I grip the steering wheel, my jaw tight. “Got a call from an unknown number. Distorted voice. They told me to stay away from Nysa.”
A beat of silence. Then— “That’s not surprising.”
I exhale sharply. “That’s not the part that matters.”
I hear him shift in bed, the rustle of sheets. “What is?”
I close my eyes for a second, trying to keep my pulse steady. “They said if I don’t, I’ll lose Maddie.”
The line goes dead silent. Then I hear Mal move—fast. The sound of something being knocked over, a muttered curse, then his voice, tight, controlled. “Where’s Maddie?”
“Asleep.” I glance toward the staircase. “Checked on her before I stepped outside. She’s fine, with Nysa.”
“We’ll keep her safe,” Mal mutters.
I let out a harsh breath. “What the fuck is happening here, Mal?”
I hear his chair creak as he sits down. “I don’t know. But if they’re threatening Maddie, this is worse than we thought.”
“No shit.”
There’s another pause. I can hear him thinking, piecing things together.
Finally, he says, “Someone isn’t doing their job.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, whoever’s watching us? They missed this.”
Something cold slithers down my spine. “You think someone’s protecting them?”
“I think someone’s either protecting them, or someone’s protecting us—and doing a damn bad job of it,” he says grimly. “We were supposed to have eyes on us, Hopper. Someone keeping a low profile, making sure nothing got too close. But they missed a stalker breaking into houses. They missed a fucking phone call threatening your kid.”
I grip the wheel tighter, my knuckles turning white. “Then we have a bigger problem.”
“Yeah,” Mal agrees. “We do.”
By the time Mal arrives, I’m pacing the kitchen, my pulse still running too fast. He steps inside, his expression as grim as I’ve ever seen it.
“Tell me everything,” he says, not wasting time.
I relay the conversation word for word, every pause, every calculated moment of silence on the other end. Mal listens, his jaw tightening with each detail. I already knew that. But hearing it out loud makes it worse.
“What now?” I ask. “Because if you don’t have a solution. I’m packing my shit and taking her away—both of them. I don’t care about your plan.”
“Give me a day. If I don’t have anything by tonight, you can do that. You can take them away and I’ll deal with the fallout,” he states.
But will he be able to do anything? Can we survive?
Chapter Thirty-One
Nysa
The tension around the ranch is intense. Hopper’s in the house, working remotely for now, only stepping into the barn or the vet office when absolutely necessary. The new farmhands—who happen to be agents for some private company—are settling in, handling the workload, and Hopper keeps Maddie close, using their wellness visits as an excuse to take her along. It’s charming, watching him balance work and fatherhood.
I wish I could be there, with them. But we have to pretend everything is normal. Let them think that they haven’t gotten to me. That I’m not freaking out because they know a lot about me. Too much. Mal isn’t saying anything about the camera. He says it’s being handled. I want to believe him, but I don’t feel like anything is handled.
So, instead of being with Maddie and Hop, I’m here—at my grandmother’s bookstore. Acting normal. Fixing the same shelf of books I’ve organized twice already.
