"Lily, stay close to me," I called as she skipped toward the swing set in the front yard. The bright afternoon sun warmed my face, but unease clung to me like a shadow. Ever since that note was found in Lily's backpack—a cryptic warning scrawled in messy handwriting—Gabriel and I had been on edge.
"She's just a kid, Jasmine," Gabriel murmured, his voice taut with frustration. "She shouldn't have to live with this kind of fear."
I sighed. "Neither should we. But here we are."
Gabriel's jaw clenched. "I'm doubling the security team. We'll have someone stationed at the gate, and I'll personally review every entry log."
"Isn't that what you've already been doing?" I asked, my voice sharper than I intended. "It hasn’t stopped whoever this is from getting close to Lily."
His piercing blue e
