Harper's eyes moved across the screen.
"Tallahassee, 2021.A county attorney who subpoenaed property records connected to Coastal Venture Partners.Single-car accident on I-75 six months later."
"You're telling me they killed someone."
"I'm telling you they've done this before, and it doesn't always end with a warning."
She pulled out a chair and sat down.Her movements were controlled, deliberate—the same careful composure she'd maintained at the hospital the night Geri Crane came out of surgery.The composure that cost her something to hold.
"So what are you suggesting?"
"I'm suggesting we get you out of Blossom Springs."
The words landed in the kitchen and sat there.
"No."
"Harper—"
"No."She stood up again, the chair scraping back against the floor."I'm not leaving.I've spent over a year running from these people, and I'm done.The story is here.The evidence is here.Everything I've been building toward for fourteen months is in this town, and I'm not walking away from it because they cut my brake lines."
"They cut your brake lines."He kept his voice level."You understand what that means?It means they know where you're staying, they have access to your vehicle, and they have the operational capability to kill you any time they choose.The only reason you're alive is because they decided a warning was more efficient than a body."
"I know what it means."
"Then act like it."
Her eyes narrowed."Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Talk to me like I'm an asset you're managing.Like I don't understand the threat because I'm not trained the way you are."She moved away from the table, putting distance between them."I've been living with this threat for longer than you've been investigating it.I know exactly what these people are capable of.And I’ve been staying here.And right now, they don’t know where this is."
"Then you know you need to stay here."
"I’m aware.But I still need to show up there once in a while since they’re watching the bungalow."
He pushed off the counter."This isn't a negotiation.They escalated from surveillance to sabotage.The next step is direct action, and when that happens, I can't guarantee?—"
"You can't guarantee my safety."She turned to face him."You never could.Nobody can.That's not how this works, Caleb.You don't get to decide what risks I take."
"Somebody has to, because you're not making rational decisions."
The silence that followed was sharp enough to cut.
"Say that again," she said quietly.
He should have stopped.He knew it even as the words kept coming, could feel himself crossing a line he'd drawn for himself weeks ago.But the image of that attorney on I-75 was still on his screen, and the image of Harper's rental car with severed brake lines was underneath it, and the two images kept overlapping in his head until he couldn't see anything else.
"Geri Crane is in the ICU because she talked to you."His voice was flat.Controlled.The kind of control that meant everything underneath was anything but."The people watching her house rotated vehicles three times this week.Your brake lines were cut by someone who's done it before and gotten away with it.And you want to go back there?”
"Yes."
"Because the story matters more than?—"
"Don't finish that sentence."
"—more than staying alive?"
