Chapter 8
“What I don’t understand is why she ran from you. If she agreed to go with you — which, yay you by the way — why did she run? What did you do?” Analise asked, standing at her front door with her hands on her hips, with Havoc right behind her.
“Nothing! I didn’t do anything! You know how she is,” Barron said defensively, his eyes darting away nervously.
“Also know a lie when I smell one,” Analise said.
“Alright, look. Seriously. I didn’t do a damn thing. But while she was sleeping, or I thought she was sleeping, Brandt came over. I was cooking breakfast and we were just talking. You know… guy talk. And I think she might have heard the first part of the conversation, then got mad and left before she heard me clarify with the second part. She got it totally out of context. I’m not sure, but I’m pretty sure that’s what happened. And now she’s gone.”
“What did you say?” Analise asked.
Barron sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets as he tried to see further into their home. “Is she here?”
“What did you say?” Analise asked again, more slowly this time.
“It was a whole conversation! She heard only part of it.”
“What part of it?” Analise asked.
“The part where I said that claiming her was only temporary because she runs. And that the only way I could make myself go through with it was because I knew it was temporary. But that’s not really what I said, but I’m pretty sure she thinks that’s what I said.”
Analise’s brows raised and she stood perfectly still, her eyes staring disbelievingly into Barron’s.
“But it’s out of context! I also said that I had to believe that it was temporary because she’d have scented a lie if I’d have admitted to myself that it was a big damn lie.”
“So, you claimed her, then you said stupid shit to Brandt, and she heard you and left, and now you’re trying to make everybody believe that you didn’t say what you said,” Analise snapped.
“Analise! You don’t understand! It was only a lie because I promised her that if she wasn’t happy at the end of us trying to be together, that I’d let her go. And that’s the lie. I knew if I didn’t give her a safe way out she’d never agree to be with me at all. She has to be in control! So I let her think she has control. But she doesn’t! I’m not letting her go anywhere. Not ever!”
Analise reached out and curled her fingers around the edge of her door, all while maintaining eye contact with Barron, then slammed it forcefully closed.
“Oh, come on, Analise!” Barron shouted. He knocked on the door urgently. “Open the door!”
Havoc opened the door just enough to show a sliver of his eye peeking out through the crack. “Go away. ‘Lise is pissed.”
“Yeah, but can you see why it could be taken out of context?”
“Even if Emmalyn had heard the whole thing, she’d have been pissed. She does not like to be played. And if she only heard part of it, she’s probably headed back to Atlanta,” Havoc said.
“Why? Why does this keep getting harder and harder?” Barron half-shouted.
“Why did you have to say what you did?”
“I was having a completely honest conversation with Brandt. Nothing I said was bad. Everything I said pointed to how much she means to me and the lengths I’d go to to have her at my side.”
“Whether she likes it or not.”
“Will you just tell her to come down here so I can talk to her?”
“She’s not here.”
“Come on, Havoc. I know the first place she always goes is to Analise.”
“I kid you not, Barron. She’s not here. Our phones haven’t rung. She’s not here.”
“Well, maybe she’s been in contact with Analise,” Barron said hopefully, tapping his temple.
“Since Analise is upstairs on the phone with her mother trying to figure out where Emmalyn could be, I doubt it.”
“Sonofabitch,” Barron mumbled. “I have to find her,” he said, turning away from Havoc’s door and starting down the stairs.
“If I hear anything I’ll let you know,” Havoc said before quietly closing the door.
~~~
Couple of hours later Emmalyn woke to an incessant buzzing irritatedly yanking her back into consciousness. She felt around within the blankets for her phone, blinking her bleary eyes to try to focus on it better once she found it. Intentionally ignoring the twenty-three text messages from Barron, and fifteen from Brandt, she scrolled right to the ones from Analise, laughing when she read the first one.
“Where are you? I can kill him for you if you want.”
Emmalyn grinned and texted back . “I’m good. Let him live. I like him all panicked trying to figure out how to fix something he can’t fix.”
“Finally! I’ve been waiting hours to hear from you! Everybody is out looking for you,” Analise responded immediately.
“Oh, no. Not Mom and Dad, and Kaid and everybody?”
“No, they figure you’re teaching him a lesson. But Barron and Brandt and they have Kiernan and Shawn and Ronan out trying to find you. You do know Kaid and Brandt have us on high-alert, don’t you? It’s a little more worrying when one of us is unaccounted for. So, it might be helpful if you let everybody know you’re okay. And don’t do that shit again.”
“Sorry. I’m fine. I’ll call Mom and Dad and they can tell whoever they want. But I refuse to speak to Barron or Brandt.”
“Brandt’s our Alpha, you kind of have to.”
“Brandt is on my asshole list at the moment. If he makes me too mad, I’ll go back to Atlanta. He can Alpha all he freaking wants, if I don’t want to be Alphaed by him, I’ll find somewhere else to live. Thinking about it anyway.”
“You don’t really want to do that.”
“I don’t know what I want. But I certainly don’t want to be here with either of them.”
“What about building your house across from mine?”
“I’d like to. But if I have to live with Barron and by Brandt’s rules, at the moment I don’t see either happening.”
“I know you’re hurting, but I really think what you heard was taken out of context. Did you listen long enough to hear the entire conversation?”
“Nope. I was angry. If I didn’t go when I did, it would have been a whole thing. And I didn’t want a whole thing. I just wanted to leave. I didn’t want to have to look at Barron. I was that angry.”
“No, you were that hurt.”
“Same thing. I trusted him. He lied.”
“Maybe he didn’t. At least not the way you think he did.”
“Doesn’t matter, ‘Lise. I trusted him, he broke it.”
“I think you misunderstood.”
“Good. Glad to hear it. Don’t care right now. I know what I heard.”
“Yeah, but you don’t know what you didn’t hear.”
“I’m not up for this right now.”
“Okay. We’ll talk about it later.”
“I doubt it, but I’ll be in touch.”
“Where are you?”
“Not telling, because I don’t want them over here. But I’m safe. Not too far away.”
“Havoc won’t tell, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking. Guy code and all…”
“Okay. He might, but not if I don’t tell him. And I won’t tell him. Want me to come hang out?”
Emmalyn thought about it for a moment, then decided against it. Thing was, she wasn’t as angry as she pretended to be. She was hurt. And she preferred to nurse her hurts alone. She took pride in her strength, and didn’t like anyone to see her hurting. “No, thank you. I’m okay. Going to find something to eat and then I’m going back to sleep.”
“You’re sleeping? Where are you sleeping?”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m tucked in all nice and safe.”
“Where?”
“Go kiss your husband and let me and my temper think up fun ways to torture Barron, okay?”
“Fine. Go. But stay in touch. And wherever you are, keep the doors locked and your eyes opened. Everybody is being extra careful.”
“I know you’re going to tell everybody I texted.”
“They’re worried Emmalyn.”
“Fine, but not Barron and Brandt.”
“What did Brandt do?”
“He laughed. When Barron said he’d lied to me; Brandt laughed.”
“You didn’t hear the entire conversation, Em.”
“I heard enough.”
“Barron says it was taken out of context because you didn’t hear the rest.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, he lied to me and manipulated me into trusting him. And then he claimed me based on that lie, knowing it was a lie. I don’t do lies. I might play hard to get, and do what I have to do to protect my heart, and even for work, but I don’t lie to people that matter to me. I need some time.”
“I know. I understand. Text me often and let me know you’re okay.”
“I will.”
Emmalyn sighed as she put her phone down and walked into the kitchen to dig around for something more filling than toaster pastries. The freezer was full of frozen pizzas, frozen burritos, frozen veggies, ice cream and such. She turned her nose up. What she really wanted was something hot and comforting. She glanced out of the kitchen window into the fading light of day. She could leave Hellen’s and walk back to her parents’ house on foot, but she wanted to be alone. So, going home for a home-cooked meal was out of the question. Going through the cabinets one by one, she found a Crockpot in the bottom cabinet of the kitchen island. “Ohhh, I wonder what she’s got to put in the Crockpot.”
Digging in the back of the freezer, she confirmed what she’d already seen — only frozen prepackaged foods. Then she stopped when she’d halfway emptied the freezer in her search for something worth putting in the slow cooker and stood there for a second. She turned around, looking left and right, then at the refrigerator-freezer again. “I know she had a deep freezer. Where’s the deep freezer?” she asked aloud.
Emmalyn went into the laundry room and flipped on the light, but there was no deep freezer in there. She went back into the kitchen, then smiled when she realized where it must be. “It’s gotta be in the garage.” She opened the side kitchen door and flipped on the light in the two car garage. Sure enough, there sat a chest style deep freezer. “I knew she had one!” Emmalyn said, skipping over to it and pulling its lid up and open. Leaning over into the freezer, she rearranged the few things in it until she found what she wanted. “Aha!” she shouted triumphantly. “Beef roast!”
Holding the three pound roast in one hand, she closed the freezer and started for the kitchen door again. She stopped and looked to her left. “Why is Hellen’s jeep here?” She walked over to the jeep and peeked into the windows. “Yep. That’s Hellen’s jeep.” She inhaled and wrinkled up her nose. “And it smells funny. You need a new shampoo honey, it’s started to smell funny. Or maybe it’s just the jeep that needs to be cleaned.” Shrugging, she went back into the house, pausing in the doorway to cast one last glance at the jeep. “She’s got some explaining to do,” Emmalyn murmured, before turning out the light, then closing the door behind herself. She put the Crockpot on the kitchen island and plugged it in, added a little water, the frozen roast, spices and some gravy packs she found in the spice cabinet. After adding a couple more cups of water, she took out a bag of potatoes that were on their last legs and chose the best three or four of them, throwing the rest away.
Emmalyn wrote a quick note on the small white board Hellen kept on her refrigerator. “You need potatoes. I threw out the bad ones. And I cooked a roast. Where the hell are you lately that you’re gone so long potatoes go bad and you didn’t need your jeep to get there? And it smells funny.”
Shaking her head and wondering what was going on with Hellen to make her hide herself away, and not even in her own home, she washed the potatoes she’d kept, and set them on paper towels on the kitchen island, ready to cut them up and add them to the roast when it was a couple of hours from being ready. She wouldn’t be able to eat it for six to eight hours because it was frozen, but when it was finally ready, it’d be delicious and well worth the wait. Until then, Emmalyn took a frozen pizza out of the freezer and put it in the oven to hold her over until the roast was ready. She set the oven timer and went back into the living room, picking up her phone to text her mother and father and let them know she was safe and intentionally hiding from Barron, and Brandt.
“Mom, I’m sorry I worried you and Dad. I’m fine. I’m just taking some time for me.”
Everly didn’t even text back. Instead she called Emmalyn the moment she got her text. “Where are you?” she asked, her voice tight and full of worry.
“I don’t want to tell you.”
“If you don’t tell me, when I find you, I will embarrass you like you haven’t been embarrassed since you were a preteen.”
“Mom! I’m a grown woman. You can’t spank me.”
“Watch me!” Everly snapped.
“Fine. But I don’t want Barron or Brandt to know.”
“I won’t tell them. I give you my word.”
“I’m at Hellen’s. She’s out of town - again. I mean, where the hell does she keep getting off to? And without her jeep! Anyway, I reached out to ask if I could crash here, she sent me an image of where she hides the key, so I let myself in. And I’m laying low here.”
“Are you alone?” Everly asked.
“Yes.”
“You need to call Barron and tell him where you are.”
“No, I don’t. I’m here because Barron lied to me, and then claimed me, letting me think we were working things out, but I heard him talking to Brandt and he told Brandt it was all a lie and he only did it because he knew eventually I’d run.”
“I… no, that can’t be right. Are you sure that’s what you heard?”
“I know what I heard, mother!”
“Maybe there’s a reason for it. Did you ask?”
“No. And I’m not going to. I left while they were still laughing about making a fool out of me. I’m going to stay here for a little while, then I’m thinking I’ll go back to Atlanta.”
“I thought your boss sent you home for a while.”
Emmalyn hesitated for a few seconds. “How do you know that?”
“I just do, Emmalyn. Come home. Come stay here where at least you’re not alone. Dad won’t let anyone in this house you don’t want in this house.”
“I’ll whip his ass if he comes over here,” Bam shouted in the background.
“I just really want to be alone, Mom.”
Everly sat quietly, listening to her daughter breathe on the other end of the line. “He hurt you.”
“His words hurt me. I need to regroup, but I’ll be fine.”
“Come be fine at home.”
“Maybe in a day or two. Right now I don’t want company. Besides I have a roast in the Crockpot and it’s got at least six hours before I can eat it.”
“Why did your boss send you home?”
“Because I helped solve a case.”
“So it’s a reward?” Everly asked a little too brightly on purpose.
“No.”
“Care to elaborate?” Everly asked sharply.
“You’re just going to overreact.”
“Like you did?”
“I didn’t.”
“And neither will I.”
Emmalyn sighed. “The man I profiled kidnapped women and kept them in cages, like zoo animals. When the agents went in to arrest him, he’d booby-trapped the house so it would go up in flames. He got away, the women all died. He blames me.”
“Your boss blames you?”
“No, the man I profiled. The man I turned the agents’ attention to.”
“How could he blame you? How would he even know who you are? You don’t work in the field. You’re in the background!” Everly said, her voice rising with growing concern.
Emmalyn sighed again, exaggeratedly this time, realizing she couldn’t keep the fear she’d been dealing with to herself anymore. “He was one of us. He was one of the agents working the same case. We just didn’t know that he was the guy we were searching for. He knew me, personally. And he knew that I was the profiler working on the case. Shortly after agents turned up at his house and he managed to escape, he started sending threatening emails. And then around Christmas, they elevated to texts and phone calls.”
“So he was part of the team searching for a criminal that was actually himself, pretending he wasn’t the guy you were searching for.”
“Yes.”
“So he knew all the ins and outs and was aware the moment you started profiling him.”
“All the ins and outs, yes. But he didn’t know I’d turned my attention to him. At least not until the rest of the agents turned up at his house.”
“He doesn’t know where you live, though?!” Everly demanded.
“Mom, he was one of us. I’m sure he had access to just about everything if he wanted it. But he never had reason to look up my files prior to disappearing. I’m sure I talked about Louisiana, but I doubt I ever said exactly where.”
“Jesus, Emmalyn.”
“What? What is she saying?” Bam asked.
“Shhh! I’ll tell you later,” Everly whispered at Bam.
“He was a field agent, Mom. He only rarely came into the office, and after I identified him and they raided his house, he just disappeared. He’d put enough planning into his home that he was able to slip away when the agents tried to take him into custody. I don’t think he actually had access to my files, but he might have. I was sent home to lay low while the rest of our team tries to find him and bring him in. If I’m sitting in the office, he knows exactly where to find me, and probably exactly where my apartment was, too. I’m safer here.”
“You said he was calling. When was the last time you heard from him?”
“Christmas Day. He said I looked nice.”
“Which indicates he was looking at you!”
“Mom, it’s a general enough statement to make and it would make most people think they were being watched.”
“I want you to come home.”
“I’m not coming home. I’m staying here for a few days. I need some time to get over being made a fool of by Barron.”
“I don’t know what’s happening between you two, but I know he loves you.”
“Then he shouldn’t make me out to be a joke and belittle our bond. I thought we finally had a chance, then they laughed.”
“They?”
“Barron and Brandt. I don’t want to see or speak to either of them right now. So, I’m hiding.”
“I’m coming over there.”
“I’m fine, Mom. I’ll be fine. Analise and Havoc are right up the street and I’ll be home in a few days.”
“I’ve got to let everyone know what’s going on.”
“Just don’t tell them where I am for a day or two, please?”
“Emmalyn!”
“I’m begging you. I can’t see Barron or Brandt right now. I’m so angry, and so hurt. It would not be nice and I’m pretty sure I’d just make it worse. Just let me wallow for a little while.”
“I told you I don’t think you heard right.”
“Doesn’t matter at this point. I just want some alone time. I can’t get that with you and Dad, or Analise and Havoc, or anyone else. Hellen’s let me use her place, and I’m going to be here for a few days.”
“I’m coming over at some point.”
“Not today.”
“Fine. I’ll give you until tomorrow morning.”
“Maybe longer. I’ll let you know.”
“You’re too stubborn for your own good, Em.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too. Be so very careful. I’ll tell the others you’re safe, and don’t be surprised if your Dad doesn’t come creeping around to be sure you’re safe.”
“Don’t. I have my gun and I don’t want to shoot anybody I love.”
“You do have a gun with you?”
“Yes, it’s in my backpack with my laptop.”
“Alright. I feel a little better knowing that. But stay in touch.”
“I will. Bye, Mom.”
“Bye, baby.”