Chapter 21
Cora sat on the rooftop deck of Pipe’s cabin at The Refuge.
To her surprise, he had replaced the two separate Adirondack chairs with a cushioned love seat shortly after they’d returned.
He said it was so he could sit closer to her.
It was adorable, and considerate, and was even a little hard to believe.
Cora had never had a man who wanted to be by her side.
And Pipe being so sweet was hard to get used to.
Her arm was in a cast and she’d been given painkillers for her cracked coccyx. She’d literally broken her butt. It was ridiculous. But Pipe had gotten her a wedge cushion to sit on and the drugs cut down the pain significantly.
The helicopter ride had been terrifying and painful, but what had been even scarier was staring down the barrels of a dozen weapons after they’d landed.
Owl and Stone had managed to land on a helipad at a local hospital, but since the landing was unauthorized and no one knew who they were or what was happening, the police had been called.
It had taken nearly an hour to straighten everything out—with the help of Tex, Brick, Lara’s parents, and even Owl and Stone’s former commander—but eventually they were allowed to enter the hospital.
Cora was discharged that same night after x-rays and getting the cast on her arm, but Lara had stayed for two nights.
Owl didn’t leave her side. Every time he so much as tried to get up, Lara freaked out.
For some reason she’d latched onto him, and when he wasn’t in her line of sight, she became hysterical.
Her parents had come to the hospital, and even their presence hadn’t calmed her down much.
They were obviously glad to see her and know that she was alive, but distraught by everything that had happened.
They were filled with guilt over ignoring Cora’s warnings…
guilt made even worse when Lara didn’t seem to want them to stay.
Cora suspected it would take a while for their relationship to mend, if it ever would.
Owl wasn’t fazed by Lara’s need to have him by her side. He had an unending well of patience, holding her hand for two days straight, only reluctantly letting go for the occasional bathroom break.
“You all right?” Pipe asked.
It had been less than a week since their ordeal in the basement, and Cora swore Pipe asked her that question at least twenty times a day, but she truly didn’t mind. Him asking meant he cared, which was the best medicine she could’ve had.
“Yeah. Just thinking,” she told him.
“About?”
“Him. Creepy Guy.”
Pipe scooted closer and put his arm around her shoulders. He couldn’t pull her into his lap with her broken tailbone, but he didn’t hesitate to touch her whenever he could. “He’s going to be found.”
Cora appreciated his confidence, but she wasn’t so sure. After all, the FBI hadn’t been able to find him before. What made this time any different?
“They will,” Pipe insisted, as if he could read her mind. “Someone like that? Someone evil down to his core…he’ll make a mistake.”
“I just…he’s going to hurt some other woman. Or women.”
Pipe sighed. “Yeah.”
That was all he said, but as much as Cora hated him confirming her worst fears, she appreciated that he wasn’t brushing off her concerns.
“Tex hasn’t found out any more info?” she asked.
“No. And he’s still super pissed that Unknown hacked into his computers.”
Cora huffed out an amused breath.
“You don’t know him. He prides himself on being the best of the best when it comes to tech shit. And this anonymous person has not only done what he wasn’t able to do—three times now—he did it by hacking into Tex’s system to get information.”
“But he’s been helping us. I mean, he unjammed those phone signals so you could talk to Stone. And he figured out who Creepy Guy really was.”
“I know. But Tex still isn’t happy.”
“Who do you think it is?” Cora asked.
“I have no clue.”
“Not even a guess?”
Pipe sighed. “Not a good one. I’ve talked about it with the guys, and previously we’d thought it could be someone from our pasts.
One of our teammates, a commander, someone else we worked with.
But Stone brought up an excellent point, one we can’t dismiss…
that it’s more likely someone connected to The Refuge. ”
Cora gasped. “Really? Like who?”
“It could be anyone. Robert, Jess, Savannah, Ryan, Jason, Luna…even one of the men or women who deliver food and supplies up here. Anyone who might’ve overheard what was going on with Reese, then Lara.”
“Seriously? You think Robert’s a closet hacker?” Cora asked with a small laugh.
“Everyone has stuff they don’t share about themselves. But I think Stone’s right. It has to be someone who knows what’s going on here at The Refuge.”
“Are you mad?” Cora asked.
Pipe shrugged. “Yes and no.”
“I kind of like the thought of having an anonymous benefactor looking over us,” Cora declared as she leaned into Pipe’s side, feeling content.
They hadn’t had a conversation about how long she might stay here with him, but the time was coming when they’d need to talk about the future. She didn’t really want to, didn’t want to face reality. But she was healing, and she needed to make some decisions about her job and life back in DC.
Complicating matters was Lara. She was a completely different person than who she’d been before Arizona. Cora didn’t blame her, not in the least. She’d been through something traumatic, and would be dealing with that for a long time. Cora would do whatever it took to help her heal.
But so far, she wasn’t healing at all. Wasn’t leaving Owl’s cabin.
When she was discharged from the hospital, there wasn’t even a doubt that she’d be coming back to The Refuge with them. They’d actually decided to drive, since Lara didn’t do well around groups of people. She didn’t speak once during the drive and continued to panic when Owl was out of her sight.
Cora wasn’t jealous. Did she want Lara to lean on her because they were best friends?
Of course. But knowing she considered Owl her safe space was completely fine, because he was a good man.
And there was something in his eyes when he looked at her friend that told Cora he’d do whatever it took to help her.
She wanted that for Lara. So Cora wasn’t upset that Owl was the one at her side. She was angry that she was so broken, she couldn’t be left alone. Sad that she’d gone through what she had. But not envious of Owl.
“Will you tell me about the investigation?” she asked Pipe.
“I’m not sure I want to,” he finally said in response.
“I know,” Cora said, and she did. Pipe was her protector. He’d proven it more than once. Wanted to keep her from seeing or hearing anything upsetting. But she’d had time to come to terms with what happened and needed to know everything the police and FBI had learned.
He sighed. “You know that Ridge Michaels was found deceased in the house.”
“Yeah. Single gunshot to his temple.”
“It wasn’t suicide,” Pipe added.
Cora gasped and looked up at him. “It wasn’t?”
“No. The angle was wrong. And the shot was in his left temple, and Michaels was right-handed. There were a few news stories about it, but just as the publicity was ramping up, that famous actress out in Hollywood was kidnapped, and there was that four-hour car chase to stop her stalker from taking her out of state. That’s been dominating the news. ”
“Yeah,” Cora said with a nod, resting against Pipe once more.
“The assumption is that it was Grant who killed him, after we arrived. To keep him from talking.”
“That makes sense,” Cora mused.
“Also, as we thought, the other employees in the house were in the dark about what was happening right under their noses. If they knew, I’m guessing they’d all be dead right now too.
I suppose some of their ignorance can be chalked up to them being used to the quirks of the rich people they worked for.
They were used to Ridge’s reputation, knew he went to strip clubs when he visited.
And they had no reason to think there was anyone being hidden in the basement. ”
“And the media room? Did they know it was used to knock people unconscious so they could be moved to the basement room, where Creepy Guy could do whatever he wanted?” Cora asked a little huffily.
“They claim to have had no idea.”
“But what about that gas? I mean, didn’t anyone notice anything weird with that?”
“Well, as I thought at the time, it was argon gas. Which is legal to purchase. It’s used in welding all the time. So it’s not as if having bottles of it in that closet next to the media room was anything to be concerned about.”
“Bryson Clark, if I came home and found that you had ten bottles of argon gas in one of our closets, you bet your ass I’d wonder what the hell it was doing there, especially since you don’t weld,” Cora said a little heatedly.
He chuckled, and the sound made her smile, even though the subject they were discussing was heavy.
“Noted. But then again, I’m not a gazillionaire and don’t have weird quirks that the hired help is paid to overlook. And…I don’t have any hired help either.”
“Whatever,” Cora muttered.
But she smiled when Pipe kissed the side of her head. She loved this. Loved sitting here on the deck, in the dark, in the cold, cuddled up next to Pipe. Looking at him, no one would ever think he was the cuddling type, but she couldn’t help but love that with her, he definitely was.
“So what was the final word about Ridge spending her money? He had to know he’d be caught. I mean, seriously, no woman ever would spend that much at a gentlemen’s club.”