Chapter Eighteen
JOSHUA
The four of us spent the rest of the day going over what had been happening in detail.
Even though Captain Sorensen had explained the particulars with the men, they hadn’t heard everything about our escape from the gym and the raid itself.
Agent Mathis—Raven, he’d asked me to call him—asked more about how we’d kept away from the bastards who’d broken into my house.
I’d filled him in on the way my family and I were only living and breathing because Nash had put us up in the attic to hide.
They looked at him wide-eyed, which made me feel proud for him.
Though I’d known his quick thinking had saved us, their admiring glances at our savior, spoke volumes.
When the time for me to go to the school arrived, I’ll admit, I was feeling a little jumpy.
And though, I was inwardly questioning the intelligence of the decision to venture out and leave the safety of our hiding place, I was also excited about doing something.
I wasn’t used to having a lot of down time since my life before all this seemed endlessly fast paced.
I loved my jobs almost as much as I loved being with the kids.
I loved it when Barbie’s girlfriend came over for dinner with the family and I watched Meggie’s confidence returning now that she felt safe.
And when I thought of how Pete clung to Garbanzo, I got a lump in my throat.
I really hoped Billy wouldn’t want the little puppy back once he came out of rehab.
The kids had become attached to him so quickly.
At exactly five, there was a knock on the front door, and I watched as Nash got up from the couch to let his whole team in.
I was surprised that they’d somehow gotten through the locked front gate but then remembered they’d probably have keycard access because this was an FBI safehouse.
I had to admit, as one man after another walked into the house, my sense of safety increased with each new arrival.
They all had friendly smiles for me and slaps on the back for Nash.
I felt inexplicably happy for him, knowing, perhaps for the first time, the meaning behind the word brothers.
Though he always referred to them that way, it hadn’t really sunk in until I saw them all together in the relaxed setting of the living room.
The easy banter between them was good to see, and now that I knew a little more about Nash’s lousy relationship with his parents, it was an added bonus.
“How are you feeling about tonight, Joshua?” the team medic, Agent Joy, asked as he walked over, coming to stand in front of me.
I wasn’t really sure what he was referring to but the way he looked me up and down told me it wasn’t my mental health, and I smiled at him.
His accent made him sound like he came from the British royal family, very upper-class, and Nash said he’d come from a long line of aristocrats but was somewhere way down the line of succession to the British throne.
“With all of you here, I feel safe.”
Though he quickly masked it, I detected a flicker of worry cross his face before he was able to school his features. He reached out and patted my shoulder. “Splendid. We won’t let anything happen to you.”
I frowned a bit. “I suppose you’ve checked out my classroom and the school itself then?”
He smiled, offering me a nod of reassurance. “We’ve done our homework, teacher.”
I smiled back at him before craning my neck to look up at the captain.
He was very tall, only a couple of inches shorter than the big Texan, Rex, who’d thoroughly entertained me when telling me about his two-legged dog.
Captain Sorensen was a fierce looking man.
The vivid scar running down his cheek, gave him the look of a warrior.
Combined with the long, red beard and intelligent eyes, he exuded an air of confidence the moment he walked into a room.
“Hello, Mr. Calder,” the captain said, reaching out to shake my hand.
“Hello, sir. Thank you for being here.”
“Are you sure you still want to do this?”
I nodded. “Oh, yes, if that’s still okay. I love this job and to be honest, it’ll be good to get out of the house. I’ve got a mean case of cabin fever.”
“No doubt…still, if you felt like you didn’t want to go through with this, none of us would blame you for it. It’s not like any of this is normal in the world you live in.”
I darted a glance at Agent Joy who hovered nearby and then over to Nash who stood across the room, laughing at something one of the others said. “Do you think it’s safe?”
“We do.”
I quickly returned my attention to the captain. “Then I do too.”
“We’d better get going then. Do you want to gather your things?”
I smiled, feeling excitement roaring back. “Sure. I’ll be right back.” I caught Nash’s eye before heading down the hall to the bedroom where I’d stashed the teaching materials and my books the team had brought over.
I glanced longingly at the hastily-made bed where Nash and I had spent the night in each other’s arms. The arrival of Agent Huerta and his husband earlier had curtailed any further activities in the sheets, and I felt a pang of hopelessness that we’d never get back to them.
I’d really been hoping to have the time to explore more of my attraction to Nash in the light of day, but it hadn’t been possible.
A noise made me turn and Nash came into the room.
He walked right over to me and without a word, reached out and pulled me into his arms. I dropped my things on the bed and wrapped my arms around him, at ease almost immediately by the soft thudding of his heart beneath my ear.
Being this close to him gave me the same thrill every time.
I inhaled the light scent of his aftershave and underneath it, fresh skin.
Every time I was this close to him, I felt giddy, like I was not only safe, but would always be as long as I was in his arms. I could honestly say, I’d never felt this way about a lover before.
He kissed the side of my head and loosened his arms, making me drop my own, and step back. I looked up at him.
“Thank you, Nash.”
The look of surprise on his face was sweet. “For what, sweetheart?”
I smiled. “For being here, for always making me feel safe.”
He searched my eyes. “Is that all?”
“What do you mean?”
He looked almost…sad? I wasn’t sure I was interpreting the question the way he meant it. “Is safety the only thing you think of when you look at me?”
Safety wasn’t something I took lightly. From my earliest childhood, when my mother seemed to have a revolving door of loser boyfriends traipsing into the house, I hadn’t felt safe.
I’d stayed as far away from them as I could, ever since waking up one night as one of the men tried to crawl into my bed.
The man’s attempt at God only knew what, had been curtailed the second my mother burst into the room and caught him in the act.
Of course, I’d been the one to get a beating from her.
But at least, nothing terrible had happened when he ran out, screaming that he’d gone to the bathroom and then stumbled into the wrong room in the dark.
After that, safety had always been on my mind, along with any trust in my mother to protect me or my siblings.
I shook my head. “Safety is always important but not with you. Yes, you’ve kept me safe, but there’s more to this.” I put my hand over his heart. “I hope you know how I really feel about you. You’ve gotten under my skin.”
His expression instantly changed. “Me too. Now, come on. We have to get going so that the team is in place before your class starts.” I was almost surprised when he took my hand and began pulling me out of the room, waiting only long enough for me to scoop my things off the bed.
Disappointment flooded through me as he dropped my hand halfway down the hall.
Most of the team was gone, leaving only the captain, Nash’s best friend, Agent Mickey Way, and the two men who’d come over earlier, Agents Miguel Huerta and Raven Mathis.
“Where’s everyone else?” I asked, pulling on the backpack with my things.
“I sent them on in a separate car so they could take up positions at the school,” Captain Sorensen replied. “The rest of us will ride over together.”
“Why?”
“Because the captain wanted to go over last-minute instructions,” Nash replied. “You’re good at taking instructions, I’d guess.”
I shot him a look. “Better at giving them, for this evening at least.”
“Listen up,” the captain said. “It’s important that you pay attention, Mr. Calder.
Please come over here for a second.” He turned and walked over to the dining room table where a large roll of paper lay.
The moment he stretched it out, I realized it was a blueprint of some sort and recognized the familiar layout of classrooms.
“It’s the school,” I said, running my hand over the paper to smooth it out then tapping on my room. “My classroom, the entrances to the building, and my parking lot.” Nash leaned over as I pointed to the various landmarks.
“That’s right,” the captain said. “I wanted to show you and Hampstead—Nash—where we’d be setting up since he’ll be joining you in the classroom.”
I shot a glance at Nash, feeling my eyes go wide before turning to look at Captain Sorensen. “Inside my classroom?”
“Yes, that’s right.” He nodded.
“And we’ll be there too,” Raven said.
“What?” I turned to him and Miguel, with Agent Way hovering just behind them, arms crossed over his chest. “But, if you’re all there, it’s going to make the classroom very disruptive.”
“I’m not going to leave you alone in there, Joshua,” Nash said.