WITSEC

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Logan’s going to kill me, I thought as I dumped the bag holding my stuff on the bed. “Which phone did you call him on?” I asked as I grabbed my leggings.

“On your personal cell,” Knox answered.

I yanked my leggings up each of my legs and to my waist under my gown. “I need to know exactly what was said.”

Knox crossed his arms over his chest. “I told him my name and he knew who I was.”

“He did a background check on everyone living on our street before I bought my house,” I said. “And I’ve talked about you guys with him.”

“That seems like a misuse of power,” Keelan commented under his breath.

I couldn’t argue with that. “And I doubt he lost any sleep over it, but that’s my uncle. He was a Navy SEAL before he became a Marshal. Some of his old SEAL buddies are higher-ranked feds now and some went off to work for…well, we’ll call them agencies , after they left the military. He has a lot of connections.”

“Why’d he become a Marshal then? Why not work for an agency or become a federal agent?” Creed asked.

“He hates politics and my mom had threatened never to speak to him again if he became a spy. She was terrified he’d die. She used to say that he used up all his luck surviving the SEALs,” I explained. “Not wanting to upset my mom, he settled on being a Marshal.”

“Were they that close? Your mom and uncle?” Colt asked.

I nodded. “Logan and my mom are—were fourteen years apart. My grandparents had him late in life and then they both passed away by the time he was seven. My mom dropped out of culinary school and worked two jobs to raise him. They struggled to get by for a while, but it bonded them. Then my dad showed up, or inserted himself in their lives, as my mom would have said.”

“Sounds like someone I know,” Knox mumbled.

I rolled my eyes and continued on. “My dad used to tell Shayla and me all the time that he fell in love with our mom the first moment he laid eyes on her and knew that the only way to get her to be his forever was to love Logan, too, because Logan and my mom were a package deal,” I said with a smile. “For as long as I can remember, I don’t think my mom and Logan went more than a day or two without talking.” My smile dropped. Logan had lost that.

I cleared my tight throat. “What else did you say to him?” I asked Knox.

“I told him what happened. That Jacob attacked you and you fought back. He asked if you killed the bastard before asking if you were alright,” Knox said, with an incredulous tone.

Typical Logan.

“He didn’t sound worried until after I told him you were drugged and on your way to the hospital,” Knox finished.

That was what I was dreading. “He’s on his way, isn’t he?”

Knox nodded. “He said he’d be on the next flight.”

Which meant he could be here any minute. It wasn’t that I wouldn’t be happy to see Logan. I missed him a lot, but if he found out that the guys knew the truth about me, he’d take me away and I would never see them again.

I pulled off the hospital gown and tossed it on the bed. “You guys can’t be here when he arrives,” I said, glancing at them. They weren’t listening. Their attention was captured by my chest. Normally, I’d be embarrassed to be seen in my bra and have my stomach scars on display. At the moment, I didn’t have time to care. “If he gets the slightest hint you know more than you should, he’ll relocate me.” Just as I scooped up my shirt, I caught Knox’s gaze dropping to my stomach.

I saw surprise flash in his eyes before they narrowed in anger. “He stabbed you.” It wasn’t a question.

I paused for a breath, dropping my gaze to the floor before pulling my shirt over my head. “Twice.” I sat in one of the chairs to put my shoes on. “With a chef’s knife. I lost so much blood, I almost didn’t make it to the hospital.” My tone was factual, detached, because on the inside I was fighting not to let my mind wander to that night.

“That’s what you were dreaming about?” Keelan asked.

I looked down at my hands. If I stared long enough, I could picture them covered in blood. I flipped them palm-side up. Tiny scrapes and cuts dotted them. Jacob grabbing my ankle as I tried to get away played in my head and I had the phantom feeling of the gravel piercing my palms as I landed on them.

“Shiloh?” I faintly heard before a hand slid into mine. I looked up in time to see Colt sit in the chair next to mine. He held a worried expression. “You checked out.”

I squeezed his hand. “I want to go home.”

Without saying a word, Knox moved toward the door, but as he went to open it, there was a knock. My first thought was that it was Logan. My second thought was that he wouldn’t have knocked. He would have stormed in like he owned the place. Knox opened the door. His tall, bulky body blocked my view of who it was.

“You must be Knox,” a familiar voice said.

Knox stepped aside, revealing a tall man wearing a navy, iron-crisp suit. My eyes snagged on his long red tie before jumping up to his chestnut hair and ice-blue eyes framed by black-rimmed glasses that had always reminded me of Clark Kent’s.

“Ian?” I blurted out, surprised.

He stood confidently in the hall with his hands in his pockets. A tiny smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Hey, kid.”

The guys looked from me to Ian and back again.

“Where’s Logan?” I asked.

Taking that as an invitation, Ian strode in. He took in the guys and the layout of the room with one quick glance. I knew he had committed all the exits, possible threats, and things that could be used as weapons to memory by the time his eyes returned to me. I knew that because Logan did the same thing when entering a room. It was due to their training. Once a SEAL, always a SEAL. “He couldn’t get away,” he said, his eyes dropping to my hand in Colt’s for a blink. When they flicked back to mine again, his brows slightly rose in question.

Knox came to stand next to him. “And you are?”

Ian gave him a charming smile and held out his hand. “Ian. Family friend.”

Knox’s eyes narrowed in a scrutinizing way as he shook his hand.

Ian’s charming facade didn’t waver. “Logan told me to thank you for your call. I was happy when I heard Shiloh had made…connections here. Well, ones close enough to know who to call if she was ever in trouble.”

His words put me on edge. “They were just getting ready to leave.” I gave Colt’s hand one more squeeze before letting go and standing.

Ian’s attention returned to me. “I guess I had perfect timing. I can take over.”

I looked to Keelan, catching him already staring at me. He was the best at picking up social cues and he didn’t disappoint. He gave me a slight nod. “We need to get going.” He put a hand on Creed’s shoulder and ushered him toward the door. Colt stood and touched my lower back. Ian didn’t miss that.

“Call us when you get home,” Colt said.

I nodded. I could see that Colt was reluctant to leave, but he moved away from me with a clenched jaw.

“Let’s go, Knox,” Keelan said from the hall.

Knox didn’t budge. Instead, he looked from Ian to me.

I held his intense gaze. “I’ll be fine,” I assured him.

“You’ve never mentioned him, Shiloh," Knox said.

“Oh? And what has she told you?” Ian fished.

Cheese and rice! “That’s because he’s my uncle’s lover,” I blurted. “My uncle isn’t out of the closet yet. So out of respect for him and to avoid too many questions, I don’t talk about Ian much.”

Ian didn’t react. He just blinked at me.

I looked back at Knox. “I’ll let you know when I’m home.”

Knox glanced at Ian with a look that wasn’t friendly. It almost seemed threatening.

That didn’t faze Ian in the slightest. “I’ll make sure she gets home safe.”

Knox relented and finally left with his brothers.

“Fascinating,” Ian said as he shut the door.

“What?”

Ian strode past me to sit in one of the chairs. “I can’t tell which one you’re dating. I thought it was the young twin you were holding hands with, but now I’m not so sure. All four of them clearly have feelings for you and you, them.”

“I’ve told you not to do that profiler crap on me,” I grumbled, as I sat in the chair farthest from him.

He noted that with a smirk. “My presence is making you nervous. I’ve never made you nervous before. There must be something you don’t want me to know.”

“Cheese and rice, Ian, what did I just say?”

“Fine.” He leaned back in his chair and propped his ankle on his knee. “I’m looking forward to telling Logan that we’re lovers.”

“I seriously doubt you’ll both ever be here at the same time and have to put on a believable act.”

“Even if we were, I doubt we’d have to. You’re still a terrible liar.”

“Would you prefer I was a better one?” I asked.

“Right now, I need you to be,” he said, his voice turning serious. “The local police pulled in after I did. Any minute now, your doctor is going to come in to assess you, then ask you if you feel up to speaking with the police about what happened.”

I did my best to stay calm. Ian was obviously here to make sure I didn’t mess anything up. “What do I do?”

“You tell the truth…as Shiloh Pierce,” he answered, and then there was a knock on the door just before an elderly woman, with long white hair, poked her head in.

“Knock, knock,” she sang with a soft voice as she walked into the room. She wore a white coat over navy scrubs. Her honey eyes looked to the empty bed before zeroing in on me. “I’m Dr. Regan. It’s good to see you’re up. How are you feeling?”

As Ian had said, the doctor looked me over, told me I was cleared to go home soon, and as if it were scripted, she told me about the police wanting to see me. Wanting to get it over with, I told her to send them in.

Two cops in dark blue, almost black uniforms came in after she left. One was a man, who looked to be in his late twenties, and the other was a middle-aged woman. The woman—Officer Mendez—did most of the questioning and her partner, Officer Reynolds, only chimed in a few times. The questioning was pretty straightforward. I told them what had happened and went over my interactions with Jacob leading up to the attack. I was a little worried it would be his word against mine, but apparently the attack, up until he’d pulled me to the ground between the cars and out of sight, had been caught on the gym’s security cameras.

“You’re a tough cookie,” Officer Mendez said. “You’re handling this really well.”

Her statement shook me to my core.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in for her yet,” Ian said, covering my lack of response.

Officer Mendez eyed Ian. “Are you family?”

“Family friend,” Ian replied simply.

Mendez looked back at me. She looked like she wanted to ask more, but kept her mouth shut. “I think that’s all we need for now.” She pulled out a card from her pocket. “This is my number if you have any questions.” She held out the card to me and I took it. “We’ll be in touch,” she said, and she and her partner left.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Ian commented as he smoothed down his tie.

“Why are you here?” I asked a little snappishly. “What was so important that kept Logan from coming?”

“He couldn’t get away.”

I glared at him, feeling overwhelmingly irritated. “That’s not like him. He would have dropped everything?—”

“It wasn’t safe for you,” he interrupted. “Coming here could lead X right to you.”

A million questions filled my head at once and before I could begin asking them, Ian continued on.

“We’ve made sure it’s public knowledge that Logan is offering his expertise to help catch X. He’s been seen and photographed at many press conferences. It is our hope that it will lure X out.”

“You’re using him as bait?” I questioned with panic riding my voice.

“Logan is X’s only lead to you.”

I stood from my chair to put more distance between us. Giving him my back, I crossed my arms over my chest tightly. I had to hold my breath. It was the only thing I could think of to help keep myself together on the outside, because on the inside, I was falling apart.

“It was Logan’s choice.” He let out a sigh. “I know it’s scary, but?—”

I whirled around to face him. “You don’t know!”

His eyes widened at my outburst.

“You have no fucking clue how scary it is,” I seethed. “Logan is all I have left.”

“With your uncle’s help we might be able to catch X.”

“Why does it have to be him?” I shook my head, frustrated. “I know how selfish that sounds, but haven’t I sacrificed enough? Christ, Ian, it’s been well over a year. Why haven’t you caught him yet?”

Ian’s gaze dropped to the floor. “If it makes you feel better to blame me, I can live with that. But you should know that no one forced Logan to help. He offered.”

Logan had told me that Ian had called him in. He had made it seem like he’d had no choice. He had lied to me.

Finally meeting my eyes again, Ian stood. “He lost his family, too, Shiloh. Do you really think your uncle is the type of man to just sit around and wait for justice to be served?”

No. He wasn’t.

“I’m not dumb enough to think that if Logan catches X, he’ll hand him over to be prosecuted, but I’m sure as hell pretending to be,” he admitted, his shoulders slumping a little. “X has killed six girls in less than a year. I will take all the help I can get.”

My stomach dropped. “Six?”

“He’s killed two more girls since we last spoke.”

“I only knew of the one you told me about,” I said.

“It wasn’t public knowledge that the first three were connected. They happened in different states.”

“How did you know they were connected?”

Ian hesitated. “Your picture has been stapled to all the victims’ faces. After the fourth girl was found, we couldn’t keep things under wraps anymore.”

“That’s messed up and you know it. You should have warned people sooner.”

“And tell them what?” he asked. “That young brunette girls are being targeted all over the U.S.? We needed more time.”

“For what?”

“His face has been plastered all over the news, yet no one has seen him. He’s evaded everything we’ve tried to catch him. By pure luck, one officer stumbled upon him, and X killed him.” Anger seeped into his voice as he spoke. “When criminals have gotten away with so much, they start to feel like God—like they’re untouchable. They get too confident and they make mistakes.”

“So you let him continue to kill?—”

“I’m not letting him do anything,” he snapped. “I can’t stop him if I can’t catch him.”

I plopped back in a chair. “So he’s become a serial killer.”

Ian nodded. “And he’s already searching for his next victim.”

“One who looks just like me, because he can’t find me.”

He studied me, probably taking in everything from my posture to my shallow breathing. What looked like sympathy entered his eyes. “You shouldn’t do that to yourself. Don’t take on his guilt.”

“I’m trying not to…” I squeezed my hands into fists. Since I’d lost my family, I’d felt like I’d been pulled to the bottom of the dark ocean. Sometimes I could see the faint light of the surface, but no matter how much I moved my arms and kicked my legs, I could never reach it. I was running out of air and I was tired. So tired. Right now, I couldn’t see that light. How could I fight to swim toward something if I couldn’t see it anymore?

“Shiloh?” Ian said with concern in his eyes.

I was done talking to Ian. I didn’t want to hear anymore.

Ian touched my shoulder. “You need to breathe.”

I didn’t want to be here anymore.

I wanted to feel safe.

I wanted to go home.

I didn’t have that anymore.

All I had now was an empty house to return to.

The only place that felt remotely like a home was when I was over at the guys’ house.

The guys.

Their faces popped into my head. If they were here, Colt and Creed would hold me while giving me words of encouragement, Keelan would say something to make me laugh, and Knox would push my buttons. Thinking of them, I was able to suck air into my lungs.

“That’s it,” Ian said, rubbing my back. “Deep breaths, kid.”

I ignored him. He wasn’t helping. If anything, his presence was making things worse. I kept my thoughts on the guys. “I want to go home. Now,” I forced out.

Ian stood from his chair. “I’ll see what I can do to speed things along,” he said, heading for the door. Just before stepping out into the hall, he looked back at me. “For what it’s worth, leaving you was probably the hardest thing Logan’s ever had to do.” As he walked out, he added, “You’re all he has, too.”