Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Jag spied the box still sitting on Steff’s coffee table.
She was in the kitchen fixing the ice cream they were having for dessert.
He’d blown off her apologies that she didn’t have anything fancy.
He didn’t normally have anything after dinner, but he was a sucker for chocolate ice cream, and hadn’t been upset when Steff had offered it if he felt like something.
“Don’t forget you’ve got this box here to open up?
” Jag called out. The courier guy hadn’t been too happy about Jag taking it off him.
He hadn’t got any creeper vibes off him, but now that he had time to sit back and think about it, the guy’s assertion that he had to be the one to take it up had been a little out of the ordinary.
Most couriers were happy for anyone to take it off their hands.
It sometimes led to theft, so maybe the guy was being overly cautious.
It was only when a couple of people had walked past the building’s entrance and had looked at them, that the guy handed it over. Jag had made sure the delivery guy was around the corner before he had buzzed Steff to let her know he was there.
Wait, where was the guy’s truck or van?
The building had a loading zone bay at the front which most drivers would’ve used, but this guy hadn’t.
Something wasn’t adding up.
He got up and examined the box. Jag stilled, and the fine hairs on the back of his neck rose in concern, when he saw the sender portion of the label was empty. There was also no bar code or QR code like most labels had these days.
Steff came into the room and popped the bowls on the table, her head canted to the side, looking at him. “Something wrong?”
Jag hated hearing the note of fear in her voice, and he wished he could tell her that it wasn’t anything. That he was overreacting, but his gut was telling him something was off about the whole situation. “There’s no sender information.”
Her face paled, and she swayed a little. He closed the gap between them and took her hand, squeezing it to let her know she wasn’t alone in this. “I haven’t ordered anything recently, so I was surprised when it turned up.”
He didn’t want to alarm her any further than he already had, and he cursed himself for not handling it a little better. “If you’re okay with this, I think I should take it to the office and open it there.”
“Why? Do you think the contents are going to hurt me?” She leaned into him a little and, even amidst the tense situation, he was pleased the move was unconscious, and she trusted him to keep her safe—because he would.
“I don’t think so, but I think we should take some precautions. You didn’t buy anything. There are no recognizable brand markings on the box. And the label is missing details that are always on them.”
Not to mention the way the delivery guy acted about handing it over to Jag. He didn’t want to tell her that, because it would stress her out even more.
Nice, you promise you’re not going to lie to her, and now you are.
Jag wanted to ignore the voice inside his head, but his conscience was right. “There’s something else.”
“What?” Again, the fear was back in her voice.
Dammit, this wasn’t fair to Steff. She’d made good steps with meeting Cynthia and booking in to see her therapist. She may not have told him, but Jag suspected that she had been becoming more and more of a homebody in recent times than she let on to anyone.
He led her over to the couch, making sure to keep her hand firmly within his grasp.
“The delivery guy didn’t want to give it to me when I said I could take it for you.
I didn’t let him know that I was coming to your place.
I said I was a neighbor.” He shrugged. “I’m not sure why I said that, I just didn’t want to him to know where you lived.
Which was ridiculous, seeing as your apartment number is listed on the label. ”
“What? My apartment number is on the label?” Before he could react, she rushed over to the box.
“Oh my god, it is.” She whirled around and looked at him, her eyes wide, and if he thought she was pale before, she looked positively pasty now.
“It shouldn’t be listed. I never give out my apartment number. ”
Her demeanor blanked. Her gaze lost its focus, and her hands were clenched into fists. He knew what was about to happen. He’d seen it happen twice before.
Jag was by her side in a flash, and wrapped her into a tight embrace. “I’ve got you, Steff. You’re safe. No one is going to hurt you.”
“You don’t know that. Someone knows where I live. They had something delivered here.”
Jag didn’t doubt Steff. If he’d thought the actions of the delivery guy were out of the ordinary before, now he knew for certain that there was something sinister about it all. No way was he going to allow Steff to open the box now. Nor was he going to leave her alone tonight.
He was about to suggest something that he had no idea how she would take it. He needed to tread carefully, because this was her space. Her sanctuary, and he was about to propose he invade it in a way that wasn’t coming over for dinner.
“Steff, I want to stay here tonight. I don’t think you should be alone,” he said gently.
“Okay.” She snuggled into him, and he was shocked at her acquiescence. Not to mention that she hadn’t fallen into the clutches of the panic attack like he fully expected her to do.
He leaned back so he could get a better look at her, noting that her cheeks had a little more color in them.
Her hands were gripping his shirt, but her knuckles weren’t white, like they often turned during an attack.
He’d also noted that her nails weren’t long and sharp like they had been.
He didn’t know what had caused her to cut them, and he didn’t want to bring it up in case it upset her.
She would tell him whenever she was ready.
And if she didn’t, he had no issues with that either.
As if aware of his scrutiny, she met his gaze, and her eyes had lost their vacant look. There was still fear lurking in the blue depths, but that was to be expected.
Somehow, someway, she’d managed to control her descent into her attack, and he was damn proud of her for doing so.
“You did hear what I said didn’t you?” Perhaps she hadn’t quite been out of her tunnel when he’d spoken.
“I did and I said okay.”
There was nothing tentative about her response. “Right. Okay then.”
Her lips twitched into a whisper of a smile. “You seemed surprised. I didn’t think I had a choice.”
Again, there was no anger or censure in her response. If anything, she seemed more relaxed than she had been, before he’d put his foot in his mouth when he told her he wouldn’t lie to her while they were eating.
But he needed to make one thing clear though. “You always have a choice, Steff. Remember that. This is your house. Your life. You’re in charge of it all.”
Her smile twisted into a grimace. “I don’t think I’ve been in charge since the second I got taken. I’ve been going through the motions of living. After my lunch with Cynthia today, and then my session with Donelle, I know that I’ve merely been existing.”
Jag hated hearing the self-deprecation she was heaping on herself, but he also wasn’t going to dismiss it either.
It was important that she acknowledged what she’d been doing, because it helped to heal her.
“Accepting your decisions and the reasons for them are important. It validates what you’re going through.
You may have been existing, but you’re going to start living now. ”
“I want to, but it’s easier said than done.”
“The hardest journeys start with one step. You’ve taken that step. And there will be times when you misstep and go backwards. When that happens, you need to remember that you’re ahead of where you were when you started.”
“I know. That’s what Donelle said. Not those exact words, because they’re much better than what she said.”
“I doubt I’m better than a therapist, but I’ll take it.” He pressed his lips to her forehead, reveling in the little sigh of happiness that escaped her.
Jag looked at the coffee table, at the box that started it all, along with the bowls of ice cream that resembled chocolate soup and not chocolate ice cream. “I think we need a do over with dessert.”
“Yep we definitely do.” She paused, and he waited, knowing what she was going to say next. “What about the box?”
“We’ll take it to the office tomorrow and open it there.”
“We?” she queried.
“Yes, if you want to that is. I can take it in myself, but I thought you might want to be there when we open it. I also know that coming to the office could be difficult for you. I understand if you don’t want to.”
He didn’t want to open it at her place; it had already been tarnished a little with the knowledge that whoever dropped it off knew exactly where she lived. Whatever the contents were could add to that tarnish.
“No. I want to come with you. I need to. If I’m going to reclaim my life, I have to be a part of finding out what’s inside. No matter how bad it could be. Or how hard it is.”
Another rush of admiration swept through him. It wasn’t going to be easy for her, but he would be by her side every step of the way.
Steff was going to learn that she was no longer alone. Not only did she have Cynthia back in her life, she also had him and everyone he worked with.
She was part of the team now.