Page 111 of Pressure

“What happened,” he asked, his voice low and quiet.

She replayed the events. “I knew I was the only one with a cabin for the weekend, so I went to check it out. I saw Jodie for sure, but I never caught sight of the man and I didn’t recognize his voice either.”

“Do you know what time that was?”

Why was he interrogating her? It wasn’t what she expected. Had he decided he didn’t want her anymore?

Her heart sank but she answered his question. “Just after eleven, I think?”

He pulled out his phone and pressed it to his ear. “Check the cameras on the back side of the building and secondary building just before and just after eleven.”

He listened for a moment before he bent to brush a feather soft kiss to her forehead and turned to walk out of the room.

She wanted to call after him to wait but she couldn’t muster the strength. There was so much she needed to tell him. Austin, Holly, and Isabelle returned to keep her company, but she asked for quiet to sleep again so they moved to the waiting room, talking amongst themselves as they left.

♦♦♦♦

Lance rode in the backseat of an SUV, was it Hunter’s? He honestly didn’t remember. When he arrived back at Solitaire, he stormed into the conference room to find Jax and Russell hunkered over computers staring at footage.

“That’s Jodie alright, but I never get a good look at the man,” Russell said.

Lance hovered behind Jax and watched the footage.

There was nothing familiar about the man in the shadows. He was too tall to be Sebastian Forcythe and they knew Nicholas Sutton was in California on house arrest.

“Who the fuck is it?” Lance barked as he gripped the back of Russell’s chair.

The man looked up at him grim. “It’s hard to say. We’ll have to crosscheck everyone who came in the gate tonight and start ruling people out.”

“Samuel left in a hurry. He OK?” Jax asked.

Lance shook his head. “I don’t think so but that’s going to have to be a problem for another day. He’ll stay safe and that’s all we need to worry about right now.”

Jax kept rewinding footage. “How’s your girl?” he muttered as he examined another frame.

“Awake, in pain. I didn’t let myself stay. I knew we needed to get back to work.”

Russell eyed him. “Did you make sure she knew that’s why you were leaving?”

Lance scowled. “I don’t have time for your psychobabble relationship advice man. We need to catch these fuckers. Do we have the cops looking for Jodie?”

Russell chuckled. “I wouldn’t call it psychobabble. She’s a strong girl but you both have…”

“Issues?” Lance questioned. “Believe me. I know. We’ll work them out once I know this place is safe. Now. Answer my question. Are the cops looking for Jodie?”

Russell wisely didn’t press and gave a nod. “They are. And I have a team looking for her too. No luck finding her just yet, but I’m sure they will.”

Lance had a sneaking suspicion Russell would find them before the cops.

The conference room door opened, and Eli and Hunter stepped in.

“Solitaire is closed until further notice,” Eli said without ceremony.

Beside him, Hunter gave a solemn nod. “We’ve already talked to David and he agrees. This has gone too damn far. Until we know who the fuck is sabotaging our people, we can’t in good conscience let them keep showing up week after week.”

Lance closed his eyes feeling like a failure, but he knew they were right. There was no way to let people attend safely. They really shouldn’t have been open this weekend after the damn server attack.

“I’m fine with that. You two feel like combing security footage?”

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