Sayer came up beside her, still rubbing his ribs, a bruise already darkening under his shirt. “She catch on?”
“She’ll call back from a clean line.”
“You think that was random?”
Diamond looked up at the fence. At the gate. At the small black camera nestled in the corner. “No.”
“You think it was the husband?”
Diamond’s jaw tensed. “Iknowhe set this up. He wants his family back, and he wants them scared before he gets them. That wasn’t a grab.” She glanced toward the truck. “That was a warning.”
Sayer’s expression hardened. “He’s tracking them.”
“No. He’s trackingus.”
She turned the phone over in her palm once. Twice. Then powered it down and dropped it onto the ground. With one hard stomp of her boot, the screen shattered.
They were beingstalked—hunted.
Ten minutes later, Diamond’s backup phone buzzed once—no ringtone, just a vibration in her palm. She answered without a word.
A soft breath, then Nova’s voice came through low and steady, “The shears are clean. I’m outside the garden.”
Diamond exhaled slowly. “Good. I think there are weeds in the soil.”
Nova didn’t speak for a second.
Then, “What kind?”
“The kind that strangle the roots if you’re not careful. Ones thatknowthe garden.” Her tone dropped, “Ones that were planted there before we ever were.”
Nova swore under her breath. “He’s in.”
“I think so.” Diamond turned toward the truck, watching Carla hold her daughters tight inside the cab. “And I think he’s watching. Listening. Everything.”
“You want me to torch it all?”
“Not yet,” Diamond said. “I need to get the roses out first.”
Nova caught the meaning instantly. Get Carla and the girls off-grid. Fully. No digital trail. No comms.
“Where to?”
“I’ll take them to the orchard. Use the old path, the one with the broken fence.”
Nova hesitated. “It’s risky. You sure?”
“Not really,” Diamond muttered. “But it’s a path we know well.”
There was a pause. Then, Nova’s voice softened, barely. “You alright?”
Diamond blinked slowly; her jaw clenched. “Not even a little.”
Nova let that sit between them for a beat before her voice hardened again. “I’ll start pulling up roots. You just focus on getting the roses delivered.”
Diamond nodded, even though Nova couldn’t see her. “Burn all the weeds. I don’t want so much as a blade of grass left behind.”
“You got it.”
