Chapter 23
Chapter
Twenty-Three
MASON
“ S low down,” I tell Mira, grabbing the remote to pause the show I’ve been watching.
“There was someone outside and they were watching me,” she rushes out again. “I mean, I think so. They were just standing there and when I stood up they moved but I smelled his cologne.”
Her voice is shaky. I’ve never heard her rattled and everything inside me wants to run to her and keep her safe.
“Where are you right now?”
“I’m inside. At home.”
“Are your doors locked?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, stay on the phone. I’m coming over.”
She lets out a breath. “No, it’s okay. I’m…I’m fine.”
“Mira,” I say slowly. “You’re rattled and I’m assuming you’re talking about Enzo.”
“Yeah. I-I…I just realized I didn’t give you any context to what I was talking about.”
“It’s okay,” I tell her, already getting up. I’ve stripped down to just my boxers and I brush popcorn off my shirt and onto the ground before getting up. “Walk me through what happened.”
“I took Violet to the courtyard to go potty before bed. She noticed someone in the bushes along the fence line. It startled me and when they saw me looking, they took off. But the wind shifted and whoever that was had on the same cologne Enzo was wearing this evening. I mean, he’s not the only one in the city who wears that old-man aftershave, but…”
“But it’s pretty coincidental.” I go into my room and grab a pair of athletic pants. Enzo has already shown us that he has a bit of an obsessive personality and a huge sense of entitlement. It’s not out of the question for him to go after Mira. And if he found out where she lives, then he knows she really is Mira, not Mya. “I’m coming over.”
“You really don’t have to.”
“I know,” I say. “I want to.”
“Thank you.” I can hear the relief in her voice and I quickly grab a few things, including my gun and my badge.
“How long were you able to track him for?” she asks, and I know she means Enzo.
“Farther than we’ve been able to before,” I tell her, knowing the vagueness is annoying. But it is what it is. Whoever was driving left the city and headed toward Indiana. We lost footage but were able they went through a toll on I-80/94 in Northwest Indiana. We lost them from there but the Indiana State Police are on the lookout and will call if they find anything.
Traffic wasn’t bad, but would Enzo have time to make it back into Lincoln Park by now? In theory…maybe. He would have to be driving pretty fast and we didn’t get any more hits from tolls for that particular car, though we can't be certain he didn’t get out at some point. All it would have taken was for them to pull over in a place where they know there aren’t any cameras and for Enzo to jump out and get into another car.
“My phone’s about to die,” Mira tells me.
“Go plug it in and stay by it. I’ll be there as soon as I can and I’ll call you when I’m on my way up.”
“I’ll have to buzz you in.”
“Pshhh. I can just tell everyone I’m an FBI agent,” I say.
“Ahh, how could I forget,” she says back and I can tell she’s smiling.
“No, I’ll text you so I don’t draw attention. Double check your doors are locked. Windows, too.”
“They are.” She inhales. “Thanks again, Mason.”
Hearing her say my name sends a jolt through me.
“I’ll be there soon.”
“I feel like I overreacted,” Mira tells me when I step into her apartment. Violet comes running, jumping up at me for attention. “She’s a great guard dog, as you can tell.” Shaking her head, Mira grabs her collar and pulls her back. “Sorry.”
“Nah, it’s all right. I like dogs. I’d have one if I was home more.”
“Okay good. She doesn’t know personal boundaries.”
I look around, taking everything in. The apartment smells good, like lemongrass, and is neat and tidy but looks lived in. She has a wall of books behind her couch—looking just like how it does on her Instagram photos—and the pink and gold theme of her decor just seems to suit her. This place is nice and isn’t cheap. The living room is open to the dining area and kitchen, which has a decent sized island counter and a large window facing north. We’re close enough you could probably see the lake in the daylight.
“I had an officer drive by,” I tell her and straighten up after petting Violet. She takes my shoe as soon as I take it off, wagging her tail so hard her whole body wiggles.
“She does that,” Mira explains and takes the shoe from her. “It’s a Golden Retriever thing. Did they see anything?”
“No, but that doesn’t discredit what you saw.”
“I know what I saw,” she presses. “There was someone standing along the fence. And as far as I know, there’s only a camera facing the doors so it wouldn’t have picked anything up.” She shakes her head and we go into the living room, where she sinks down onto the couch, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. She’s still shaken up. “It could have been a homeless man for all I know.”
“It very well could have been,” I agree.
“I feel kinda silly.” She bites her bottom lip, spacing off into the distance. I haven’t yet seen her without any makeup on, with her hair twisted up in a messy bun on the top of her head. She’s wearing comfy clothes that are loose on her tight body, hiding her figure. And for some reason I find that so fucking hot. “I just…never mind.”
“What?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Wouldn’t be nothing if you were going to say something.”
She presses her lips together and brings her legs up underneath her. “I hate using this term, but I got a little triggered and it freaked me out.”
“Triggered by what?” I ask gently.
“A memory of Cory,” she says and closes her eyes. “I used to get sleep paralysis all the time. I’d wake up and see just the dark outline of a man standing over my bed. For years, I was completely convinced it was a demon.” She lets out a small laugh. “I even had a sleep study done, because my doctor said it was not a typical form of sleep paralysis.”
I sit next to her and Violet jumps up between us, leaning on me as she wags her tail. I run my hands over her fur and her tail thumps against the side of the couch even harder. “Sleep paralysis is usually explained to be your brain not fully waking in all parts. You still see your dreams.”
“I know. But it was always the same thing. I’m stuck in bed and this man comes closer and closer. I could never see his face but he had the most oppressive aura to him. He’d say I had to let him in, and he’d try all sorts of tricks, shifting to another person or even taking the form of a cat I had a few years ago.” She pulls her arms in. “It sounds crazy, I know.”
“It sounds terrifying.”
“It was.” She looks out at the room again, taking a few seconds before going on. “The final night before I left, Cory woke me up to ‘talk’. He stood there jabbing me with his fingers until I woke up. And then I realized it was him all along. The dark, shadow man who tormented me in my sleep. It was him.” Her head tips to the side. “My mind knew and was trying to tell me what I didn’t want to admit. It was my own Bent Neck Lady, if you’re a Hill House fan.”
“Have you seen the shadow man since?”
“No. I haven’t had sleep paralysis once since I left.”
“Damn. That’s insane, and I don’t mean it in a I-don’t-believe-you way. It’s insane because our subconscious knows things we don’t want to admit.”
“Right? I will make a fascinating case study.” She leans back. “Seeing that person…it was like the shadow man all over again and as much as I’ve tried to heal and get over it, so to speak, sometimes it takes me right back to feeling like a helpless little girl who thinks she really does deserve to be treated like shit.”
“PTSD doesn’t just go away. You know that.”
“Yeah. I do. It doesn’t help that Cory and his crazy mother won’t leave me alone. Want to know some tea? His sister, Anna, used to tell me how worried she was about me because she knew Cory was abusive and controlling. She still thinks the whole thing is insane and told me when I ran into her at my niece’s dance recital that she’s embarrassed by their mother’s two year long obsession.”
“Ohhh, a real girl’s girl.”
“Hey, look at you.” Mira smiles. “Using modern terms.”
“I might have watched a few of your recent reels,” I admit. “So I can psychoanalyze you, of course.”
“And how crazy am I, agent?”
I laugh. “You’re up there, but it’s kinda cute.”
“Oh, well, at least it’s cute.” Silence falls between us and when she reaches out to pet her dog, our hands touch. “You’re warm.”
“And your hands are freezing.” I use it as an excuse to take her fingers between mine. She turns her head up, eyes locking with mine. I rub my thumb up and down her index finger and she leans in a bit, lips parting.
My heart speeds up and my dick jumps, wanting so fucking bad to pull her into my lap. Her green eyes widen and she lets out a slow breath. She wants it to.
I shouldn’t. We have a working relationship. It could complicate things. But fuck, this woman is a force of nature and the more time I’ve spend with Mira, the more I want to be around her. She’s irritatingly stubborn at times and very independent. Her past has made it hard to trust and for some unknown reason, I want to prove her wrong and be the person she can depend on.
It’s a feeling I’ve never had for anyone before and it’s like every basic male instinct I have to protect and provide is elevated when I’m around her.
Mira’s phone dings with a text and she jumps, pulling her hand back.
“Dammit, Zara.” She picks up the phone and reads a text. “It’s just my friend. She works at night and texts me because I’m up a lot working—oh, dammit.”
“What?”
“I didn’t upload the reels I made to my scheduling app.” She brings her hand to her head and rubs her forehead. “I need to do that now.”
“Go ahead.”
She nods and leans back. “I’m hungry. Are you hungry?”
“I’m always hungry,” I tell her honestly. “How well stocked is your kitchen?”
“I’d say it’s pretty good. I ordered groceries this morning.”
“I’ll make us something while you upload?”
Her lips pull into a smile. “Yeah. That would be nice. Thanks.”
She goes into her room to get her phone and Violet follows. Not wanting to make too much of a mess to clean up later, I just cut up some apple slices and arrange them around a blob of peanut butter. I look in nearly every single cabinet before I find a jar of honey and drizzle it on top. Mira is back in the living room, sitting cross-legged on the couch with both her phone and computer open in front of her.
I set the plate down on the coffee table and Mira tips her head.
“Did you put honey on the peanut butter? How did you know I like that?”
“You mentioned it to Enzo and I knew it was a Mira thing, not a Mya thing.”
Her brows furrow as she looks at the plate of apple slices. “It’s weird, ya know? You’ve listened to my conversations, hearing things that really weren’t meant for you.”
“If you didn’t want me to hear something, you shouldn’t have said it,” I try and regret my words right away. “I mean, I, uh, had to listen.”
“I know.” She picks up an apple and uses it to mix the honey in with the peanut butter. “It’s a little unfair, that’s all. You know more about me than I know about you.”
Smiling, I lean back. “What do you want to know?”
“What’s your favorite color?”
“Blue,” I tell her. “That’s easy.”
“Fine. Let’s dig deep. What religion would you raise your children?”
I let out a short laugh, then see that she’s serious. “Uh, well, we were raised as Christians so I guess just like that. I don’t go to church, but I pray sometimes.”
She nods. “Interesting. Do you want children?”
“Yeah. I’d like a mini-me or two.”
“What if you have girls?”
“I’ll still teach them how to kick ass and shoot a gun.” She makes a face and I shrug. “I have nieces, you know.”
“I do,” she quips. “I saw them on Instagram. You’re the only one of your siblings that didn’t go into medicine.”
“Thanks for reminding me, Mom.”
“Ohhh!” She puts the phone down. “Did I hit a nerve?”
“It’s been brought up at family gatherings more than once.”
“But you’re a special agent. That’s cool!”
“Right?” I playfully nudge her and grab an apple slice, dipping it in the peanut butter and honey mixture. “This is actually pretty good.”
“It is.” She eats a few apple slices and gets back to work. Violet goes to the door and bumps a string of bells with her nose. “She needs out.”
“I’ll take her,” I offer, not wanting Mira to go outside just in case someone is out there.
“I can come with you.”
“Finish your work.” I grab a leash that’s hanging next to the door and Mira gives me her key fob to get back into the building. Violet leads me to the courtyard and we go right to the back. There’s nobody there, but the underbrush is pushed down. I shine the flashlight on my phone on the ground and see a little worn path.
Mira did see someone, and whoever was standing here has been here before.