by Unknown
“Yeah, I know. I get the same speech every time we talk. Thanks for the free advice,” he said hanging up the phone.
Zach touched base with his SAC before going inside the cabin. In the kitchen he finished stocking the cabinets and cleaned the burnt pasta from the pot. Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he leaned against the sink enjoying the quiet. It wouldn’t last long by his projections. Sooner or later she would succumb to hunger, and he would have to apologize for what he’d said. Until it came time for them actually to speak, he decided staying out of her way would be best for both of them.
Chapter five
Sitting in the center of the bed, Carla used her fingernail to eject the splinter lodged beneath the surface of her foot. “Darn it!” She swore. The splinter embedded in her foot was too deep, and her fingernails weren’t sharp enough to get the job done. She opened the drawer on the nightstand beside the bed to look for a sharp-tipped object. Nothing was in the drawer but a dull pencil and a used up pad of paper.
Two taps on the door and it opened before she could reply. Her eyes rolled as Zach stood in the doorway balancing a tray on his forearm. “Can I help you?” Carla asked him dryly.
Zach set the tray on the dresser staying near the doorway. “You need to eat to keep your strength up. I know the pasta was inedible, but that’s all we had in the way of food. I got rid of it since you burned it and brought you some fresh fruit and yogurt.” His gaze dropped from her face to focus on her foot in her lap. “What’s wrong with your foot?”
Carla unfolded her foot from across her thigh and pulled down her dress. “I got a splinter from walking around barefoot.”
“Did you get it out?”
Breaking eye contact she rubbed her hands together. “Nope. I need a needle or something sharp to dig it out.”
“Do you want me to get it out for you?”
Sarcasm sat on the tip of her tongue. Carla swallowed hoping it would disappear and said, “I’ll get it out myself. I wouldn’t want you to have to deal with a woman like me on purpose.”
Zach pointed at her foot. “It can get infected if you don’t get it out.”
“No kidding?” She heard the sarcastic tone slip from her mouth.
He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just saying.”
She crinkled her brows. “You seem to know everything about me, Zach. You should know I studied to be a paramedic and passed the test.”
His mouth went crooked on one end. “You’re also on the wait list until a position becomes available. You should gain about 20 or 30 pounds to help your case.”
A slow burn steeped in her stomach. “It was suggested I take a weight training class. I’ve done weight training in the past, and I’ll do it again if it helps me to get my dream job.”
“Or you could just eat regular food.”
“Look, I came in here to put space between us. Are you lonely? Is that the reason you’re messing with me?” She let the flippant question come from her mouth not caring anymore how she sounded or how he took it. He wasn’t the only one that could act an ass.
“Yeah, I couldn’t stand the silence,” he replied sarcastically as he stayed by the doorway. “That hour I was away from your big mouth was unbearable.”
Carly smiled sweetly. “Well, I’m all out so I don’t know what you will do for the rest of the night. Now if you don’t mind, I want to be alone.”
Zach took his first step away from the door and moved to stand at the end of the bed. Carla’s heart raced. Had she gone too far? He could get rid of her, and no one would know what happened. The FBI would cover their tracks, and it would be as if she vanished in thin air.
The lump in her throat rose when the outline of his Adam’s apple lifted when he swallowed. His staunch face showed no emotion as he glared at her. Was that a signature FBI agents exhibited? She didn’t know what to expect of him since she’d never met one in real life.
A sense of fear fell over her as his tall frame slinked toward her. The size of his hands compared to her smaller ones, were impressive. And with her rail-thin neck, a light choke-hold between one of his massive arms would render her dead in minutes.
Zach pulled a pocketknife from the pocket of his jeans and flipped it open. He’s going to cut my throat! Carla scooted back on the bed, bracing against the worn headboard. He grabbed her ankle with his hand and pulled her down the length of the bed. The quick ride caused her head to bounce off the flat pillow and hit the mattress one, twice, three times before she came to a stop. The loose fitting dress bunched around her waist exposing her underwear. She worked quickly to cover herself with no avail; he was too fast. Through all that, he never cracked an expression, and Carla didn’t dare put up a fight. Maybe he would spare her life if she didn’t fight with him.
He turned his back and sat on the edge of the bed pulling her leg in his lap and clamping it close to his body preventing her from moving. He was holding her leg so tight that the blood circulating down her leg might cease flowing to her foot. Carla felt the heat from his body radiate up her leg. Natural reflexes caused her leg to jerk when he touched the bottom of her foot with the tip of the knife.
He worked on her foot for less than a minute and released her leg. He stood up from the bed and faced her. “The splinter is out.”
He didn’t stay in the bedroom long enough for her shock to wear off to say anything to him. Carla felt the remnants of his hard hand throbbing around her ankle and pulsate through her toes. She stayed put for several minutes and then got off the bed and hobbled to the dresser to see what was on the plate he’d left.
Plump green grapes, red apple slices and a cup of strawberry yogurt with fresh granola to spoon over it opened her eyes wide and made her mouth salivate. She plucked a grape and chewed it slowly savoring the freshness as it smothered the hunger pangs that gripped her stomach. She took another grape and then another before they were all gone. She started on the apple slices and then the yogurt and granola; it was gone in minutes, too.
The fruit was filling and satisfying as Carla took the plate to the kitchen. Zach was seated at the kitchen table eating a sandwich. She lowered her head to think of something nice to say to him—nothing came to mind. Standing at the sink, she saw the kitchen counter was cluttered with the items he’d used to make the sandwich he was eating. Placing her plate in the sink she began to clear off the counter as Zach sat quietly reading a newspaper and eating; not paying any attention to what she was doing.
Carla shook her head. They were two adults, in the same cabin, not passing a word between them. She looked over at the table and saw his empty plate. She reached for it at the same time he did, causing their hands to brush together. Carla cleared her throat. “I’ll wash the dishes since I’m standing at the sink.”
Finally, she saw the color of his eyes; they were the clearest blue she’d ever seen on a man or woman. It’s not that she automatically took notice of the eye color of Caucasian people. However, this man was only inches away from her and staring directly at her.
“OK,” he mumbled as he took a seat at the table to resume reading the paper.
Carla finished cleaning the kitchen and went to the living room to look out the window. The rain had stopped, but a thick mist hung over the meadow from the humidity hanging in the air. She traced the path of a raindrop with her finger as it slid down the window; she was bored and ready to go home. As much as she hated her job, she missed going to work. At least her elderly clients were pleasant people who didn’t bark at her. Also, tonight would be karaoke night at the bar with Tonya. They did karaoke every Thursday night at Tino’s Bar and Grille. It was her stress reliever from her dead-end job and night out with her best friend since high school.
She flopped down on the couch and drew her knees up to her chest. “Is there a town or something nearby with anything to do there? A movie theater or a bowling alley… anything?”
Zach didn’t look up from his paper as he spoke. “There is a town but not one you want to visit. You’r
e better off staying inside the cabin until we get clearance to leave.”
Carla rested her chin on the top of her knees. “I see. I’m being held in a place that isn’t welcoming to Black people…great. If I’m spotted by a true hater, there are a bunch of trees to hang my ass from.”
“Really? Do you think I’d let that happen?”
“Since you took an oath to uphold the law…no, I don’t think you would. But, if you somehow got taken out, I wouldn’t go out without a fight.”
His chuckle could be heard from across the room. “I believe that.”
Carla smiled for the first time. “I can be a bit feisty. Look, I’m sorry if I’ve been a pain in the ass. I don’t understand what’s going on, and you won’t tell me anything.”
“It’s complicated, Carla. Until your cousins are located, your life is in danger.”
“But why?” she asked. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Zach came in the living room and sat in the chair across from her. “I know you haven’t. Your cousins are dangerous men, Carla. The FBI doesn’t pick random people to target. Once we get involved in a case, it’s because the local police have jurisdictional lines they have to abide by or don’t have the manpower to handle a case of this magnitude.”
She nodded. “Okay, I understand that. Except, you’re not with the local FBI, and you said the ATF is also involved. So, whatever Ty and Phil have done is spanning further than Cleveland. Am I right?”
He nodded. “Yup.”
“Those men had foreign accents, Zach.”
He crossed his leg over his knee. “Let’s talk about that for a minute. First I’m not some rookie that’s stuck watching you. I’m an experienced agent.”
“I never thought you weren’t experienced. I knew that when I opened my eyes and saw you were the only man left alive in the bus shelter.”
“You aren’t bothered by what happened?”
Carla faded under his slanted stare. Looking for a diversion and finding none, she ran her fingers through her wild hair that had come unraveled from the braided ponytail. “Yes. I see it every time I close my eyes! I don’t live the kind of life that witnesses violent crimes. You’ll find this hard to believe but I’ve never touched a gun until yesterday.”
“That’s not hard to believe. A lot of people won’t touch a firearm.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m not into violence period. I hardly see anything violent outside of an argument between couples. Zach, I didn’t do anything to be in this position. I’m a good citizen. I pay my taxes, go to work and hang out with my best friend for fun. I’m not a criminal. Whatever my cousins have done, I honestly don’t know what it is or where they are.”
Carla fixated on the scruff on his jawline that grew thicker with each passing day they were stuck together. They mixed like oil and water, but she found him incredibly handsome in a rugged sort of way. His masculinity was as enormous as his ego and rough exterior. Although, she didn’t know him, she couldn’t imagine him any other way.
Zach flexed his arms as he laced his fingers together causing the tattoos to spread wider across his massive biceps. A G-Man with exposed tattoos seemed out of place. Another expectation that she had of FBI agents, that they were to be clean-cut with no visible markings on their bodies.
He cleared his throat getting her attention. “When you close your eyes what do you see and hear?”
She closed her eyes to play the movie that wouldn’t stop playing in her head. Maybe talking about it would put a stop to it finally. “Darkness, fast movement then loud shouts. I hear my own voice ringing in my ears. Then, I open my eyes, and I’m sweating with an urge to run away but I have nowhere to go. I’m caged like an animal.”
Zach curled his lip at one end. “That’s a little dramatic don’t you think? You’re not behind bars.”
She opened her eyes and looked at him. “I might as well be. I can’t go outside for fresh air or to feel the sun on my skin. I’m a people person; I have to have contact with other people. I like to laugh and enjoy myself; not sit locked in a cabin with a man that can’t stand the sight of me.”
“There you go with your perceptions of me. How do you know I don’t enjoy doing those things?”
She twisted the tiny gold earring in her ear. “For one, you never smile. And, two you seem mad all the time. I know Feds have a certain air about them but damn, life can’t be that bad for you.”
“I have a pretty decent life. But, this isn’t about me.”
Carla scooted off the couch and stretched the stiffness from her body. She was an active person that ran five to ten miles every weekend even though she no longer competed in races. “Right. It’s about me and if I will live to see another day or my next birthday.”
“You gotta have a positive attitude, Carla. Also, I’ve never lost a person in my custody. You will not ruin my record,” he said sternly, however, with an uneasy look.
There’s that damn look again. Maybe that’s just the way he looks.
Whatever it was, it was the same one he gave her at the bus shelter—the look that set off the round of gunfire that disturbed the quiet neighborhood and threw her life into a terrorizing downward spin.
She kicked her legs out after stretching. “Can we go for a walk or a short run? I really have to get out and get a little exercise.”
He stood up and stretched also. “We can’t go for a run, but a short walk will be okay.”
She smiled, happy to have won a request. “Do you run? It’s obvious you work out and a lot.”
“I do run. It’s not my favorite form of exercise, but I do it as part of my routine. Get dressed and I’ll check out the area before we head out. I don’t want any surprises catching us off-guard.”
Carla jumped up from her seated position on the sofa to head to the bedroom and stopped in her tracks. “Forget it,” she said with a dejected tone. “I don’t have any clothes but what I have on. My uniform was ruined, and the clothes in both closets are too big for me.”
She blushed as he cocked his head to one side to look her over. He rubbed the scruff on his face and said, “That dress looks nice on you. Besides, a walk is a good idea. It will be reinvigorating for the both of us.”
Carla fanned the dress from her hips and grinned. “Well, okay, if you say so. Let me get my shoes and we can go.”
chapter six
Zach was miserable as they walked. The scent of the wet grass filled his nose aggravating his allergies, and his t-shirt stuck to him like a second skin. The thunderstorms that rolled through left it excruciatingly hot and humid. His mind wandered while Carla made small talk. He knew he should pretend to pay attention to her, but he could care less about the birds or the bugs buzzing around them. What he found strange was that she knew this stuff. She didn’t come off as a nature lover to him.
“There aren’t any song birds left around this late in the summer. They migrate south by June. But the woods are home to the pileated woodpecker, that’s what we’re hearing along with the cicada. It’s funny, but the noise we hear the cicada make sounds alike to us when actually these insects use different calls to express alarm or to attract mates.”
His brain gave him a nudge, and he focused on the sound of her voice. “What did you say?” he asked. Zach used his thumb to lift sweat from his brow. “I didn’t catch what you said about a woodpecker or something other.”
Carla shook her head. “I’ve been talking and you haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you?”
He shrugged his shoulders and dragged his eyes through the trees scanning them. “I gotta be honest, I zoned out a while ago. I’m sorry; I’m just not into birds or nature for that fact. Where’d you learn about this stuff anyhow?”
“I dated a guy that loved the outdoors and was a nature lover. He could identify birds just by their calls and different types of insects and wildlife. I guess mentally I did listen and retained what he was saying.”
“Yeah, you did.” He sneezed again. “We
should head back to the cabin; my allergies can’t take much more of the outdoors. Plus, we’ve been out long enough. I don’t want to risk us getting spotted by other people.”
“If this cabin is so secluded, who will see us?”
“There is always a chance of a leak, Carla. My assignment is to protect you, and that’s what I aim to do.” He had to get her to trust him and to strike while her defenses were down and she was not lashing out at him.
“I understand,” she said firmly. “I let our walk lead to casual conversation and we aren’t that way. My mistake for assuming we had reached a threshold and finally are attempting to be friendly.”
Her words made him feel like a heel. They’d been at each other’s throats, and she did break the ice by talking about something other than her situation. “You aren’t assuming that, Carla. I want you to talk to me. I’m not a bad guy, really.”
“I’m not either. I’m a very friendly person, and I have no enemies,” she said picking a fresh pine cone from the branch of a low hanging pine tree. She sniffed it. “You and I got off on a bad foot. Maybe we should start over.” She stuck out her hand. “Hi, my name is Carla Parker.”
Zach released an invisible irritated sigh. Was this woman for real or bipolar? Then he recalled their initial meeting. She entered the bus shelter all bubbly and with a friendly greeting while he snubbed her. He’d forced her to be nasty because he had been. He looked at her small hand extended to him, waiting for a response. “Ya know, I’ve been sneezing in my hands and don’t want to pass on my germs.”
Carla withdrew her hand. Her smile disappeared, taking that sexy dimple with it. She didn’t seem to believe the excuse he gave for not returning her gesture of kindness. The afternoon sun bled through the trees and filtered across her face casting a glow on her. Her brown eyes twinkled under the brightness. He was good at his job and read people very well. He had misjudged Carla. There were no stress lines around her mouth or on her forehead. Her facial skin was smooth and free of blemishes. She didn’t appear to need any makeup at all. She had a natural beauty that shouldn’t be covered by layers of makeup.