Chapter 3
With my arms tightly wrapped around Troy I whispered, “Thank you.”
“You can thank me by staying safe and making sure he calls me.”
I didn’t know how it had happened but somehow in the four days I’d spent with Troy I’d come to care about him. He’d gone from a complete stranger to my savior. He’d made me feel comfortable and safe but most of all he’d kept his word and got me to Theo.
“Theo knows what to do,” I assured him for what felt like the five-hundredth time, but in reality it was probably only the tenth time. “And he’ll call you, I promise.”
Troy squeezed me tighter and in a gruff, dad-voice he said, “I don’t want to leave you, sweetheart, but I know I need to let you go. Stay smart, and you call me if you need anything. I’ll come and get you.”
I totally believed that. If I needed Troy and called him he’d drive across the country to get to me.
“I will.”
We were both silent as our hug lingered a few more seconds before breaking apart.
I held my breath and waited as Troy eyed Theo skeptically.
I couldn’t know for sure but from what I did know about Theo, he wasn’t the kind of man who would take kindly to being threatened, and Troy had already done that once.
I hoped he didn’t piss Theo off by doing it again.
I needed his help out of the current mess I was in and unlike last time, the feds wouldn’t be footing the bill.
I didn’t know how much Z Corps charged for their service but I did know whatever the fee was I couldn’t pay it.
So I needed Theo to help me for free and Troy making him angry wasn’t going to help my situation.
Thankfully their silent exchange remained silent and whatever Troy felt he needed to communicate was done with a look and dip of his chin. Theo must’ve understood if the tilting of his chin in response was anything to go by. We watched as Troy walked to his car and got in.
“I thought he picked you up at a truck stop,” Theo rumbled.
“He did.”
“He said you got in his rig .”
I contemplated lying to Theo, seeing as his voice was already gruff and full of anger. But it would be no use when the truth would come out later.
“He did. Two days ago, we drove up to Pittsburgh to deliver his haul. After that we went to Hershey where he lives and dropped off his rig and picked up his car. Driving a semi around Annapolis isn’t exactly easy.”
“You went to that man’s house?” he growled.
Yep, Theo was angry.
“I can see why you’d think that wasn’t smart,” I easily conceded. “But I trust him. And when I tell you the story you’ll understand why.”
I could barely make out Theo’s features in the dim lighting of the parking lot but I didn’t miss the way his dark eyes flashed.
I’d seen that squinty look before. Actually, I’d seen it every time I’d challenged him, which was to say a lot.
In the months he’d been my bodyguard I’d pushed the limits of the rules he’d put in place.
Or maybe they weren’t his rules; he was just the one who’d been in charge of enforcing them and I didn’t like not having a say beyond what I was going to eat for the day.
Thinking back I’d probably been bitchy at times and that was why Theo had been so closed off.
Coming to Maryland and asking him for help had been presumptuous.
“I’m sorry, Theo.”
Theo’s head tipped to the side.
“Why are you sorry?”
For everything.
Absolutely everything .
I wished I could go back and decline the job that had started this whole mess. Then I wouldn’t have been put in a situation where I’d had to decide to do the right thing, but in doing so given up my future.
“I wasn’t very nice to you—”
“Your whole life had been taken from you.”
He wasn’t wrong about that.
“And that makes it okay?”
“No, what it makes it, is understandable. But how about we shelve that conversation and get you someplace safe so you can tell me what’s going on.”
That sounded like a good idea. Actually it sounded brilliant because in all of my what-if preparation, and planning escape routes, and stashing money in my car in case of an emergency, I never once stopped to think about how I’d feel when I came face-to-face with Theo.
I couldn’t say I’d fallen in love with him, but I’d certainly been attracted to him.
And there had been a couple of times when I’d mistaken his frustration with me as sexual tension, but that was only after I’d been separated from him for a few weeks and had reflected on our time together.
“Should we go back to the office?”
“No. We’re going to a hotel for the night.”
“A hotel?”
“Yes.”
Um …
“Is that safe? Shouldn’t we—”
“There is no safer place for you to be than with me.”
The vehemence in his tone made me a believer, more so than I already was. There was a reason I’d run to Theo. I knew he’d help me; I knew he was a good, decent man, but the intensity behind his words was something else, something more and it rendered me speechless.
“Cindy, you’ll be safe with me,” he unnecessarily reiterated.
“I hate this,” I grumbled.
“What part do you hate?”
All of it .
But right then, I hated the crazy, confusing name changes.
“You calling me Cindy.”
“I get that,” he returned in a way that told me he actually understood, then he swept his hand to the left. “Come on, let’s go.”
I sucked in a fortifying breath and followed Theo across the parking lot to a sleek, metallic gray BMW. When he opened the door for me I glanced from the car to Theo then back to the car. Unfortunately he didn’t miss this which prompted him to ask, “What’s wrong?”
The question was unfortunate because my answer gave away more than I wanted.
“I always imagined you driving a pickup or maybe an SUV.”
A slow teasing smile I’d never seen coming from Theo played on his lips before it became smug.
“So you admit you thought about me.”
I felt my face heat in the cool night breeze.
“I never said I didn’t.”
What in the world was I doing flirting with Theo?
Was that even flirting?
“Slide in, baby.”
Now was he flirting back with me?
And baby ? That was the second time he’d called me that. (Yes, I was counting.)
With nothing left to say I swung my backpack off.
Theo took it from me and I slid in. Once inside, the new car smell assaulted me.
I folded my hands, placed them on my lap, and I sat perfectly still.
I knew nothing about cars but the supple black leather under my ass screamed expensive.
Not to mention the chrome accents. Hell, even the rearview mirror was super fancy.
I was no less settled when Theo opened his door, tossed my backpack into the back seat of his luxury ride like it was a 1977 Pinto, and got in. As soon as he slammed his door closed he turned to look at me.
“What’s wrong?” he immediately asked.
“Wrong?”
“Yeah, what’s wrong? You’re sitting there with your hands in your lap and your back straight. Do you need to adjust the seat?”
Was he nuts?
“Um, you have a nice car.”
Theo blinked before he slowly said, “Okay.”
“I don’t want to mess it up.”
Another blink, this time faster.
“Are you planning on eating a Big Mac in here and spilling it all over the seats?”
“Of course not.”
“Dumping a Slurpee on the floor?”
I hadn’t had a Slurpee in years.
“Are you planning on swinging by 7-11 on the way to the hotel?”
“I wasn’t but now I’m wishing I could.”
Damn.
I forgot .
“Right,” I mumbled and looked out the side window.
I heard his car roar to life and felt his hand on my knee.
“Everything’s going to be okay.”
I wished that was true but nothing would ever be okay again. My life would never just be mine. I would forever be watching over my shoulder waiting for the next attack, the next assault, the next time someone found me.
Since it seemed he was waiting for an answer I gave him the only one I could.
“If you say so.”
Theo removed his hand from my knee and I ignored the pang of sadness.
It was stupid to feel anything but appreciation for a man I would soon be saying goodbye to for the second time.
The first time had been hard enough. This time was going to be brutal if I didn’t stop teasing and flirting with him.
I didn’t need to know this side of Theo.
I didn’t need to see him smile.
He was out of the parking lot when he asked, “Tell me about Troy.”
I wasn’t sure if this was a trick question.
If I told him about the stranger who had turned into a friend he was going to think I was one of those stupid people who didn’t run when they heard the chainsaw start in a horror flick.
But if I didn’t explain he might not call Troy and tell him I was safely hiding somewhere new and that would be cruel.
“I met him at a truck stop,” I started then decided Theo needed some backstory.
“When I first got to Clarksville—that’s where I was relocated to—I drove around for days making sure I knew where everything was.
It was a small town so I ventured farther just in case something happened.
I wanted to know what was around me. Then I thought it would be smart to make a plan, you know, just in case something happened. ”
Theo rolled to a stop at a red light and glanced over at me.
“That was very smart,” he agreed.
“I found this truck stop not too far but far enough it wasn’t near Clarksville and I thought if something ever happened, hitching a ride with a truck driver would be safer than hitchhiking with a rando.”
“What about your car?”
“You mean the car that the Marshals gave me that I’m sure had a tracking device on it? That car?”
Since I was looking at him I unfortunately saw him smile.
Thankfully it was just in profile but it was a grin nonetheless and I really didn’t need to see the way the sides of his eyes creased when his lips tipped.
Not even the barest sight of it in the mostly dark car.
So I looked out the windshield and watched the road.
“Yeah, Bridget, that car.”
“Why are you calling me Bridget again?”
“Because we’re in the safety of my car and no one can hear us.”
“No one followed us to Maryland. Or if they did, they’ve been led on a crazy ride in the last four days.”
Theo checked his rearview mirror before telling me, “No one’s following us now either.”
Well, that was good news.
“I didn’t think you liked the name Cindy,” he continued.
“I like the name, but I’m not Cindy or Brenda.”
“No.” He chuckled. “You’re not a Cindy or a Brenda.”
Gah .
I needed to add that to the list of things I didn’t need to know, or see, or hear.
And by the by he had a great laugh.
I shifted in my seat trying to get comfortable without scratching the soft leather.
“Relax.”
There was no way I was relaxing in this car so I went on to finish my story.
“Anyway, I figured if shit hit the fan and I needed to ditch my car I’d go to the truck stop so that’s what I did.
Troy was there and I asked him for a ride.
He was supposed to drop me off in Philly but thankfully he drove me all the way to Annapolis.
But when I got here I realized all I knew was your first name and I had no way of finding you.
My one screw-up in my exit plan and it was a huge one. ”
I heard Theo’s inhale and turned to see what was wrong. At the same time he was looking over at me. For a moment our eyes locked then he dragged them back to the road and asked, “Me?”
His question was breathed out in a whoosh of air that rushed out of his chest. That one word filled the interior of the car and pressed into my chest and for some reason it felt like it was the most important question I’d ever been asked. Like my life depended on getting the answer correct.
“Yes, you.”
A long heavy silence ensued and I was worried I’d failed the test.
“How did you find me?”
“Well, Troy told me his son was good with computers and could help me. And by the way did you know that there’s no phone listing for Z Corps?”
“Yeah. Zane was tired of getting warranty center calls so he had Garrett erase all traces of the office number. Took G a week to scrub the internet but he did it.”
Well, wasn’t that handy-dandy Zane had someone to erase his phone number? If I still had a phone I’d ask him to scrub my number, too.
“How nice for him,” I muttered. “Troy’s son’s name is Lewis.
That’s how I remembered Zane’s last name.
It was taking Lewis too long to find Zane and Troy needed to deliver his haul and he refused to leave me in Maryland until I found you so I went with him to Pittsburgh.
After that he drove to Hershey where he lives and dropped off his rig and picked up his car.
Once we did that we drove back down to Annapolis.
Lewis had found an address for Z Corps so we went by the office but no one was there.
When we went back today I saw Zane pulling out of the parking garage and we followed him.
Once we saw it was a wedding I didn’t want to interrupt so we waited in the parking lot. ”
“You’ve been sitting outside in the parking lot for the last three hours?”
“Yeah.”
“Christ.”
I didn’t understand what the big deal was. Barging into someone’s wedding was rude.
“Was it a nice wedding?”
“Was it a nice wedding,” he repeated under his breath. “Yeah, it was a great wedding. But I could’ve used the save over an hour ago when my teammates started dancing like idiots.”
My involuntary laughter spilled out of me before I could stop it. I couldn’t imagine any of the men who had guarded me dancing.
“Did you dance?”
“Fuck no.”
Well, alrighty then. I guess Theo didn’t like to dance.
“I’m sorry you’re missing the rest of the reception.”
“Did you miss the part about me needing a save an hour ago? Kira was inching her way over to me. It was only a matter of time before she found me hiding in the corner and dragged my ass out to the dance floor.”
So maybe I didn’t feel too terrible about interrupting his evening.
“Well, you’re welcome then.”
This time when his laugh filled the car it was more than a chuckle. It was rich and warm and it felt like a thousand butterflies had taken flight in my belly.
Theo laughing had just been moved up to the number one spot on my list of things to avoid if I wanted to keep my heart and sanity in check.