Chapter 19 #2
I walked to her and stroked her cheek, imagining the rest of our lives together.
Her eyes softened as she smiled up at me like I was the king of the world.
With her by my side, I felt like I was the king.
As we locked up the house and I helped her into my SUV, I thought of what life would be like for us three years from now. Or five. Or even twenty.
I was sixteen years older than Hannah, but she was an old soul who seemed like she was made specifically for me. If, in the future, we had issues over age, I’d just have to hold her down and force orgasms from her until she stopped talking crazy.
I left her that night after feeding her and making sure she was secure in her house.
I longed for the days when she and I would fall asleep in each other’s arms and wake up the same way.
I offered to stay, but she shook her head and explained she had a long week to finish, and she wouldn’t want to leave the bed if I was there.
I believed her, but a part of me thought she may struggle with what we did that night, so as soon as I got home, I pulled her camera feed up on my large screen TV and listened for the next few hours, just in case the demons came to visit her that night.
When I felt like she was going to be okay, I fell asleep with her cameras on my screen and my heart across town with her.
Hannah was an early riser, and I woke up when I heard her alarm go off through the speakers.
Blinking myself awake, I watched her make coffee and eat a bowl of yogurt and fruit before she began to scroll on her phone.
Another beep from her phone and she stood from the dining room table, placed her dishes in the sink, and walked into the bedroom and closed the door.
When she reappeared, she was dressed in a pair of black slacks, a white sweater, a few pieces of jewelry and I couldn’t see her feet but could hear the clunk of a heel as she made herself a travel cup of coffee.
I was up and carrying the portable monitor with me to my office when my phone rang from my pocket. Placing the monitor on my desk, I pulled out my phone and saw Lucian was calling.
“Has Rylee had the babies?” I asked in place of a hello.
“Michael was born at two-eleven and Marissa was born at two-seventeen. Rylee is doing good, and both babies are healthy.”
“Congrats, my friend,” I said as I watched Hannah lock up her house and get into her car. “I wasn’t expecting to hear from you for a few days since we’re not meeting today.”
“That’s what I wanted to speak with you about. I spoke with Devlin about an hour ago, and he believes Skid has a lead on Hannah’s mother,” Lucian explained, and I perked up.
This was the first lead we’d had on Kelly Johnson, and I was eager to hear what was discovered. Finding where Kelly was may give us a better idea of her connection to Sergey, and in turn, put us on the right path to who thought it was okay to rekindle the Syndicate after so many years.
“Should I give him a call for an update?” I asked as I heard a door close. “Where are you?”
“I’m at the cabin to get Rylee’s bag then I’m headed back to the hospital. Listen, Skid uncovered a death certificate in a small Podunk town in north Texas, and I need for you to go check it out.”
“She’s dead?”
I was stunned by the revelation, and worried how Hannah would react, even though she hated Kelly for leaving her. Granny took good care of Hannah, but the deep-seated issues caused by her absent mother were things we were going to deal with for years to come.
“I don’t believe so, and that’s why I need you to go.”
“Explain,” I demanded as I turned off the monitor to Hannah’s house and used the GPS I’d installed on her vehicle to track her to work.
Some may think it’s stalking to want to know where she was every second of the day, but it was revelations like the one Lucian just made that kept everything off-kilter, resulting in my need to monitor Hannah.
“The name and date of birth are for Kelly Johnson, but height, eye color, and locations of known childhood scars don’t match.
” He paused then added, “Something’s not right about it, and I thought you’d want to be the one to investigate.
There’s a plane waiting for you at the airstrip, and you’ll be back before Hannah gets off work. ”
Although we’d grown apart over the years, Lucian knew me well. He knew I wouldn’t trust something so important to anyone else, even though Skid is a good friend and a trusted member of the family.
“I’ll let Devlin know what I find. Please tell Rylee I’m so proud of her and we’ll be there in a few weeks to visit.”
“Safe travels,” he remarked and disconnected the call.
I fell back into the chair and scrubbed my hands down the front of my face. If Kelly was dead, Hannah would struggle. If this was a ruse, then we needed to figure out where the real Kelly Johnson was before something else happened.
Picking up my phone, I dialed Hannah’s number and listened to the ringing as I packed a few things into a bag.
“Good morning,” she sang as she answered, and I smiled at her cheerful demeanor.
“Good morning, beautiful. Did you sleep well?”
“I slept like a baby,” she returned. “Are you having a good morning?”
“I am, but I wanted to call you before you got to work. I’ve got to fly to north Texas for a quick meeting, but I’ll be home by the time you get off work.”
“It’s not a . . .”
Chuckling, I answered, “I’m not going hunting, baby. It’s just something that popped up this morning, but I promise, I’ll see you tonight,” I said before adding, “I love you.”
“I love you too. Safe travels, and I’ll see you tonight,” Hannah replied.
We disconnected the call, and I watched her GPS until I saw she was at work, then I turned it off and gathered the information I needed to take with me. The picture Hannah had given us of Kelly was clipped into a file with all the information on her that we could dig up, which wasn’t much.
After I let Regan and my security know I was leaving for the day, I got into my car and pulled away from my house.
Stopping at the gate, I left instructions with the guard before turning onto the road.
Playing music always helped me focus, so I started my playlist and maneuvered through traffic until I arrived at the airstrip.
After speaking with the pilot, I boarded the plane and got comfortable. Leaving Hannah was harder than I expected, but I would do whatever I had to do to ensure her safety. Little did I know, getting on that plane was what set us down the road to a showdown.
I just prayed we were still standing when the smoke cleared.