Yolo (Carter Brothers #7)

Chapter 9

If I die after I pay my rent, make sure that y’all leave me til the 30 th .

— Bindi to her mom

BINDI

“ The rent is going up in June ,” my mother read. “ What the fuck?”

“ By how much?” I asked.

“ Not much. Only a hundred dollars, but I thought that you were locked in rate-wise?” She sounded angry.

I laughed. “ Mom , rent going up is normal, especially in this economy. Plus , it’s not like I’m paying for the rent, anyway.”

That was another thing that Joseph’s family had agreed to pay—my rent for an entire three years.

A loud woof had me spinning around to where I’d heard the bark.

“ You need to go outside, Rooster ?” I asked.

Another softer woof.

“ Stay on the phone with me and tell me about him,” my mother pleaded.

I laughed and grabbed the leash for Rooster . He walked to me and sat, waiting patiently for me to clip the leash on.

Once finished, we headed downstairs via the elevator, then Rooster led the rest of the way to where the outside dog area was.

“ Gee took me to his friend that does medical needs dogs. Or whatever,” I said.

“ Gee .” I envisioned my mother shaking her head in awe. “ I can’t believe that he’s in the same apartment building as you.”

I felt a dip in my belly, then immediately felt bereft. “ Yeah , but also, remember that he is moving away in a little while. He’s building a house.”

We reached the dog yard, and I let Rooster head to potty as I leaned against the chain link fence and spoke into the receiver.

“ Your dog went to the far corner of the yard, I can’t see him anymore.” Mom liked to explain everything that was happening around me. It was a new habit that she’d started to make me feel not so lost. “ I mean, what are the odds that you not only wind up in Texas —damn, but Texas is huge!—but that you wind up in the same city with him. In the same apartment complex. I could not have asked for a better situation for you. Plus , he’s handsome.”

“ I heard that,” I heard my dad say as he must’ve walked through the area my mom was talking in. Likely by the fireplace with a glass of wine in her hand. “ I’m right here, dammit.”

I couldn’t help the smile that crossed my face.

Gosh , I loved my dad.

“ It’s okay, Ruben ,” my mother said. “ I still find you the most attractive of them all.”

My mom and dad bickered back and forth, and I kept an ear out for Rooster .

I was so lost in thought, listening to the normal background noise of my parents, that I didn’t hear the back door open and close behind me.

I did, however, hear the gate click beside me.

Gasping , I said, “ Oh , shoot. I’m sorry.”

I moved over, but a smooth, silky voice said, “ Don’t . I made it.”

My mom and dad stopped bickering, but I didn’t pay them much mind as I said, “ Sure .”

“ Who are you?” the man who’d just come through the gate asked.

“ Um , Bindi ,” I said, trying and failing to come up with a believable lie.

I didn’t want this man knowing my name for some reason.

“ Bindi . A beautiful name for a beautiful girl,” the silky voice said.

Close .

The voice was too close.

“ Rooster , come!” I called, hoping that I didn’t sound as panicky as I felt.

I heard Rooster’s nails as they clicked across the concrete that led to the back of the dog yard, then he was woofing that he was there.

I reached forward to grab the gate’s handle, but found a warm body there as well.

“ Oh , I’m sorry,” I apologized. “ Do you mind? I need to let him out.”

“ Sure ,” the voice said. “ I got it for you.”

I heard the gate open, then felt Rooster’s body against my own.

Relief that he was there was overwhelming.

“ Come on,” I said to the dog. “ Let’s go for a walk.”

For some reason, everything inside of me told me not to go straight to my apartment.

Instead , I walked around the side of the building and said, “ Let’s go to our usual spot, okay, Rooster ?”

Rooster woofed in agreement, and we started walking.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that the man had followed.

He may not have said anything, but I knew he was there.

We walked for maybe half an hour when my Spidey senses got even worse and told me that I was not safe where I was.

That’s when I remembered my mom.

“ Mom ?” I asked.

Nothing .

I pressed the button and said, “ Siri , call Mom .”

Nothing .

What the hell?

I tapped and tapped on my phone screen, wondering what the hell was wrong with it.

Was it dead?

No , it couldn’t be. I’d literally just charged it an hour ago.

“ Mom ?” I said again. “ If you can hear me, call me back.”

Maybe she was still there. Maybe I’d somehow muted it. Maybe …

“ Need help?”

That same silky smooth voice.

My heart started to pound.

Picking up on my discomfort, Rooster placed himself between me and the man.

“ Um , no. I got it. Thanks ,” I said. “ Let’s go home, Rooster .”

Rooster tugged me a little harder than he normally would, causing my belly to flip in surprise.

We walked quickly, and I was thankful for the umpteenth time that I had Rooster with me.

I was very aware, however, that I was not alone in my walk back to the apartment complex.

I got into the lobby, and instead of taking the elevator where I knew he’d get on with me, I took the stairs.

He’d , of course, followed me.

I felt my heart beating so hard that it was making me dizzy.

Or maybe it was because I was holding my breath.

Whatever the reason, by the time I made it to the fifth floor, I was panting, out of breath, and my head was swimming.

I applied the same logic to get to the apartment I was looking for as I would use to get to my own one floor below. Hurrying as fast as I could without appearing to be running.

When I got to the door, I knocked, thankful that the stairwell door hadn’t opened yet.

Maybe it wouldn’t.

I knew he probably had a clear line of sight from the stairwell to the apartment I was standing in front of.

I knocked again and heard the sound of footsteps.

“ Bindi , what…”

I pushed through the door, my heart in my throat, and said, “ Close it. Hurry .”

It closed in a hurry.

“ What’s going on, Bindi ?” Garrett asked.

“ Gee .” I shivered. “ Someone’s been following me for forty-five minutes. And I can’t get my phone to call out.”

I held the phone up to him and felt him take it gently from my hands.

“ It’s on pause,” he said. “ Here .”

“ Oh , thank God ,” I heard my mother’s voice. “ I didn’t know what the heck was going on.”

“ Sorry , Mom ,” I sighed. “ I must’ve pressed a button to pause it or something. I’m not sure what happened.”

“ I could hear you, but you couldn’t hear me,” she continued. “ I tried hanging up and calling back, but it was like our phones were stuck in a weird sort of limbo. Who was that guy?”

I felt Garrett’s attention sharpen.

“ I don’t know,” I admitted. “ He followed me from the dog yard! I had to turn around and come up to Gee’s apartment. I was too scared to lead him back to mine.”

“ Good idea,” Dad’s angry voice cut in. “ You got her, Garrett ?”

“ I do, sir,” Garrett said. “ I’ll go check it out now.”

“ Thank you,” Dad said. “ We’ll hang up now. Call us back when you have something figured out.”

They said goodbye, and that was when I heard a feminine voice say, “ Gee ?”

“ That’s me,” Garrett said. “ That’s what my girl Bindi calls me.”

The way he said it sounded like he was almost forbidding her to ever use it.

Why did that make me feel so good?

“ Oh ,” the woman replied. “ I’ll just be over here.”

“ Who’s that?” I whispered. “ Did I interrupt a date?”

And why did the thought of that make me want to cry?

Maybe it was because he’d told me he couldn’t see anyone right now, more specifically me, and that would make it me being the problem. And not someone else.

“ No ,” he said. “ Definitely not. Stay here, Boss .”

Despite the barked order at his dog, I still caught his shirt sleeve in my hand and said, “ Then who is she?”

“ She’s a fellow K -9 officer,” Garrett explained as I heard him go toward the door.

“ Oh ,” I said.

Garrett left, leaving me alone with the woman.

“ Uh ,” I said. “ My name is Bindi Howe . What’s yours?”

“ Delphine ,” the woman said.

I did notice she didn’t give her last name.

Interesting .

“ Uh , how long have you and Garrett been working together?” I chattered nervously.

“ A few years,” Delphine clipped.

Okay , so maybe she didn’t want to do small talk.

A wet nose pressed into my hand, and I reached down to pet Rooster’s neck folds.

I was so lost in thought that I didn’t hear her approach until, “ Are you really blind?”

I frowned. “ Yeah , why?”

I heard air movement, and I somehow knew she was trying to wave her hand in front of my face. “ You don’t really look all that blind.”

I pulled my glasses off and opened my eyes, revealing them to her.

She hissed and stepped back.

Satisfied with the space she’d given to me, I said, “ Take me to the couch, Rooster .”

Rooster did, and waited until I was seated before he left.

I let him go and was thankful I did when I heard him greedily slurping down water.

Poor Boss .

He’d have to share the water with Rooster .

Rooster was the sweetest, but he had a drooling problem, and that extended to his water drinking habits.

“ I’ll bet you weren’t followed like you thought,” Delphine admitted. “ Garrett would’ve found him by now if he was still there.”

I gritted my teeth and didn’t say anything.

I most definitely didn’t make that guy up.

Even my parents had heard him.

“ Where’s the remote control?” I wondered idly to myself.

“ I don’t think you should be touching Garrett’s stuff,” Delphine murmured.

My brows rose. “ Well , I can’t just sit here in awkward silence, Delphine . You make me uncomfortable.”

I almost hoped that I never had to rely on her to serve and protect me.

She came off as a real bitch.

Rooster came back and I said, “ Rooster , can you find the remote?”

We’d been working on that at my apartment over the last week.

I was notorious for taking the remote with me wherever I happened to be going. Bathroom . Kitchen . Bedroom . Laundry room.

The only problem was, I had trouble finding it when I inevitably left it there.

Over the last week, I’d made it a little game for Rooster , and when he found the remote, he got lots of cuddles, kisses, and treats.

But since I wasn’t at my own place, and I had no clue where Gee left his treats, he’d have to settle for cuddles and kisses.

“ He’s going the wrong direction,” Delphine grumbled.

“ Well ,” I said. “ You could also hand it to me. I can give you the cuddles and kisses I was going to give my Rooster when he found it.”

“ I think not,” she immediately disagreed.

I guess that meant she wasn’t going to hand me the remote, either.

The door opened and closed, and slightly out of breath breathing joined us in the quiet room.

“ Did you find him?” I asked, turning in my seat like I could see the man when I did.

“ I didn’t.” Garrett sighed.

“ Told you,” Delphine mumbled, quiet enough for only me to hear.

A nudge at my hand caused me to smile.

I heard Gee draw in a deep breath.

“ You found it,” I said, cuddling Rooster close and burying my face into his neck folds. “ Good boy, Roo . Good boy.”

“ What did he find?” Gee asked as he came closer.

“ The remote,” I said. “ I was getting jittery with the quiet, so I was going to turn the television on.”

“ I don’t have cable,” he admitted. “ I rent my movies when I want to watch them.”

I gasped. “ You don’t even have Netflix ? Hulu ? YouTube TV ?”

It was silent for a long moment, and then Garrett cursed. “ Sorry . I shook my head. That was rude. I’m sorry.” He paused. “ Delphine , you could’ve handed her the TV remote.”

“ She didn’t want to be showered with my kisses and cuddles,” I admitted. “ Plus , it’s something fun Rooster and I do.”

Another wet nose touched my hand, and I smiled as I reached out and ran my fingers over the silky fur of Boss’s ears.

“ Someone’s jealous,” I teased.

“ That’s Delphine’s dog,” Garrett said. “ Boss is currently in front of the treat bowl because he did a job and expects to be rewarded.”

“ He’s a good boy,” I said as I continued to pet the new head in my lap. “ Delphine , what’s your dog’s name?”

“ Rufus ,” she clipped. “ I call him Ru for short. You said ‘ Roo ’ and he thought you were talking to him. That’s his release word.”

“ Ahh ,” I said. “ I’m sorry if that annoys you. I know that you have to be able to control your dog.”

“ It’s fine,” Garrett answered as he nudged me with a hand. “ Hold out your hand and you can give them some of these treats.”

I reached up high since all of a sudden I had a dog on one side of the couch next to me, and I didn’t want whomever it was to steal the treats before they were given.

“ You have Boss on the couch with you,” Garrett said. “ He won’t eat it out of your hand. You’re in his spot, though. That’s why he’s so close.”

I smiled as I closed my hand over the treats.

There were two, so I assumed one was for each Roo / Ru .

“ Here you go,” I held out my hand to the one closest— Rufus .

Rufus took the offering and retreated. Meanwhile , Rooster got impatient and started to nudge my belly with his nose, ordering me to give it to him.

I giggled and did just that.

Once he had it in his mouth, he, too, jumped onto the couch on my other side, effectively blocking me in.

“ There are two very large dogs blocking me in,” I admitted. “ Gee , what kind of dog is Boss ?”

“ Boss is a traditionally colored German Shepherd , but he has a longer coat. A little more black on top than the usual depiction of a GS .”

“ And what about Rufus ?” I questioned, moving my head a little more toward where I thought Delphine was standing.

She sighed, long and loud, not letting her frustration go unknown.

Okay , so she didn’t like me talking to her.

Noted .

“ Rufus is a Malinois ,” she replied.

“ Rufus is brindle colored. About a hand shorter than Boss ,” Garrett answered, sounding weird.

“ What ?” I asked.

“ Nothing ,” he grumbled under his breath.

“ Oh , okay.” I was surprised by his surly attitude.

No longer feeling like I was welcome and needing to get back to my apartment quickly now that I did, I scooted out from between the two dogs and said, “ Come on, Rooster . Time to go home.”

“ I’ll walk you down,” Garrett suggested.

“ Actually , I’m just leaving. I’ll walk her down,” Delphine immediately interjected.

I gritted my teeth but didn’t argue.

She obviously felt threatened, and I wasn’t about to pass up an escort, no matter if she was mean to me or not.

Tonight had been overwhelming, and though Garrett hadn’t seen anything, I know what I felt.

And that was unsafe.

After Garrett reluctantly agreed, we set off not for the elevator, but the stairs.

“ Where do you live?” she grumbled.

“ Down a floor.” I gestured with my finger in the direction.

“ Of course you do,” she groused.

I didn’t know what that was supposed to mean, but I didn’t question it and instead remained silent as I led the way to my apartment.

Once there, I put my thumb on the handle and pushed the door open wide.

There was a long pause as I waited for her to say what she had to say, but nothing was ever said.

“ Delphine ?” I asked.

There was no answer.

I sighed.

Had she even come out of the stairwell?

I tried to remember if I could hear any extra noise, but Rooster was panting so hard that it was making it hard to hear much of anything besides that.

I went inside and closed the door, being sure to dead bolt it.

I then cursed myself for my blindness.

Had I been able to see, tonight would have been completely different.

Right ?

My phone dinged, and I pulled it out of my pocket as I took Rooster’s leash off.

“ Siri , read my messages.”

Mom :

Are you home?

Mom :

Text me when you’re back. I’m not nearly as worried now that I know Garrett was there.

Mom :

I just love Garrett . He’s so cute.

Mom :

Do you think that we can come down to see you maybe in a few months over Easter ? I want to see Garrett again.

Mom :

Okay , I’ll stop now.

Garrett :

Did Delphine get you back safe and sound?

“ Reply ?” Siri asked.

“ Reply to Mom : I’m back safe,” I said.

“ Done ,” Siri confirmed.

I didn’t know what to say to him, so I left it alone for a bit as I opened the door and walked out onto my balcony.

A soft woof had me smiling, then reaching up to press my fingers against Boss ’ nose. “ Hey there, buddy. Isn’t it time for bed?”

“ You know,” Delphine said. “ Your apartment is pretty bare.”

I screamed.

Like a freakin’ B -actress movie girl that was about to die.

I screamed so loud and long that I ran out of breath and felt dizzy.

“ What the fuck?” Delphine asked.

“ I thought you left!” I cried out.

“ God , stop barking! You three are overly dramatic.” She sighed.

That’s when I realized that not only was Rooster barking, but so was Boss above me.

“ What the fuck is going on?” Garrett asked.

I assumed that he was now hanging over the balcony looking at us.

“ She’s in my apartment!” I cried out, heart still pounding.

“ You literally just had some man ‘chasing’ you. I looked through your house to make sure he didn’t happen to get inside.” She snorted.

“ I called out to you, and you didn’t answer. How was I supposed to know you were here?” I asked.

“ I don’t know, open your ears?” she suggested. “ Geez .”

She left, then.

At least I thought she did.

I heard the door slam, and then I closed my eyes as I dropped down to my knees on my balcony.