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“He’s at the vineyard with Sofia,” Andrei reminds me.

“I know where I left my cat.” I lift my eyebrows. “Are you going to tell me he’s safer at your vineyard after someone just got through the fence?”

“Sofia will take care of him.” His voice softens, though the tension hasn’t left his face.

“I’m sure she would.” I chew on my lip as I consider this. “I still want him with me.”

Andrei lets out a slow breath, then nods. “We’ll get him before we go.”

Drew returns with an update about the damaged camera, and the three of them arrange who will be where for the next few hours. I listen, partly because I want to know how close the intruder came to the fuel storage area and partly because the men who attacked us have already counted on moving us around. Drew and Benitez will return to Ember Ridge. Harris and Cole are at the store with Birdie. And I’m with Andrei.

While they talk, I call Birdie.

“Please tell me you’re on your way,” Birdie says. I hear footsteps and the rustle of paper behind her.

“We have to pick up Murphy first.” I glance at Andrei, still talking with Drew. “Did you find anything else?”

“I stopped where you told me to stop,” she says. “Harris wanted pictures before I touched another book, and now I’m standing beside five cartons pretending I’m a patient person.”

“You’ve spent years proving otherwise,” I tell her.

“Exactly.” Birdie lowers her voice. “Get here soon, Cass.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I assure her.

After the call, Andrei opens the passenger door for me. That SUV came close enough to pin me against the guardrail, and all it left behind was a mark I could cover with my thumb. I try not to picture the barrier rushing past my window.

Andrei gets behind the wheel. “Are you all right to make the drive?”

I angle my body toward him. “I’m going to ask you a lot of questions.”

“I expect nothing else.”

“Then yes.” I pull the seat belt across my chest and secure it. “I can make the drive.”

At the vineyard, a guard checks Andrei’s SUV before opening the gates. We pass the production building, where crews are still working under the lights, but I don’t see anyone in the lower rows. I glance toward the northern fence as Andrei drives us to the guesthouse. Drew is heading there with Benitez, and I hope they find some answers.

Sofia has put Murphy’s carrier beside the sofa. Murphy sits on a cushion with his paws tucked under him, watching her fold one of his towels. Orange fur covers the upholstery around him, and he looks far too comfortable for a cat I’ve come to take home.

“He has eaten,” Sofia tells me, “and he spent most of the afternoon watching the windows. I was going to sit with him tonight.”

“I know you would.” I crouch beside Murphy and stroke the soft fur behind his nicked ear. “And I appreciate it, but I want him home.”

Sofia nods, then lays a hand on my shoulder. “You’ve had a frightening day, Cassandra. Take him with you.”

Murphy lets me lift him into the carrier, though his expression suggests he plans to remember the indignity. Andrei gathers the food bag and litter supplies while I say goodbye to Sofia. When we reach his SUV, he fastens the carrier securely on the back seat and checks the door twice.

“You’ve installed him better than most people install a child’s seat,” I say as Andrei checks the carrier strap again.

“He has claws and a poor opinion of me.” Andrei gives the handle a final tug. “I’m taking precautions.”

“He rubbed against your leg the first day you met him,” I remind him.

“That may have been reconnaissance.” He closes the back door and looks at Murphy through the window.

I get into the passenger seat before he can see me smile. The other vehicles are gone when we leave the estate, and an unfamiliar SUV follows us at a distance after the gate. Andrei tells me it’s one of his guards assigned to the road, then watches my face as if he expects an argument. I have enough questions about the man beside me without starting on the one behind us.

Murphy watches Andrei through the carrier door for several miles. Usually he announces his objections to travel before I reach the end of Main Street. Tonight he stays quiet, his amber eyes fixed on the back of Andrei’s head.