Page 57 of Shattered Secrets

Settling into the surprisingly comfortable chair, she shook her head. “I’m good, thanks.”

She was probably as far from good as anyone could get. The mystery stranger from the diner had fear and worry spikingthrough every single one of her nerves. The only consolation she had was the knowledge that her daughter was safe. Gavin had told her he’d sent one of his Hudson Security team members, Xander, over to Rebecca’s to keep an eye on Daisy. Just in case.

Nausea turned her stomach.

She hoped Gavin was just being exceptionally cautious. Because if he truly believed Daisy was in trouble? Believed the stranger looking for her was also looking for her daughter? Holy shit, that was terrifying...

“Scar?”

She startled at her name and looked up. It wasn’t her and Matt alone in the room anymore. He sat to her right and Gavin to her left. Next to Gavin was a petite brunette with an open laptop in front of her. The woman’s fingers flew over the keyboard, and she kept glancing back and forth between her computer and the giant monitor-looking thing on the wall that had numbers and images flickering on it.

Scarlet had no idea what the other woman was doing or what any of the information on the big screen was. All she knew was that the other woman was totally getting added to her ever-growing things-to-be-intimidated-by list, despite looking perfectly nice.

“I didn’t know you wore glasses, B,” Matt said.

“I don’t,” the woman replied, pushing her glasses up by the bridge. Her attention never wavered from the screen in front of her. “They give me a headache. Unfortunately, an eye infection left me no choice but to break out the nerd frames.”

The corners of Scarlet’s lips lifted. Nerd? Right. The woman was projecting some serious Felicity Smoak vibes, only with brown hair. From her fancy blouse and blazer to the dark-rimmed glasses,nerdwas the last thing Scarlet would call this woman.

Suddenly, the woman’s bright-blue eyes were staring at her, and Scarlet swallowed hard. “Hi, I’m Bean. I handle the tech stuff around here.”

Gavin snorted. “Tech stuff? That’s what you’re calling it now?”

Bean rolled her eyes at Gavin, then peered back at Scarlet. The intensity of the woman’s stare was... a lot.

A warm hand enveloped hers, and she looked at Matt. His brown gaze was steady as he squeezed her hand. Taking strength from his presence, she relaxed her shoulders.

“As I mentioned at the diner,” Gavin began, “Xander is one of our PSOs and?—”

“A PS-what?” Scarlet asked.

“Personal security officer. He’s good with kids and is actually familiar with Rebecca’s place.” She must have shown her confusion, because Gavin clarified, “When all that shit went down a few months ago with Cade, Dante, and their gyms, Xander was in charge of Rebecca’s protection. He stayed with her while she was working. Xander just checked in and said everything’s good over there.”

A weight lifted from Scarlet.Everything’s good. Daisy is okay.

“As you know,” Gavin continued, “Martha has security cameras around the diner. She gave us access to them. Bean?”

“This is the guy looking for you,” Bean said, gesturing to the screen on the wall. “Unfortunately, there’s no audio.”

A number of low-quality black-and-white videos appeared on the big screen. The man talking with Paula. Eating. Speaking with Martha. But it was the video of him outside the diner, climbing onto his motorcycle, that had Scarlet’s breath catching in her lungs.

Lots of people ride motorcycles, dammit. It’s just a coincidence. Hell, there’s a whole motorcycle retreat going on!A shiver racked her frame.But that damn photo...

“I have my facial rec program running. So far, no hits.” Bean grimaced. “The video quality is shit, though, so even if the guy is in the system, it’ll be nearly impossible to get a match. The good news is that I picked him up on the ferry cameras. He has his helmet on, but both the bike and his arm tattoos are a match. He left Hudson on the last ferry that went out and just made it to the Coupeville dock. The guys said Martha told him there are a bunch of diners on Whidbey he should check out. Hopefully, that’ll keep him occupied for a while. Regardless, I pulled his license plate number?—”

“Were you able to get a name?” Matt interrupted.

Bean shook her head. “The person the bike’s registered to doesn’t match this guy’s physical description—like, at all—but I have another program digging into that. There are a number of cameras on Whidbey, so I can track the bike there. I’ll also get a notification if he drives onto any Washington State ferry—whether it’s heading to Hudson or not—or if his motorcycle plates cross Deception Pass to the mainland.”

“His mistake was coming to the islands,” Gavin said. “Unless he’s traveling by private boat, we can track all the ways out.”

Bean cleared her throat—loudly.

“Beancan track all the ways off the islands,” Gavin corrected, rolling his eyes.

The woman flashed a smug grin. “Long story short, Scarlet? If this guy comes back, we’ll know. Anyway, if I get a ping off facial rec, I’ll contact everyone. In the meantime, this is as clear a pic as I could get.”

An image from the diner’s security footage appeared on the screen. The man sat at his table and seemed to look directly into the camera.

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