I tapped my foot impatiently as the woman who had led us to the building pounded on the door. Sarah? Yeah, that sounded right. I eyeballed her.

She was tall and lanky but looked like she could handle herself in a fight. I'd seen more curves on a sidewalk, though. Her leather collar was flipped up against the wind, and I couldn't see her features, but my memory of them from our initial meeting was enough—she was pretty, under all the dirt.

She had given me a bit of a stink eye when we showed the guards Alec's picture. There was more than just suspicion in that look, too. Had they...

A knot formed in my stomach as distasteful thoughts ran through my head. "It's been three years," I reminded myself. For all I know, he's moved on. And that's fine. Tooootally fine. Just fuckin' fine.

"Alec!" Sarah yelled between knocks. "Wake the fuck up!"

But the thought had barely surfaced before I recognized it for the lie it was. I bristled, and Kendall touched my arm, reading my features and raising an eyebrow at whatever he saw there.

"Squawking like a seagull is a shitty way to get someone's attention," I grumbled in answer, nodding at the still shouting, pretty but not prettier than me, woman.

More pounding. With an exasperated sigh, Sarah turned away from the door and walked back towards us, shrugging at her partner. I hadn't bothered to learn his name.

"He's not home."

Molly, the little girl that had accompanied us from the compound, stiffened suddenly, grabbing my sleeve and tugging at it. I leaned down, and she cupped a hand to speak into my ear. "Ragger says someone slipped out the back about a minute ago."

I glanced at the hound, who eyed me for a moment and then turned to saunter away.

Sarah stepped forward quickly, trying to block the animal's progression. "Hey, you can't just let your dog wander off; someone will probably eat him."

Kendall laughed. "It will more likely be the other way around."

"That's even worse!" Her partner tried to grab the dog but yelped as Ragger snapped and snarled at the guard's hand.

"Ragger, don't kill anyone, please," I called after him. He turned, looked over his shoulder, snorted, and continued walking.

"He'll be fine," I said, looking at Sarah.

"As long as nobody touches him, they'll be fine, too. If not, well, you might have a few people come in with missing fingers." I gestured at the guard who'd tried to grab Ragger. "But he's not gonna eat anyone."

She glared at me and then checked in on the guy cradling his hand to his chest. "He get ya?"

"Yeah," the other guard whimpered lightly. "Fucking prick dog."

"You can't grab at strange animals, Nolan. Let me see it. Okay, it's not so bad. He didn't even draw blood, see, you're fine!" She released his hand and kissed him on the cheek.

I relaxed a little bit. Tall, dark, and bony might have a crush on Alec, but she was clearly involved with her partner, even if the guy did seem a little simple.

Nolan held his hand up, examining it in the light, a smile crossing his face. "Ah, man, I thought for sure I was gonna have a few days off duty, haha!"

"If only I were so lucky," Sarah muttered, turning back to us. "So, he's not home."

"We picked up on that," I said drily, folding my arms. She rolled her eyes at me. "Okay bitch, I see you," I thought to myself.

"So where would he be," Kendall asked. "What are his duties around town?"

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Alec doesn't have any duties around town. Alec does whatever the fuck Alec wants."

I felt my mouth twitch at that. Sounded about right. Tilting my head back, I massaged the growing stress knot in my neck, the drizzle splattering softly against my face. It felt nice.

So close, so close. We'd had a lot of close calls with people saying they'd come across or interacted with the "Stalker," the blue-skinned Turned that Alec had become, but nobody had ever recognized his picture before, not until this town. If this was a false alarm, I was gonna scream.

"They know his face, and this person has the same name... Not a false alarm. So close, so close. I'm coming for you, Alec."

Kendall turned and leaned in close until his cheek was beside mine. "What did Molly and Ragger say?" He whispered. I brought my eyes down from the heavens and casually rubbed my mouth to hide it from Sarah. "Someone slipped out the back."

"God dammit." Kendall turned back to Sarah and Nolan. "Why do you let him stay here without pulling his weight?"

Sarah seemed taken slightly aback. "Pulling his weight? We don't have anything like that here. If you want to stay, you can stay."

Kendall nodded slowly. "That explains why he's settled in with you guys."

Sarah's eyes flashed. "What, are you calling him lazy?"

"Yeah, she's got a crush on him," I thought to myself. "Sorry, you ostrich ass looking mother fucker, he's taken."

"Not at all," Kendall shook his head. "Alec would gravitate to a community like this because our community was a lot like that, too. We all gave him a lot of shit, but he could never turn anyone down. Personally, I am a pull-your-weight kind of guy."

"Oh, I..." Sarah trailed off, her mouth open slightly. "Alec was a community leader?"

"Founder. Leader. De facto, actually. Is that so surprising?" I tilted my chin at her defiantly, reveling in her dumbfounded expression.

"I mean... Kind of..."

"Alec hates community responsibilities," Nolan chuckled. "He's part of the council, but I think I've really only seen him show up like... Twice. Sarah isn't being totally truthful. Alec does have some responsibility around here. Technically, he's the head of the scouts, though I don't think half of them even know what he looks like. And he weighs in on important matters, although Jim and Marlene usually speak with him in private."

Maybe this wasn't our guy after all. The Alec I remembered physically couldn't keep himself from getting involved. "Anything else?" I pressed, fear of a false alarm tugging at the edges of my mind once more.

"He's a top-notch soldier. Last week, he went toe-to-toe with a whole group of raiders, mostly by himself. Then that thing you keep calling the "Stalker" showed up, and he went and hid until everything was over."

Kendall straightened as we locked eyes. That was not a coincidence.

"So... Alec disappeared right before that thing showed up, is what you're saying?" he slowly clarified, his gaze still on me.

Nolan nodded. "Yeah, he's damn lucky too. Guy has been in more than a few nasty dust-ups and always comes back without a scratch on him. 'As the luck of the Irish, he do!" He snickered at his own terrible attempt at an accent.

He paused, thinking for a second before speaking again.

"Honestly, nobody knows much about him at all. He's pretty quiet and keeps to himself. Nobody knows why he has a council seat other than a rumor that he saved Jim's life just before he came to live with us." His eyes widened as if something occurred to him for the first time. "So, uh..." He said nervously. "What is your guys' relationship to our resident weirdo? You aren't here to like... Kill him, are ya?"

Sarah's eyes darted back and forth between us, her gaze lingering on Kendall's features for a moment before letting out a small gasp. She pointed at Kendall, then nudged Nolan in the ribs.

"You ever seen Alec cleaned up? Like fresh out of the shower?"

I bristled again. Nope, didn't like that.

Nolan frowned, studying Kendall for a moment. After a few seconds, he realized: "Hooooly shiiit. You guys are definitely related."

Kendall nodded. "He's my big brother."

Nolan's eyes shifted to me. "And that would make you..."

I planted my feet and held up one hand, pulling my ring up on the chain from where it hid behind my shirt and allowing it to dangle, glaring directly at Sarah.

"His wife."