That at least made her laugh. “Fake boyfriend, huh? Sounds like all my boyfriends.”

He laughed too but he wanted to ask her about that. Why? Were they online? Imaginary, or not invested, not honest with her?

He couldn’t afford to get in any deeper with this woman. Not if they both hoped to get out of this with their reputations and lives intact. But he had questions, lots of questions.

Smart, interesting women—absolute fucking kryptonite.

“Lock up behind me. Don’t answer the door to anyone. Don’t sit out on the deck. Don’t go for long lonesome walks in the woods. Not until we catch this guy, okay? And we will catch him.” He held her gaze until she nodded, even though she appeared loath to follow orders.

She closed the door on him, still looking a little stunned—because he’d scared her to death? Probably. And that was a good thing. She couldn’t afford to take chances. He heard the double locks slide into place.

He glanced over at Kevin’s house before heading to his truck. Shane planned to run a background check on the guy before heading home and it wasn’t only because he’d recognized that look of male interest in the other man’s gaze. It was because he fit the general size and shape of Evi1Geni-us and the timing was suspect as hell.

And if Kevin Karvo was Evi1Geni-us, Shane looked forward to greeting him properly with his SIG Sauer P226 and a pair of stainless-steel handcuffs.

Welcome to the neighborhood, motherfucker.

9

Shane took aim at the target and squeezed off a group of shots with his right hand before moving to the next station and squeezing off a few more. He examined the chamber of his SIG to make sure the gun was empty before checking the targets. He’d shot a set with his dominant broken arm earlier to keep in practice and he was happy with it, despite the ache that seemed to cut through the bone when he pushed it too far.

The day was overcast and chilly. Charlie assaulters were running close quarters battle (CQB) drills in the shooting house. Echo assaulters were waiting their turn in another hour or so. Shane was disappointed that he was missing out on the action, although he planned to observe. See how the new guys integrated with the others.

Gold team snipers had headed over to one of the Marine Corp ranges to sharpen their technique. Marksmanship was a perishable skill and even the best shooters in the world needed constant practice, and that went double for people who trained with live ammunition under dynamic conditions.

He pulled off the ear protection and walked back to a table where he’d laid out his gear.

“Hey, Livingstone! Someone to see you.”

Shane glanced over to where Cowboy stood near the compound gate.