Hurry Up And Wait (Owens Protective Services #24)

13. Isla

13

ISLA

When it was clear IKE wasn’t coming back anytime soon, I wormed my way off the couch and went in search of a phone. It was nearly impossible to find and took way too much time to locate the house phone. There was a single line located in a huge office filled with computers. I was afraid to touch anything. It all looked so expensive, and I didn’t want to piss him off by breaking anything.

But I needed to talk to Riley and know that she was okay.

The line rang and rang, and I was almost positive she wasn’t going to answer. But then she snapped at me, and I sank back in his office chair in relief.

“Who the hell is this? Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“I’m well aware of what time it is,” I grinned, happy to hear her crank voice.

“You,” she seethed. “You know, the least you could do after getting blown up is call your sister!”

“You could have visited me in the hospital,” I countered.

“I was a little busy answering a million questions about your husband, the douche canoe.”

I grimaced at her words. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound very fun.”

“It wasn’t. I would much rather talk about myself when surrounded by so many hot guys. Did you know there’s not a single ugly guy among them? How is that even possible? Surely, there would be one guy who has just the ugliest mug ever. Or maybe he’s the puny guy of the group. Did Cash go looking for the best looking men to fill his job openings?”

“I find it hilarious that our house blew up, and this is what you choose to focus on.”

“Priorities,” she reminded me. “Hot men always trump everything else.”

“Even being blown up?”

“Well, they did rush in to save you. It’s a shame I wasn’t there. I could play the damsel in distress very well.”

“I’m sorry I let you down in that department.”

“Well, you were always better at being strong. I’m sure one of these guys will fawn all over how amazing you are. But just once, it would be nice to be rescued by a man with bulging muscles and a killer smile.”

“I’m sure you’ll find a way to make that happen now that you know how devastatingly handsome they all are.”

She sighed heavily. “Alas, there aren’t that many left that are single. It seems they’ve all been snatched up.”

“No doubt by women who already played their cards right.”

“You know, when you were telling me we were moving out here, I would have been on board a lot faster if you had just said we were moving to a town filled with unbelievably gorgeous men.”

I thought about my current predicament with a certain man with devastatingly gorgeous eyes. And then I thought about Kavanaugh, who set my body on fire with a single touch. This was a bad situation to be in, not because I wanted IKE, but because I was so curious about him.

“Hey, are you even listening to me? I’m rambling over here about my problems of being surrounded by unavailable hot guys, and you’re not even listening to my plight!”

“Sorry, I have an issue of my own.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s so hard being trapped with another hot guy.”

“He’s not the hot guy I want to be with. ”

“Still, you can make the most of it and enjoy the company.”

“What company? He left me behind. Besides, he doesn’t exactly like to talk. It’s like being trapped with a rock.”

“Dwayne Johnson?” she asked hopefully.

“Trust me, if I was trapped with him, I wouldn’t be complaining.”

“Well, you can relax knowing that it’ll only be for a few days. I was assured that they’re cleaning it up and installing a security system for us. Although, I’d much prefer one of them to be my personal bodyguard, but I suppose this will do.”

“I guess,” I muttered.

“So, should I bother asking how you are or are you going to give me some non-answer?”

“Non-answer.”

“That’s what I thought. Well, don’t break any bones while you’re there. Oh, and despite what the guys all say, it is never okay to touch their things. I learned that one the hard way.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I chuckled.

“Can I go back to bed now? I was up all night answering questions on your behalf and there is not enough coffee in the world to cheer me up.”

I didn’t want to let her go, but I was tired too. “Yeah, I suppose I’ll be fine. It’s not like I have a concussion or anything.”

“It’s a minor inconvenience.”

“And my arm might be barely hanging on, but cooking a meal for myself should be no problem at all.”

“That’s the spirit. Now, call me when you have real news. Like…I don’t know, a gigantic hole in your chest or something. Frankly, I’m disappointed you went to the hospital at all. Where’s your grit?”

I grinned at her. “You’re right. I have to toughen up.”

“That’s all I’m saying. Talk to ya later.”

“Bye.” I hung up with a sigh, looking around the office. What the hell was I supposed to do now?

“This sucks,” I grumbled, taking in everything at the desk. IKE had everything neatly arranged and perfectly lined up. There were no fingerprints anywhere on the glass or the screen. It was as if someone had wiped it down after the last use .

I rubbed my temples, willing away my headache. What I needed was a shower and a good night’s sleep. After that, I might actually feel like a human again. Pushing out of the chair took more work than it should have. My muscles protested the movement, but somehow, I made it work.

There were no bedrooms downstairs, so I made the long trek up the staircase, having to stop every few stairs to take a break. I felt like an old lady at the pace I was moving. A long hallway stretched from one length of the house to the other. Several rooms lined both sides and I found an ensuite in one room, which probably meant it was the master. Not that you could tell by what was in the room. All of them were spotless, and I wasn’t about to go nosing through closets to find out which one was IKE’s.

However, I had no choice but to use the master bath since that was the only bathroom with any products inside. And they were all for men. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, and at this point, if I had to smell like a man, I would take it over smelling like smoke.

I turned on the water and let it run hot before stepping in. My muscles protested the additional movements, but soon relaxed under the heat of the water. I was so exhausted that all I could do was lean my forehead against the wall of the shower and let it cascade over my body. But I couldn’t stay like this forever.

I tilted my head back and let the water run over my head for several minutes. The water soothed the pounding in my head, and while it didn’t eliminate the pain, it made it more tolerable. I slid my hands over my body, probing the spots I knew had taken a beating. As it turned out, my whole left side was basically one giant bruise.

Sighing, I finished washing and shut off the water. I had little energy left to continue standing, and even walking down the hallway sounded like too much work. With my towel wrapped around my slick skin, I crept back into the room, peeking into the hall to listen for IKE. It didn’t sound like he’d returned yet, so I hurried over to his drawers and dug through them. There had to be something I could wear. Unfortunately, all I found were socks and underwear. It was like the man didn’t have a single T-shirt.

I strode over to his closet and yanked it open, shaking my head when I found a line of shirts, jackets, and pants—all hanging in color-coded fashion. I plucked the first shirt from the hangar, choosing a dark gray one that would at least hide all of my lady bits while I was waiting on new clothes. I tugged it on, then rolled up the sleeves and buttoned the front. It was huge on me, but at least it fell far enough below my ass that I could say I was covered.

I looked longingly at the bed. It was so large and cozy and inviting. And the other beds were so far away. I just didn’t have it in me to walk down the hall. As my shoulder tugged painfully, I stumbled over to the bed and sat on the edge, resting my head in my hand. I just needed some sleep.

Without thinking twice, I laid back and pulled the covers over me, immediately sinking into the warmth of the bed. It wasn’t even two seconds after my head hit the pillow that I felt myself drifting off to sleep.

I didn’t know what woke me, but the silence that greeted me sent chills down my spine. The room was cloaked in darkness, only lit by the sparse light filtering in through the window. I jumped as a streak of lightning filled the sky and faded just as quickly. In that flash, I swore I saw someone in the corner of the room.

I skittered out of bed, my heart ramping up as my fingers grazed over nearly everything on the nightstand to turn on the light. But when I found the switch, nothing happened. The power was out. That had to be what woke me—the silence of nothing running.

I stood stock still, my eyes trained on the corner where I thought I saw the shadow. My heart slammed in my chest, threatening to burst free any minute. The harder I stared, the more I wondered if it was only ghosts I was seeing. But the hairs that stood on the back of my neck said otherwise.

Fear clawed its way up my throat with every moment that passed. With my hand still on the nightstand, I felt along it for anything I might use as a weapon, but came up empty aside from the lamp sitting atop it. My fingers found the handle to the drawer and I yanked it open. Something heavy slid inside and I grasped it, my eyes widening as I felt the thick handle of the gun.

As I pulled it out and held it in my inexperienced hands, I let the fear of not knowing how to handle it slide away. Just holding it in my grip made me feel safer than standing here without it.

Another flash of lightning streaked across the sky, but this time, there was no one standing in the corner of the room. In fact, I was pretty sure it was empty. But I knew there had been someone here. I saw the silhouette with my own eyes. Hadn’t I?

Sweat beaded on my forehead, but despite the heavy air in the room, a chill ran over my skin. Where was IKE? Had he really left me? A crack of thunder made me jump and I made the decision to move. I couldn’t be sure that I was alone in the house, but staying in one spot seemed like a bad idea. With my back to the wall, I slid over to the doorway, the gun pointed at the ground. It was too heavy to hold up with only one hand, and with my other arm throbbing painfully, I knew using it was a bad idea unless absolutely necessary.

When I reached the door, I peered into the hallway, but saw nothing. Darkness seemed to swirl closer to me, moving in waves and shadows. I shook my head, sure I was imagining things. Maybe it was the pain or the head wound, but either way, I had to be imagining things.

A creak sounded in the house and I jerked my head in the direction of the sound, sure someone was going to jump out at me. But when nothing happened, I slid one foot into the hallway and listened again.

Nothing.

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to get myself under control. My heart was pounding so loud that I was sure anyone in the house would hear it. My stomach twisted with nausea and bile rose in my throat. I pushed it down, breathing through the urge to vomit. Now was not the time to let fear win. I was used to being scared. Riley and I made a game out of it when we were kids. But this wasn’t a game. This was real life, and if someone was in this house, the only way to stay alive was to be the last person standing.

With a final deep breath, I opened my eyes and crept down the hall, making sure to move as quietly as possible. I peeked into the other bedrooms, but only gave a cursory glance before moving on. I wasn’t stupid enough to go looking for whoever was in the house. My only thoughts were of staying alive and finding a good place to hide until IKE came back or the sky lightened enough for me to see clearly.

Once I reached the top of the staircase, I looked over the railing, biting my lip to hold in the grunt of pain from overusing my body. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could make it in this condition. My body was begging for me to sit down, sending warning signals through my muscles with every movement. The pain meds from the hospital had long worn off, leaving me feeling every ache and strain from the explosion.

With a glance back from where I’d come, I made my way down the steps. Once I reached the bottom, I cursed under my breath. I was left in a wide space with no protection. Maybe I should have stayed in the bedroom. I could have locked myself inside and waited out the storm, but that would have required looking in the closet and bathroom for the intruder, and right now, my mind was too frazzled to handle the terror that would bring.

I raised the gun slightly, holding it in front of me as I slowly spun around the room, watching for any movement. My ragged breathing cut through the darkness. No matter how I tried to control it, nothing seemed to help. Terror licked at me, taunting me in the darkness. Shadows moved around the room, always eluding me just when I thought I caught them. I took a step back, ready to turn and run, but instead, I bumped into a hard body.

I stilled. My heart raced at such a dizzying speed that I nearly collapsed. Then warmth encased my back as the hard body moved closer. I didn’t dare breathe, couldn’t if I had wanted to.

“Where do you think you’re going with that?”

His voice slid over me like silk, causing goosebumps to break out over my skin. The relief of knowing he was here nearly made me collapse. Then his hand slid down my arm, leaving pebbles in their wake. His large hand cupped mine for a moment before relieving me of the weapon I held so tightly in my grip.

“I don’t think this is a very good idea,” he murmured in my ear .

I finally sucked in a ragged breath. “There was somebody here,” I said in a rush.

I felt his body tense behind me. In a flash, he pushed me against the wall and shoved me to the floor. In the faint light, I saw him hold a finger to his lips and then he was gone. I held my breath, waiting for him to return. I couldn’t hear his footsteps or see any sign of him. What if whoever was here killed him? What if I was left all alone? Riley would find my body in bloody pieces on the ground, which would inevitably give her something to tease me about for the rest of my ghostly life.

I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting off the panic that was sitting like lead in my stomach. I was never the girl who hid behind the stairs, but after the bomb and the car that had been idling on the street day after day, I couldn’t seem to pull my shit together.

You’re fine. Nothing’s going to happen with IKE here. I repeated it over and over again. If I told myself enough that I would be fine, it had to happen, right?

I screamed as rough hands grabbed my arms and hauled me upright. A hand was clasped over my mouth, but when I opened my eyes, I sagged in IKE’s grip. He removed his hand, then flicked on a flashlight, illuminating the room.

“There’s no one here.”

“Are you sure?”

“I checked everywhere. And the power’s only been out a few minutes. I would have had an alert if someone had broken in. What did you see?”

The light from the flashlight cast an eerie glow across his face. I had to look away from the intensity in his eyes. I was already on the verge of losing it. “A shadow,” I finally answered. “In the corner of the room. The lightning flashed and…I swore I saw someone.”

His eyes scrutinized my face, and I knew he was trying to decide if I was crazy or simply panicking after everything that happened. “Shadows,” he murmured. “They play tricks on us all.”

He turned and walked over to a door, then flung it open and stomped down the stairs. I heard some clanking and swearing before, finally, his boots pounded on the stairs once more .

“The generator’s out.”

I nodded, relieved he was back inside. Even though he searched the house, I was still on edge—still seeing movement in the shadows. What I needed was a drink, something to take the edge off until I could pull myself together.

“I picked up your prescriptions and some food,” he said, walking over to the counter.

“You left hours ago,” I said, wondering where he had been for so long.

“Yeah, I stopped by OPS to check in.”

“And?” I asked hopefully. “Do they have any leads?”

He shook his head as he pulled out the food. “Not yet.”

Sighing, I sat down at the counter with him, taking the container he shoved my way. I watched as he moved around the kitchen with no light. He knew this place so well, grabbing things out of cabinets and drawers like it was second nature. I doubted I could do that even in my old house.

He set two candles on the counter and lit them, giving us a little mood lighting to eat by, though I was pretty sure that wasn’t his intention.

“Eat,” he grunted, shoving a forkful of Chinese food into his mouth.

I sighed heavily, dragging my fork back and forth through the fried rice. I knew I needed to eat, but I was so out of sorts, and that damn shadow was still lingering in the back of my mind, taunting me like when I was a kid and saw monsters under my bed.

“There’s no one here,” IKE repeated as if he could read my mind.

“I know. But it’s like waking up from a bad dream, you know?”

He nodded, but didn’t acknowledge me in any other way.

“So…if you don’t work for OPS, what do you do?”

“My own work.”

I rolled my eyes. “And what’s that?”

He stopped eating, standing up straighter. “I don’t think you want to know.”

“Why?” I chuckled. “Is it something embarrassing? Are you really a computer nerd? ”

“Quite the opposite.”

“What’s the opposite of a computer nerd?”

There was something about the way his eyes watched me, the way he stiffened across the counter. It was as if he was willing me to figure it out on my own.

“You saw me in the alley.”

My breath hitched in my chest. “Are we discussing that now?”

“You wanted to know. Figure it out.”

I swallowed hard at the threat in his voice. I had an idea that he wasn’t exactly a morally upstanding bodyguard like the other guys. No, he had a dangerous air about him. When I met him in the alley, he took out Shawn so swiftly. At the time, I figured he was just a good samaritan, stepping in and relieving me from a bad situation. But as I studied his eyes now, there was a darkness to them.

Maybe he had stepped in to help me, but he enjoyed doing it. I remembered the sound of his fists hitting Shawn, the gleam in his eyes when he turned to me after discarding my husband. He did it all so easily. His moves were practiced and precise…like he’d done it before.

Many times before.

“There it is,” he murmured.

He never did tell me exactly what he did, and he didn’t have to. He was dangerous, and that’s all he really wanted me to know.

Don’t mess with him.

He’ll ruin you if you cross him.

He’ll strike swiftly and you’ll never see him coming.

It was really a gut feeling. I didn’t know anything about IKE, but I got the distinct impression he didn’t let anyone know who he really was.

“Why?”

“Why what?” he asked casually, going back to eating. Nothing bothered this man. He’d basically just told me he was a really bad man and I should be wary around him. Yet, he sat here as if it was no big deal. Then again, it wasn’t to him. It was me who had to be careful around him .

“Why did you intervene in the alley?”

“Did you not want me to?” he asked, cocking his head in question .

“No, I’m very grateful to you for putting the fear of God in him.”

“Apparently not enough,” he muttered.

“If you’re so…deadly, why would you get involved?”

“Maybe I don’t like bullies.”

“And then you followed me here.”

He scoffed at that. “And why would I do that?”

I had no idea, but it couldn’t be a coincidence that he was here.

“Tell me something…You followed Kavanaugh here. I already knew Kavanaugh. Is this all a massive coincidence? Maybe you followed me.”

“I didn’t even know who you were,” I argued.

I felt a chill skate down my spine as he slid around the counter, his eyes never leaving mine. He didn’t stop until he was right in front of me, his lips so close I could feel his breath on my face.

“If I were you, I’d be grateful I intervened when I did and stop asking questions that will only get you killed.”

I swallowed hard at the threat, wishing right now that I was with Kavanaugh. But he said I could trust IKE. He promised me I would be safe. So, I held my breath and nodded, vowing to not get myself killed by opening my mouth and ruining the tentative peace IKE and I had.

“Eat your food,” he muttered before stalking away.

I sagged on the stool, brushing my hair out of my face as I tried in vain to calm my racing heart.

How the hell did I end up with a man who threatened me while protecting me? As soon as my house was fixed up, I was going home. I’d rather take my chances with the devil I knew.