Page 43 of Cipher

He ended the call and looked at my dad. “Pike just met a freelance surveillance installer at a gas station east of town. Handed him a small equipment case and sent him toward the backcountry access road that leads to my place.”

I pressed a trembling hand to my stomach as it knotted.

Dad’s expression hardened. “You’re sure?”

“Our men don’t make mistakes,” Corbin growled. “Especially not when it’s my woman at risk.”

My dad didn’t look happy about Corbin so easily staking a claim on me, but at least he didn’t push the issue since now wasn’t the right time. “You still have someone on Pike in case he pulls any other shit?”

Corbin glared at him. “Of course I fucking do.”

The analyst cleared his throat. “I think I have everything I need.”

My dad jerked his chin toward the door. “Go ahead. I’m going to hang back here with my daughter.”

After he left, we waited a few more minutes before Corbin’s phone rang again.

“What’ve you got, Nomad?”

The answer must’ve pleased him because his lips tipped up at the corners. “Proceed.”

When he set his cell back down, my dad asked, “What happened?”

“Now is probably a good time for you to leave, too,” Corbin suggested.

“Fucking hell.” My dad slammed his hands on the table and stood, pacing the length of the room several times.

I got up and walked over to give him a hug. “It’s okay, Dad. Corbin won’t let anything happen to me.”

He looked over my shoulder. “Promise me.”

“I fucking swear that nobody is going to so much as touch a hair on her head,” Corbin vowed in a lethal tone.

I tilted my head back to meet my dad’s eyes. “You need to be able to get on the stand and tell the truth. There are some things it’s better you don’t know.”

“Never thought I’d see the day when I was so damn grateful the Black Crowns follow their own set of rules.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Just know that if I didn’t believe Cipher would keep you safe, I’d break whatever laws were needed to make sure you came out of this unscathed.”

“I know you would, Dad.” I hugged him again. “Love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He gave Corbin one last look before storming out of the conference room. I dropped back down on the seat next to Corbin and asked, “What didn’t you want to tell him?”

“Nomad followed the man to a public turnout overlooking the road leading toward the house. He was checking in with me before grabbing him.”

I was so glad this was one of the rare times when he could share information with me. “Do you think it’ll take long?”

“Nope, Nomad is damn good. He’ll have the guy soon.”

He was proved right when his phone rang again a few minutes later. This time, he put it on speaker since there was nobody else in the conference room anymore.

“He wasn’t on club-controlled land yet, but I caught him concealing a cellular trail camera and portable plate reader in the roadside brush. The equipment was aimed at the only approach to your property.”

Corbin reached for my hand. “If you hadn’t followed, they would’ve been able to identify which vehicles carried Bex, when she left, and whether she had protection with her.”

“Yup,” Nomad confirmed. “It gets worse, though. In the case he had on him, I found a fresh magnetic tracker, Bex’s vehicle description, her license plate number, and photographs of the roads between Raines’s house, the sheriff’s department, and your property.”

I knew I was safe, but this situation had just gotten a whole lot scarier. They hadn’t just been watching the road. They’d been building a plan to get to me.