Page 75 of Secret Sins

"No more flight?"

"No more running, not when I have you to hold on to."

Smiling against him, I realized my head felt settled for once. It was in line with my heart, knowing Van would never leave me. "I trust you," I whispered.

His chest quivered against my ear, and I heard him inhale. "You have no idea what that means to me."

"You're stuck with me now."

"Nowhere else I'd rather be."

"Hey, you two." Alex's voice drifted in on a current of air, and I stepped back from Van to greet him.

"Hey."

"You know I spoke to Kay after you did, but I wanted to tell you I also put up a security camera in the parking lot."

My brows went up. "Okay?"

Alex shrugged. "I want to catch this guy on camera. The last thing we need is him fucking things up."

"Anything yet?" Van asked. With his hand in mine, I felt his pulse beating thickly against my thumb.

"I'm not sure." Scratching the back of his neck, Alex continued. "There was someone who looked similar, but he didn't have the hat on."

"Can we see him?" I asked.

He nodded. "That's why I came over. I'll have to bring you next door, though."

Without hesitation, I led Van behind me, locking up and flipping the sign on the door. I'd left Charlie upstairs with Heidi, so all I had to do was follow Alex to the tiny office he used off the kitchen.

He had the frame of the video pulled up and paused. It was grainy, but I saw the shape of the man standing by the back door.

The door only employees and I were meant to use.

"He loitered here for about five minutes last night." Hitting a button on his keyboard, Alex let the video play. "Looks like it could be the same guy, right?"

"Yeah." Leaning forward, I squinted at the blurry image. "There's that tattoo I was trying to remember."

I traced my finger over it, and Van said, "A star."

"Looks like you guessed it right." Hitting the keyboard again, Alex fast-forwarded. "He leaves, then comes back a few hours later."

Was he trying to get inside, or just hoping we'd come back so he could surprise us?

"We need to send this to Kay."

"Already done." Alex looked up at me from the chair. "I copied it and sent it over."

"I don't recognize him." After a second of chewing on his lip, Van repeated, "I don't recognize him."

The relief I heard was palpable. "It's not someone from your past."

"There's always a chance, but it's no one I know."

"Thanks, Alex. For everything."

It was a no-brainer to go upstairs. We let ourselves in, greeted by Charlie doing an impression of a cat on his last leg. With a half-hearted grumble, I added kibble to his dish and watched Van leash up Heidi.