“Kai,” said Blane with a tap to his arm. 

     When Kai turned away from staring at her retreat, Blane pulled up footage from another screen. This monitor had multiple smaller screens displaying various parts of the house. On the screen that was enlarged was Melody in the shower. She was sitting in the tub and crying. 

     “What the hell is this?” Kai asked angrily.  

     “This place has a security system with cameras in every room and around the perimeter,” answered Blane. “We hooked up a few of ours but thought since these were still here, we’d use them.” 

     “Shut it off!” demanded Kai. “I expected better of my men.” 

     “But sir, you should take a look,” Mateo argued from beside him. 

     Knowing his men would never do something disrespectful and dishonorable as spy on a naked woman, he did as advised and looked at the screen. 

     Melody was turned toward the camera installed in the corner of the room, and they had a complete view of her front. 

     “It’s the scars but they’ve healed some,” Paul remarked. “They’re clearer now without the swelling and redness. They look familiar, don’t they?” 

    “Zoom in,” Kai said with a strain in his voice.  

     As soon as the image cleared, Kai saw the symbols on her breasts and belly, as well as the deep cut above her heart. Rage and pity aside, there was something else urgently pulling at his racing thoughts. 

     He looked back at the screen with the people they were watching and glanced again at Melody. 

    “Zoom in on that rock,” he commanded. 

     As soon as the image was on the screen, they mumbled in shock. 

     “Pierce, does this mean what I think it does?” asked Neal.  

     “Jack, who did you speak to about her?” Kai asked. 

     “Det. Fang,” he answered. “He and his partner had interviewed her after the attack and have kept in contact with the family.” 

     “Did they give you any details that aren’t in the report?” Kai hopefully wondered. 

     Jack thought a moment and shook his head. 

     Kai took a deep breath as he continued to watch Melody. She was starting to calm down and had washed away the fresh blood from her efforts to claw the scars away. 

     “I want the feed to that bathroom shut down now,” Kai ordered. “I don’t want to see it up again when she’s in there, is that clear?” 

     “Yes, sir,” answered Blane, and he quickly did as he was told. 

     “She must be kicking herself right now,” Paul sighed. “She escaped her attacker only to find herself in the middle of a whole group like him.”   

     “What are the odds?” wondered Mateo. “I mean to come here four hours out of the way to escape a man who is obviously part of this cult holding ceremonies right across the river.” 

     “Call it Fate, Divine Intervention, or just one of those crazy coincidences you don’t believe in,” Paul told Kai. “Whatever it is, she might be what we’ve been looking for to take them down.” 

     “Which paints a big target on her,” Kai replied. “Check on that backup. Our arrival might have alerted them to her presence. They’re not about to let her live long enough to testify.” 

     “Calling it in now,” Mateo replied with his ear to his phone. 

     Kai left the room to see about her as his men continued with their orders and surveillance. With a hopeful breath, he knocked on the bathroom door. He had to let her know she would be safe with them. 

     His men were right about her, but he had no idea how he was going to ask her to help. She was strong, a fighter, but she was the victim of a horrendous crime and still quite wounded within. 

    Melody wiped away her tears and smoothed down her hair. She sniffed and took up the bar of soap still in its wrapper from the soap dish. She needed a shower, anyway, so she took one. She still had a little mud in her hair and there was a musty odor from her brief visit to the underside of the cabin. 

     Just as she had a good lather of shampoo, someone knocked on the door. 

     “Yes?” she warily called out.  

     “It’s Kai,” came his strong but kind voice. “Are you all right?” 

     “I’d be better if I didn’t have soap in my eyes,” she huffed. 

     “I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I’ll, um…I’ll be going,” he replied and turned to walk away. 

     Cracking through that defensive wall was going to be difficult and take the kind of time he didn’t think they had. He had to find a way to get her to speak with him before she found herself in the hands of men much worse than the one she’d survived.