tipped my face back to the windows and watched the beautiful flashes of light across the dark clouds. Then the next flash of lightning lit up something I wasn't even remotely expecting.
With a startled gasp, I sat bolt upright, staring at the place I'd just seen a silhouette of a man. Or that's what I thought I'd seen.
"What is it?" Steele asked, instantly going on alert. "What did you see?"
"Someone's out there," I told him, my voice hushed with fear. "Someone was standing outside the window."
I stared at the spot where I'd seen the figure, but no more lightning came for way too long. When another flash lit up the yard, the figure was gone.
Had I just imagined it? Maybe the stress was finally cracking me.
"Let's check it out," Kody said, shifting me off his lap to stand. "Arch! We need a perimeter sweep!"
Archer came bolting back into the room but didn't ask any questions. None of them turned the lights on, which I filed away under things they were scary smart about. Turning the lights on inside would only cripple our night vision and illuminate us to anyone peeping from outside. The den had privacy glass like the rest of the house, but even privacy glass could be seen through when someone was close enough.
The boys operated with efficiency. Archer and Kody grabbed guns from hiding places around the den and split up to check outside. Steele stayed behind, pulling two more handguns from under the TV unit and passing one to me.
"It might be nothing," I told him in a quiet voice. "I might have imagined it."
"I doubt it," he replied with a grimace. "Just stick with me. I'm calling the security team to sweep the boundary and check for any breaches."
We moved through to the kitchen, where there were considerably fewer windows, and Steele called Sampson. Flashes of light outside the window made me flinch, but it only took me a second to realize they were flashlights. Probably Archer and Kody.
"Don't worry, Hellcat," Steele murmured, wrapping his arm around me and placing his gun down on the counter. "We've got you. We won't let these sick fucks hurt you again, okay?"
I snorted a bitter laugh. "Me? I'm worried about you guys. My stalker doesn't want to kill me, not yet. But he definitely wants you three out of the picture."
"And he's doing a shitty job of it," Steele replied, his tone firm, "He's underestimated us, gorgeous. All of us. We will catch him sooner or later, and then he'll pay for every single thought he's ever had about you."
The cold violence running through Steele's voice made me shiver, but it also warmed my heart. This man would watch the world burn for me. They all would.
"No one out there," Kody called out. He stomped into the kitchen a moment later, soaking wet as he placed his flashlight and gun down on the counter. His T-shirt was plastered to his muscles and his bare feet covered in mud.
"I found footprints," Archer announced, joining us from a different doorway. He, too, was soaked through and looking all kinds of pissed off. "Here." He handed his phone over to us. On it was a picture he'd taken of boot prints in mud. "Took a photo before the rain washed it away. That was right outside the window where Kate thought she saw someone."
"Smart thinking." Steele zoomed in on the picture. "Men's size eleven."
"The team is sweeping the grounds now," Kody informed us. "I saw Sampson out there. This rain will wash evidence away crazy fast, though."
Archer swept a hand through his wet hair, sending droplets flying. "Now that he's been spotted, no doubt he's taken off. We need to sort out the security situation sooner rather than later."
"Agreed," Steele said.
My stomach twisted all up in knots. "We really think someone on security is involved? I thought they were supposed to be iron-clad."
"It's the only logical explanation," Kody replied, looking grim. "No one is totally trustworthy. No one outside this room, anyway."
"I hope it's not," Archer murmured. "Sampson is an old family friend and went through Phillip's program."
Steele grunted a noise. "So did Hank."
He had a point.
"James is on his way," Kody told us as he read a message on his phone.
I frowned in confusion. "James the groundskeeper? Do we think it could be him?"
Kody shook his head. "No, James is helping us look into the backgrounds of all our security guys. They were all thoroughly vetted prior to being hired—they're