Chapter 7
Andrei put out another cigarette on the tree trunk he’d been leaning against for hours now and threw the butt onto the growing pile next to his feet.
He’d been watching the Holland residence for the last two days, ever since Mikhail had kicked him out of his office, and had been rewarded with absolutely nothing.
In fact, this neighborhood was so quiet, it gave him the creeps.
He debated for the hundredth time whether or not he should break into the house again and search for the files that he so badly needed.
But the police had been circling the cul-de-sac every couple of hours, and he didn’t want to risk being noticed.
Not when he was already on such thin ice with Mikhail.
Another idea was tugged at the edges of his mind. Suppose Mrs. Holland and her new boyfriend had taken the information with them? Suppose the flash drive in the kitchen had been a decoy. They certainly hadn’t wasted any time leaving after they’d surprised him.
Perhaps he was wasting his time standing here, waiting for her to return. He didn’t know where she and her boyfriend had gone, but what if there was a way to smoke her out? Send her another message, make her think he was coming for them?
He lit another cigarette and cast one last glance at the lifeless house. He would get that information before Mikhail did, his brother be damned. He would get it and redeem himself.
◆◆◆
Everly stretched out on a blanket in the backyard, savoring the sun’s warmth on her back and legs, and continued her sketch of the mountains she’d begun earlier.
The day had dawned calm and clear, and Grant had suggested another round of target practice after breakfast. She’d done much better this time, hitting almost all the cans on the first try.
By the end of this trip, she might be a bona fide outdoorswoman.
The thought made her smile. She began deepening the shadows on one side of the mountains, glancing up every few seconds to make sure she was capturing the light just right.
Just a little more intensity in the crevasse, and—
Snap. The pencil lead broke.
“Shit,” she muttered to herself, looking around for her supply pouch. More cursing followed when she realized she’d left it inside.
She let herself in through the back door and stopped short at the sight of Grant in the kitchen, a slightly lopsided chocolate cake in front of him. “What’s this?”
He shot her a sheepish grin. “Happy birthday, Ev. I thought you might want to celebrate, despite the circumstances.” He turned to the counter behind him and produced a glass jar full of fluffy pink and white flowers.
“I asked Abel to cut some of his peonies for you this morning,” he said, handing her the arrangement.
“I know it’s not much, but I hope you like it. ”
Everly thought her heart might burst. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”
“Now you get to make a wish. I won’t embarrass you with my singing abilities. Or lack thereof.” Grant stuck two candles, shaped like a 2 and an 8, in the top of the cake and lit them with a cigarette lighter.
She didn’t really believe in wishes, not anymore.
But as Everly closed her eyes and blew out the candles, she sent out a wish, a prayer, a request to the universe—she didn’t know quite what to call it—that she could find lasting peace and happiness in her life.
That the fleeting moments of contentment she’d glimpsed here and there since arriving at the cabin could somehow become permanent.
When she opened her eyes, Grant was watching her in that quiet, calm way of his. “What did you wish for?” he asked with a grin.
Everly rolled her eyes. “I can’t tell you, or it won’t come true. You know that.” She nudged him with her elbow and then grabbed a butter knife out of the utensil drawer. “How did you know it was my birthday, anyway?” she asked as she cut into the cake.
Grant grabbed two plates out the cabinet. “I saw it in a couple of places when I went through some of those letters from DropKom and it reminded me. Snuck some cake mix into the cart at the grocery store the other day when you weren’t looking.”
She placed a thick slice on each plate. “And you remembered my favorite flavor. Perfect.”
Posie trotted over just as they sat down to eat, rubbing against Everly’s ankles as she always did whenever food was present.
“This cat lives to eat, I swear.” Everly shook her head as she retrieved the canister of cat treats from out of the cabinet and shook some into Posie’s bowl.
“Here you go. A snack that won’t kill you.
” She gave the cat an affectionate pat before returning to the table and sampling the cake.
She sighed. Stuck in a cozy mountain cabin with a sexy man, her cat, and a sinfully delicious chocolate cake… what more could a girl want?
“This cake is amazing,” she told him as she took another bite. “Tastes like it came from a bakery.” She could have sworn he puffed up a little at her words.
“Thanks. My mom ran a bakery in our hometown for years. I picked up a few tips here and there.”
“What do your parents do now?” she asked. She suddenly wanted to know as much about him as he was willing to share. She realized that even though she’d known him for years, he rarely spoke about his personal life.
“Not much.” Grant folded his hands behind his head and leaned back in the chair with a sigh. “Not since Melissa died. Mom closed up the bakery that year, and Dad had already retired. I think they travel a little now, but they mostly just stay home.”
Whatever had happened to his sister, it was obvious her death had been unexpected. He didn’t volunteer more information, and she wasn’t going to pry. She settled for changing the subject instead. “Why did you join the Army?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Why does anyone? I grew up in a tiny little town in Illinois. The only real options after high school were to farm, work in the local slaughterhouse, or move away for college. My grades were decent but not enough to pay for a full ride, and I didn’t want to take on debt like that right out of the gate.
So when a recruiter made the rounds at our school, I signed up.
” He sat back up in his chair and propped his elbows on the table.
“And the rest is history. It’s been well worth it. ”
“I should say so. You got to meet me, after all,” she teased, laying her hand against her chest in mock humility.
His eyes darkened just a fraction at her words. “You have no idea,” he said quietly, his words sliding over her like liquid silk.
She stammered, but before she could respond, her phone buzzed on the table. She glanced at the screen.
UNKNOWN NUMBER.
“Looks like my friends are back.” Nerves soured her stomach. “Do you want me to answer it?”
“Absolutely.” Grant was already at her side, activating the recording app he’d installed earlier to capture the call. “Keep them talking for as long as you can,” he said before he slid the bar to answer and tapped the speakerphone icon. He gave her shoulder a quick squeeze.
“Hello?” Everly hoped like hell she sounded casual, unbothered.
“Mrs. Holland. What a delight to hear your voice. I trust you’re enjoying your special day?”
An icy finger of fear slid down Everly’s spine. “What do you want?”
The man on the other end chuckled. “Straight to business. I like it. Well, Mrs. Holland, the matter is really very simple. You entered into an agreement with our company. One that remains incomplete. We were promised certain materials, and now you must provide the remainder. Or we’ll be forced to collect what’s owed by other means. ”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Everly told him, resisting the urge to end the call then and there. She could do this. Get STAG the info they needed to track these losers down.
“Don’t play stupid with me. You know exactly what I’m referring to.”
“Look. I don’t know what you think I have, but there’s been a mistake,” she told him again. “I don’t have access to any mysterious resources, or mountains of cash, or whatever else you think I might be sitting on. Nothing. Zilch.”
“We have been more than patient with you,” the man growled on the other end.
“I had hoped to reach a peaceful resolution to this issue. That is why it pains me to inform you that we installed a tracking device on your boyfriend’s truck before you left town.
We know where you are, Everly Holland. And if you don’t hand over what’s ours, we will hunt you down and take it from you. The choice is yours.”
The call ended, and Everly frowned up at Grant, trying to quiet the small kernel of fear that had bloomed in her gut. “A tracking device? He’s bluffing, right?” She craned her neck to look out the back windows, as if a goon might pop up in broad daylight.
“Definitely.” He picked up her phone and tapped the screen, sending the recording to Evan. “I checked the truck before we left Atlanta. But I’ll do it again, just to prove that bastard wrong.”
She followed him out the door, grateful for his unruffled attitude that soothed her jagged nerves. Jeremy would’ve been screaming by now, she thought to herself. She shook her head. Comparisons didn’t do any good. But sometimes the difference was too stark to ignore.
Grant retrieved a black wand-like device from the console before sliding underneath the truck. Everly crouched down to watch as he swept it along the entire underside of the vehicle, his expert eyes surveying every nook and cranny that could fit a tracking device. And even the ones that couldn’t.
“Everything looks good,” he called. “I’ll check in the cab too.”
“What is that thing?” she asked as he emerged and quickly swept the truck’s interior.
He held the wand up. “Radiofrequency detector. It can find GPS trackers, bugs, all kinds of stuff.” He returned it to the console and turned back to Everly.
“Truck’s clean. Which means that he’s trying to scare you.
Make you panic and turn over whatever he thinks you have. He has no idea where you are.”
“I’m a little ashamed to admit that he did scare me.” She leaned against the truck and cast a sidelong glance at Grant. “I never understood how you guys stay so calm and collected, even when everything’s falling apart.”
“Years of practice.” He winked. “That, and the fact that panic will get you killed. The moment you let somebody rattle you is the moment they’ve got the upper hand. Don’t give the bastards the satisfaction, that’s what I always tell myself.”
“I’ll try to remember that.” She frowned as she replayed the phone call in her mind. “I still have no idea what information he’s after. Jeremy never mentioned a deal, ‘assets,’ anything like that.”
Grant slung his arm around her shoulders as they started back towards the cabin, a casual gesture that had her leaning into him just a little bit. He was solid and warm and reassuring. He was safe.
“I suspect we won’t know for sure what he wants until Evan cracks into the right file. And maybe after STAG analyzes the recording, we’ll have more clues to work with,” he told her as he opened the door and motioned for her to enter first.
She stood in the living room and crossed her arms. “So, we wait.”
“We wait,” he agreed, standing in front of her. “And in the meantime, we’ve got a birthday to celebrate. So how would you like to spend the rest of your day?”
◆◆◆
Everly sighed with satisfaction as the new Mr. and Mrs. Darcy finally kissed in the last scene of the movie. “Just as good the hundredth time as it was the first. Thanks for watching it with me,” she said as the credits began to roll.
“No problem.” Grant took a swig of his beer and turned to face her. “Easiest birthday celebration ever. I thought you’d want to hit the club or something.”
She laughed and drained the rest of her wine glass, caught in that heady stage between buzzed and drunk where she felt relaxed, but not totally uninhibited.
If only he knew her true desires. When Grant had asked, she’d told him she wanted a wine and movie night.
But as much as she adored Pride & Prejudice , concentrating on the TV had been a challenge.
“No thanks to the club,” she said, propping her head against her fist and facing him on the couch. “But I’d love to attend a ball. Maybe with a dark and brooding man secretly pining after me. You know. Simple stuff,” she joked. “Too bad real life isn’t as exciting and romantic as the movies, huh?”
“Hey, never say never. You just had an exciting day filled with boxed cake and cheap wine. Doesn’t get more romantic than that.”
“This was the best birthday I’ve had in years. Really.” She squeezed his forearm, then on impulse leaned in and kissed his cheek, his day’s worth of stubble rough under her lips. “Thank you.”
Grant remained still as she pulled away. He didn’t turn his head to catch her mouth, or any other trick another man might have tried. In fact, he looked wary, like he was trying to figure out what her next move was going to be.
Maybe the wine had gone to her head more than she realized.
Maybe it was the way he was looking at her, like he was battling with himself.
Everly didn’t know, but she did know that she was going to have to spell it out for him, give him permission, before he’d ever make a move.
And she knew that the time was now. “There’s one more gift I’d like for my birthday,” she said.
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“I want you to kiss me.”