Chapter 17 #2
His lips became a thin, flat line. “I didn’t want to tell you like this, but I talked to my former supervisor when I was up at the park office.
There was an explosion at Pannetone & Associates today.
There were three casualties: two males and one female.
There was an explosion at my apartment too.
The investigators think the events are linked.
Someone also ransacked your apartment. I don’t have details or reasons, but we are both in danger.
I’m not leaving you here alone. If I need to sit here all night and answer your questions, I will, but please at least pack and drive up to the park office with me to talk.
Sage knows you’re here, and other people likely do as well.
The campsite is registered in your name.
It’s not going to be hard to find you. If we stay at this cabin, we’re sitting ducks. ”
Thoughts clogged through her mind, quick, heavy, and frantic, like Irish dancers.
Most of her coworkers were dead. She’d escaped death. Again. It didn’t seem fair.
Who else had survived? Were they feeling that same twist of survivor’s guilt she was?
Had Sage heard? If so, she’d be nauseous with worry. Two males? Who had been spared? Nick? Armando? Dante?
One female. Was it Marge or Lily?
She should have tried harder with Lily. Been kinder. Been more understanding. Maybe it was neither of them. Maybe there was a visitor.
She shouldn’t pray for it to be other people, but death was so much easier when it was someone you didn’t know. But it shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be easier.
Strong arms pulled her into a firm chest. Aleksei’s sweatshirt was cool on her cheek and smelled of spiced pine and night air. It felt good to rest her head against something solid. To have his strength ground her and pull her thoughts out of their spiral.
“Shhh. It’s OK. Don’t cry. It’s going to be OK.”
She lifted a shaking hand to her exposed cheek, and her fingers touched wetness. She hadn’t realized she was crying.
This was not the time to fall apart. They could be in danger.
But it didn’t make sense. There was no reason for anyone to want to hurt her.
It had to be a mistake. However, if what Aleksei was saying was true, they should get moving.
Until they figured out exactly what was happening, leaving Ricketts Glen was the best choice.
But she wasn’t just going on faith anymore.
She would call Sage to reassure her that she was okay, and then she’d ask to talk to Christian.
She hated asking for favors. She’d spent way too much of her life beholden to all the people who cared for her when she couldn’t care for herself, but with his job in the FBI cybersecurity division, Christian should be able to confirm whether Aleksei was telling her the truth.
She needed that answer, even if it meant having to ask Christian for help.
If Christian needed a little time to work his magic, she’d sit in the park office parking lot until she heard back from him.
It was head over heart from now on.
She packed quickly, shoving towels and linens into a plastic trash bag.
The food she’d brought was quickly tucked into reusable grocery store bags and her cooler.
Makeup and toiletries were unceremoniously dumped into her shoulder bag.
She hadn’t unpacked her suitcase, so it was easy to shove in the few things she’d taken out.
The only thing she was careful with was the wig she’d worn earlier in the day.
She hated packing it still damp, but she’d pull it out to dry wherever their next stop was.
She slid it into its satin-lined bag and gently laid the bag on top of her clothing, zipping the suitcase closed.
Aleksei had managed to pack, dismantle his tent, and load all his things, the cooler, and the food bags into his truck in the same amount of time it took her to get her suitcase and toiletries together.
Annoyance pricked at her as she looked at the neatly covered truck bed barely illuminated by the moon.
Night had fallen quickly, and the small, remote overflow parking lot they now occupied was blanketed in darkness.
She was glad they were in separate cars.
It was hard to think in his brooding presence.
She’d spoken quickly to Sage and more at length with Christian.
During her call, she watched Aleksei walk the perimeter of the parking lot, slide a gun from his waistband, slip on a silencer, and shoot out the two streetlamps in the lot.
The effortless efficiency of his movements was like being doused with a bucket of ice water.
Aleksei Thompson was a dangerous man.
She should feel unsettled. The gun, the switch in his persona from sweet, wounded potential boyfriend to dangerous protector.
She should feel nervous around him, wary, at least until she got confirmation from Christian that Aleksei was who he claimed to be.
Instead, his presence made her feel safe and protected.
Head over heart. Head over heart.
She needed to keep reminding herself of that.
She looked at the time illuminated on her dashboard: 9:15.
It was time to turn her phone back on again.
Christian said he’d call her back in thirty minutes and had directed her to turn her phone off while she waited.
The time had passed like molasses, and she had to battle to keep herself from leaving her car and climbing into Aleksei’s truck.
She’d let herself fall so fast, believing they were forming an intimate bond.
She now knew he didn’t feel the same way she did, but her brain was struggling to convince her heart to adjust to the new reality.
The phone sprang to life in her hands, startling both her and Thor, who lay dozing in the back seat. She answered, and Christian’s voice boomed through the speakers in her car.
“Hey, Rose. You still hanging in there?”
She generally despised nicknames. If people shortened her name, they mostly called her Roe, and she would firmly tell them she went by Rosemary.
She only let Christian shorten her name because he was the sweetest future brother-in-law anyone could ask for, and Rose was much nicer than a pile of fish eggs.
But when Aleksei had called her his soft, lovely, precious Rose in the lake, her bones had melted.
She’d loved the sound of the nickname on his lips.
She forced her mind back to Christian. “I’m OK. What did you find out?”
It felt rude to skip the normal small talk, but time was of the essence. She and Aleksei were in danger, and Christian was still recovering from surgery. He should be resting.