Prime watched me, jaw tight.“You’re terrified.”
“Yep.”
“You’re doing good.”
“How is this good?”I asked shakily.
“You didn’t hide,” he said.“You called my name.”
I blinked.“That’s the part you’re proud of?”
His voice roughened.“Yes.”
He caught my trembling hand and held it firmly until my breathing evened out.The shaking slowed.Not disappeared, but eased.
“You’re safe,” he said again, lower, almost a growl.“I’m right here.”
I nodded, finally releasing his wrist.
Anchor, Piney, Cross, and Push appeared in my doorway.
“What the fuck is going on?”Anchor demanded.
Prime glanced at me.“I’m fine.Go talk to them,” I said.
“Door stays open,” he promised.“You see me the whole time.”
“Okay.”
“But you don’t move from this bed.Understood?”
I nodded, and he moved to the four men crowding my doorway.
Their voices were low as Prime gave them the rundown of what had happened the last five minutes.
Piney, Cross, and Push peeled off within thirty seconds.Anchor stayed and talked with Prime.
For ten minutes, Prime stayed in the doorway.Close.Piney came back a few minutes later, talked, and then he left again.
Anchor’s phone rang, and I heard snippets of his replies on the phone.“The whole island.”“Lock it down.”“Even the cliffs.”
When he finally returned, he shut the door and exhaled.“Tracks outside your window that lead into the woods.It was deliberate.”
“Deliberate how?”I asked, barely breathing.“He could have killed me, but he didn’t.He was not even ten feet away from me, Prime,” I wheezed.
“He wanted you alert,” Prime said.“He wants you scared.”
“Well, congratulations to him, I guess.Mission accomplished.”
“Shay.”Prime crouched in front of me with his hands braced on either side of my knees.“Listen to me.Fear doesn’t mean weakness.It means survival.You did the right thing.”
I didn’t answer.
He touched my knee gently.“Look at me.”
I did.
“This isn’t your fault,” he said.“You didn’t put yourself on that file.You didn’t ask for any of this.Whoever this guy is?”His voice dipped lower.Darker.“He made a mistake coming this close to you.”
