Page 28 of Ghost's Obsession

Suddenly, a pebble hits the bedroom window. Ghost is off the bed and lifting the window before I can blink. I swallow hard when I see he’s got a back holster with a gun inside it. When he straightens up, his cut falls over it. I can’t help but wonder how long he’s been packing heat, maybe the whole time I’ve known him.

Ghost yells, “Bear, I have a fucking doorbell. You know that, right?”

The other man replies, “Best get your ass out here. I just picked up an AirTag on your woman’s truck.”

“What?” I exclaim.

I jump out of bed, all thoughts of rest gone from my mind, and pull on my jeans and a sweatshirt, tug on my boots and grab my phone off the cradle. I follow Ghost out the door.

On the way down the steps, I tell myself it’s nothing. This is all some kind of mistake. Everything’s going to settle down when we figure this out and we’ll have a good laugh because the alternative is terrifying. If my ex has found me, I’ll have to run again. And I don’t want that after what I just shared with Ghost.I’m tired of thinking that life will make sense again if I just keep moving. I don’t want to constantly be looking over my shoulders. I want to put down roots.

I was starting to finally relax here, Ghost’s sweet in that silent, heavy-handed way. It’s too easy to lean on him. Too easy to forget that safety is always temporary.

I dig down into my pants pocket and pull out my truck keys as we walk out the front door. I stop dead in my tracks when I see the man standing in the driveway. This man is seriously half the damn size of my truck. He’s huge, like twice the size of Ghost. Tusk is there too, though they don’t pay me any mind. They’re too busy talking and looking at something on the big man’s phone.

I slowly walk over and stand beside Ghost. He pulls me into his arms and shows me what they’re looking at on his friend’s cell phone. There is a message that says:

Unknown Device Detected in Your Vicinity.

I haul in a shaky breath and climb into my truck. The moment I slide behind the wheel and press the ignition, my phone buzzes. Sure enough, there’s a notification from my vehicle’s security system.

Unknown Device Detected Traveling With You.

My stomach drops straight to my boots. I stare off into the distance. I’d like to think this is some kind of glitch. But I know it’s not. I grip the phone tighter, someone’s tracking me, and I know all the way to my bones who it is.

He knows where I am right now. The keys rattle in my hand as I yank them out of the ignition, killing the engine. The silence that spins out between the three of us is deafening.

I stumble back out of my truck and into Ghost’s waiting arms. My heart is hammering against my ribs.

Ghost says, “Talk to me, beautiful. What’s going on?”

Every instinct I’ve ever buried is clawing its way to the surface now, screaming for me to run, that I’m in danger, that he’s found me. It’s playing in an infinite loop in my head.

I don’t run because right now all I need is Ghost.

For a second, I hesitate, tongue-tied, because once I open my mouth, everything changes. Finally, I look up at Ghost and mumble, “I think it’s my ex that put the tracker on my truck.”

He doesn’t flinch. Nor does he ask a million questions. His expression is grim.

“Give me your keys and have a seat on the porch.” He’s holding out his hand, patiently expecting me to follow his directions in order to keep me safe.

I immediately drop them into his hand and stand there frozen for a second as Ghost jogs over to my truck. He starts talking with Tusk and the big one, who I hear him call Bear. I slowly back up and sit on the steps to watch them try to find the device attached to my truck. My phone would have alerted me that it was there when I started it, just like it did today, so that means it couldn’t have been there the last time I drove it. Someone came here and planted it on my vehicle. It scares me that my ex was that close to me.

Finding this AirTag is a really big deal. This thing with my ex isn’t over like I thought it was. Something tells me it’s just getting started.

Tusk suddenly drops down onto one knee near my front tire as I round the corner. Ghost stands next to him, feeling along the edge of the undercarriage like he’s looking for a hidden bomb.

Neither of them talks. Bear just stands there staring at them for a brief moment before stepping forward and saying something I can’t make out. Suddenly, Bear and Ghost grip each side of my truck, right behind the front bumper, and lift it straight up. Tusk stoops underneath and begins searching for the tracking device. My mouth is hanging open at the raw physical power it takes for two men to lift a flipping truck. They don’t seem particularly put out. They’re just talking away, like it’s no big deal.

Finally, Tusk yanks something free with a quick jerk. I can’t see what it is until he holds it up for the others to see. It’s a small, round disc no bigger than a quarter. Black casing. No markings.

Tusk waves it in the air, like it’s some kind of prize instead of the thing that scares me most in life right now.

“There it is,” he mutters, voice flat and cold.

I step closer despite myself, heart hammering in my chest. Staring at the disc, I see that it’s small. So ordinary looking that I wouldn’t have seen it as dangerous even if I were looking right at it. It doesn’t look like something that could wreck your life.

Tusk tosses it to Ghost, who catches it in mid-air. Ghost inspects it for a moment before announcing, “It’s an AirTag knockoff.”

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