Chapter 12
12
T heresa stepped toward her bedroom.
Her lips tingled.
She had thought about kissing him quite a few times over the last six months they'd worked together, but her logical mind told her not to get involved. She might have to run at any time. And as much as she hated thinking about that, she just couldn't get involved.
She knew it could break his heart. Hers too. She didn't want to break anyone’s heart.
Right now, she just wanted to stay alive.
She heard Marco's phone chime, and he answered.
"Karason."
"Oh, well, I'll be damned. Do you know who?"
A pause.
"All right."
Another pause.
"Okay, I guess that'll be the first order of business. Thanks for checking into that, Mitch."
He listened for a moment, then said, "Okay, I'll do a little searching on my end too. I'll talk to Theresa about it. Maybe she's had some interaction or has seen something that would confirm that too. Talk to you tomorrow."
She halted, turned around, and took a few steps toward him in the living room. He sat on the sofa and looked up at her.
"Mitch says he's done a little investigating, and it seems as though the syndicate has ties to businesses here in Blossom Springs."
Her stomach turned. She had thought she was safe here, only to find out that they had been watching her all along.
Maybe.
Maybe they didn’t realize. Maybe they had ties to every city, in every state, all over the United States.
Probably further.
Who knew?
She placed her right hand over her belly. "Oh my god," she whispered. "Does he know who?"
Marco shook his head. "No. We'll have to do some investigating here."
"How does he know?"
"Well, he doesn't divulge his security secrets, but he said he heard some chatter. He has a chatter channel. Do you know what that is?"
Her heartbeat sped up.
"Yes, I know what that is."
"Okay, well, he has a chatter channel, and he heard Blossom Springs and business partners."
She leaned down and rested her hands on her knees. She hoped it would force her mind to stop thinking of the bad things that could happen and start to formulate a plan. She'd let herself get complacent. What was wrong with her? She'd always thought her muscle memory would come back when she needed it, and she'd jump into survival mode once more. Maybe it had run out since she had been on the run for the past year. It was only the past six months here that she'd felt safe.
"Okay, so we have our work cut out for us, Theresa. We have to figure out who could be a business partner here in Blossom Springs."
She closed her eyes for a moment.
"Okay," she finally got out.
Her knees shook. She stretched her back.
His voice was soft and concerned when he said, "I'm sorry." The concern in his voice nearly made her weep. He knew how scared she was.
That wasn’t good. She was not an actress—that was a fact.
Shouldn't she keep some distance?
He twisted slightly, resting his forearms on his legs as he spoke to her softly. "Hey, we're gonna do everything we can to make sure you're safe. Do you understand me?"
She nodded. "Yes, but they're here."
"Well, I guess we've known that now since last night when someone made contact with you."
"Right, but that was just by cell phone."
He nodded. "And then this morning? Someone threw a rock through your window. Do you think that was random?"
She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out hard. "No, it wasn't random. Do you think they've been watching me for a while?"
"It's possible. It's possible they've been waiting for instructions on what to do. Maybe they've been watching you to see if they could get a clue as to where you have those documents hidden. I would say it's highly probable that they are very calculated, and they are going to be very careful."
He grinned. "You have them scared, sweetheart. You have them real scared."
She huffed out her breath. "Well, now they have me scared too."
"Yeah, I understand."
Her knees still shook, and her stomach was flipping around like a fish trying to find water.
His voice was low and husky when he broke the silence. "Come on over here and sit down before you fall down."
She slowly moved to the sofa and sat on the edge of the cushion.
He scooted next to her and wrapped his arm around her. He gently leaned them back against the sofa, but he kept his arm around her shoulders. She could smell him. It was an interesting combination of food, cooking oils, and Marco. How could he still smell like himself after creating hundreds of meals tonight?
He reached over with his free hand and gently held her hand. He squeezed it gently.
She liked the comfort that she felt from his touch. She liked the softness that filled his voice when he comforted her.
Basically, she liked everything about him.
But she was in danger, and she had brought trouble to him.
His voice was deep, but solid and strong when he said, "Look, sweetheart, I know you're scared, and I know this feels like they are very close. But I can also tell you this—we're one up on them. We know they're here. They don't know we know that. So, tomorrow morning, we're going to start doing some research. You don't have to tell me where the files are, but can you just tell me this? Do you have to go somewhere to access them?"
She swallowed.
She turned her head and looked into his eyes. She held his gaze for a long time.
He didn't flinch. He didn't look away. She tried to determine if he was trying to get information out of her or if he was tried and true.
She licked her lips and inhaled. "No, I don't have to go anywhere to access them."
He nodded once. His arm squeezed her shoulders.
"Okay, that means you're safe here, and they don't know if you have the information wherever you’re at or if you have to go somewhere. My guess is they're trying to figure that out."
"Okay."
He was making sense. She was starting to feel better.
"Okay." She repeated.
He grinned slightly. "Mitch is on this. He’s scanning his chatter channel tonight. He's entered in some keywords, and he'll monitor it all night. And one of his employees is also on it. By the time we wake up in the morning, we should be one step closer to where they are. They won't be one step closer to where you are. Okay?"
"Okay."
He smiled. His hand was gentle as he reached up and softly brushed a hair away from her eyebrow.
His fingertips moved down her face slightly, and his fingers cupped her ear so gently.
His hand slid further down to cup her neck.
And then he slowly reached forward and gently touched his lips to hers.
And she liked it.
She returned his kiss.
She tried not to lose her breath.
Tried not to lose her head.
He was a great kisser.
She loved the way his lips felt against hers.
This was all so surreal.
Her head spun.
She was going to have to find a way to keep herself in check.
Then a thought came to her, and she reluctantly pulled away. "But I told them I had a dead man's lock on the files. They'll know they are electronic."