This was my fault. Because of exactly this, of leaning on Jake and calling him my boyfriend. He’d be safe and sound in his own bed if he had never met me. If he’d never shown up at our workplace, if he’d never pulled into that Publix, if he’d never— I swallowed back a sob.

“Maybe Tristan can track this one?” Eric suggested. “Let me get him.”

“Wait, wait, we might have to wake everyone up.” I looked at the clock on the wall. It was already pushing close to one in the morning. “I don’t know if we can stay here. Not if this person can see us.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Jake said. His grip around me grew tighter, which I was thankful for. It helped to keep me from feeling like I was unmoored and drifting out into dark and open waters.

“The message said ‘see,’ and it was all caps.”

Jake looked at me, but I could recognize the unchecked anxiety that rattled around in his skull. He chewed nervously on his bottom lip, nearly drawing blood, turning the skin around it white underneath the five-o’clock shadow that seemed to be growing darker by the minute. I closed my eyes and tried to wake myself up from this nightmare.

“We have to go,” I said, my eyes snapping open, the nightmare continuing on. “We can stay at the cabin I originally got us for the retreat. I think it’s still available. Let me check.” I went for my phone but remembered the message that sat inside it like a deadly viper curled up and waiting for the right moment to strike again. I put my phone back down on the couch.

“The Eagle Rock cabin? That’s like forty-five minutes from here. Once we wake everyone up and get going, it’ll almost be sunrise.” Eric cracks his knuckles. What he said next clearly took some work to get out. “And if this person really does have eyes on you, Noah, they’ll know if we leave tonight. I think we stay here and then regroup in the morning. I’ll sleep down here in the living room, just so I can wake up every now and then and keep an eye on things.”

“Want to do it in shifts?” Jake suggested. I looked to him, a slash of guilt and sadness cutting across my chest. This man, he was perfect in every way and didn’t ask for any of this—didn’t deserve any of this.

“I’ve got it,” Eric said, offering a somber smile. “But thank you, man.”

“Yeah, of course.”

“What about the police?” I asked, needing to stand up from the couch so I could begin pacing, trying in vain to burn off the excess anxiety that made my bones vibrate. “Shouldn’t I call them?”

Eric used to be a cop. He’d know.