“I’m saying it’s possible—possible—you are the target.”
Jake stiffens. “You think somebody is going after Natalie because of Ethan?”
“Someone might have a vendetta against you,” the deputy commissioner suggests. “You have plenty of enemies in the business world. And if someone has been tailing you, they would know that Natalie and you are more than just colleagues. Or it could be someone aside from Lucas who has an issue with her. She works in HR for a multi-billion-dollar corporation. That alone makes enemies. She’s fired people. Denied promotions. Rejected transfers. Someone could have held a grudge.”
My jaw tightens. “This isn’t corporate sabotage. It was personal.”
“Maybe so. But if we’re talking about your enemy, if someone wanted to get under your skin, this would do it.”
I go still.
Because he’s not wrong.
Nothing could unravel me faster than Natalie being in danger. Whoever planned this didn’t just want her gone. They wantedmeto suffer watching it happen.
“And we can’t rule out the mole angle either,” Jake says. “We’re still not sure who leaked those files from Marketing. Caleb was supposed to join from tomorrow. He’s going to needtime in nailing down the source. This could all be part of something bigger.” Jake rubs a hand across his jaw. “This is spiraling.”
“No,” I say. “This is war.”
They both look at me.
“I want every camera feed from a three-mile radius pulled,” I say. “I want every associate of Lucas or his mother vetted. I want full financials run on anyone Natalie’s had conflict with. Work, personal, academic. I don’t care if they argued with her in college over a parking spot. I want names.”
Derrick nods. “Already on it.”
“I also want someone with Natalie at all times if she’s alone. I’ll make arrangements.”
“One of us can do it,” Jake looks at me. I silently agree with him.
“I need you to stay close,” I murmur. “To Natalie. To Roland. To the rest of the family. We don’t know how wide this goes yet.”
Jake nods once, no hesitation. “I’ve got you.”
Derrick’s phone buzzes again, and he checks it, frowning. “Got a ping. The sedan turned down East Haven and vanished past third street. No cams after that point. Looks like someone knew where the blind spots were.”
“Which means it’s someone smart,” I mutter.
“Or experienced,” Jake adds.
Derrick tucks the phone away. “I’ll update you when I get more.”
We start walking back toward the hospital, our silence heavy with questions and too few answers.
Jake breaks it first. “You really think it wasn’t Lucas?”
“I think he’s a monster,” I say. “But this… this feels different.”
Jake watches me for a second, then says, “So we cast a wider net.”
“Wider. And deeper,” I say. “Because whoever did this made a mistake.”
Jake’s expression sharpens. “What’s that?”
“They missed.”
The waiting outsidepost-op is its own kind of torture. Natalie refuses to leave, and I don’t plan on leaving her. Megan and Caleb leave the hospital to pick up some food while we wait. Roland is a family friend, so my parents are also sticking around.
I finally get a private room for Roland where we can wait, and Natalie leans into me as we sit on the couch, her head resting lightly on my shoulder. I notice her shivering slightly—the hospital's air conditioning is relentless, and she's only wearing her sweater after I helped her out of her coat earlier. I pull her closer, rubbing warmth into her arms. We haven't said much since Derrick left. There's nothing else to say. Someone tried to kill her. Roland nearly died saving her. And now he's lying in post-op, broken and bruised, while we wait to find out what damage was done.
