to your employment.”

“What about after my employment? I’ve been here more than a week now.”

“Honestly, Thea, I didn’t think there was any reason to give you those details. There had been nothing to suggest that any of the events that precipitated Allessandra’s death would be an issue here in Yarmouth. I would have told you at some point, but ideally, that would have come down the road.”

“How much danger is she in?”

My heart jumped. Despite her justified anger, her first concern was for Mackenzie. “It could be that she isn’t in any danger at all, but we don’t know that for certain, and that’s why Fran and Cox are here. Cox is the CIO of SOS and is one of the best at intelligence there is. Fran reports to him, and they are both highly skilled at self-defense and protective detail.”

“What exactly happened to raise suspicion?” She took a deep breath and sat down in the chair.

“SOS saw activity they considered suspicious—as though someone was potentially tailing you.”

“Gabriel—I realized this morning I needed to tell you this before you leave.” She licked her lips before continuing. “When I picked Zee up from school on Friday, I felt something… It was that sense you have when someone is watching you.”

Both Cox and I moved forward in our seats.

Thea shivered. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but I forgot about it after we got home, and then you arrived, and well, the rest is history. At the time I looked around to see if there was anything out of place or anyone, but to be honest, everything looked normal. I rushed Mackenzie into the car and we came straight home.”

“Did you notice anyone tailing you?” Cox asked, his eyes focused on Thea’s.

She turned toward him. “I didn’t. I—I’m sorry. I didn’t even think to look for that.”

“Tell me what you normally see when you pick Mackenzie up,” he directed. “What’s your routine, and what was different this time?”

“Well, I drive to the school.”

“Back up. I want to hear step-by-step what you do from the moment you get into the car and don’t leave any detail out.”

She took a deep breath, worry creasing her brow, and slowly exhaled. “It depends on where I am when I leave to pick her up. Often I leave directly from the library, and I tend to grab a parking space toward the back of the lot.” She gestured to the Fitbit she was wearing on her wrist. “I typically go for a run at some point during the day, and have an aggressive goal for the number of steps I want to take in a day, so I typically park as far away from a store or destination as I can in order to get more steps—that is unless I’m with Mackenzie. Then I park as close as possible.”

She turned back toward me, clenching her hands, but she couldn’t hide the slight tremor and seemed desperate not to show the fear radiating in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around her waist, bit her lower lip, and took a shaky breath. She looked lost in thought as if she was reliving something from the past.

I watched Cox’s eyes roam Thea’s body. She was obviously lithe and fit, without an ounce of excess fat, and I felt jealousy spike as admiration shone in Cox’s eyes. Cox looked at me and raised his eyebrow—there was a brief standoff and then the focus shifted back to Thea.

“Thea?” I prompted.

She shot up out of her chair. “I need to hit the ladies’ room. I’ll be right back,” she said, already halfway to the door, closing it swiftly behind her.

I looked at Cox.

“You did a thorough background check on her, right? I don’t remember seeing a file on her at our office,” Cox hinted.

“I had Hugh run her through a background check, and the FBI pulled some additional information and details. She was squeaky clean.” I hesitated for a second.

“But?” Cox suggested.

“But, I did find an over-the-counter bottle of migraine medicine in her room, and there was nothing in the exhaustive medical history to even hint that she had an issue with migraines.”

“You can never know everything about a person until you meet them,” Cox offered, “and even then, as you and I both know, there are always surprises.”

“Are you concerned about her?” I asked Cox.

“No—no, I’m not suggesting anything apart from making the observation that paper can only tell us so much, and we fill the rest in with personal experience. I think we need to call her back in and question her, though, because she reacted strongly to the idea that she or Mackenzie could be in danger from someone following them. She was shaking. Is there anything in her personal history to suggest that she has ever been stalked or threatened?”

“Nothing that I found.”