Page 243 of Only Be Mine

Marshal’s exhale was slow. Controlled. But something flashed behind his eyes - relief, maybe.

“Okay,” he said quietly. “That gives us a little time.”

Time. Trevor had been calculating time all evening, and now the police were too.

Marshal straightened and nodded toward the driver’s seat. “We’re going to move. I’m going to have an officer take you to a safe location. I’ll follow. Seth will come separately.”

I gripped the edge of the seat. “He can’t come with me?”

Marshal’s gaze softened. “I know you want someone you trust right beside you. But we keep you separated for a reason.”

“For what reason?”

Marshal didn’t answer right away.

Then he said, carefully, “Because if Trevor makes a move, he’ll make it for you.”

The words turned my stomach to ice.

I glanced back toward the house again before I could stop myself.

Trevor was no longer framed in the doorway.

He’d moved.

And the absence felt worse than his presence.

My pulse spiked. “Where is he?”

Marshal’s head turned, sharp.

The porch light caught the edges of the curtains and nothing else.

Marshal straightened fully now. His voice stayed calm, but the air around him changed - something tighter, more alert.

He spoke into his radio, quick and precise. “Unit Two, eyes on Reeder. Confirm location.”

Static.

A pause.

Then, “Unit Two - copy. He’s inside. Moving toward the back of the house.”

Marshal’s jaw flexed.

He looked at me, and for the first time since he’d arrived, his face echoed the urgency of the situation. “Cate,” he said, voice low, “I need you to do exactly what I say.”

My chest constricted.

I nodded once and he shut the cruiser door gently, like gentleness could keep my fear from leaking out.

Then he moved fast, toward Seth, toward the porch, toward the thing that had just shifted from contained to unpredictable.

Through the window, the house looked the same.

Neat.

Bright.