Page 19 of Always Right Here

“I checked it after I didn’t find anything outside. There was nothing. I checked the cameras before I came over, I didn’t see anything. Nobody on the feed coming in or out but us and Jesse.”

“Could it be him?” My mom gasped. “He did seem a little scary.”

Korie shook her head. “It did cross my mind, but he stayed by the door or outside of it the whole time he was here. Always does. I can’t see how he would make it past any of us up to Riah’s room without being noticed.”

“What about after he left? Could he have snuck inside?” I shivered at the thought.

“I checked the saved feed but…” Korie leaned back and swiped a hand over her face. “It seems like the power outage affected the autosave function. Either that or this fucker is a world-class hacker. I have no footage from during the party, but I can guarantee it’s not him. He’s one of my most loyal.”

Bile rose in my throat. If this stalker could alter the cameras and shut my power down completely, there was no telling what else they would do. I didn’t know what they wanted from me, but they promised they were coming for me. I couldn’t keep my cool anymore.

I finally let the fear and anxiety take over me and I fell into Korie’s arms. As I let the tears spill over and the sobs shake my body, she held me. I could hear soothing murmurs from around the circle, but nothing was louder than the steady, safe beat of Korie’s heart.

Chapter 17

Korie

I didn’t care who watched as I let Riah cry in my arms. Apparently, Edward and Eddie already thought something was going on between us and I no longer cared about proving them right or wrong.

The way Riah shook in my arms as she sobbed cracked my heart but also sparked a sick sense of satisfaction inside me. Out of all the people who loved her the most sitting in the room around us, it was my arms that she fell into. It was me she wanted to comfort her. It was me who made her feel safe.

So I pulled her closer to me, letting her tears soak through my shirt and dampen my skin. I stroked her hair and pressed kisses to her head, murmuring soothing words until her sobs became gentle, even breaths again.

“Should we call the police?” Sadie broke the silence as Riah sat up again.

I wiped the tears from her eyes as I answered. “I’m working with them on this case already. I’ll give them a call, send them everything I have.”

“Maybe you should just come back home and stay with us, sweetheart,” Edward added.

I knew he was coming from a place of worry, but the safest place on Earth she could be was with me.

“I don’t want to put you guys in any danger,” Riah sniffled.

“Then you can stay with us. They don’t know where we live,” Chrissy offered.

“What!? No, I would never put Mila in danger. Or you and Eddie.” She looked down at her fingers, shaking her head. “I don’t want to bring anyone else into my shit.”

“Ri, it's notyour shit,”Eddie scoffed, offended she would even say such a thing. “Someone is terrorizing you and we are your family. We just want to make sure you are safe.”

“And the safest placehasbeen here with Korie.”

That’s my girl.

“I know it's scary, I’m terrified. But nothing has happened to me since she’s been with me. She knows what she’s doing.”

“You’re right,” Edward sighed. “I’m sorry, Korie, I didn’t mean to imply that you didn’t. We just want her to be safe and are way out of our league here. We are justthrowing out suggestions, but we really should be asking you what the next step is.”

Finally, some sense.

“I do have a suggestion. I don’t know if any of you are going to like it.” I turned to Riah, so she knew my next words were only for her. “But you’re going to have to trust me.”

She nodded.

“There’s a safehouse. Undisclosed location. There’s no service so nobody would be able to contact us. But we have communication set in place with the agency and the police if needed.”

Riah’s eyes widened, but she stayed quiet as she listened.

“We can go there for a few days, a few weeks, tops. I’ll have the best of my team stay here. Plan a trap to lure them in. We will get them eventually, but I think it's best if we disappear for a while.”