He could’ve jumped through the ceiling. “And now you’re telling me this? You waited this long to tell me?”
“Funny. You waited this long to tell me that there might be a reason for a group of evil scientists and bureaucrats to want you dead. You didn’t bother to do me the favor of telling me there might be people out there trying to track you down, but you’re the one who’s getting annoyed with me?” She didn’t wait for him to answer before plowing ahead. “Anyway, how was I supposed to know that would be important? Or that you might want to know if you had anything to do with them in the past?”
It was impossible to argue successfully with someone whose mind was as sharp as hers. “Okay, fine. So where is it? Did you delete it? Don’t tell me it was on your computer,” he groaned.
She didn’t groan. She didn’t even look upset. Instead, she tapped her head. “It’s up here. Did I not tell you I have an eidetic memory?”
For the second time that morning, his legs almost went out from under him. “You have what?”
“It’s not the sort of thing I brag about. It’s always made me feel like a freak. Yes, I remember all of it, and I could give it to your team. Can you take me to them?”
“Absolutely not. No. I won’t.” Yet Marnie was already off the bed, opening the suitcase left on the floor. He might as well not have said a word.
“Then Kara will take me. I know she knows where it is. Either way, I’m going to give them what they need. I’m not going to do it over the phone or the computer because God only knows whose hands that sort of thing could fall into. Don’t tell me how secure your system is,” she was quick to say, throwing him a dirty look. “I overheard Logan saying something about a hacker back when you guys first started installing things at the house. I never said anything about that either because I was half scared to death of you guys anyway. No offense, but I would rather talk to your people face-to-face than risk a hacker finding this information. Understand?”
What he didn’t understand was when he’d lost control of the situation. It seemed like there was nothing for him to do but stand back and watch she gathered her clothes in her arms, holding them in front of herself like armor.
“I’m going to take a quick shower, and then we can go.” There was a determined angle to her jaw, hardness in her eyes. He understood then that he would be the world’s biggest idiot to fight. It would be like fighting a brick wall.
“It’s going to be a mess out there,” he warned her. “You know how bad it’s supposed to get.”
“Then we’d better hurry out, right?” There wasn’t any getting around her. She was already out of the room, on her way to the shower, by the time he regained the power to speak.
Chapter Thirty
“This is very unusual.”
“You’ve already said that.”
“I felt like it bears repeating.”
“You’ve already repeated yourself.” Marnie glanced at Sledge, who was beyond the point of being beside himself. “Are you really this upset about my coming to see where you work?”
He snickered, shaking his head slowly. “I can’t believe you think that’s what this is all about—finding out where I work. Like that’s such a problem.”
“Then what are you so worried about?”
“For one thing, we wanted to make sure these people didn’t know there was any connection between you and us.” He glanced her way. “And this is why I’m nervous. I admit I’m nervous. I’m not immune to being nervous when something important like this is happening. And this is important; don’t trick yourself into thinking it isn’t. This is a big deal. I’m taking you to headquarters where we do all our business, and if this assassin found a way to track you, they might track you to us. That’s a big deal. I need you to understand that I’m putting everybody I know and care about at risk just by taking you with me.”
“No pressure or anything,” she muttered, snickering faintly.
“I didn’t tell you that to put pressure on you. I’m telling the truth.”
“I know you are,” she sighed. She was starting to get a headache and wasn’t sure if it was related to the stress of the situation or the stormy atmosphere. She took the bridge of her nose between her fingers, pinching.
“Are you in pain?”
She nodded, still gripping her nose. “Yeah, it’s coming on hard.”
“We keep aspirin and things like that at headquarters. Doc will give you something when we get there.” He surprised her then by reaching over and touching her knee, squeezing it gently, reassuringly. And although she wore jeans, her skin tingled at his touch. She might as well have not been wearing anything at all.
“Thank you.” She took a chance then, her hard hammering wildly, the naysayer in the back of her mind telling her not to, that it was a mistake, that she’d regret it. But she was sick of listening to that voice, sick of letting it hold her back, telling her what to do, what not to do. She was a grown woman, and if something happened that she didn’t like very much—a disappointment—she could deal with it because she was an adult.
And what was the worst that could happen anyway? He could pull away and hurt her feelings, but she’d already been through worse than that. She could handle anything.
Which was why she let her hand slowly creep over his, tentatively covering it. It was warm, so much bigger than hers, and it jumped slightly at her touch.
Mistake, mistake. She started to pull her hand away, instantly regretting taking a chance—why did she take chances anyway? There was a reason the voice in her head told her not to do things like this. There was a reason she didn’t take chances. Closing herself off was better than facing humiliation.
But he caught her before she could get away, clasping her hand, weaving his fingers through hers. She let out a long, soft sigh of relief.
Nobody had ever told her that something so simple could be so reassuring. So sweet. Her heart swelled with pride and happiness, which seemed like a strange reaction considering everything else that was happening.
She was holding hands with a shifter.
Did it matter? She still didn’t know for sure. She didn’t want it to matter, that much she knew. She’d already checked in with herself while taking a shower, mulling the situation over.
It wasn’t his fault he was who he was. Then again, it wouldn’t have been his fault if he’d been born that way. There was no fault to be had. There was nothing inherently wrong with being a shapeshifter, even if they weren’t exactly commonplace. She had certainly never known one before, and she didn’t know anyone who had.
Then again, how did she know? Maybe she’d known shifters her entire life—after all, she hadn’t known he was a shifter until he told her.
But no, she still doubted that she’d known any since she’d never known anybody like him before. Knowing the history of the team, she now understood why they all seemed so different from other people. Bigger, stronger, with a strange, primal sort of energy.
Primal. Yes, that was the right word for it because they were animals.
No. She wasn’t about to let herself get talked out of what she knew was right—even if she was the one doing to talking. She wanted Sledge. She’d never wanted anybody before, not the way she wanted him. Her body practically vibrated with the need to be close to him to the point where she felt sick when she as much as imagined never seeing him again when this was all over.
There was no way that was wrong, no way it could be a mistake. It was the only true, right thing she had in her life, and she wasn’t about to let go. She would hold on with both hands, with her teeth if she had to. She wasn’t about to lose him. If it meant learning how to adjust to who he was, that was fine—after all, couples had to get used to each other all the time. There was nothing unusual about that.
Had she just thought of them is a couple? She realized she had. Maybe she was getting ahead of herself. They had never talked things over, the whole future thing.
She couldn’t fool herself in
to thinking there was no future for them, not when he held her hand that way. Not when he’d held her as she fell asleep, stroking her back and kissing the top of her head so tenderly. He was probably feeling just as cautious about this as she was—there were still so many unanswered questions, so many complications.
Maybe he didn’t expect to make it through this and didn’t think it would be fair to get involved with her before he knew for sure that he would live through the mission.
“Promise me something?” she whispered, turning to him. “I know how ridiculous this is going to sound.”
“What do you want? I would do anything.” He squeezed her hand, punctuating his vow. “Anything.”
“Promise me you’ll make it through this. You won’t let anything happen to yourself.”
“I can promise I’ll do my best.”
She flinched. “That wasn’t what I was asking, and you know it.”
“I know what you were asking, but I can’t make a promise when I don’t know if I can keep my word. I want to. I don’t want to be apart from you. I don’t want to leave you in this world alone. I would move heaven and earth to protect you, but here’s the thing.”
He pulled into a parking lot, practically empty. She thought it might be an abandoned complex until she noticed a few cars parked in front of one of the buildings. Rather than continuing deeper into the complex, he pulled the car over and put it in park before turning to face her.
God, he was beautiful. She couldn’t breathe when she looked at him, especially with the intense expression in his dark eyes. It took her breath away.
His intensity deepened when he leaned in. He filled her entire world—the sight of him, the feel of his hands over hers, even his scent. She didn’t know which way was up, lost in him.
“If it comes down between you and me, I’m going to choose you. Every single time, you will be my priority. My job is to protect you. That’s it. Yes, I want to protect myself, but I can’t promise to take care of me without knowing for sure you won’t come under any danger. Do you see what I’m saying? Why I can’t make a promise that I don’t know I’ll be able to keep?”
On one hand, she appreciated his honesty—and in her heart of hearts, the fact that he would even suggest risking his life for her was thrilling. Maybe she shouldn’t have been thrilled, but she couldn’t help it. It was exciting, enough to leave her giddy, her heart thudding.
Still… “I mean, I don’t want you to rush into any danger or anything. Not because of me.”
“Don’t you see? I would be doing it for myself just as much as I’d be doing it for you. I’m not trying to go through this life without you, Marnie. I’ve known it since the very beginning. Remember? I wouldn’t leave the hospital? Now maybe you can understand a little better. There was no choice in it for me—the minute I laid eyes on you, even though you weren’t conscious at the time, I knew. My other side, my wolf, knew.”
“Knew what?” she breathed, practically ready to hyperventilate. Was this really happening?
“I knew I couldn’t live without you. I didn’t even know your name, but I knew you were the one for me. I know, this is probably the wrong time…” He grimaced like he wished he’d never gotten started.
Anything he was about to say after that was lost like tears in the rain that had just started hitting the windshield when she darted forward, kissing him hard, deeply. She caught his face in her hands, holding fast. This man, this magnificent man. He was hers if she wanted, and he would always be hers, she knew that. She felt it the way he’d felt their connection before they’d even said a word to each other.
That was the only way she could think to answer, and it seemed to be the right answer since he smiled when she pulled away, drawing her in, touching his forehead to hers. “Okay,” he breathed, the sound a person made when they set down something very heavy and could finally rest. She wanted him to rest, to feel peace.
“Are you ready to take me to headquarters now?” she whispered, chuckling softly.
“We’re already here,” he whispered, stroking her cheeks, her hair. “I mean, we’re in the parking lot. I know it doesn’t look like much, but that’s the way we like it.”
She managed to shake herself free of the heart-stopping joy and lingering sense of disbelief that he wanted her, wanted to be hers, and peered out the window through the rain to where those boxy, unremarkable buildings sat. “It looks like any other office park,” she remarked.
“Yeah. That’s sort of the point.”
“Okay, okay, I get it.” She snickered at his sarcasm, too happy to care much. How could she possibly be happy? How could she be happy right now? Life was so strange. She’d lost everything but somehow had gained a lot too—maybe everything she’d been missing before.
They continued through the lot and parked next to trucks that seemed familiar. Of course, since they all drove similar cars. She didn’t want to ask where Jace had picked up the car they’d switched to on the way to the safe house.
They had all sorts of methods, these guys, and probably a lot of money if they could afford cars and houses and equipment all for the sake of doing their job.
Maybe Kara’s family wasn’t the only one with a whole lot of money on their side. It was sheer luck that these where the people who happened to witness her getting run off the road.
Or was it? Was there something else at play?
She had no idea, and that scared her a little. The thought that there was something bigger than her, bigger than all of them, pulling the strings connected to their lives.
But it wasn’t scary. Not really. Because that force, whatever it was, led Sledge to her. So it couldn’t be bad.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Marnie, this is Val. She’s our resident genius.”
“You make it sound like she’s the only genius around here,” Hawk snickered from his desk where he worked on three laptops simultaneously. The man had a gift.
“Watch it, buster,” Val warned with a grin. “You know how unhappy I’ll make your life if I don’t get my due.” She shook Marnie’s hand warmly.
“It’s nice to meet you—and you,” Marnie added, looking to Hawk. “Thanks to both of you for everything so far. And thank you for warning me to get out of the house. You were right, of course.”
“I don’t always like being right,” Val admitted.
“That’s news to me,” Sledge snorted. Hawk joined him, though he ducked behind his monitors before Val could shoot him another dirty look.
“Marnie thinks she might be able to help you and Doc decode the information the group sent her,” Sledge explained, sliding an arm around her waist. That felt good, natural, like this was the way things were supposed to be. They were supposed to be like this, touching in this simple way. The most normal thing in the world.
So why did his heart clench like somebody had wrapped a hand around it and squeezed?
“You think so?” Val probably would’ve taken offense in any other situation, but now she only looked relieved. “Anything you can do would be beyond appreciated. We’ve been pulling our hair out.”
Doc entered the control center, grinning drily. “And some of us don’t have much to spare.” He ran a hand over his cropped hair or what there was of it. “Nice to meet you.”
Though he looked a little less friendly when he caught Sledge’s eye. He was surprised and maybe even disappointed to find a civilian among them, even when the civilian was somebody they were currently working with. He didn’t voice his disapproval out loud, but then he didn’t have to. Sledge understood well what was behind that expression.
“Marnie, you can trust them,” Sledge winked. “Tell them what you remember. Whatever you can put together.”
“I have an eidetic memory,” she explained, sounding almost apologetic—like she had anything to be sorry for. “I got a look at their key, if you wanna call it that, a while back. I thought it might help.”
Just like that, Doc was Marnie’s biggest fan. “
Right this way. Can I get you any coffee? Soda? Juice? There’s food in the kitchen, too. Do you like lox and bagels?”
“I love it,” she breathed with a shy smile. “And I’m starved. I didn’t have breakfast.”
Doc clicked his tongue, shaking his head with a disapproving smirk Sledge’s way. “Leave it to one of these muscle heads to forget about a person’s needs. Come on. We’ll find you something.” Just like that, Marnie was swept away.
Sledge shot Hawk a look and found him just as surprised, perplexed by this turn of events. “Did you recognize that guy?” Hawk asked in a soft, wonder-filled voice.
“I know. I guess he has a thing for the ladies—remember, he was the same way with Kara the first time she showed up here.” Hawk leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head before clasping them at the base of his neck. “Whatever help she can offer, I know we’ll all be grateful for it. This one has really kicked our asses.”
“I know.” Sledge thought he’d never felt so tired, so old, in all his life. This was so unlike the wolf, who didn’t tire the way humans did. There was more to it than just physical fatigue, he knew. His emotions were wrung dry, his intellect strained to the breaking point. There was only so much a person could do before they reached the end of their rope.
It wasn’t like him to think this way, but he could hardly help himself. What was it, that feeling that had come over him when he put his arm around Marnie? That clenching in his chest, that fear. There was no room for fear. No time for it. All fear ever did was leave a person vulnerable, slow their reflexes. Marnie needed him. She needed him to be there for her should the moment of truth arise.
“There you are.” Logan waved him back. “I was wondering what was taking so long. Where is she?”
“Being wooed by Doc, apparently,” Sledge snickered. He followed Logan back to his office, which wasn’t much more than a closet containing a desk, a chair, a cot in case he needed to spend the night. All of his money had gone to setting their group up with everything they needed. He hadn’t wasted a cent on anything that wasn’t completely necessary.
Wolf Shield Investigations: Boxset Page 71