Chapter 14
Eli paced back and forth as Kellan sighed and tried to concentrate on his laptop.
“What is wrong with you?” Kellan asked. “You haven’t sat still since we got back to the hotel. Are you worried about Shaw?”
“What? No. Yes, I mean, of course I am. And about Tucker. Are you sure sending Zimmer after him is a good idea?”
Hmm. It was a risky move, yes. Zimmer had helped them with a couple of cases. But he didn’t always operate on the right side of the law, not that they’d ever been able to pin anything on him.
Also, they hadn’t tried that hard.
“He’s good at finding people. Plus, he lives in Costa Rica.”
“He does?” Eli paused. “How do you know that?”
“A few simple deductions. Is that your problem? You’re worried about Tucker? Or is it that you’re missing work. Right now, we could be chasing down a murderer, a drug smuggler, busting a meth lab.” Kellan sighed. “Good times.”
“I’m not concerned about that,” Eli said with exasperation. “I’m concerned about Arabella.”
“Why?” Kellan attempted to keep the concern out of his voice. “Has something happened?”
“No, it’s just . . . what if she’s scared of storms?” Eli asked.
“Scared of storms?” Kellan repeated. “That’s your concern right now?”
“Yes, well, she might be. Damn, I’m being lame, aren’t I?” Eli said with a sigh.
“Pretty much.”
“Maybe it’s our duty to ensure that she settled in all right?” Eli suggested.
Kellan shook his head. “That sounds like something that Jake should be doing.”
“Fine! I’m clutching at straws because I want to see her. Okay?”
“Then you should go see her,” Kellan replied, ignoring his own urge to ensure that she was all right.
“Do you think so?” Eli asked. “Are you coming?”
“No. I saw her yesterday.”
Idiot.
Why would Kellan want to go see her? She wasn’t a victim or a suspect. She wasn’t a family member.
She wasn’t his responsibility so Kellan wasn’t going to expend his energy and time going to see if she was all right.
Even if you did escort her home yesterday morning.
“You did?”
“She was out running. I took her home.”
“So you know where she lives. Give me the address.”
Kellan sighed and gave it to him.
“Sure you don’t want to come?” Eli asked, giving him a knowing look.
“I’m certain.” He held himself back from saying anything more as Eli left.
This was a good thing, he needed distance from her. That would help him to stop thinking about her.
Eli pounded on her door for several minutes. Horse was barking inside and her rusty car was here. So surely she was home? Maybe he should just walk in?
What if she was hurt?
What if she needed help?
“Arabella? I’m coming in!”
Still nothing.
The rain was pounding down now. This storm wasn’t meant to be this bad. The Uber he’d taken had driven here so slowly that he’d thought it would have been quicker to walk.
Reaching for the door handle, he was concerned to find it unlocked.
What was she thinking? She should always lock her door. Haven might seem like a safe town, but nowhere was safe enough to leave your door unlocked.
Frowning, he stormed into the house. Boxes blocked his way and he had to dodge around them.
What was all this? A desk. A TV and cabinet.
There was even a frame for a bed and a mattress.
Why did she need all of this? Had the house not come fully furnished?
And why had the delivery people left everything here in the hallway? Why hadn’t they set it all up for her?
“Arabella? Where are you?” he demanded.
Horse bounded up to him with a growl.
“Hey, Horse, it’s me. Remember me?” he said, holding out his hand for the big dog to sniff.
After a couple of sniffs, Horse grew closer, pressing himself against his legs before running off.
Eli followed him, his concern growing. “Arabella?”
The sound of a door slamming led him to the back where he saw her shuffle inside with a rusty-looking tool box in her hand.
What was she doing? Where was her coat? And why was she all hunched over as if she was in pain?
“What’s going on? Are you hurt? Why were you out in the rain?” he asked.
She let out a small scream and dropped the toolbox, narrowly missing her foot. With a gasp, she placed her hand on her chest. “What the heck are you doing? Why are you in my house? How are you in my house?”
“Your door was unlocked,” he told her. “And we’ll be discussing that later.”
“Discussing what later?” she asked, sounding bewildered as he walked over and picked up the tool box.
“Your safety. Or lack thereof. What are you doing with this?” he asked, setting the tool box down on the table and taking a long look at her. “And why did you step outside without a jacket? There’s a storm outside!”
“I know there’s a s-storm outside!” Her teeth were chattering as she glared at him. “I was just out in it. And n-now I’m soaked. Why are you h-here?”
“Why are you all hunched over? Is something wrong?”
“I hurt my b-back. I went t-to get the t-tools from my neighbor b-because I don’t h-have any. I w-would have put my c-coat on but it wasn’t r-raining when I left and I took l-longer than I thought b-because he couldn’t f-find his tool box.”
“Okay, stop talking.” Every word she said upset him more. “You need to get into a shower. Now. Before you get sick.”
She looked a bit like a drowned rat with her soaking wet hair hanging around her face. She brushed it back with her hand and glared up at him.
“I k-know that. I was h-heading there. But then you b-broke into my house.”
“I didn’t break in, the door was unlocked,” he told her.
“That s-still doesn’t mean y-you can walk in. Would you like it if I d-did that t-to you?”
“My apartment is always locked. And if it wasn’t, then you would be welcome to walk in. Come on, I’ll run the shower for you.” She was alarmingly pale and her lips were starting to turn blue.
She didn’t argue as he placed his hand around hers and led her to the bathroom. But she wasn’t moving fast and she seemed to be in pain.
“What did you do to your back? Did you hurt yourself carrying the toolbox?” It hadn’t been heavy, though.
“N-no. I did it l-lifting the boxes i-inside,” she said through chattering teeth.
“Lifting the boxes?” He stilled, turning to her.
“Bathroom is o-over t-there.” She waved her hand further down the hall, obviously thinking that he’d stopped because he was lost.
“You lifted those boxes inside yourself?” he asked incredulously as he continued to move down to the bathroom. Walking in, he turned on the shower, then he turned to her. “Why? The delivery guys should have done that.”
“I g-got home and they’d b-been left out f-front. I couldn’t leave t-them there with the storm c-coming.” She shrugged then winced as that obviously hurt her back.
“I can’t believe they did that. I’m going to need the name of the company that delivered them.”
She eyed him. “No.”
Eli folded his arms over his chest. He knew he could easily get those details. They were probably on the boxes themselves. But was she seriously telling him no?
“No?” he asked
“Yeah. No.”
“Why not?” he asked
“Because it’s not any of your business.”
His first instinct was to tell her that anything she did was his business.
But that wasn’t exactly true, was it?
Another shiver ran through her and he realized he was standing here arguing when he should be getting her into the shower.
He tested the temperature of the water in the shower before turning back to her. “Let’s get you out of those clothes.”
She slapped at his hands and he stared at her in shock. He didn’t expect that. “No! Bad Eli!”
Did she just scold him? Like he was a dog?
“Out!” She pointed at the door.
“Excuse me?” he drawled
“Yes, excuse you. You cannot b-barge into my h-house, order me a-around, and then undress me. Too far.”
Shit.
He took a deep breath in, letting it out. “What if you can’t get undressed because of your sore back?”
“I will be fine. I took some muscle relaxers. They’ll help. Out!”
Knowing he was bordering on obsessed, he turned and walked out. “I’m going, but leave the door open so I can hear you if you need help.”
“I don’t need help and you need to leave my house.”
Yeah. That wasn’t happening. What he needed to do was figure out how to build this furniture with some old, crappy-looking tools.
Getting out his phone, he noticed it was nearly dead. Shit. He quickly messaged Kellan.
Eli: Need you to get Duncan’s tools and bring them to me at Arabella’s place.
Kellan: His tools?
Eli: She has some furniture that needs to be built and her tools are older than the hills.
Kellan: Oh those sorts of tools. Wait. Furniture? Was the house not furnished?
Eli: Just get the tools for me? I’ll explain when you get here. And my phone is going flat.
Kellan: You owe me.
Whatever. Eli was pretty certain that Kellan was just as obsessed over her as Eli was but he was in denial.
Was it smart? Maybe not.
Was it good timing? Hmm, it was debatable that there was never a good time.
Was the fact she lived here a bonus? Definitely not. Although the one good thing was that he could be pushy about her safety and protection without her calling the cops on him.
But even if the timing, location, and logistics of it all were crap, that didn’t stop the fact that he was quickly becoming obsessed with her. Hell. He’d rushed over here because he thought she might be scared of storms.
And Eli had caught Kellan watching her. Kellan was indifferent to most people unless they were family, he knew them well . . . or they were this girl.
All Eli had to do was make sure that Kellan didn’t repress his feelings and push her away.
Because Eli knew he couldn’t and wouldn’t do this without his brother. They were meant to share a girl. Like they did everything else in their life.
Together.
He started opening boxes while Horse watched him suspiciously from a fluffy dog bed.
“That looks comfy,” he told the dog. “Seems like she isn’t expecting your owners to come for you.”
Horse just stared at him.