Tessa.
She lay curled on her side on the narrow bed, one arm tucked beneath her cheek, dark hair spilling across the pillow. She didn’t move. Not even a twitch.
Too still.
Air snagged in his throat.
“Tess…”
Barely a whisper. Barely even a sound.
He pressed his fingertips to the glass, needing—aching—to feel something.
But from this angle, he couldn’t tell if she was breathing. Couldn’t tell if she was alive. Couldn’t?—
Floodlight.
A hard white burst flared across the yard from the back corner of the main house.
Scout jerked back so fast his boots slipped on the shingles.
He flattened instantly, chest to the roof, pressing himself into the cold grit.
Don’t look up. Don’t move.
The beam swept across the roofline.
Held.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Scout counted each one.
Then—
Dark.
The light snapped off.
Silence rushed back in.
Wind in the trees. Nothing else.
His pulse thundered in his ears.
He slid one hand carefully beneath himself, just enough to reach his pocket.
Found his phone by feel. Unlocked it without lifting his head.
No time for a message.
No typing.
No sound.
One silent tap.
