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“A lost hiker?” she asks.
“Not in those clothes.” I do make allowances for people who may have broken down, or gotten lost, but the way this person is moving through the woods, instead of following the road up to the cabin makes me think this isn’t an innocent approach.
We watch for several more minutes, until finally the guy looks up, clearly scanning for surveillance, by the way he holds his hood up to shield one side of his face from where he suspects a camera would be. Not an amateur then, but clearly not someone who has done enough research on this place.
Katie sucks in a breath, leaning close to the monitor. “Isn’t that—”
“It is,” I say, flatly. Shit. Definitely not an amateur, just someone who decided to take advantage of time as opposed to strategy. “Katie. Didn’t I tell you not to use your phone?”
“I didn’t!” She paces around the small room. “I swear, I didn’t text Karli, or call her or check any social sites, nothing.”
I stop, thinking for a minute. “Did you turn your phone off?”
She shakes her head. “No, I saw notifications come in, but I never responded, I promise.”
“Where’s your phone?”
“In my room. On that bench at the foot of the bed.” She bites her lip. “Why is that guy here? Do you know him?”
I don’t know him personally, but I’m very familiar with the Blood Knights. Fucking hell. Is he alone, or did he have time to call in reinforcements? As we watch, he pauses in the shadow of a tree, and we see a small flare, as he cups his hands around his mouth. A fucking cigarette? The Blood Knights aren’t stupid, so he’s either over-confident or he doesn’t give a shit about being discovered.
Neither scenario gives me the warm and fuzzies. This place is effectively a fortress, so I’m not too worried, but I’m not interested in dealing with anything that puts a target on Henry’s back.
“Stay here,” I say, unlocking the door. “I’m going to get your phone.”
“But—” Katie’s face is pale.
“We’re fine, Katie. He can’t get in the cabin.”
I slip out and secure the mirror, jogging to get her phone. When I’m back in the safe room, I had it to Katie and ask her to unlock it.
“There are a bunch of texts here from Karli, but none of them say anything about Tom, which is kind of weird.”
“What do they say?”
“Mostly, where are you, where did you go, let’s meet for lunch, type of thing.”
I take her phone and open up her settings. I turn the phone to her. “Did you realize you were sharing your location with Karli?”
She shakes her head, taking the phone from me with trembling hands. “I mean we’ve shared locations before, when we’re trying to meet somewhere, but I didn’t think it was permanently on.”
“She have access to your phone?”
“Of course. She’s my best friend. She’s always at my place and she knows my password so we can check photos before posting them.”
I roll my eyes. “Text her.”
“What?”
“I have a suspicion. Please text her that you’re checking in and you’re fine.” I watch as she does, nodding when she hits send. I turn her towards the monitor.
Our sinister smoker straightens, pulling something out of his pocket. Katie’s hand covers her mouth. “That’s Karli’s phone.”
“How do you know?”
“See the butterfly sticker on the case?”
I squint, and sure enough there’s something with wings on the back. Such a simple thing for this guy to track her. Jesus.
