Chapter 43
43
M arco woke and immediately felt for Theresa. She lay next to him, her back to him, and she was curled up in such a way it looked as though she were cold or scared.
He rolled over and wrapped his arms around her, pressing his body to her back. She yawned and relaxed, her fingers wove themselves into his. She kissed his fingers and he allowed them a moment to just be.
Finally, he lifted up on his elbow and laid his head in his hand, then pulled Theresa's shoulder so she was on her back.
"Hey, are you alright?"
"Yeah."
"You were lying almost in the fetal position."
Her eyes looked up into his and a small frown appeared on her beautiful face. "Sometimes after I've had an attack, I do that in my sleep. My therapist said it's self-soothing. My dreams after an attack are fractured and usually dark. I curl up to protect myself."
His fingers moved a lock of hair that stuck to her cheek. Then he caressed her face with the back of his fingers. "We both had a rough night."
"Why did that alarm go off?"
"We aren't sure. Wes is looking into it. Today I'm going to do a thorough check of things with him. He'll be out here at eight this morning. Neither of us could see anything on the cameras last night. Today we'll walk around the outside and see if anything looks out of place. We'll check all the cameras and make sure everything is good."
Her eyes stared into his. "Are you okay after last night?"
He frowned slightly then took a deep breath. "Yes. Normally after an attack, I feel exhausted. It uses up all my energy. I couldn't see anything wrong last night on the cameras, Wes confirmed the same and that's when I had my attack. It's almost autopilot for me. We were safe, no present danger, then my body has an attack, then I'm better."
Her hand reached up and smoothed his cheek, then slid around and cupped the nape of his neck, pulling him down to her lips. He kissed her softly. He loved the way her lips felt against his. It was a rush, feeling her soft lips touch his.
He lifted his head. "That was nice."
She smiled. "Yes, it was."
"How often do you have your PTSD attacks?"
She took a deep breath. Not too often anymore. It's almost as if I forbade my body from having one. I was on the run and needed to always keep my wits about me or I'd be killed. So, this is the first one I've had in about a year."
"I'm not sure how I feel about that."
She rolled over to face him. She rested her head in her hand, mimicking his pose, and stared into his eyes for a long time. "I think you should feel good. I mean, in a way. It meant I felt safe enough with you to have an attack. Somehow, I knew we were okay. I felt like you were handling it. That might be wrong of me because if you needed me, I'd one thousand percent be here for you."
He swallowed. "I get it."
She smiled. "How often do you get attacks?"
"Since I met you, that's my first. The other night, I was surprised one didn't come on. Last night, I thought because of the way we were woken up, so abruptly and during a deep sleep, it messed with my head."
"Yeah. I think so too."
He kissed her again. "So, what we need to do is go to counseling. Mason does some counseling and between he and Jace, Quinn, Sid, and the VFW, we can find a counselor that will help us. Together. As a couple. To know how to help each other when this happens. And, who knows, maybe in the future we can help other couples."
She smiled. "Aww, I love that idea."
He kissed her again. "Regrettably, we have to get going. Let's eat and get dressed before Wes gets here."
Theresa stretched and he watched her body as she did. She was fit like a feline. Her skin so smooth his fingers itched to touch her sometimes. She rolled to her side and sat up. His body had other ideas, but he knew they didn't have time. Maybe before he left for work this afternoon, he'd make love to her again. The promise of things to come would make his morning a happy one.
He dressed and sauntered out to the kitchen to be handed a fresh cup of coffee and receive a kiss. He was beginning to love mornings.
After breakfast, Theresa jumped in the shower, and he sadly sat at the desk looking at the footage from the cameras last night to make sure they didn't miss anything. He didn't see anything out there that looked suspicious. A couple of squirrels playing. A rabbit hopped by nibbling on vegetation as it did. Animals could be identified by the cameras and shouldn't set off the alarm.
A deer ran through the backyard and that's when the cameras went off. He stopped the footage and watched frame by frame to see if anything or anyone set it off. He couldn't see a thing. He froze the footage in that spot to discuss it with Wes.
The cameras chimed and he saw Wes driving up the driveway. He moved to the front door and opened it, waving to Wes as he got out of his truck.
"Good morning."
Wes chuckled. "I'm glad you have a smile on your face and you think it's a good morning. I worried you'd be upset after the shenanigans from last night."
"Not upset. But eager to see what happened so we can rectify it."
Wes climbed the two steps to the porch and shook his hand. "Glad to hear it."
Marco stepped back and let Wes enter the cabin. "I would like to show you something I found on the cameras this morning. Maybe we can start our search out back in this section."
He moved to the monitors on the desk and backed the camera up one minute. Then he played the footage for Wes to watch with him. When the alarms went off as the deer ran by, Wes moved in closer to take a look. Marco stood, "Take a seat."
Wes sat down and replayed that footage several times. "Yep. Let's start our search out back."
They stood and began walking to the back door when Theresa stepped out of the bedroom. "Good morning, Wes."
"Morning, Theresa. You're pretty as a picture for sure."
He kept moving and Marco followed. But he stopped in front of Theresa and grinned. "You are you know." He kissed her and caught up with Wes.
Wes stepped slowly and surely through the grass in the backyard, carefully watching the ground. Marco did the same, looking for anything that seemed out of place. They were careful to stay about an arm's length apart so they didn't overlap. As soon as Marco reached the edge of the camera's view his stomach twisted.
"Wes!"
Wes rushed over to him and whistled when he neared. "I'll be damned."
He knelt down to touch the deer lying on the ground. "He's dead."
Marco helped Wes roll the deer over, looking for a gunshot or anything that caused its death. Marco felt near the deer's neck and found a lump and a fresh wound. "What's this all about?"
Wes looked closer and pulled a knife from his ankle sheath. He cut around the wound and pulled out a small device. He held it up and heard a buzzing sound coming from it.
"This is what set off the alarms."
Marco stood and followed the path the deer had taken on the camera and came to a small area where the foliage had been flattened. A few drops of blood were visible on the leaves and a small wrapper lay under some brush. He picked up the wrapper. Omnicam. That was all he could read.
He took a deep breath and looked at Wes. The older man nodded. "I think we're thinking the same thing."
They both moved toward the cabin, locking the doors after entering. Marco rinsed the device off in the sink so they could read any markings on it. Wes washed his hands in the bathroom and was already at the computer looking up Omnicam.
Marco glanced at Theresa, typing away on her computer. Her eyes met his and she stopped. She joined him at the desk with Wes and they all stared in disbelief at the article that populated the computer screen.
Omnicam is a tracking device used mainly for spying. But it had the ability to disable security systems.
Wes looked up at him. "Is there a serial number on it?"
Marco turned the device over in his hand and found some numbers. He read them off and Wes wrote them down. "I have contacts who can trace this. Do you?"
Marco nodded. "I do. I'll call them now."
Wes nodded. "I'll call you when I find something out."
The older man left, and Marco picked up his phone and called Mitch.
"Yeah."
"I need to track where an Omnicam came from. Can you do that?"
"Yeah. Where did you find it?"
"Inserted in the hide of a deer that is now lying dead in the backyard."
"No shit?"
"Yeah. No shit. It set off our alarms last night."
"Okay. Do you have a serial number, and can you take a picture of it and send it to me?"
"Yes." He read off the serial number, took the picture, and sent it.
Theresa stood near the desk listening to all that had transpired. He took a deep breath and nodded at her.
She crossed her arms in front of her and asked. "Is it the Celtics?"
"I think so. But we don't know for sure."
"They want me to know, they know where I am, and they can get to me if they want."
He stood and pulled her into his arms. "Maybe."
She stepped back. "I'm not letting those fuckers win."
She marched to her computer.
"Baby, what are you going to do?"
"I'm releasing a bit more information about them. I'm going to let them know if they continue, so will I."
His brows rose and he grinned. "You're plucky."
"I'm pissed."
He shrugged. "I say plucky, you say pissed. Same thing."
She nodded. "Okay."