Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Callie wasn’t surprised by the silent ride into town. For once, it didn’t make her uncomfortable. He didn’t talk a lot. Not everyone did.
It was just that when a man looked like he did, she thought he’d be so mobbed by adoring men and women that he’d constantly be talking just to fend them off.
Not Seth, apparently. He probably growled and scowled, and they kept on going. She had. The first time she’d seen him at the lab, when he and his guys were conducting security tests, he’d been scowling. Kane and Chance were friendly when introduced. Seth had merely nodded with a clipped hello. She’d channeled what she’d hoped was her mother’s cool expression when dealing with some of the mothers at the barn who’d always thought their precious little equestrian deserved more of the instructor’s attention.
Nobody messed with Anna Crowell more than once. Callie swallowed the lump in her throat. God, she missed her parents. Flawed as they were, they’d loved their kids and wanted them to have the best. Why they’d thought that hadn’t included life insurance, she didn’t know. But she knew they hadn’t let it lapse because they didn’t care.
They were simply irresponsible. Something she hadn’t realized until they were gone and she’d been faced with the wreckage of their spending.
Seth flipped a right into the One Shot Tactical range and drove around the side of the building to park there. “You can stay here if you want. I’ll leave the truck running. Nobody’s going to bother you. Or you can come inside. Your choice.”
“I’ll stay.”
He nodded once and got out, then stood with his hand on the top of the door and gave her a look. She tried not to stare. Why was the paler underside of his arm so sexy? And why did the way his muscles corded make her mouth go dry?
“Lock the door and don’t open it for anyone but me or one of the guys.”
“I thought you said this was safe.”
“It is. But you gotta do your part, which is not to open the door for a stranger on the off chance one shows up.”
“I can do that.”
“Good girl. And don’t even think about driving away in my truck. I can cut the engine remotely, and then I’m gonna be pissed.”
Her heart thumped. She wouldn’t, but she’d certainly thought of running away the first time she’d been here today. The fact he knew it was a little uncomfortable if she were honest. Made her predictable. Was she predictable to Mikhail too?
“Why would I do that?”
“Don’t know, but you got spooked earlier and you could get there again. Just don’t take off without me.”
“Not planning on it.”
“Good.”
He shut the door and swaggered toward the building. Callie watched his backside, the way it filled out his jeans, and then let her gaze slide down to his thighs. A moment later, he disappeared through the side door. She let her breath out slowly.
She wasn’t going to drive away in his truck, but she’d looked up more information on how to disappear after Seth closed himself in the bedroom earlier. She’d read the steps, her heart sinking with every word.
Number one was travel alone to reduce the risk of being found out. Traveling with another person, especially a minor, could be a problem. She hadn’t considered it since she had custody of Nikki, but people would notice her sister was gone. Maybe some of them would be worried enough to call the police.
Not good. But school would be out for summer in a couple of days. That meant the only people who’d notice Nikki’s absence were the people at the stable. Callie could tell the trainer they were taking an extended vacation, move Charlie over there and pay for a couple of months board for both horses, and be long gone before anyone realized they weren’t coming back.
The idea of leaving the horses put a knot in her stomach that wouldn’t go away. Nikki would be heartbroken. As if she wasn’t already.
But another point on the list was to get rid of possessions they couldn’t carry with them. Horses were a big one. They were also supposed to leave personal identifiers like photos and journals behind. And Callie needed to sell her car because it was identifiable.
She could log off all her social media and delete the accounts. That wouldn’t be hard. She could also clear the search information on her phone and computer. Getting Nikki to delete her accounts would be harder, but doable.
Callie closed her eyes and leaned her head against the back of the seat, her throat tight. Not just from smoke, either. There was so much more on that list, and it was overwhelming. But what choice did she have?
None.
She had to prepare, had to be ready to take off as soon as she could make it happen. She couldn’t hold out for a miracle, and she couldn’t do what Mikhail wanted her to do. She’d thought about it. Really thought about it.
But if she did it, he would own her. He would make her do worse and worse things until she either got caught or he decided to eliminate her. The project she was working on was critical to national defense. She didn’t know everything, because it was on a need to know basis, but she knew enough to know that the Athena satellite was something big.
Something she didn’t want Mikhail to compromise. She didn’t know what his plans were, but thinking back on the way he’d talked about a better world seemed ominous instead of admirable to her now. There was a fine line between being passionate about something and being a fanatic.
Setting the lab on fire and threatening her was not the act of a person passionate for their cause. It was the act of someone willing to sacrifice lives to their cause. And that was another matter altogether.
She wanted to tell Seth everything, but she couldn’t. He wasn’t cleared. As nice as the One Shot Tactical guys were, none of them had the security clearance to discuss Athena. And what could they do about it anyway?
Nothing. They were a temporary solution, not the final answer to her problem.
Seth was back in less than five minutes and then they were driving toward the two farmhouses that sat on the property. He went to the bigger of the two and parked in front of it, then swiveled on the seat to look at her.
“Gotta grab some clothes and shit. You want to stay or go?”
Curiosity got the best of her. She wanted to see where he lived. How he lived. “Go.”
Seth turned off the truck without another word and hopped out. She went around to the front and followed him up the steps. The farmhouse was old, white clapboard, with a wide porch that ran the length of the front. The door was off center. He took his phone out and did something on it before he unlocked the door. As if remembering her, he shot her a look.
“I disarmed the alarm system with my phone. You’ll be able to do that once we set you up. You can check the cameras before you approach the house, but you’ll also get alerts if anyone crosses in front of one.”
“Sounds expensive.”
“It’s not.” He stuck his key in the door and twisted the lock, then moved to the deadbolt and unlocked that one too. “You can grab cameras out of any big box store these days, and you can download the app to run them. You’ll need your Wi-Fi working, but I can also set you up with a failover in case your primary goes down.”
“Using a hotspot.”
He opened the door and went inside, holding it for her so she could enter. “Exactly. I’m surprised you haven’t set it up yourself. You’re a programmer.”
The living room was good sized, with original features like shiplap, wooden pocket doors, and wood casings around the windows. There wasn’t much furniture. A couple of couches, a plain rug. Two lamps and a television that wasn’t nearly as big as she’d have expected for men living alone.
She dragged her attention back to the conversation. “I write code for the government. I’m not an expert in security, other than what I need to know for keeping my work secure. But sure, I could probably figure out how to hook up some cameras and use them through an app. I wasn’t thinking about any of that when I went to see you guys this morning. Then you offered to give me an estimate, Alex said someone would stay with me for a few days, and here we are.”
“Here we are.” He jerked his thumb at the staircase. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Don’t go anywhere.”
“Where am I going?”
He stopped on the first stair. “Where were you going this morning before I sent Daphne into the conference room?”
Her cheeks heated. “Home probably. Or maybe I’d have driven to the school, picked up Nikki, and hit the road so I could get far away from here.”
“That wouldn’t work.”
Her stomach knotted. “Why not? People disappear.”
“People who know what they’re doing disappear. Those who don’t simply run away. They’re traceable though. Easily.”
“You can find anything on the internet. Including how to disappear the right way.”
“You can, but how do you know which information is right and which is wrong? Make the wrong choice and you’re sunk. Think about it.”
He disappeared up the stairs without waiting for an answer.
Callie’s heart pumped faster as she folded her arms and walked around the room, peering at the books on one of the end tables to distract herself. Mystery fiction and some non-fiction about famous generals and admirals.
Make the wrong choice and you’re sunk.
But what was the wrong choice? Besides not traveling alone?
And that wasn’t a choice because she couldn’t abandon Nikki.
The floor over her head creaked as Seth moved around. She was getting itchy, jumpy, waiting for him. Not that she feared Mikhail would come blazing in the door at any moment, but being alone in an unfamiliar place was amplifying her fear. She’d been alone last night in the lab, and she hadn’t been afraid.
Until she couldn’t get out. Now she was afraid and jumping at imagined shadows.
Seth had only been upstairs for a few minutes, but she had to keep moving, walking through the house. She went into the kitchen, her breath catching at the sight of original cabinets and wooden countertops.
The counters were scarred in places from years of people using knives to cut food on them and pots being set onto the surface. She’d grown up in a huge house in the suburbs, complete with a chef’s kitchen that her mother almost never used, but her grandparents had lived in an old house with acreage when she was a little girl. After they’d passed away, her parents sold it, no matter how she’d cried and begged them to keep it.
She’d been twelve. Nikki had been two, not old enough to remember anything about their grandparents.
She ran her palm over the counter, remembering holidays spent baking cookies with Grandma. Summers spent watching Grandma prepare meals while Callie ate a PB&J sandwich sitting at the counter and thought about riding horses.
“You looking for something?”
Callie gasped as she whirled. “Oh my God, you scared me.”
She hadn’t heard him come down the stairs. Hadn’t heard the squeaking of the floorboards or the creak of the stairs. And that, missy, is how you end up dead.
“Expected you to be in the living room. You looking for something?” he repeated.
The heat of embarrassment flooded her. “No, but I like old houses. I wanted to see if the kitchen was original or if it’d been gutted and rebuilt.”
She didn’t tell him she’d had to keep moving so she didn’t freak out.
His gaze slid over the room, though she didn’t miss the flicker of suspicion in his eyes. “Looks old to me.”
“It is. Nobody’s torn it out and replaced everything with shaker cabinets and granite. Yet.”
He shrugged. “Don’t think any of us actually care what it looks like so long as the fridge and stove work. If you’re done poking around, I’m ready to head out.”
She started to protest that she wasn’t poking around. But what did it matter?
“I’m ready.”
It was a short ride to town from the range and soon Seth was pulling into the parking lot behind a row of buildings that faced the town square and the park that lay in the center of it. Callie didn’t get to town very often since she worked in the opposite direction. She usually stopped for groceries at the Piggly Wiggly or at a Publix nearer the Redstone Gateway complex where she worked.
Weekends were usually spent doing work projects at home and taking care of Charlie as well as going to watch Nikki take lessons on Jack. In the spring and summer, there were horse shows to attend. Callie didn’t go to all of those since someone needed to feed Charlie. If they were within driving distance, she’d go. If they required an overnight, she had to stay home while Nikki stayed with one of the other girls and their mother. Nikki swore she didn’t mind that Callie wasn’t there, but Callie felt guilty about it.
“Figured we’d eat at the Dawg,” Seth said by way of explanation. “Then we’ll hit the grocery store before heading back to your place. Do we have enough time before your sister gets home?”
She looked at her phone. It was one-thirty. “She gets out of school in an hour, but she’ll go to the stable to take a lesson before she comes home. I don’t expect her before five.”
Callie had just opened the door of the truck when a woman in a flowing black dress glided toward her. She knew from the cigarette hanging out of the woman’s mouth, if not from the giant evil eye necklace, that this was Colleen Wright, proprietor of The Mystic Chick.
“Why hello, Miss Crowell,” Colleen said. “I’ve been hoping to see you.”
Callie blinked. “Um, hi.”
“Hey there, Ms. Wright,” Seth said, walking around the bed of the truck to come to her side. “How’s it going?”
“Just fine, young man. Reba and I have been filming the alien craft with her new smartphone. Would you like to see sometime?”
“Uh, sure.”
“Wonderful. Stop by the shop and I’ll show you on the computer. Well, when I get it working. Damn thing.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“I bought a new laptop, and I can’t sign in. It keeps asking me for codes and pins and I don’t know where to find them.”
Callie felt Seth’s resignation. “I can have a look at it for you. If you bring it over while we’re eating lunch in the Dawg, I’ll see what I can do.”
“Oh, that’d be great. I’ll get it. But before I go—” She fixed the full weight of her gaze on Callie. “Miss Crowell.”
“Yes, ma’am?” she forced out.
Colleen’s expression was filled with concern. She squeezed one of Callie’s hands and it was all Callie could do not to cry. Which made no sense, but there it was.
“The spirits are restless, my dear. They need you to know it’s okay to ask for help. To accept that help. And to accept what may come when you open yourself to possibilities.”
A chill shivered down Callie’s spine. “I’ve asked.” She shot a glance at Seth. “And help arrived.”
Colleen’s smile was soft. “That’s good, dear. Very good. Now don’t forget the rest of what I said.”
There was no way she could. “I won’t. Thank you.”
Colleen let her go and turned in a swirl of dark fabric. “You kids go get lunch,” she called out as she marched toward her shop. “I’ll be along in a few minutes with that damn computer.”
Callie stared after the woman who smelled like stale smoke and perfume. She’d never been in The Mystic Chick, though Nikki had, but she’d seen Colleen from a distance. Talking to her was an entirely new experience, however.
“Is she always like that?” she asked, not tearing her gaze from Colleen’s diaphanous dress floating in the breeze that stirred as she walked.
“Pretty much,” Seth said with a sigh. “Batty as hell.”
“And yet you agreed to fix her computer anyway.”
“You think I’d say no? She talks to ghosts. And aliens. What if she talks shit about me and then the aliens decide to beam me up and do an anal probe? No thanks.”
Callie could only gape at him. Then she burst out laughing. And for the first time since she’d met him, Seth’s gorgeous mouth split in a grin that made her belly tighten and her breath almost stop in her chest.
“I’m shocked.” She grinned back. “You can have fun.”
He winked. “Not just a pretty face after all.”
“Will wonders never cease?”
“That’s me. Wonderful.”
Callie shook her head, but she was amused. “Lead the way to lunch, Mr. Wonderful. I think you’re probably lightheaded with hunger by now.”
He put a hand on his belly. “Damn skippy, babe. Now follow me and stay close. I go in first because that’s how a protection detail works, got it?”
“Got it.”
They headed for the back door of the tavern, and Seth went up the steps first. Callie was having a good time, despite the seriousness of why they were together. She could almost forget her life was in danger when Seth smiled at her.
Almost.
Callie was nearly to the top when she tripped and lost her balance. Her foot slipped off the stone riser and then she was somehow tumbling backward, both feet flying out from under her as she frantically tried to grab the railing.
But it wasn’t enough. Her hand slipped from the wrought iron bar, her arms windmilling, her body tilting at a sharp angle.
Her last thought was that Mikhail didn’t need to worry about killing her.
Because she was going to do the job for him.