Protecting Ellis (Loved by the SEAL #1)

Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

Ellis found a new space that would be perfect for her studio. The rent wasn’t expensive, and the price was low. The area was quiet for the most part and safe. There were cameras on the building and in the lot. Plus, the unit had an alarm that was already in place.

Her new lease would start three weeks before the old one ended. That would give her plenty of time to move. Gloria had decided to stay on with her. Having someone she trusted already on her team made her feel better about the future of her business.

Now, she needed her personal life to calm down. Bennet was pissed, but the police had warned him off. There was no evidence he’d sliced her tires, but he had been the one who’d written the message on the window at her shop. He wanted her to drop the charges, but it wasn’t up to her since the owner of the building wanted to go after him.

She’d purchased one of those tracker detectors she’d seen Trip use and made sure to wand her car before heading home. Dating Bennet had been a mistake. Based on outward appearances, he should have been safe. Her father knew him, which really wasn’t the best endorsement, but she’d thought he would at least be halfway decent. She’d been so wrong about a lot of stuff.

Their life together hadn’t been terrible. Now that she’d broken up with him, she could admit that he hadn’t been a great guy to date. Sure, they were welcome in nice country clubs and did plenty of fine dining. But there was more to life than money and expensive wine.

When she broke up with him, she learned that his grandparents and parents had stipulations preventing him from getting money unless he married. That’s when she really understood she wasn’t important. The only thing that mattered to Bennet was marriage to a woman who had a professional career. She assumed her father hadn’t known about the requirement. At least she hoped he hadn’t known.

Trip was rough compared to Bennet. He looked like trouble and wasn’t anywhere near as polished. But she felt safe with Trip. She also felt like he would be honest with her. If he was going to cheat, he would tell her straight up. Actually, he probably wouldn’t cheat. Instead, he would end the relationship and treat her like a human being instead of property.

Every morning she glanced out into the lot, searching for Trip’s vehicle. This was what it would be like being with him. He wouldn’t be around all the time, instead his work would take him away time and time again.

Did they even have something between them that could grow into a relationship? A few hours on the weekend wasn’t enough. Or was it? Maybe he would come home and never want to see her again.

Work had been normal, nothing exciting. She and Gloria were making plans for how to box up her equipment and when to begin the process. Tonight, she planned on picking up dinner from a restaurant close to her apartment.

As the sun sank low, she began locking up. With Bennet warned off, she felt secure that she was safe. No one had bugged her at her apartment or here.

She turned on the alarm and headed out the back door. The lot wasn’t dark, but it felt weird, like maybe something was lurking close by. She made it to her vehicle and was about to open the door when the guy struck. The first blow to the side of her head knocked her to her ass. Pain made everything shoot with stars and then go black. The kick to her side stole her breath, and she slumped to the pavement as another kick landed. Pain rocketed around her body. As the beating continued, she thought for sure she was going to die.

Maybe she blacked out, or maybe it all just happened fast, but suddenly she saw lights flashing. The blood rushing in her ears made it impossible to hear anything as she watched a police officer run around the building.

Pain ruled everything as time slowly ticked by. It took forever to peel her face from the pavement. Sitting up took too much effort. Then, the hard pavement scraped against her face again. Breathing was painful, and her head swam.

At some point an ambulance showed up, and they loaded her into the back. The officer hadn’t caught the guy who’d beat her, and she had no idea who had attacked.

Confusion and pain took her under. She came to at some point in the ambulance but then passed out again. They roused her in the hospital to tell her that she needed surgery to stop some internal bleeding. She had them call Ginger. Luckily, she’d granted her best friend medical power of attorney in emergencies. This seemed like one of those emergencies.

Trip pulled up at the apartment, sad that Ellis’s car wasn’t in the lot. He wondered if Bennet had struck again. Before going inside, he glanced upstairs, contemplating heading up. It was late, which may be why she hadn’t answered his text. But why wasn’t her car in the lot? Maybe she’d stayed at Ginger’s place. He still needed to meet Ginger. This week, he would make that a priority.

Deciding against knocking on her door, he headed inside and dropped into bed after a shower and a sandwich. The next morning, he woke early and headed out. A redhead was coming down the stairs. He paused, smiling up at her.

“You’re Ginger, right?”

He’d expected her to say something sassy, but she burst into tears and reached out when she was on the ground level and grabbed his arm. “Oh God. You’re back. Shit.”

Panic feathered out from his chest to his limbs, and he went into fight mode. He clenched his fists so he didn’t do something stupid. “What?”

“She’s at the hospital. I grabbed some clothes. She’ll be there for at least one more day.”

His head swam with anger and fear. “What happened?”

“She left work, and someone attacked her. The doctors are hopeful that just the one surgery will fix the bleeding.”

“Fuck!”

“Follow me. I’ll get you in to see her.”

The drive to the hospital was too long for his comfort. He’d had no idea she’d been attacked. Why hadn’t anyone called him or texted? Why should they? They weren’t in a relationship, at least not yet. Plus he hadn’t had his phone on him. There was no way they could have gotten hold of him.

Fuck, he was the one with the dangerous job, and yet, she was in the hospital. It should be him, not her, fighting for life.

Ginger advocated for him to get inside to see Ellis. He would owe Ginger big time. When he stepped into the room, tears sprang to his eyes. The bruises on her face and neck looked awful. Had someone tried to choke her? He had to force his anger down. Soon enough, he would figure out who did this, and then he could punish them.

His hands shook as he stepped closer and saw more damage. He wanted to kill whoever had done this. Killing wasn’t that hard. He did it for work, and he could do it here.

Ellis’s eyelids fluttered, and then her eyes were open and on him. Her swollen jaw moved slowly. The words formed but were slurred. “Is that really you or a hallucination?”

Her voice sounded rough and shaky. He put his hand on her arm, squeezing gently. She winced, and he jerked back. “Sorry. It’s really me.”

Relief filled her eyes before she closed them. The swirl of anger was hard to keep down. He didn’t want to get thrown out, so he pushed it as low as it would go. Helplessness filled him. How could this have happened?

After he was sure she was asleep, he typed in a text to Rider, but he didn’t know what his buddy could do for him. Desperation filled him. Who could help him?

He started going through names and he landed on Wolf. He’d found the one person who might actually be able to help. The text was short, but he’d given enough information to Wolf that maybe something could be discovered.

When his phone buzzed, he jumped. His gaze shot to Ellis, wanting to make sure she hadn’t been disturbed. She was still asleep, so he took his phone out to the hall and answered the call from Wolf.

“Hey, Trip, so what happened?”

He wiped his hand over his face. “I don’t know what to do. I came back from a mission, and the woman I’m with was beaten up. This isn’t the first attack against her. Her tires were slashed, and someone spray-painted a slur at her store. I feel like it’s more than just her ex. There’s something I can’t put my finger on. She’s in the hospital now. I don’t know who did this or where the threat is coming from.”

Wolf grunted. “Could you email me the information? I can’t make any promises, but we can look into it. See if we can figure out who is after her.”

“Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.”

“Don’t thank me yet. We may not be able to find anything.”

Trip ended the call and stepped back into Ellis’s room. The head of the bed was up about fifteen degrees, and her eyes were open, though one was swollen so it wasn’t fully open.

“Hey, you’re awake.”

“I thought I made up you being in here.”

“I just had to take a phone call. How are you?”

“I feel like shit.”

He fought tears and forced his emotions down so he didn’t scare her. “I want you to stay at my place for a few days when you get out of here. I can sleep on the couch, but I want to make sure you’re okay.”

She held out her hand, and he moved to take it, holding it gently. He didn’t know how badly she’d been beaten, but Ginger had said it had been bad.

“I ran into Ginger this morning, and she brought me here when she delivered your clothes. She had to go home and take care of her kid. I’m off work today and tomorrow, so I’m not leaving your side.”

“You don’t have to stay.”

“I do because I want to.”

Ellis sighed. “I don’t know who did this. I haven’t talked to the police. I don’t know what’s going on.”

“I’ll see if I can figure out what is happening with the investigation.”

“I decided to close the store.”

Shock hit, and he might have gasped. “Really? Was it because of this?”

She shook her head but moaned. “No. I decided earlier. Like last week. I’m going to move to a place where I’ll have a studio and more security.”

He kept his anger in check because he knew it would come out wrong. She hadn’t done anything to deserve this. The person who attacked her was the problem, not her.

“I’ll help you move your stuff.”

“Thank you. That’s not necessary.”

“I think it is.” He pulled one of the chairs closer and sat next to her bed, holding her hand. “Do you know what the damage is?”

Ellis shrugged and then coughed and moaned. “I’ve heard bits and pieces, but I’ve been out of it. Ginger has been making decisions for me.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “Yeah. She lives close by, and I didn’t want to leave it up to my parents. They like to travel and…”

She trailed off, and he didn’t ask for more. Later, once she wasn’t in the hospital, they could have that chat. The Navy was responsible for him, so maybe it wasn’t that weird that she had someone authorized to make decisions other than her family.

The door opened, and he turned to see a man in scrubs step in. Trip stood and pushed the chair out of the way.

“Oh, good. You’re awake. I’m Nurse Michael. The doctor is about ten to twenty minutes behind me. Let me get you set up and change any bags I need to. Are you having pain?”

Ellis tried to sit up and grunted. “Yes. There’s pain.”

“Okay, we’ll see what the doctor wants to do about that.”

Trip caught Ellis’s gaze. “Do you want me to leave?”

“I’d rather you stay. I might not remember everything.”

“Sure.”

He stayed out of the way, waiting for the nurse to finish checking and changing things. He hated that Ellis had been hurt and hoped that his friends could help him figure out what happened.

“The doctor has ordered an antibiotic and something to reduce the swelling. We’re about thirty minutes away from more pain medication, but once the doctor talks to you, she’ll decide which medication to give you. Do you think you could swallow a pill?”

Ellis’s throat moved as she swallowed. “I’m not sure.”

“Your throat may be sore for a while.”

Trip’s gaze went to the bruise around her neck. It was obvious the person had tried to choke her. He blew out a breath as frustration filled him. It had been a long time since he’d had to engage in real hand-to-hand combat. Years probably. Sure, they trained, but the guys didn’t go in for the kill. Ellis had been in the thick of it, and this could have had a very different ending.

“Why is my throat sore?” Ellis’s voice cracked as she spoke.

The nurse tried for a smile, but his gaze nervously flicked to Trip before looking back at Ellis. It was obvious the guy didn’t want to tell Ellis how bad it had been.

Trip stepped forward. “Honey, it looks like someone tried to choke you.”

She shook her head. “I don’t remember that part. I remember being kicked, and I remember the pain. I blacked out at some point.”

“You’re lucky,” Nurse Michael said.

“My ribs don’t feel very lucky right now.”

The door opened, and a woman stepped in, her smile wide. “Ah, good. You’re awake. I’m Doctor Taylor. The one who performed surgery on you. When you came in, you were out of it. We’re glad you gave us Ginger’s number. And who might you be?” The doctor turned to face Trip, her eyebrows raised as she studied him.

“I’m Trip Merano, a friend.”

“Ellis will need someone to help her for a few days.”

“I’m off work today and tomorrow, so I’m helping her.”

“Where do you work?”

“Naval base. Petty Officer Merano.”

Doctor Taylor narrowed her eyes, and her lips twisted up on one side. “Long hair, beard. Special forces?”

“Yes, Doctor Taylor.”

“Ellis, do you have someone else who can help you once Trip goes back to work?”

“Ginger can help me or the woman who works for me.”

“Okay. I think you’ll be able to leave either later today or tomorrow morning. I need to check on a few things.” Doctor Taylor turned to the nurse. “Did you take some blood?”

“Yes, Doctor. Four vials.”

“Good. We’ll run some tests and see how you’re doing. Get some sleep, and I’ll be back around four this afternoon.”

“Thank you,” Ellis squeaked out.

She sounded tired, and Trip hoped she slept for the next few hours. It would give him time to figure out a few things. First, he needed to see the video from her office. Hopefully, the attack was caught on camera. Then, he needed to figure out who had attacked her and how he would make them pay.