One November #3
Elena drew in a breath and motioned to the area in front of her.
“The kitchen, dining area, then the great room are one big open area, which you can see from here. To the right are two bedrooms. On the basement level there are two more bedrooms. You access the stairs though the great room. I think Ollie should have the bedroom on this level next to the stairs. It’s safest, and there’s no door leading out to the porch. ”
“Perfect.” Sully nodded to Piper. “Why don’t you get Ollie settled. I’ll be fine with whatever—even the couch at night so we can all be on the same floor. In the meantime, I’m going to check over the security system.”
Piper nodded and led Ollie through the kitchen and dining area, then made a right and disappeared into the hallway.
The agent had placed herself between the far windows and Ollie.
Smart. But something about the agent’s movements seemed off.
Stiff, like she was . . . mad? Worried? “She doesn’t agree that this is the best place for Ollie? ” she asked Sully.
He quirked a small smile. “I’m impressed. And annoyed. How’d you guess?”
Elena shrugged. “Body language. Some people are easier to read than others. Why would you be annoyed?”
“Because you read her that easily.”
“Oh.” She smiled and nodded to the wall in the kitchen. “The security panel’s over here.” He followed her. “You’ll find it in good shape.” She tilted her head at him. “Or did you do this one too?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Oh, well, Maya must have taken direction from what you did with her home because this one has the motion sensors, infrared cameras, and more.”
“Good to know.” She stilled. He was right behind her. Close enough to breathe in his musky scent. “You know a lot about the security setup,” he said, taking a step back and giving her some breathing room.
She cleared her throat. “All of the staff do, but Maya and David know I have relevant experience, so they’re smart enough to put that to good use and let me give the introductory tours.”
She reached for the panel, but Sully’s hand shot out, catching her wrist. Her pulse flared and she tensed. “What are you doing?”
“You have blood—there.”
“What?” She looked down. Then opened her hand.
Thanks to the keyring she still gripped, a small trail of blood had traveled from her palm to her wrist. She’d squeezed the little piece of metal too tight.
“Oh, for crying—it’s nothing.” She pulled away, uncomfortable with his powers of observation—and how much she liked the feel of his hand on hers.
She cleared her throat. “This is the panel. Obviously. I should probably, um, go do . . . something. Like clean up.”
Wow. Awkward much? Heat climbed into her neck for the second time that day.
She turned to leave and stopped when she spotted Ollie in the doorway, eyes now on Elena’s wrist. Something flickered in her expression. Recognition? Understanding?
“You’ve hurt yourself,” Ollie said.
“It’s nothing. Just squeezed the key too tight.”
“It’s your way to stay focused, not let yourself think about other things, isn’t it?”
Elena’s breath caught, and Sully went still. “Um, I didn’t mean to. It was an accident.” But she did have her coping mechanisms. Not that she needed to air that dirty laundry.
“Sometimes,” Ollie said, “I add numbers up in my head. Hard numbers. It helps clear my mind of everything else and makes stuff fade into the background.”
Elena walked to the teen who’d seen too much. Who’d learned too young how to cope with those things. “I could teach you other ways,” she said. “Maybe not better, but possibly. If you wanted. I mean if it’s okay with Sully and Piper, er, Agent Whitaker.”
Ollie’s eyes widened, and Piper, who’d stepped up behind the girl, made a sound that might have been a protest. Then she said, “Piper’s fine.”
Sully’s quiet “thank you” made Elena realize she might have crossed a line she wasn’t aware was there.
Well, if so, whatever. She straightened, nodded to the others, and headed out the door.
She was halfway back to the main house, desperately trying to keep past memories, feelings, and fears at bay, when she heard footsteps behind her.
“Elena, wait.”
She looked back to see Sully gaining on her. She tried to push the memories of her family’s compound from her head. Along with everything she’d been programmed to believe—and later had to unlearn. She took a steadying breath. “Yes?” Thank goodness the word came out low and calm.
He stopped next to her, eyes kind. Concerned. Compassionate. “You mentioned some ways to help Ollie. Did someone teach them to you?”
She huffed. “That’s what you want to know?”
He shrugged. “Yes.”
“Then no. No one taught me. I had to figure a lot of things out alone.” She met his gaze. “But that’s why I’m here now. So others don’t have to do the same.”
“I see.”
“Do you?” He probably did, and that made her want to squirm. “I’ve got stuff to take care of,” she said. “A class to finish tomorrow so I need to make sure I’m prepared.” She was, but it never hurt to double-check. “Talk to you later.”
She hurried into the barn, where her students had put all of the pieces of the still.
Just being in the barn and planning what she was going to do tomorrow grounded her.
She had a solar still to finish building so she could demonstrate it.
Simple. Practical. And one more tool in her belt of those kind of survival skills.
The other kind—the ones Ollie needed—would come later. For now, she just had to ignore the way Mr. Big Shot FBI Special Agent Collin Sullivan seemed to see right through her carefully constructed walls.
And pray she hadn’t made a huge mistake by giving him a glimpse of what lay behind them.