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She wasn’t quiet and reserved—shying away from people.
But she’d been absolutely terrified to go from the building to her car.
He’d been prepared to help her through the drive home, but she hadn’t needed it. She’d been relatively fine once she’d made it inside the vehicle.
It was only outside that terrified Jenna.Theoutdoors.
Most people who suffered from agoraphobia avoided crowded places that might make them feel trapped—usually buildings or public transport. Jenna’s seemed to be triggered by being outside.
Mark had no idea why that was the case. And it seemed most of her friends and colleagues weren’t aware of it at all. They just assumed she wanted to stay in her house—alone.
Jenna was a fucking expert when it came to holding people at arm’s length. She’d spun anI’m-an-introvert-leave-me-alonenarrative around herself, and everyone had bought it like it was a best seller.
“So, you think she’ll be more receptive to me bringing the info over?” Mark asked. “Maybe I need to be scared of crossbows also.”
Callum shrugged. “You two seemed pretty friendly sitting in the booth when I left the Eagle’s Nest the other day. Maybe she’ll open the door for you. Or at least not shoot you first.”
“Fine.” Mark put his pencil back down on the table. The building plans he’d been working on for Linear Tactical’s expansion would have to wait.
“I need you as more than just a glorified messenger. We discovered that Joaquin had connections to Adil Garrison before Garrison was arrested.”
“The fallen billionaire?”
Callum nodded. “The fallen billionaire who held Jenna captive for eighteen months.”
Shit. “Joaquin and Garrison knew each other?”
“We’re almost positive that’s how Joaquin is able to use the chemical subjectification and gene editing. He got the info from Garrison.”
Mark rubbed the back of his neck. “Which means Joaquin might know about Jenna’s existence.”
“I know she doesn’t want to hear the details outside of the part she is specifically working on, but she might be in danger. That’s why I’m here in person. Despite Jenna thinking I’m an asshole, I really don’t want anything to happen to her.”
“Believe me, I’m not going to let it.” Mark didn’t care if he had to sleep every night outside her house in his car.
“Ian says he’s sending help for Jenna, but he was vague about the specifics. Taking Joaquin down before he can perfect his control over the robots is of critical importance to Ian.”
“Because it almost happened to his wife and his best friend’s wife. It’s personal for him.”
Callum let out a hard breath. “I don’t want anyone else to die. I want to stop this bastard. Joaquin is up to something big, I can feel it. What we’ve experienced so far is just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve got to stop him.”
Mark reached over and shook his hand. “Be careful undercover. You can trust I’ll take care of things on this end while you’re gone.”
No one was getting to Jenna on his watch.
An hour later, Mark was sitting outside Jenna’s house. He hadn’t paid too much attention to it a few days ago when driving her home.
The house looked somewhat similar to many of the homes in the area. There were no near neighbors—a popular Wyoming trait. It was small—one story, with a bonus room over the garage. It was built on a slight hill, with a porch that would provide nice views of the nearby Tetons.
Most people would’ve immediately put a swing or chairs out on that porch, but Jenna hadn’t. If Mark’s hunch was correct, she probably hadn’t been out there at all.
If she disliked the outdoors so much, he wasn’t sure why she’d bought a house here at all, but evidently, she’d owned it for nearly a year. According to Zac, she hadn’t told anyone in town when she bought it and hadn’t spent much time at it.
Or if she had, she hadn’t told any of her Oak Creek friends she was there, seeing as how she was sointrovertedand all.
The narrative Jenna was determined to spin.
As Mark got out of the car, files in hand, he noticed some of the details of the house he’d missed before. Cameras covering all angles of the property. Two that were automatically following him as he moved.
