Chapter 18 – Jensen
Chapter Eighteen
Jensen
“Now that’s quite the big smile ya got there. And I don’t think it has anything to do with that miserable coffee you’re staring at.”
I looked over at Susanna from the second mug I’d just poured. Normally, she avoided me in the mornings since I was more of a grouch in the early hours and generally liked to be left alone. But I’d been sort of hovering around the office.
Because I couldn’t wait for Kenzie to get there. Because she’d only been gone less than half an hour, and I still couldn’t wait to see her.
Because damned if last night hadn’t blown my mind.
“Good night?” Susanna guessed with a knowing expression.
I shrugged, unable to wipe off my smile. “Don’t you have work to do?”
“Your good night have anything to do with the fact that Kenzie’s not here when she’s been here early every other morning?”
“I wouldn’t have any idea what you’re talking about.” I knew my words wouldn’t deter Susanna, but neither was I going to overtly kiss-and-tell. Kenzie’s privacy was important to her and me .
But hell if I could wait for her to get here. Just to see a flush come over her lovely cheeks when I stared at her, both of us remembering what we’d done last night.
What I hoped to do again tonight.
I turned and went back out to the bay before Susanna could notice the physical effect that thinking about Kenzie was having on me. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to have a permanent zipper imprint on my cock.
I was actually whistling as I started work on the first vehicle of the day. If Susanna heard me, I would never hear the end of it.
I got caught up in what I was doing, and it wasn’t until I was wanting to go refill my coffee mug again that I realized how much time had passed.
Why wasn’t Kenzie here yet?
I pulled out my phone, checking that I hadn’t missed a call or text.
Nothing. My screen was blank.
I called, figuring better safe than sorry. Maybe she wanted to take a nap? Or just needed some time? It was understandable.
The call went straight to voice mail. I debated what to do and, more than that, what to think.
She’d seemed fine when I’d dropped her off— more than fine. She’d seemed just as ridiculously smiley as me.
But maybe she’d been hiding how she was truly feeling. Maybe she needed space after last night.
Maybe she was regretting it all and was already trying to back out of my life.
I put away my tools, planning to call again in ten minutes. If I still didn’t get an answer, I’d need to do something.
I didn’t want to be too pushy. Our relationship was delicate, to say the least. I had baggage and she had a stalker, plus everything between us was so new .
“You’re staring at that car like you might want to beat it to death with a wrench.”
I turned and found Lucas and Liam standing in the doorway.
“Yeah.” I put down the wrench. I had no idea when I’d even picked it up. “One of those days.”
“Kenzie here?” Lucas asked.
“I’m expecting her any minute. Actually thought she’d already be here. I dropped her off at her apartment nearly an hour ago, and she was going to change and come straight here.”
Too late, I realized what I’d just admitted. Both men stared at me with eyebrows raised but fortunately didn’t say anything.
“We need to talk to her,” Lucas finally said.
“About what?”
Liam walked farther into the bay and ran his fingers along the car I’d been working on. “That El Camino was a dead end.”
I rubbed my eyes. “Fuck.”
“Yeah,” Liam continued. “Owned by an older couple who live just outside of Denver. Their son works at the same office as Kenzie and borrows it from time to time.”
“Any chance he’s the stalker?”
“No, solid alibis for the dates and times of almost all of the bad stuff that has happened to Kenzie.”
“Damn it. I just want a lead. A direction. Any fucking clue.”
Lucas crossed his arms over his chest and stepped toward me. I knew that look. Whatever he was about to say, I wasn’t going to like.
“We might have one. But we need to talk to her about her ex-boyfriend.”
“One in particular?” I stiffened slightly, something like jealousy surging through my veins. Her comment this morning about never being treated to breakfast in bed had made me wonder about her history. She either didn’t have a lot or all the men she’d been with lacked manners .
“His name’s Alan Ard,” Lucas said. “He was arrested and is doing time for assault and battery.”
My blood turned to ice. Assault and fucking battery ? “He attacked Kenzie?”
“Evidently. He’s been in prison for thirteen months. He’ll be getting out soon.” Lucas shoved his hands into his pockets.
“If he’s still in, it couldn’t have been him stalking her.” Not that I didn’t want ten minutes alone with that bastard, regardless. The thought of someone attacking Kenzie…
“No, but he might somehow be attached to what’s going on. Ard has been in contact with someone at that hotel Jude found. Multiple phone calls, but they were to a different extension every time, so we haven’t been able to track who he’s talking to.”
Liam crossed his arms, looking even more serious. “We’re looking into it further, but we really need to talk to Kenzie about this.”
I nodded. Enough waiting. Regardless of how she might be feeling about last night, I knew she needed to be hearing this.
“I’ll call her.” I did, not liking the instant sinking sensation in my stomach when she didn’t answer once again.
“Voice mail?” Liam guessed.
“Yeah. Again.”
Lucas frowned and lowered his arms. “What do you mean, again?”
I shrugged. “I tried calling her a few minutes ago, and she didn’t answer then either. There’s a chance she might not want to speak to me.”
“You piss her off or something?” Liam guessed.
“No.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “She…spent the night with me last night. It was good. Fine. Really great.” Fuck, I didn’t want to have this talk with them. My intimacy with Kenzie was our business and no one else’s. “But maybe she’s… I don’t know. The morning after kind of thing. ”
“Can you use the location tracker on her phone?” Lucas asked.
I took out my phone that she’d linked to her burner. “Shows her at her place.” I pulled up the other app that linked to the new tracker on her car. “Car is still there too.”
We all three shared a look then moved toward the door together. Morning-after blues or not, we were going to check on her.
A few minutes later, we were in front of her apartment door. I knocked, but there was no answer. Lucas pulled out the extra key she’d given Charlie for security purposes.
I opened the door, and all three of us headed inside. All was still, but dark.
“No power?” Lucas guessed. “That’s weird. Lights were on in the lobby.”
It didn’t look like there had been any struggle, but Kenzie’s phone and purse were sitting right on the kitchen table. She wouldn’t have left without them.
Lucas checked the bedroom and proclaimed it clear. Liam tried the bathroom door.
“It’s locked.” He knocked. “Kenzie?”
I frowned, fiddling with the doorknob. It looked like it had been tampered with, scraped and kind of at an odd angle.
Someone had messed with the door. “Get that open, now!”
Liam shouldered the door open with me right behind him.
“Kenz—” I shut up, flashing my phone’s light on her curled up and sitting on the counter, hugging her knees to her chest.
As soon as she heard my voice, she turned her terrified face toward me and leaped straight into my arms. I caught her trembling body and held her tight. “Are you okay? What?—”
“Get out. Get out and close the door. There’s a snake!”
“What the?—”
I heard the rattle the same time the guys did. We all cursed and jumped backward out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind us.
I walked Kenzie over to the couch and sat her down. Here in the light, I could see how pale she was, eyes glassy. She wouldn’t let go of my arm, her nails digging into my skin.
“How long were you in there with that thing?”
“I don’t know. The whole time.” Her voice was barely audible.
I could hear Liam and Lucas talking about what to do, but I ignored them. They could handle this. There was no way I was leaving Kenzie, even if I could get her nails out of my arm. I shouldn’t have let her come in here on her own this morning. I’d wanted to give her space, but I should’ve cleared the apartment first, damn it.
Lucas had pulled his weapon and was rechecking the apartment much more carefully.
“We’re clear, except for…” He tilted his head toward the bathroom.
I did the same toward Kenzie. “Water?”
I wasn’t about to let her go. She remained in my arms, stock-still but trembling. Her muscles were locked tight, but she shook involuntarily. Hugging her wasn’t enough, but it was all I could do.
Lucas brought a glass of water to us. He tried to hand it to her, but she was shaking so hard it sloshed over the rim. I took it and held it to her lips. “Take a small sip.”
She obeyed like a baby bird, so I gave her some more.
Liam was on the phone with Charlie, and Lucas left the apartment to go talk to maintenance. A few minutes later, the power came back on, and Lucas returned.
Slowly, oh-so slowly, Kenzie’s muscles became less tense, and the shaking stopped. But she was still staring blankly out in front of her, not having said a word .
“Think you could help us get this thing trapped, so we can get into the bathroom?” Lucas asked me quietly.
I nodded and slid Kenzie gently away from me. She curled into a ball on the couch. I let her go and helped her resettle in the position she wanted.
I returned to the bathroom.
“She was smart, putting it under the shower curtain,” Liam said. “That helped keep it contained in the bathtub.”
I looked at the curtain rod lying haphazardly over the tub. “I’m not sure that she put the shower curtain over it as much as tore the whole thing down trying to get away from it.”
We could all see the shape of the snake under the curtain. Every once in a while, its rattle would give an eerie warning.
No wonder Kenzie was so damn shaken. That thing was scary as fuck. Being locked in here with it in the dark?
The guys had gotten an empty five-gallon bucket from maintenance.
“I say we put this over it and weigh it down. Get someone else out here to take care of it.” Liam’s face was grim.
I didn’t want to mess with that thing either. “Fine with me.”
The rattling got louder, and Lucas had his gun out again—not that he was going to fire it into the bathtub unless it was a last resort. We all took steps closer.
“On three,” Liam said. “Don’t let that fucker get me. One, two, three.”
I’d never seen Liam move so fast. The bucket went down over the snake, and I put weight on it to make sure it wouldn’t get out.
The thing was pissed now. Rattling up a storm.
Lucas holstered his weapon and set a heavy makeup kit on top of the bucket so I could move. “Okay, it’s not going anywhere.”
The three of us looked at one another from inside the cramped space. Kenzie was lucky she hadn’t been bitten .
Hadn’t been killed.
Someone had left that snake in the tub. They’d deliberately cut the power and rigged her lock so she couldn’t get out.
The stalker had found Kenzie.