Conceal (Omega Sector)

by Janie Crouch

  When Evan opened the drapes covering her windows, Juliet watched, blinking rapidly as her eyes attempted to adjust. It had been months since this much light had been let into this house. Letting light in being a fitting metaphor.

  They didn’t spend all day in the house, knowing there was too much other pressing business from the case. Juliet packed a bag so she could stay at Evan’s place for a few days. It would be better, just in case they were ever followed, if they seemed to live in the same house.

  Juliet knew that tomorrow they would need to move into full agent mode, including infiltrating and scoping out Cady’s house as much as possible tomorrow night. Any information they had before going in on Wednesday would only help them. Plus it would give Juliet a chance to reacclimate herself with clandestine incursion tactics.

  Surprisingly, she felt equal parts ready and scared to death.

  Dinner was nice, just the two of them at Evan’s town house. But afterward, while discussing the case and the details of Vince Cady’s residence, Juliet heard the dreaded chirp from her phone, the sound she had assigned to signify the receipt of another sweetheart email.

  She didn’t realize how relaxed she’d become in Evan’s presence until the tension flooded back through her.

  This was the third email she’d received that day. The frequency of the messages was definitely escalating, particularly today.

  “You okay?” he asked, reaching for her hand.

  “I won’t lie, I don’t like getting these. And three in one day?” She chewed at her bottom lip, but then forced herself to stop. “But I’m glad you know, Evan.” She grasped his outstretched hand. Even through the fear she could feel little sparks of attraction where their palms touched. She wondered if it was the same for him.

  “I’m glad you don’t have to go through this alone anymore. Nobody should have to.” Evan squeezed her hand.

  “I just hope receiving these emails won’t interfere with the case. I don’t want to just ignore them in case the perp slips up and says something useful that’ll help us catch him.”

  Evan nodded. “How about if we look at them together from now on when you get one. Keep everything in perspective and on an even keel.”

  “That would be great.” Juliet kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you, Evan. I know today hasn’t been easy on you, either.”

  “We’ll just take it as it comes. But no more hiding stuff.”

  “Deal.” She smiled, and for the first time in a long while, it wasn’t forced.

  Evan stood. “I’m going to go shower and get ready for bed. I left a towel and stuff out for you in the guest bathroom.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  He turned as he was heading out of the living room. “And Jules, I was thinking…” He seemed uncharacteristically at a loss for words. “At your house you showed me the couch and the pallet in the closet where you said you’ve slept since the attack. That you haven’t been back in a bed?”

  Juliet sighed inwardly. It must have seemed ludicrous to him, her blankets on the closet floor. “Do you think I’m crazy?”

  “Not at all.” His smile was gentle. “You did what you had to do to get by. Nobody would think that’s crazy. But once we get to Vince Cady’s house, you can’t sleep on the floor.”

  She hadn’t really thought of that. “Right, yeah.”

  “And we’ll probably be under surveillance, so I wanted to address that now. You can’t be all tense and nervous getting into bed with me there.”

  “Right, yeah.” Juliet felt like a parrot.

  “So, it would probably be a good idea for both of us to sleep together in my bed tonight. So you’re more used to being in a bed…”

  “And being with you in a bed.”

  Evan grinned. “I promise to stay on my side, if that’s any consolation.”

  The thing was, Juliet wasn’t sure if it was or not. And she wondered what Evan would do if she told him that.

  She needed to remember that this intimacy, the heat she could feel between them, was just because of his undercover skills, not because of any real attraction. At least on his part.

  But she’d like to see some more of his “undercover” skills.

  The thought popped into her head before she could stop it. Shocked, Juliet brought both hands up to cover her mouth, just in case the words came shooting out. And she giggled.

  She didn’t know who was more surprised by the sound, Evan or her.

  “What’s going on in that head of yours?” he asked, still grinning.

  “Nothing.” Juliet tried to pull herself together. “Got it. Bed, together, for the case. No problem. I’m going to take a shower, too. Um, in the guest shower, I mean. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  She was still snickering as she fled the scene of the crime.

  Undercover.

  * * *

  SHAKING HIS HEAD, Evan watched Juliet all but run down the hallway. What the heck had just happened? He had no idea.

  But if it made her smile and giggle like that, he’d take it no matter what it was.

  Since the information about the sweetheart emails had come to light, Juliet had been more relaxed, freer, than Evan could remember seeing her since the attack. And she didn’t cringe from his touch. At least not as much. And sometimes even initiated a touch herself.

  Evan found it difficult to believe how happy it made him when Juliet touched him of her own accord. Even something as simple as a brush of her hand on his arm meant more to him than entire embraces from other women.

  He was feeling better about this operation than he had since Juliet showed up at the warehouse yesterday morning. He’d lost faith for a little while when he’d seen the state of her house, but now, understanding the reason, he could even understand that.

  And she had just giggled and run out of the room.

  And they were about to sleep together in his bed.

  The thought of it thrilled Evan in ways he never would have thought. And it wasn’t about sex. Obviously, Juliet wasn’t agreeing to have sex with him, so he could just push that thought right out of his mind. Which, surprisingly, didn’t upset him one bit.

  Just the thought of being in bed next to her was more than enough. Able to help her if she needed him, or just knowing she was sleeping peacefully even if he didn’t.

  In the dark, lying with her after their respective showers, he could feel Juliet’s discomfort. At first she fidgeted, tossed and turned. Obviously, being back in a bed reminded her of the attack. He wasn’t sure what he could do, if anything, to help.

  “I’ll be okay. I just need to get used to it.” She answered his thoughts before he could even voice them.

  “I’m never going to let something like that happen again,” Evan told her softly, reaching out to touch her back.

  Juliet slid a little closer. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her all the way over to his chest.

  “Right now just try to get some sleep,” he murmured.

  It was as if her body needed a haven, a place where her mind felt safe, and Juliet was almost instantly asleep.

  Long after he could hear her even breathing, Evan stayed awake, appreciating having Juliet in his arms. What he’d said to her was true. He would die before he let anything like the attack happen to her again. While they were undercover he didn’t plan to let her out of his sight. But for now he just held her gently while she slept, and eventually fell asleep himself.

  Evan awoke a few hours later to a knocking on his door. The sun was already up, but Juliet was still asleep. He glanced over at the clock: 6:30 a.m. Later than he had been sleeping, for sure, but still too early for someone to be knocking.

  Evan reached for the Glock on his bedside table, easing away from Juliet’s sleeping form. His phone buzzed with a message.

 
At your door. Hurry up, sleeping beauty.

  Sawyer. Evan was tempted to ignore Juliet’s brother’s message, but knew he’d just start knocking louder. Evan slid out of the bed, slipped on a T-shirt with his pajama pants and went to open the door.

  Sawyer and Cameron. Great. But at least they had doughnuts.

  “Why the hell are you two here at this ungodly hour in the morning?”

  Cameron dropped the doughnut box on the table. Sawyer, quite familiar with Evan’s house, began making coffee.

  “We had an idea. Wanted to run it by you first before talking to Juliet,” Sawyer told him.

  “Do I need coffee before hearing this grand plan?” Evan wondered if he should mention that Juliet was asleep upstairs.

  “It’s not a grand plan so much as a safety precaution for Juliet,” Cameron said. “We were talking to one of the geeks in the tech department…”

  “Excuse you, I happen to sleep with the head geek from the tech department every night,” Sawyer said, pouring himself a cup of coffee from the pot before it was even finished brewing.

  “Okay, so you guys were talking to Megan, and she told you what?” Evan asked. Megan was Sawyer’s genius fiancée, who had recently come to work for Omega.

  “Tech has developed a short-range tracker/emergency response initiator that is virtually undetectable, even with a scanner, or someone monitoring frequencies,” Cameron replied, pushing Sawyer out of the way so he could get his own coffee.

  “And you want Juliet to have it.”

  “Yes.” Both men said it at the same time.

  “An added safety measure for everybody. Plus, it would probably make her feel better about the entire operation,” Cameron stated.

  Evan nodded. Even though he had no plans to let Juliet out of his sight the entire time they were on Cady’s property, a backup safety measure was never a bad idea.

  “She’s going to do fine. Although she’s been getting a string of emails from some sick secret-admirer-type bastard. So this distress mechanism Megan designed might help Juliet more than you even thought.”

  “What the hell emails are you talking about?” Sawyer demanded. Both his and Cameron’s posture stiffened.

  “They’re not actually coming to Juliet, they’re addressed to Lisa Sinclair. Creepy stuff that mentions specific details about her attack last year. I’ll show you.” Evan got out Juliet’s laptop and showed her brothers what she’d been dealing with for nearly a year.

  Sawyer dropped into a chair. “Why didn’t she tell us about all this?”

  Evan shook his head. “She said she didn’t want to put a burden on anyone. That we had ‘real’ cases we were working on.”

  Sawyer’s expletive was ugly. “That’s the most asinine thing I’ve ever heard. This stalker thing is obviously escalating. Look at how many more there have been in the last three months. And that ratio quadrupled in the last couple of days.”

  “I know.” Evan gave a long exhalation. “I don’t like it. As soon as we get the drone codes situation under control with Cady, I’m going to make this top of my priority list.”

  Cameron had been leaning against the counter, silent since Evan had shown them the emails. He spoke up softly now. “She shouldn’t have had to go through this alone. Not after what she’s been through. I’m going over to her house right now to talk to her.”

  Evan put out an arm to stop him. “Cam, that won’t work.”

  “I’m her brother. She’ll let me in. I just want her to know she’s not alone in this.”

  Evan sighed. “She’s not at her house.”

  “Where the hell is she?” Sawyer asked. “Is she back at Omega again? She spends too much time there.”

  “No,” Evan said, and cleared his throat. “She’s upstairs. Asleep. In my bed.”

  Evan watched as the two men he had been friends with for over fifteen years looked at him as though he was an adversary. Sawyer stood next to Cameron, both glaring at Evan.

  “What do you mean, she’s up there in your bed?” They studied his clothes. Obviously, Evan had also been sleeping when they had gotten there a half hour ago. It didn’t take them longer than the average three-year-old to put the details together.

  “What the hell are you doing, Evan?” Sawyer’s words were quiet, making them all the more menacing.

  “Did she want to go to bed with you or did you push it?” Cameron’s voice wasn’t as quiet.

  Evan’s whole body tensed. “You two are my best friends in the world, but you better watch what you say right now. I would never put Juliet in a situation like you’re suggesting.”

  Sawyer’s breath flew out in a huff, and he relaxed against the counter. “Damn it, we know that, Evan. It’s just, first the undercover work, then those emails, and now you tell us she’s sleeping with you.”

  “It’s too much, too soon,” Cameron agreed.

  “She wasn’t sleeping sleeping with me. You both know she and I can’t go under at Vince Cady’s house with her cringing every time I touch her. So we’ve been spending as much time as possible together in the last thirty-six hours.”

  Evan thought mentioning her house and the shape it had been in probably wouldn’t help the situation overall. Her brothers would feel the same way she had at first. As if there was no way she could handle the case.

  “She can handle the case,” Evan said, as much to himself as to Sawyer and Cameron. “I believe that.”

  “You be careful not to let things get out of hand, Evan. Don’t take it too far.”

  Evan reminded himself that these were Juliet’s brothers. Brothers who loved her very much, which was why they were being so overprotective. But they knew him, knew how long Evan had carried a torch for their sister. They just didn’t like that anyone would care that much about her.

  “You know how I feel.” Evan snapped his mouth shut and reached for the coffee, to give himself a moment to formulate his words.

  “How you feel about what?” Juliet’s voice chimed in from the kitchen doorway.

  Evan stopped, frozen. How much had she heard?

  “Hey, little sis. We were just talking about some tracking and emergency equipment the tech department has come up with,” Cameron said.

  Thank God. Evan really didn’t want to get into his feelings for Juliet, with two of her brothers sitting in his kitchen, while he was wearing his pajama pants. Juliet, thankfully, had changed out of the T-shirt and boxers she had slept in, and put on yoga pants and a sweatshirt before coming downstairs.

  Sawyer hugged his sister. “Yeah, Megan came up with something we’d like you to wear while undercover. It’s a tracking and distress device. Only good short-range, but completely undetectable. Perfect for while you’re at Cady’s house.”

  “We were dropping by to see what Evan thought of it. Didn’t expect to find you here this early in the morning.” Cameron’s eyebrow rose.

  Juliet flushed just a little bit, but she was used to dealing with her brothers. “It’s not what you think.”

  “So Evan assures us.”

  Evan poured Juliet a cup of coffee and handed it to her. How he wished it was what it looked like. Nothing would make him happier.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Getting rid of her brothers took a couple hours. Juliet loved them, she really did, but they were ridiculously overprotective. When her oldest brother was around it was even worse, although Dylan was usually the most reasonable. He understood, by experience, that sometimes no matter how traumatic the event, you just wanted to be left alone.

  Juliet definitely didn’t want to talk with her brothers about being in bed with Evan. No matter how innocent it had been.

  And definitely didn’t want to talk about how good it had been to lie there with him.

  She had avoided sleeping in a bed all thes
e months because of her fears. But being in one with Evan, she’d found her fears hadn’t really crossed her mind. She’d been too busy thinking about him. About how close he was and how good he smelled.

  And how she was nervous about being in the bed with him, but it was a good nervousness, not a bad kind.

  And how she wanted to kiss him again. And more.

  She knew Evan had lain in bed last night, so close, and watched her. But it was because he was worried about her, not because there was any real interest on his part.

  This was all just part of a critical case for him. Undercover work. She needed to remember that.

  But Juliet was definitely beginning to wish it was more.

  She looked over at him, dressed all in black now, as she was, ready to go do the reconnaissance work at Cady’s house. There were others who could handle it, providing details about the outside of Cady’s house and his security. But both Juliet and Evan felt it important to do it themselves.

  She looked forward to it, actually.

  They weren’t really going onto the grounds, just nearby, to see what they could see. Covered by darkness, they would be counting guards, getting a lay of the land, so to speak. Juliet suspected this entire escapade was for her benefit, and she didn’t mind.

  “You ready?” Evan asked.

  “Yep.”

  “Okay, we’ll need to park a couple of miles away. We’re not sure how far out Cady’s guards patrol. We don’t want to take any chances.”

  They drove one of Omega’s cars rather than Evan’s Jeep, since it would be less recognizable.

  “Have you got the tracker Megan and her tech people made?”

  Juliet reached down and grabbed the locket hanging around her neck. “It fit in here perfectly, even behind the picture. It’s crazy how thin that thing is.”

  “Yeah, well, Megan’s mind is pretty amazing.”

  Juliet didn’t bring up how she had once accused Megan of working for the very enemy Megan now worked so hard to defeat. She knew how in love Sawyer and Megan were; Juliet had never been happier to be wrong.

  “Let’s just hope we don’t have to use it tonight,” she said, looking out the window as they drove into Anne Arundel County.