Chapter 14 #2
“When we were in Briar, someone broke into my motel room.” Emerson was pleased that her voice held no emotion. She made sure to keep her hands flat against her thighs. No unnecessary movements. “A spray-painted message was left on my wall. The message said I would be dying.”
Maxine leaned forward. “You need to stop working these FBI cases. They are putting too much stress on you. You are going to fracture, Emerson.” A firm nod.
“I didn’t want to bring this up in front of an outsider, but you leave me no choice.
Agent Stone, you’ve been misled.” She rubbed the pearls. “Emerson is emotionally fragile?—”
His laughter cut through her words. “You really need to watch your tells, Senator Marlowe. When you lie, you clutch those pearls way too much.”
Her eyes widened. She immediately let go of the pearls.
“Emerson isn’t emotionally fragile, and you damn well know it. But she does have a soft heart. I suspect she’s let her feelings for you allow her to be manipulated for far too long. But that shit is ending.”
“Oh, really?” Maxine’s face flushed. “And I guess you are the one ending it?”
“Damn straight, I am. Unlike Emerson, I don’t care at all about you. Have zero fucks to give, so there will be no manipulation of me. I’m her partner. That means I protect her from every threat. I’m sure you did your research on me before you decided I would be working with Emerson?—”
“You didn’t want to work with her! You fought it tooth and nail! You said she’d be a pain in the ass?—”
“She’s a pain in the ass that I happen to quite like. So understand me when I say that no one will threaten her. No one will manipulate her. And that stalker BS? You didn’t put an end to it. I will.”
“There was no proof of an intruder all of those years ago?—”
“Sure, there was. She’s got a scar on her neck.”
Emerson could have sworn the scar burned.
“You don’t understand—” Maxine began.
“I understand that Emerson didn’t hurt herself. I understand that I will be hurting the person who hurt her. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” He glanced at his watch. “Emerson and I are late for our own meeting. Very tacky, that. I don’t like to be tacky. Got to keep it classy, am I right?”
Her mother’s mouth opened. Closed. Opened another time.
“Great talk, Senator Marlowe. Super fun.” He paused. “That was sarcasm. One of my tells. I get sarcastic when I lie.”
No, he was sarcastic all the time. Gray was just playing games with her mother.
He slid toward the door. Opened it. “Emerson? Ladies first?”
“ I want to talk with you. ” Her mother’s shaking voice. “Alone, Emerson.”
“I have a meeting.”
“Please.”
Whoa. Stop. Had her mother just used the p-word? Emerson’s head swung toward Gray. “Give us a moment?”
He nodded. “I’ll wait outside. Been wanting to have myself a chat with Owen.” But he frowned at Maxine. “Don’t get Emerson upset. I will not be amused if you do.” He slid out. Shut the door behind him.
The classical music kept playing. Emerson was sure the music was supposed to be soothing. She felt far from soothed.
“He’s quite…protective of you,” her mother noted.
That was one way of putting it.
“You didn’t tell me about the threat in your motel room,” Maxine added.
“I just did.”
“No, Gray just did.”
Right. Emerson glanced toward the tinted window on her side of the limo. Beyond the glass, she could see Gray talking with Owen. Gray’s expression was very intent, but she couldn’t hear the words he spoke.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Maxine wanted to know.
She rolled one shoulder in a shrug. “I’m the reverse girl who cried wolf.”
“What?”
She kept watching Gray. He seemed pissed.
Not good. “I’ve told you about the monster, over and over again.
You never believed me, even though he was right there.
” She bit her lower lip. “In The Boy Who Cried Wolf, the boy was making up the story. No one believed him when he really needed help.” Her head turned so that she could see her mother again.
“Each time I cried out for help, the monster was actually there. No pretending. Only you never believed me. So I stopped crying out. What was the point? Help wasn’t going to come, so there was no need to cry out. ”
“You’re sleeping with the senator.”
Owen cocked one eyebrow. “You’re sleeping with Emerson.”
Gray nodded. He also let out a brief sigh. “You and I are going to have a problem.”
“Because you’re an asshole?”
“Sure, that’s one of the reasons.” The street was quiet. They were about one hundred feet away from the entrance to the FBI office. “The other reason is that you didn’t track down the sonofabitch who cut Emerson all those years ago. You left him loose.”
Owen edged closer. “I tried to find him.” His gaze darted around the street, seemingly searching for threats before he nodded and his sharp gaze swept back to Gray.
“There was no trace of the bastard. No prints. No sign of forced entry. Nothing. We had a great security system. He got past it. Either he was freaking Houdini or?—”
“Don’t say Emerson made it up. I’m not in the mood for that crap. You don’t believe it. I don’t believe it. So spare me the BS story that her mother has fed you and her.”
Owen’s lips thinned.
“You must have looked for him since the initial attack. He’s been breaking into her home. He’s been following her. No way do you just ignore the continuing threat to her.”
“She’s had extra security over the years.
” Grudging. “Some of the security personnel…perhaps caught sight of someone once or twice. But he vanished before they could get close enough to apprehend him.” The lines near his mouth deepened.
“However, we have no reason to believe any potential attack from her youth?—”
“Potential, my ass,” Gray cut in.
“—may be tied to any other…incident in her life.” Again, he surveyed the street. Always seeming to stay on guard like a good SEAL.
Gray wasn’t impressed. “Really? You gonna say that bull right to my face?”
Owen centered his focus on Gray. “Emerson likes to study dangerous people. It makes sense that some of those people might develop an attachment to her. Case in point…” His stare raked over Gray.
“I’m definitely dangerous. And attached. Good for you to realize it.”
“Does Emerson realize it?”
He wasn’t going to touch that, not yet. “Your extra guards saw someone tailing her, but you just thought that was—what? Recent psychos? That’s the story you’re going with?
The woman just collects psychos the way some people collect stamps?
” Did anyone even still collect stamps these days?
Was that a thing? Collecting psychos certainly was not a thing.
“Psychos.” Owen laughed. The sound held little amusement. “Is that really an appropriate, technical term for an FBI agent to use?”
Gray shrugged. “It’s a term that I use for some jackass who gets off on terrorizing Emerson. You got a problem with it? With me? Prepare to be shocked, but I don’t really care.”
Owen nodded. “I like you better than the weak-willed shrink she took up with a few years back.”
“The one currently in town?”
Owen gave a slight start.
“Oh, didn’t you realize Nathaniel had come to Atlanta? Surprise, surprise, he’s here. Skulking around. The senator called him. Sent him running to do her bidding.”
Owen’s gaze darted to the limo.
“Your loyalties are with the senator,” Gray said. “Mine are with Emerson. Understand that. I can’t be bought. I can’t be bullied. I can’t be pressured. I’m not Nathaniel Hadaway.”
“Duly noted.” Owen rolled back his shoulders. “Navy?”
“Marines.”
“Huh.”
“Now that we’re acquainted tell me this…who all was on the property the night that Emerson’s father died?”
Surprise flashed on Owen’s face. There one moment. Gone the next. “What?”
“Who all was on the property the night her father died?” The question had been perfectly clear the first time.
“Why the hell do you want to know that?” A definite edge.
And that tells me there is more to that night than meets the eye.
“Because I’m a curious bastard. Also a tad bit obsessive.
A character flaw. My new obsession is Emerson, and I want to learn everything about her.
Particularly about the incidents that have left a mark on her over the years.
So I’ll repeat, third time being the charm and all of that, who all was on the property the night her father died? ”
Owen crossed his arms over his chest. “Ask Emerson.”
“She was seven. I figured someone who’d been an adult at the time might have a stronger recollection.” He waited a beat. No answer was forthcoming. “So odd the way you won’t answer such a basic question for me.”
“Fine. I’ll answer your question. But, in return, you have to answer one for me.”
He caught sight of Rylan lingering near the entrance to the FBI office. Gray waved him on. After a brief hesitation, Rylan turned and entered the building. When Rylan was gone, Gray told Owen, “I’m feeling generous. Let’s make the trade.”
“Maxine was there. Both of Maxine’s parents. Emerson. I was there. Two other guards.”
“And no one tried to stop the man heading straight for the cliff’s edge, eh?”
“You got one question. I didn’t say anything about answering two .”
“You’re not even going to name the guards? That’s hardly fair.”
“My turn.” Owen’s arms remained crossed over his chest. “Why are you obsessed with Emerson?”
The limo door opened. Emerson appeared. Her face looked strained. Her eyes a bit sad. That was just unacceptable. Instantly, he was reaching for her. Taking her hand. Keeping hold of her. Time for them to get inside for their meeting.
But Owen moved into his path. “I answered your question, Agent Stone. You really the kind of asshole who doesn’t keep his word?”
“Gray is not an asshole,” Emerson hotly defended.
And that was cute and all. It really was.
But they both knew she was lying. “Of course, I’m an asshole, sweetheart.
Pretty sure that’s one of the traits you secretly adore about me.
But, in this instance, I am an asshole who intends to keep his word.
” He inclined his head toward Owen. “Why am I obsessed with Emerson? Easy. She’s about to become my wife.
What man isn’t obsessed with his bride?”