The figure across the street didn’t move.
Mira stood frozen at the living room window, phone still raised, recording the grainy image reflected on the screen. Streetlights cast long shadows across the pavement, blurring the edges of the man’s shape—but she knew him anyway. Fear recognized him instantly, even when logic tried to intervene.
Eli stood beside her, his jaw tight, his body tense.
“He’s not even trying to hide anymore,” Eli said quietly.
Mira swallowed hard. “No. He wants me to see him.”
Her heart pounded violently, but something else pulsed beneath it—anger, steady and sharp. The kind that didn’t paralyze. The kind that focused.
She hit the call button.
“Police,” the dispatcher answered.
“There’s a man violating a restraining order,” Mira said clearly. Her voice shook, b
