He stepped outside and turned to walk along the palm tree-lined sidewalk cloaked in darkness. Sooty gray clouds stretched across the night sky, blocking the moon. The air was thick with humidity, clinging to his skin, threatening to suffocate him.
“You sure Brooks didn’t get into your house and replace her stuff with the snakes?” Everett asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“You checked the surveillance?”
“Of course, I checked the fucking surveillance. It’s the first thing I did once we got to King Estate and had her driver take us to the police station,” Sebastian said. “Videos show us leaving early this morning, then the staff bringing her bags to the house while we were with Shannon getting an update on the case, then us coming home. That’s fucking it.”
“You recognized the staff? Could one of them have done it?”
“They’re all here and being interviewed by the cops. I don’t think it was one of them. They’re scared shitless that they’ll lose their jobs over this.”
“But Gabrielle’s purse was out of her sight while they took it from the yacht to your place, right?”
“Yeah, but it could’ve happened when we were in St. Basil. She didn’t have her purse when we went to see Remi. Then we grabbed it when she wanted to shop at the marina. After that, she left it on the yacht while we went to talk to Bobby.”
“Plenty of time for someone to make the switch.”
“I should have checked her things. Gone through them and made sure nothing was inside as soon as we got back.”
“Yeah, you should have. So why the fuck didn’t you?” Everett glared at him. “It’s not like you to slip up like this. You’re too fucking good at what you do.”
Sebastian didn’t respond. He couldn’t. From the minute he and Gabrielle left King Estate with confirmation from Detective Brad Shannon that Tony Brooks was her stalker, his mind had been on one thing—giving her an escape from everything stressing her out. His thoughts had been consumed with how to wine and dine her. A romantic evening for the two of them where she could take her mind off Tony and Damian and focus on the two of them.
He’d been focused on the wrong fucking thing at the wrong fucking time, and Gabrielle was suffering because of it.
“Sebastian …” Everett said, then yanked his arm, forcing him to stop. “What’s going on with you and Gabrielle?”
“I’m her bodyguard.”
“Don’t lie to me. Did you fuck her? Is that what has you off your game?”
Sebastian didn’t respond. If it was as simple as fucking a beautiful woman, his heart wouldn’t be ripped to shreds. He wouldn’t have strayed away from the job and everything he knew to do to keep her safe.
“I know that fucking look. You’re falling in love with her.”
“Let me guess. The look on my face matches the one you see every morning in the mirror as you think about Remi.”
Everett’s eyes smoldered with anger. “Fucking around with Ike’s sister is one thing. He’s going to kick your ass over that. Falling in love with her is an entirely different ball game. If you do anything to break her heart—“
“Ike will kill him,” Bobby finished as he stepped up on the curb and approached them. “I tried to warn him that getting involved with Gabrielle was bad news. But she’s more likely to trash his heart than the other way around, so I think Sebastian’s safe from Ike’s wrath.”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Everett gritted through his teeth.
“Helping my friend,” Bobby said, brushing past Everett. He turned to Sebastian and continued, “I analyzed the surveillance from your place. The feeds weren’t tampered with. No looping segments. No overwritten clips. No manipulation to cover up someone being there. Whoever put those snakes in Gabrielle’s purse didn’t do it at your house.”
“Whoever?” Sebastian frowned, then stared at Bobby. “We know who did it. The cops confirmed that Tony Brooks is Gabrielle’s new stalker.”
“Maybe,” Bobby glanced toward a few cops milling around the parking lot. “Let’s walk.”
Sebastian and Everett fell into step next to Bobby, walking in silence for a few minutes until they were alone on the sidewalk.
“These incels feed off each other. It’s possible that there could be more than one copycat of Damian Hester trying to terrorize Gabrielle,” Bobby said.
“What makes you think that?” Everett asked.
“I’ve been scouring the dark web and found another site popular with incels, but this one gamifies terrorizing women.”
