Chapter 42
Lauren
Lauren catalogued every inch of Eric’s mansion. Everything she could see painted a picture in her mind. Using items for scale, she judged the measurements of rooms as they followed their host through the grand entrance.
“Please, make yourself at home. Your room is right this way.” Eric gestured to a magnificent staircase that was wider than Lauren’s living room. Who needed that much room to walk upstairs?
They passed a large archway leading into an immaculate white and chrome kitchen, and Lauren’s steps faltered.
Zoe stood at the island in the middle of the room, wiping the polished stone surface with a rag.
She wasn’t wearing the same outfit from the party.
She’d changed into a matching set of white silk pajamas, and her dark hair was tucked behind her ears.
The two made eye contact, and Zoe’s mouth turned up in a strained grin. She looked away quickly, turning back to her task and giving Lauren no more notice.
Zoe was officially a person of interest. What was a young girl doing walking around Eric Cross’s house in pajamas? Zach hadn’t paid much attention to her earlier because of Nick, but Zoe was the first person Lauren would ask the authorities about during the debriefing.
They followed Eric up the stairs and down a short hallway where he opened the door on the left and gestured for Zach and Lauren to enter.
“You have a nice place,” Zach said.
“Thank you. What time would you like to meet for breakfast?”
“Eight o’clock?” Zach offered.
“Perfect. And your girl is welcome as well. Mine will be joining us, and I’m sure they would enjoy a chat over mimosas.”
Well, at least she didn’t have to be separated from Zach, but listening in on the two men talking would be difficult if she had to make small talk with a strange woman at the same time.
And who was Zoe? A cleaner? That didn’t seem right. What kind of a cleaner worked at three in the morning in their pajamas? Did Eric have a daughter? Lauren had been too focused on other things to notice much about her at the party.
“See you at eight,” Eric said. He pointed into the bedroom. “The bathroom is just through there. If you need anything, my room is the one across the hall. Have a good night.”
As soon as Eric closed the door behind him, Lauren turned to look at the room.
It was three times the size of her bedroom at home, and a dark, four-poster bed sat imposing in the middle.
The ornate furniture was in pristine condition.
The walls were painted a deep emerald with a thick, cream crown molding lining the tops.
Zach squeezed her hand and held a finger in front of his lips, signaling for her to remain silent. He led her to the bathroom, closed the door, and turned on the shower.
His fingers brushed over her throbbing cheek. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. We have a lot to talk about.”
“What did you see?” he asked low enough not to be heard above the spray of water in case someone other than the authorities on the other end of their mics was listening in.
“The blueprints we studied are not for this house.”
Zach’s hand stopped moving in her hair, and his eyes darted back and forth, searching hers for explanation. “What?”
“We saw blueprints for this house, but they were fake. The exterior is at least twenty feet wider, and the rooms on the main floor are smaller than we thought.”
Zach swallowed, bobbing his Adams apple. “He knows he’s being watched.”
“I mean, he should know. I get it that he came from money, but this kind of fortune doesn’t come from the cattle auctions he owns.”
Sliding his hand behind her head, Zach pulled her closer. “You’re way too smart for me.”
Lauren rested her head against his chest. “Thanks for coming after me. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up when you did.”
His hand rubbed lazy circles on her back, soothing her tired muscles. “Some woman came to get me.”
Lauren lifted her head. “Who?”
Zach shrugged. “I don’t know her name. She had short, dark hair, and she burst into the basement saying you needed help.”
“Zoe,” Lauren whispered. “I talked to her. Her name is Zoe, and I just saw her in Eric’s kitchen a few minutes ago.”
“That would explain why he didn’t seem surprised to see her in the basement or angry that she’d interrupted the conversation. Is she in the files they showed us?”
“No, but if she’s close to Eric, we need to find out who she is.”
“Can you give them a description?” Zach asked.
Lauren closed her eyes and pictured the woman she’d spoken to at the party.
She told the authorities everything she could remember about what the woman looked like through the mic hidden in her clothes.
Then she told them about seeing Zoe in Eric’s home before explaining the differences in the building layout.
Through it all, Zach kept his arms around her waist, grounding her to the reality they were in.
When she’d finished, Zach pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You can get a shower if you want. I’ll search the room for cameras and listening devices.”
The allure of a warm shower called to her, but it would surely pull at the edges of her exhaustion. Being on high alert for hours was taking its toll on her body. “Okay. I’ll be quick.”
“Let me get your bag.” Zach stepped out and closed the door behind him, returning a few seconds later to place her bag right inside the room.
The huge bathroom loomed around her. A mirror ran the length of one wall, and she turned away from it. Seeing what one night in this place had done to her was more than she could handle. She turned on the warm water and stripped out of her clothes.
Something inside her shattered as the hot water hit her skin. Her shoulders shook as the tears mixed with the shower spray. All of her preparation and determination crumbled as the memory of Nick’s hand crashing into her cheek washed over her with the water.
She’d spent too many years pushing back the fear, and it was all hitting her at once. What if she missed something this weekend? What if they weren’t careful enough?
The shampoo and conditioner in the shower were ten times better than the generic kind she normally used, and as much as she wanted to bask in the eucalyptus scent of the body wash, she hurried out of the shower.
Tears still hung near the edges of her eyes as she dried her hair with the towel and dressed in the night clothes she’d brought. Knowing there were tracking devices sewn in did nothing to soothe the unease boiling just under her skin.
Sliding her fingers through her hair, she stepped back into the bedroom. Zach sat on the edge of the bed with his elbows propped on his knees and the Bible Matt Benson had given him in his hands.
He sat up when she walked in and waved her over. She padded across the room in her bare feet to sit on his leg, and he handed her the Bible.
“I don’t know how to use this yet,” he whispered. “Can you show me something that’ll help us right now?”
A lump formed in her throat as she accepted the Bible from him. She’d been wallowing in her sorrows and hadn’t even thought to turn to the Lord.
She flipped the thin pages to the book of Psalms and found the thirty-fourth chapter. It was her favorite—the one she’d memorized and called on many times since she discovered it.
Her fingertip brushed over the words as she recited them.
“The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry out for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
Zach looked from the page to her. “How did you know where to find that?”
She gave a small shrug. “I don’t know. God showed it to me a long time ago when I needed it, and it helps me to remember that He sees me even in the darkest times.”
He rested his forehead against hers and whispered, “Angel, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
She chuckled. “This is definitely a different world.”
He crooked a finger under her chin and pressed a kiss to her lips. “You need to get some sleep.”
“You do too.” She stood and covered her mouth as a yawn took over.
They’d been sitting on the only bed in the room. She’d thought they’d be sharing a hotel room, but plans had changed. Now they’d be sharing a bed.
“I’ll sleep on the floor,” Zach said as he got to his feet.
“Don’t be stupid.” She couldn’t imagine sleeping on the hard floor after the whirlwind of a day they had. Zach had gone to great lengths for her lately, and the trust between them was solidifying more each day.
Lauren twisted her fingers as she eyed the large bed. “We can share the bed.”
Zach shook his head. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. I know your boundaries, and I respect them.”
She let her hands drop to her sides. “That’s why I trust you.”
He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and grabbed his bag. “Pick your side, and I’ll be back in a few. Can you do another sweep of the room? You’re better at noticing things.”
The bathroom door closed behind him, leaving her alone in the strange place she’d be sharing with Zach for the night. After locating her phone and charger, she plugged it in beside the bed and placed the small microphone on the bedside table next to it.
Starting her search for surveillance devices, she ran her fingers over every surface in the room. Once she’d finished with the furniture and baseboards, she stood on her suitcase as she moved it around the perimeter of the room to check the crown molding.
When she’d finished her search, she picked up the mic beside the bed. “The room is clear, as far as I can tell.”
Everything they said was being scrutinized by the team. Hopefully, they were getting the information they needed to build a case against Eric Cross.
Zach stepped from the bathroom wearing a white T-shirt and gray sweatpants. He rummaged in his bag, pulled out a pistol, and laid it on the bedside table.
Her knees buckled, and she sank to the bed. She’d be sleeping next to an armed man. The scenario was so far outside of her comfort zone, that the shock of what they were doing finally hit her.
Zach’s eyes widened, and he rushed to her side. Sitting on the bed beside her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and cupped her cheek. He tilted her face toward him as the first tears spilled out of her eyes.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
She nodded, dragging in a rasping breath. “This is crazy.”
Zach pulled her to him, circling her with his strong arms. “Try to rest.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just hitting me that we are in over our heads,” she whispered. “We’re sleeping with a gun and strangers listening in. Who knows what Eric is going to do.”
“Shh. It’s okay.” Zach brushed a hand over her hair. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you tonight. I promised to keep you safe, and I failed.”
“No. It’s not that,” she said through ragged breaths. “It’s… We could mess this up. We could—”
“Don’t think about the bad stuff. I’m here, and they’ll have to kill me to get to you. I won’t go down easily, angel.”
She grew up in this life. Her parents spent their days and nights at parties like the one she’d attended with Zach tonight.
How many times had she woken up to her parents passed out on the couch and strangers asleep in the living room?
It was everything she was afraid of—and she’d walked in by her own free will.
It was for a good cause. They just had to keep up the act and stay focused. Zach held her until the tears stopped, then she straightened and brushed her damp hair away from her face. “I think I’m just really tired.”
She slid beneath the covers on one side of the bed, and Zach laid on top of the covers on the other side.
She turned, facing him, while he lay on his back.
The dim light from the bathroom cast shadows over his face.
With one arm behind his head and the other resting on his chest, she could almost imagine he was getting ready for a peaceful night of sleep.
“Zach,” she whispered.
“Hmm.”
“Thanks for getting to me so quickly.”
He turned his head, directing his dark irises at her. “I wish it hadn’t happened.”
“I’m fine. I was scared more than anything.”
“You’re not fine. I hate that guy, and I would have choked the life out of him if…”
“If you didn’t have a conscience now?” she finished.
“Killing someone would have upset you even more. And you wouldn’t have looked at me the same again.”
She reached into the darkness and rested her hand on his shoulder. “You’re right, but I think that’s the Holy Spirit telling you something.”
Zach swallowed hard. “Maybe you’re right.”
She rubbed her thumb over his shoulder, needing the link between them to settle her unsteady heart. “You were different tonight. Like the old you.”
“I had to be.”
“I know. It was like you hated everyone though.”
He covered her hand with his, slipping their fingers together like two pieces of a puzzle. “I’m sorry I treated you like that when we met. I shouldn’t have walked away all those times, but I didn’t know how to be that close to you. It was never hate. Not with you.”
A silent tear slipped from the corner of her eye, disappearing as soon as it touched the pillow. “I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you too, angel. Get some rest.”
Sleep should have been difficult, but she drifted off with the strong assurance of Zach’s hand over hers.