Chapter 2 #2
As she inhaled her burger, she thought of what her grandmother would think of it.
Yes, they had lived in a massive house, but she had told Lila about her active days where she lived in huts, tents, and various other shelters.
Lila wasn’t sure she would be able to live in a big house again.
In the last few years, she had lived in mostly small spaces, except when she had to make do in the elements.
The idea of a house with too many bedrooms and what not, well that made her itchy.
That was one thing about Ian that had surprised her. The house he bought here in Kauai was on the small side. She was sure he planned on expanding at some point when he got married and had children.
A pang hit her hard when she thought about that, but there was no doubt in her mind that Ian would want some kind of life like that.
Not that it was anything she ever wanted.
Loving people made you vulnerable. She had learned that lesson when she was twelve and watched the three people that meant the most to her die.
And how would she even have kids? The target on her back would always be there, or it felt like it.
It had been years since her grandmother had left her, but there was still a bounty on Lila’s head.
There was no way she would ever bring a child into something like that.
With a sigh, she took a hit off her water bottle, then munched on her fries. Wishing for things that would never happen wasn’t a usual pastime for her. Truth was, Lila rarely had time to worry about things she couldn’t have. Staying alive, that was what was important.
But at what cost? That thought had been hitting her more and more since she had gotten to know the Task Force Hawai’i folks. They were all pairing off…finding love and having babies. Even Ian’s half-sister had found out she was pregnant just a few months ago.
Envy is a useless emotion.
How many times did she hear her grandmother say that?
It was one of her many mantras. But…Lila felt it.
It slithered into her thoughts late at night.
She had never been a normal girl, one who went on dates.
Even after she started working at the CIA, she found herself avoiding the very thing she yearned for.
Normalcy.
She sighed and looked around the rental house.
There were notes everywhere, a sign that she had gone around the bend.
This was what her father was like right before their house had been targeted.
She remembered sticky notes all over their house.
It was the only way she could get her thoughts in order, but she knew what it looked like.
Closing her eyes, she fought against the tears. They were useless, just like the envy she had been feeling. But sometimes, it was so damned hard. So much sat on her shoulders, weighing her down. At times, she felt like she was drowning.
Then…she heard something that sounded a lot like feet shuffling along the wooden floor. Adrenaline flooded her system and she fought against it. She couldn’t let the bastard know that she had heard him in her house.
She heard birds outside and nothing else.
Well, not at first. The longer she listened she heard more shuffling.
Jesus. Whoever they were, they were not good.
If it was an assassin, they should move through the house without making any noise at all.
The shuffling through her house was tantamount to elephants stampeding.
There…whoever it was in her house, was coming from the back. Which made sense. What didn’t make sense was the fact that none of her alarms had gone off. Had he put her alarm back on? He didn’t seem to be that good, and it was definitely a man from the sounds.
For a fast second or two, she thought that it might be Ian. Normally, she was sure the former MI-6 agent would probably slip into the house undetected. She’d watched enough video of him in the last few years to know that he could probably get into any secure building without anyone knowing.
Lila had a feeling he wouldn’t use those skills to get into her house. No, he’d bang on the front door and probably yell at her. Yeah, he would definitely yell at her.
Pushing those thoughts aside because she had an intruder and maybe she shouldn’t be daydreaming about a man who hated her, she concentrated on that intruder.
He was getting closer, she rose from her chair and moved to the wall that was the other side of the hallway that led to the back door. Hell, the asshole could have been waiting in her bedroom.
Icy fear slipped down her spine as the asshole moved closer. She hadn’t gotten this close to being attacked in months, so she knew she had to have slipped up somewhere. Right now, she had to concentrate on staying alive.
Should she run? Her grandmother had always taught her that it was best to retreat to fight another day.
There was always a reason to take a stand against a bully, but at this moment, she felt she should get out of the house as fast as possible.
She knew the trails in the forest behind the house would be hard to follow unless he knew the area.
The fact that he was tromping down the hallway, there was a good chance the idiot didn’t know.
Thankfully, she had left her shoes on. As the man inched closer, she knew she was running out of time, so, with her gaze on the front door, she rushed forward.
“No you don’t, bitch,” a man growled, grabbing her by the hair. He yanked her back. Her scalp stung. Tears immediately filled her eyes. Fuck, that hurt.
Using all of her training she could, Lila stepped back into him, catching the bastard off balance. Shoving her elbow back, she hit him right in the gut.
“Fuck,” he said, loosening his grip on her for a second, long enough that she could get away from him.
“Oh, no you don’t.” He slipped one arm round her waist and pulled her back against him. She still hadn’t seen him, but she knew he was a few inches taller than her 5’ 8” frame and he weighed about two hundred pounds.
She wasn’t giving up. It wasn’t in her nature, so she struggled against his hold until she felt the cold steel against her throat. Fear had her stilling her movements. He pricked her tender skin, and she felt a small drop of blood drip down her neck. Anger had her planning her next move.
“Ah, now you see. I’m in charge. Fighting is useless.”
From his accent, he wasn’t local. The way he lengthened the “I” in fighting made her think he might be from the Philly area. One thing was sure; the asshat wasn’t from Hawai’i.
“This can be long and painful, or it can be quick.”
She knew he paused waiting for her to respond. Her grandmother had taught her too well.
Don’t offer information to your adversary, Delilah. Stillness and unspoken threats can give you the upper hand against a bigger adversary.
“Nothing to say?” he ground out. “Thought you were some kinda big spy person.”
Yeah, he wasn’t the brightest bulb. She knew he was bigger and stronger than she was, but he definitely wasn’t smarter.
“They didn’t say just now pretty you were, though.”
He leaned so close, she could feel his lips against her ear. Bile rose up in her throat as she fought the panic that hit her harder than she expected. The threat of sexual violence wasn’t unknown to her, but, dammit, she was refusing to allow this two-bit wannabe bad guy to play rapist.
Before she could formulate a way to get out of his hold, he was dragging her toward her bedroom. Great, he was definitely a rapist and a stupid one at that. If he wanted to rape her, why did they have to go to the bedroom? Rookie move.
She pretended to stumble and fall against him.
“Dammit, woman.”
His voice had filled with irritation. How rude of her not to want to be assaulted.
She was going to cherish making this asshole pay.
She stumbled again, this time having the desired effect.
He lost his balance, both of them falling to the floor.
As they did, she pushed away from him. She felt the sting of the knife slicing across her neck, but she knew it was superficial. At least, she hoped it was.
“Fucking hell,” he screamed, as he grabbed for her.
She fell to the floor again, her head banging hard against the Koa wood.
Stars formed in front of her eyes, but she couldn’t let that slow her down.
They rolled around on the floor. At some point, she felt the knife slice her stomach, but she pushed him to gain some distance.
It was hopefully as superficial as the wound on her neck.
Scrambling, she backed away from him, then rose to run to the door.
She heard him clamoring behind her, so she grabbed the lamp and turned swinging it at his head.
She saw his eyes widen right before she hit him in the face with it.
He fell back, hitting the heavy coffee table on the way down. He didn’t get back up.
Not knowing if he had anyone nearby, she didn’t even take time to pat him down.
Instead, she grabbed her backpack and her phone and headed out the back door.
She hoped he wasn’t dead, not because she didn’t want him to be dead.
In her mind, the asshole was a predator who needed either being locked up or put down.
She didn’t need the headache it would cause. Dead people brought cops.
As she walked down the quiet trail, she pulled out her first aid kit.
Normally, she would wait to work on her wounds, putting as much room between her and the man who had attacked her, but she could also run into someone on the trail.
She stepped off the trail, going a few feet into the vegetation before she stopped.
Her stomach was definitely hurting and the cut on her neck was stinging.
First thing, she grabbed the first aid kit.
As fast she could, Lila cleaned the wound on her neck.
After applying antibacterial cream, she put a bandage over it. It was as superficial as she thought.
Pulling in a deep breath she looked down at her shirt.
Fuck. Blood was covering it. Tugging it over her head, she dropped it in the backpack, then cringed. Dammit, that was a lot of blood, and it was oozing. Oozing was never good. Still, it probably wasn’t as bad as it looked.
She used water to clean it off as well as she could, then applied the cream and bandaged it.
Grabbing another shirt out of the front pocked she slipped it on, then blinked.
The scenery around her seemed to swirl in an unnatural way.
Oh, damn, was that a dizzy spell? Why? She was bleeding but not that bad, right?
Pushing that thought aside, she started back on the trail.
Five minutes hadn’t passed before another strong dizzy spell hit her.
Nausea rose up and she almost threw up. This wasn’t good.
Not at all. Knowing it might be too soon, but she didn’t know any other way, she went off trail again, finding the mini trail that led to a banyan tree.
Leaning against a tree, she pulled out her phone.
For a moment, she hesitated. Who could she call? She had no real friends, except the twins. And, at the moment, she didn’t want to include them in this unless she had to. Another wave of nausea had her breathing through her mouth trying to keep her lunch down.
Then, with little thought to what she was doing, she called the one person she knew she could trust and who was on Kauai.
“I’m on vacation, so there is no reason for you to call,” Ian said over the phone.
Tears filled her eyes. Dammit, why was she crying like a baby today? It had to be the stress of what she had just gone through, right?
“Listen,” then she swallowed another wave of bile that threatened. “I’m calling in a favor.”
“Sam? Are you okay?” Concern filled his voice.
“Well, I’m not sure.”
She sank down against the tree trunk, unable to keep her balance anymore.
“Where are you? What happened?”
“I got back to my house and there was an asshole waiting for me. With a fucking knife. He was not a good person.”
“Sam? Where is your house? Fuck, are you even on the islands?”
The woods around her started to rotate as if she were on a merry-go-round. “I’m on your island. I’ll leave it on as long as there is battery.”
Then the world around her spun out of control and she dropped the phone.
She wished to have at least had one day of a normal life.
But that hadn’t been for her. Just one kiss, one normal date, one…
she thought of Ian, of the smile he had given her at the restaurant when he didn’t know it was her.
Yeah, a date with Ian would never happen, but it would have been nice.
It was her last thought before everything went black.