Cassie hadn’t noticed them at first.
She thought the guy outside the coffee shop was just loitering. Thought the woman with the oversized sunglasses by the library was a student. But when she stepped out of her economics lecture and saw two people with cameras casually pretending to check their phones, her stomach dropped.
They were following her. Watching her.
She pulled up her hoodie and quickly crossed the campus courtyard, ducking into the nearest building to hide. Her phone buzzed in her pocket.
Luke Hudson: “Smile if you see them. They’re harmless. But don’t engage.”
Cassie read the message three times. He knew. He had known. And he hadn’t warned her.
She called him immediately.
“You knew?” she snapped as soon as he picked up.
Luke’s voice was calm, as always. “Yes. They caug
