Chapter 7 - THE NIGHT RUBY SAW THE STRANGER
Ruby noticed the stranger first.
He stood beyond the conservatory fence wearing a gray coat.
He wasn't a gardener.
He wasn't a visitor.
And he wasn't one of Mateo's guards.
Ruby watched him from behind a row of roses.
The man took photographs.
Not of the flowers.
Of the doors.
The windows.
The security cameras.
Ruby frowned.
"That's rude."
She went to find her mother.
Mara was checking irrigation records.
"Mom?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"There's a man taking pictures of the greenhouse."
Mara looked up.
"Where?"
Ruby pointed.
Mara stepped outside.
The man was gone.
She called security.
Mateo arrived twenty minutes later.
He listened carefully.
Then knelt beside Ruby.
"Can you describe him?"
Ruby nodded.
"Gray coat. Black shoes. Very serious eyebrows."
Mateo almost smiled.
"Anything else?"
"He had a camera."
"Did he speak to you?"
"No."
Mateo nodded.
"You did the right thing telling your mother."
Ruby looked worried.
"Is Lady Thundercloud in danger?"
Mateo's expression softened.
"We're going to make sure she's safe."
Ruby nodded.
"Good."
Then she looked at him.
"And you too."
Mateo stared.
"What?"
"You should be safe too."
Something tightened in his chest.
He smiled.
"Thank you, Ruby."
That evening, security footage confirmed the stranger had been surveying the conservatory.
Investigators later linked him to a private firm hired through a company associated with Northbank.
Mateo called his attorney.
"Document everything."
Then he looked toward the conservatory.
For years, he had believed danger was something he could control through fear.
Now he understood something different.
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Real protection required attention.
And he had spent too long not paying attention.
