Chapter 15 #2
That sums up my feelings as best as possible, considering I can’t give a long-winded explanation.
I wait for several minutes for a reply, but my message goes ignored.
I think about calling Parker again, but it feels pointless since I can’t risk the conversation being overheard.
I have to trust that if something were wrong with her, I would know by now.
A heavy thud on the wall behind my head makes me jump and spin around.
With my heart pounding, it takes me precious seconds to realize it came from the shared wall between the condos.
Strangely enough, it’s the first time I’ve heard a peep from the other unit.
My shoulders fall as the reminder that I’m not completely alone sinks in.
I try to remember if there was a car in the driveway or if the door was open, but I was far too distracted to notice.
I strain to hear any other sounds. I think I hear the water turn on at some point or a toilet flush, but I can’t be certain it isn’t mechanical in nature.
Thankfully, it does the trick of giving my mind something else to focus on, and when I turn back around, the overbearing sense of doom has lessened.
Over the next hour, I remind myself several times that Boone cleared the condo.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t ease my nerves enough to let me go upstairs where I would be trapped if someone did make it into the house, but I do find myself cozying into the couch with a blanket as my eyelids grow heavy the later it gets.
I must have fallen asleep at some point, because I wake up with a start when my phone vibrates under my side. Before my eyes are even clear, I’m digging it out and hitting the green icon without even knowing who’s calling.
“Hello?” Livy’s voice is clear but seems a little shaky.
“Hey.” I sit up, surprised she actually called.
“Holy shit, Harlyn, I would have answered sooner if I knew.”
“If you knew?” My brain is still foggy. I glance at the clock, seeing I could have only been asleep for an hour tops, but the exhaustion of the day must have knocked me out.
“Why the hell didn’t you say anything? Why are you still there?” Her tone is accusatory yet filled with worry.
“I… How—”
“Some guy—and he better not have been fucking with me, or I will hunt him down and cut off his balls—called. He said he’s—chill out, I know. Go into the bathroom and turn on the water.”
“Me?” I ask as if she could be talking to someone else.
“Yes, you,” she snaps.
“Okay.” I shuffle toward the small bathroom nearby. “I’m here,” I say once I’m behind the door and water is running from the tap.
“This is so weird, but this guy seems legit. Please tell me you know someone named Boone. He said he’s an FBI agent?” She’s clearly skeptical.
“He called you… and you answered?” I don’t know which question I want answered more.
“So you do know who I’m talking about?”
“Yes. What did he tell you?” I use my shoulder to hold the phone against my ear and pull down my pants to pee.
“About a hundred reasons why you shouldn’t be there. There’s someone stalking you. Can you tell him to chill?”
“I’m not sure he would listen.” I make light of the absurdity.
“Not the stalker, this Boone guy. Is he really an FBI agent?”
“Wait, you’re talking to him right now?”
“He’s on my phone. I used Parker’s to call you. He’s getting impatient though, and he keeps interrupting. I’m supposed to tell you to open the rear slider.” Livy snickers. “Rear slider, I hope he’s at least as cute as he sounds.”
“Jesus, Liv.” God, I missed her. We have the same dirty sense of humor.
“Hold your horses, copper. Harlyn, I’m sorry I was being stubborn and you better not get killed or anything. I’ll be so mad at you.”
“I’ll try my best,” I promise, feeling emotional, and despite the levity of her words, I know she means them.
“You better, and I want to talk to you tomorrow when I know the crazy stalker won’t hear us plot his death.”
“Okay, Livy. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you why I needed to leave Texas. I love you.”
“I love you too, and when this is over, I’ll forgive you, especially when you buy me that new Loewe bag.
” I swear I hear a groan or maybe even a growl in the background while I’m washing my hands.
“Oh stop, she knows I’m only joking. Now go turn off all the lights and open your back door before he tries to force his way in.
” She cackles before the line goes dead.
I’m stuck staring at the phone for too many seconds while my mind catches up with everything that just happened.
Replaying her final instructions, I peek my head out of the powder room door then slide around the room, turning off the lights and TV before making it to the door that leads to a well-lit rear patio.
A full minute passes with me plastered against the side wall before I see a dark silhouette approaching rather quickly.
“Oh hell.” I step back, wondering if that was the dumbest thing possible, until Boone gets close enough that I can make out his features. The urge to run over and wrap my arms and legs around him is almost too much to fight when he steps inside, closing and locking the door behind him.
“You—”
He cuts me off with a finger to his lips and a stern glare. I roll my lips in, feeling properly chastised.
He’s dressed in all black, and there’s even a dark hood covering his light hair.
It makes him seem even more imposing, but the only thing I feel with his presence is relief.
He shifts his shoulders and drags a slim bag off his back and across his chest. I watch as he pulls out a small device that fits in the palm of his hand.
A dim green glow emanates from a tiny light on the box, allowing me to make out the digital screen that takes up about three quarters of the rectangle, depicting what looks like a dial along with some other things I can’t make out from several feet away.
Boone reaches in the bag again before slipping it completely off his arm and placing it at his feet.
Whatever else he retrieved is too small for me to see before he slips it into his rear pocket.
I ease my way closer to him now that I know I’m not going to climb him like a tree and examine the tools in his hands.
He’s messing with the functions of the larger of the two devices.
The digital dial flares from green to yellow until it reaches red then falls back to green.
Seeming satisfied with the settings, Boone finally looks at me.
His eyes crinkle a little when he gives me what seems like a forced smile.
I splay my hand over my heart in a show of gratitude I hope he understands.
He closes the last bit of distance between us, and my breath catches when he wraps his arm around my back, lining our bodies up perfectly as he leans down and says, “Hi.”
I nod in response. I’m not sure what my voice would sound like if I could reply verbally.
“Any problems?” His lips touch my ear lobe, and I have to stiffen my body to keep from shivering. This time, I shake my head in denial. “Good, let’s go upstairs.”
Warmth floods my lower belly. I know his words are not an invitation to head to my bedroom for pleasure or anything of the like, but my body doesn’t seem to make that distinction.
I don’t make any attempt to move until Boone removes his hand from my back and takes a step away from me.
I immediately miss the heat of his body and the closeness.
It’s been far too long since I’ve allowed anyone to touch me like this, and I don’t think anyone has ever made me feel this way when they did.
I run a hand over my hair, trying to gain some semblance of decorum while reminding myself now is not the time to let my hormones wreak havoc on my already heightened emotions.
I don’t meet Boone’s eyes while I muster up the strength to head toward the stairway.
I’m certain he would see right through me.
In the back of my mind, I’m thinking about how unfair all this is to him and me.
I’m setting my expectations too high, allowing my feelings and emotions to get tangled up where he’s concerned.
It’s too much pressure for anyone. My grandad would say I was putting the cart before the horse, and he would have been right.
Life is so unfair.
With fresh determination, I ascend the stairs. I know I won’t be able to shut my feelings off, but I can at least try to dampen them.
When I stop on the first landing, waiting for his direction, he motions for me to continue up to the next level. I’ve avoided that space since this morning, and I’m still not looking forward to it, but it is easier knowing I’m not alone.
Just as I’m about to lift my foot to climb the last step, Boone grabs my hand, freezing me in place. I turn to look down at him, and he extends the box in his hand to me. “If there are cameras, this is where they would be.”
I swallow the lump in my throat, hating how even after all my precautions and suspicions, I still didn’t do enough to protect myself. “What do I do?”
“This device is designed to pick up radio signals, anything that gets transmitted. Unplug the TV and anything else that could be connected to Wi-Fi, then move it around the room. Watch the light.” His voice is only a whisper of sound, but I don’t have any problem hearing him.
“Red is bad?” I guess.
“Red is bad, but it doesn’t mean it’s a camera. It could be an audio bug or a tracker.”
Not surprisingly, that doesn’t make me feel better. “What do I do if it goes red?”
“Narrow down where it’s coming from and look for any signs that it could be a camera, like a hole where a lens could be. Use the flashlight on your phone to see the glass refraction.”
I nod while staring down at the safe green glow coming from the device. “You’re going to wait here?”