by Lisa Ladew
Chapter 15
Many hours later than he wanted to, Trevor and his brothers pulled into the driveway of the police-controlled house where Ella was safely ensconced. Mac had followed his instructions without hesitation for once and by the time Trevor had found him, he was in the tunnels, in an intense meeting with Canyon, Timber, Jaggar, and Sebastian, demanding a new strategy, an offensive strategy. Trevor backed Mac up, emphasizing to his team that the game was now changed. They needed a way to hunt and track Khain. He was done with damage control. The foursome hadn’t had any ideas but that didn’t matter. Getting them thinking was what was important. They would come up with something.
He’d finally made it out and drove straight to the safe house. A perfect blend of ecstasy and anxiety filtered through him at the thought of seeing her again. His boot-clad feet crunched on the stones of the driveway as he walked towards the front door, his eyes on the soft light coming from inside, his brothers falling into line behind him. He could see his breath in the cool night air.
He knocked and waited. Adin opened the door in a few seconds. “Lieutenant, hi. We got the extra officers you sent over.”
“Good. You and your partner can go until second watch tomorrow. The K9s and I will assist with the night shift.”
Adin raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything. He stepped back so Trevor and the wolves could enter, then went to gather his stuff and his partner. “She’s in a bedroom in the back,” Adin said from across the room. “The last on the left.”
Trevor stared down the hallway, his stomach doing flips. He nodded at the two officers in uniform sitting on the couch watching Bait Car with the sound down low. He approved of them being out there, and Ella not being out there, even if he didn’t know why.
He could feel his brothers behind him as his feet took him towards the hallway. Both were open, but wary, and both had noticed a change in him, although neither one had asked him what it was about yet. Could they know? No. Neither one of them had given him any shit yet, and if they knew how he was feeling for a human woman, they’d be raking him over the coals.
The hallway loomed large as he travelled through it, the warm, rich scent of cinnamon and sugar catching him by surprise. Oh yeah, she smelled like a fucking bakery. He’d almost forgotten.
You smell that? he sent to his brothers.
Smell what?
Nothing.
Trevor licked his lips and thought about stopping, turning around, staying away. His body had other ideas. He stopped in front of the slightly-ajar door and knocked on the door frame.
“Miss Carmi?”
“Ah, come in.” She sounded nervous. Fuck. What could he do to make her feel better?
He pushed the door open. The bedroom was small with a single bed in the middle of the room and the wall lined with chairs. She sat in one of them, by the slightly-cracked window, looking out. He winced at the security breach. How had she gotten it open? All the windows should be sealed from the inside and outside.
She looked at him, eyes wide. A hot liquid filled his chest, making him feel much too heavy all of a sudden. “Miss Carmi,” he started, but then he felt his brothers push past him. Both of them swarmed quickly into the room, heading straight for Ella. He tried to call them back, they were big and he didn’t want to scare her, but her face broke into an immediate smile when she saw them and he almost sagged with relief.
“Oh cutie, you are so beautiful,” she cried, grabbing Troy by the face and petting his head and neck, leaning forward and kissing him on the nose. Trevor thought he might die with envy. Trent reached her then and she let go of Troy to smother Trent’s furry face with kisses and tell him what a gorgeous doggy he was, and how big he was, yes, and what a very good boy he was. Her fingers traced his renqua, then went back up to his neck.
Trevor watched in surprise. His brothers generally did not like humans, although sometimes they made exceptions for human women, especially pretty human women, but he didn’t sense any objections from either of them at being called a doggy.
Ella continued to pet his brothers and coo over them relentlessly, paying him absolutely no attention at all. He almost didn’t mind. It gave him a chance to gaze at her. Her red lips and pale skin, her powder-blue eyes, her full cheeks and breasts, and the way her hands moved.
Hey, mutts. Have some pride, would you?
Troy shot him an evil look. Shut up you jealous fucker. You just wish it was you.
Trevor smirked and sat in one of the chairs by the door, as far away from Ella as he could get. He hadn’t expected this, but he couldn’t say he was disappointed.
Ella finally looked up at him. “Are they police dogs?”
Trevor nodded. “Our best, except for the bigger one there, he’s on probation. Can’t stop him from drooling all over the back seat of the car.” Trevor smiled as Troy bared just one fang at him.
“They’re so big.”
Trevor didn’t respond. He found it best not to offer explanations.
Both wolves pressed against Ella’s legs and she continued to pet them, but when he met her eyes again, he could tell her demeanor had changed.
“I’m glad you came. No one will tell me what’s happening. I agreed to come here because I was scared, but now that I’ve had time to think about it, I want some answers, and I don’t want to be treated like a child anymore.”
Trevor only stared. The standard line when dealing with a Khain sighting was supposed to be a lone madman with explosives, but he couldn’t force out the words. He didn’t want to lie to her.
Her eyes narrowed. “So you aren’t going to tell me what’s going on either?”
His brothers both turned and sat on either side of Ella, facing him, like they were on her side. He looked to them for help, but got none.
She stood, stepping carefully around the wolves. “Lieutenant, spill it, I can take whatever it is.”
She stared him down and he could feel the force of her will, the force of her anger, and he could not resist it. He held the arms of the chair as if they might keep him from floating off into space. “You─you wouldn’t believe me if I told you the truth,” he said weakly.
She stared at him for a long moment, then sagged visibly. She made her way back to her chair and curled one arm around each wolf, pressing her face first against one and then against the other.
“Yeah, you might be right,” she said sadly, and his heart broke.
***
Ella sat quietly in the chair, holding onto the beautiful dogs for a long time. Why couldn’t anything be simple? Her whole life up until that point seemed like one long mess after another.
From the corner of her eye she watched the big cop. Officer Adin had told her that his name was Lieutenant Burbank. He dwarfed the chair he was in, staring at his boots with a gruff look on his face. She still thought he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. His hair was light, but not quite blond, and now he had a five o’clock shadow that was also light, but did not hide his gorgeous cleft chin. He looked tired. Worried. Burdened.
But he made her feel safe. The instant he had entered the room, she’d known he would be able to protect her from the man who had come after her twice now. Three times. No. She didn’t want to face that yet. Could he really be the same person from fifteen years ago? She ran her fingers through the fur of the dogs as she turned her mind back to the man in the room with her. The dogs made her feel safe too. They were massive, and obviously bred for police work; fighting, chasing down criminals. She hoped they would stay the night. She would sleep much better knowing the three of them were in the house.
Ella eyed the small bed, wondering if she was really going to sleep there. She wanted to go home, but then again she didn’t want to be alone. Not now. Maybe not ever again?
Her attention found the Lieutenant again and she watched him. His face was screwed up like he was trying to make a decision or work something out in his head. She didn’t want to burden him anymore. She didn’t know how, but she could
tell he had her best interest at heart. He just wanted her safe. If he wanted her to stay, maybe she would stay. Just for the night. She’d figure something more out in the morning. Besides, she didn’t want to give him a hard time.
Not after she had lied to him.
Ella winced, wanting badly to come clean, but not knowing where to start. She hunched in her chair and turned her attention back to the dogs, running her hands through their fur, kneading their strong neck and back muscles, letting the feel and the demeanor of them soothe her.
Dogs were the best people, she knew that. Life would be a lot easier if she only had to deal with animals for the rest of her life.
Chapter 16
Ella woke up with a start, blinking against the early morning light. She’d slept in the chair with her feet up on another chair and it had been uncomfortable, but she felt rested. Someone had draped a blanket over her during the night. The big cop, it had to be.
She dropped her feet to the ground, smiling when she saw the two huge black dogs there, both awake, both with their heads on their paws, watching her protectively. She was halfway in love with them already.
“Hi,” she whispered and the one with the white figure 8 on his left shoulder shook his head and barked out something that almost sounded like hello. She smiled. “Neat trick, boy. Who taught you that?” She ran her finger across the strange marking on his shoulder, wondering if it was a brand of some sort. She’d never seen an all-black dog with such a strange marking on only one spot of its body. The other dog had one, too, in the exact same spot. His looked like a bomb dropping from the sky. She could see no other white spots on either one of them.
The two dogs stared at her with quiet intelligence, then glanced at each other. Two strange voices filled her head.
… Bet she is …
… don’t say … Trev… needs to …
Ella shook her head and banged her palm against her forehead. No new voices allowed, damn it! Both dogs looked at her and she swore she saw alarm on their faces. She bit her lower lip and petted them each with one hand, scratching under their chins. “Sorry. Just ignore me. I’m crazy sometimes. But your─” She frowned. “Boss? Master? Lieutenant? He doesn’t need to know, ok? So don’t rat me out.”
The bigger one with the white bomb on his shoulder opened his mouth and his tongue lolled out. He looked at the other dog and Ella swore they were smiling.
Master … like overgrown circus …
Ella shot to her feet, pressing her hands to her temples. NO! She stepped over the dogs and paced around the bed, trying to deny she was hearing more voices. Both dogs scrambled to their feet also, watching her closely. “It’s ok, puppies. Don’t worry about me. I’m … I’m. I just have to pee.” She ripped the door open and ran across the hall, shutting that door and doing her thing, then she stared in the mirror at her rumpled hair and sallow face. Sleeping in a chair sucked.
She slapped water on her face and tried to calm her hair with her hands, then brushed her teeth with her finger. She had to go home. Like now. She needed clothes, she needed to feed the cats, she needed to retreat back into her drama and keep her craziness away from people who had jobs to do. People like Lieutenant Burbank. She sighed and wondered if he had a girlfriend. Probably. Or maybe a wife and five or six kids. She hadn’t thought to look for a ring because she was a complete idiot about most things, men especially.
Ella exited the bathroom and found the smaller black dog with the figure 8 on its shoulder and the tuft of white on the end of its tail sitting outside the door waiting for her. She touched its head and smiled at it. What a good dog. Maybe she should go to the pound, get herself a dog. Someone to be there, to protect her. But what would the cats think?
She padded down the hallway in her bare feet, listening to one of the police officers talk. She recognized the voice as one of the officers from yesterday. Not the big lieutenant. Officer Adin, the one who had been so nice to her.
“Troy, don’t bullshit a bullshitter. There’s no way the Bears are going all the way this year.”
Ella heard the big dog whine and it sounded like a laugh to her. She smiled at how vocal the dogs were. She loved it. Were they trained to be like that or was it natural? She knew huskies talked a lot but the two dogs didn’t look like huskies. They were too big, too thick and had the wrong color eyes.
The hallway ended and she stepped hesitantly out into the living area, the slightly smaller of the dogs at her heels. Officer Adin was at the stove, in uniform, frying something that smelled like bacon, and the bigger dog sat on his haunches next to him. The dog’s eyes met hers as she entered the room. Ella’s stomach rumbled in hunger but she ignored it as she looked to her right. The second officer she had assumed Adin was talking to was not in sight.
Officer Adin’s back was to Ella. He shook his head at the frying pan and kept talking. “See, we ain’t got the dream team─” The bigger dog barked once, sharply, causing Officer Adin to whirl around, spatula held high. “Oh, hi. Did we wake you?”
Ella shook her head. “Um. Sorry. Where is Lieutenant Burbank, please?”
“He had to go to his office.”
“I need to talk to him.”
The officer dropped the spatula on the counter. “What do you need, sweetheart? I can help you.”
Ella pursed her lips. “I need to go home.”
Officer Adin shook his head. “No can do. The boss says you gotta stay here for now, until we know what happened yesterday.”
“Sorry but, am I under arrest?”
Officer Adin looked at her strangely. “No.”
“Ok then, I’ll get my shoes and go. Thank you for your help.”
“Wait! No, ok, let me get Lieutenant Burbank on the phone. You talk to him. He’ll kill me if you just walk out of here.”
Ella’s eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest, watching Adin. Within a few minutes he handed her the phone.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Carmi,” the smooth voice with the slight New York accent she recognized as the big cop said. “I really need you to stay there. That’s why I left the-ah-the dogs with you. They are going to help Officer Adin keep you safe.”
“Safe from what exactly, Lieutenant?”
He didn’t speak for a moment. “I thought we covered this last night.”
She sighed. “Did we? I thought we didn’t say much of anything and I let you get away with it because I was scared. But in the early morning light, last night’s fears seem less grounded. I don’t even know who I’m hiding out from, or why he would want anything to do with me.”
His voice lowered dangerously. “You aren’t safe from that-that criminal just because the sun is shining. Don’t fool yourself.”
Ella stared at the phone and a sick dread filled her. She wondered if she told the Lieutenant about the man with the barbaric voice, if he would know who she was talking about. She pressed on anyway. Unless someone was going to tell her something, she wasn’t going to just sit around and let them do their thing while she sat in a room and stared out the window. “Still, I have a life, Lieutenant. I have things I must tend to. If you’re so worried about me, maybe you could place a squad car outside my house.” She tried to hold it in but she couldn’t. “Sorry, that’s just how I feel.” Argh.
The silence on the other end of the line filled her with hope and trepidation. She hadn’t expected him to consider it. What if she had one of her episodes? She didn’t need a police officer witnessing it.
“You really shouldn’t be alone,” the Lieutenant said and she heard something in his voice. Something that scared her. Could she really afford to turn him down? He spoke again. “Look, I’ve got some things I need to do today away from the station. Errands. You have some too, yes? Maybe we could help each other out. You stay with me. And then tonight I’ll bring you back to the safe house and you’ll sleep there again. Just until we figure out what’s going on.”
Ella’s heart pounded at the thought of seeing the big
cop again. The big handsome cop. At the thought of spending the day with him. She took a moment to make sure there was no eagerness in her voice. “When will you figure out what’s going on?”
“My team is working on it now. The best males on the force. As soon as I know something, you’ll know something.”
Ella doubted that, but he knew what to say, that was for sure. “When will you be here?”
“I’m leaving now.”
***
Ella sat on the couch next to the window, watching the driveway, trying not to admit to herself how excited she was, completely refusing to think about why the police lieutenant was really coming to get her.
When his big red truck pulled in to the driveway, she blushed as their eyes met through the window. She stood and ran to the bathroom before she peed her pants with her completely inappropriate excitement. She was so lame.
When she worked up the courage to leave the bathroom, both dogs were sitting at the door looking up at her. “Good boys,” she whispered. She squatted down to pet them, burying her face in the fur of first one, then the other. “Help me out, ok. I really like your Lieutenant. I know he’s probably married or taken or not impressed by twenty-five-year-old women who’ve never held down a job or learned to drive or even fit in at school or her own family, and I can accept that, but at least keep me from embarrassing myself.” One of the dogs licked her face and whined while the other pressed his head against her chest. “Thanks, boys. You’re such good doggies.”
She stood and the dogs pressed against her, their backs reaching almost to her waist. God, she loved a big dog and these were the biggest she’d ever seen up close. She drew strength from them and made her way out into the living area.
He was there, leaning against the door frame, wearing similar, but not the same, clothes from the day before. Dark blue khakis, black boots, a t-shirt that stretched invitingly over his muscles, along with his badge and gun at his waist. He looked positively yummy and she felt faint for a moment. She bit her tongue, hard, tasting iron in her mouth. What in the hell was wrong with her?