Re/Leased (Doms of the FBI Book 5)

by Michele Zurlo

  Having a sister in a coma wasn’t common knowledge, and Autumn knew that Julianne would never spread gossip. Had she mentioned it in passing and Stephanie overheard? Abruptly, Autumn brushed aside the concern. Keeping Summer a secret was stupid anyway. “Yeah. The staff here is pretty nice.”

  Stephanie nodded as if she’d come to a decision. “This is what God is trying to tell me. Running into you yesterday and today—this is the place where Aunt Rachel belongs.”

  “Oh, then I guess I’ll see you around. I have a time-sensitive errand to run. I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to get going.” With that, she unlocked her door and got in. She lived fifteen minutes away. Her files on Summer were organized, but hidden. It would take ten or fifteen minutes to get them out. Shit. There was no way this would work. She dialed Julianne.

  “Hey, hon. Are we still on for dinner?”

  She pressed the accelerator to beat a yellow light, but she had to brake hard for the next one. “Yes. Listen, David has a doctor friend who is coming to take a look at Summer, and I have to run home to get her records. Only she’s going to be there before I can get back. Is there any way you can drop everything and go to Sunshine Acres right now?”

  “I can be there by two. Is that okay?”

  “It’s perfect. I appreciate this so much.” She punched the gas as soon as the light turned green, but she found herself having to slam the brakes on again when someone pulled out in front of her. Only she wasn’t fast enough, and her car slammed into the back half of the vehicle.

  “Autumn? What happened?”

  “A car pulled in front of me, and I couldn’t stop in time.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes.”

  Julianne snorted. “Why am I asking you? No, you’re not. If you were bleeding and had a broken bone, you’d still tell me you were fine.”

  “I’m going to let you go now. Get to Summer, okay? I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Her sister was not going to lose out on a chance to be seen by a specialist. Autumn got out of the car, but she swayed before taking a step and had to lean against the door.

  “Miss? Are you okay?” A stranger was in her personal space.

  She tried to move away, but her legs wouldn’t cooperate. “Fine. Is the other person okay?”

  The stranger peered into her eyes. “They have airbags. You don’t. Did you hit your head?”

  The time between hitting the car and getting out of hers was a blur. “I don’t think so.” The stranger was coming into focus. He was about her height, and his hair was in neat cornrows. She stared at him, concentrating on his rich, brown eyes and the friendly concern she recognized there. “They pulled out in front of me.”

  “I know. I saw it happen. You were both on your cell phones, and they didn’t stop for the light.” The way he looked into her eyes made her feel like a patient.

  The man swam in an out of focus, and things didn’t quite make sense. She focused on the stranger who seemed concerned. “Are you a doctor?”

  “I am, and you need to go to the ER. You did hit your head. It’s bleeding. I’ve called an ambulance.”

  “I don’t have time, and I’m okay.”

  He guided her to the curb and helped her sit down. She didn’t know why she went with him. Time was ticking, and she needed to get Summer’s records for Doctor Wycoff. “Well, you have to wait for the police to make a report and give you a ticket anyway, so why don’t you just let the EMT’s check you out?”

  An hour later, she found herself sitting on a bed in a hospital while a nurse took her vital signs and enough blood to feed a vampire. “What in the world are you going to do with that?”

  She smiled. “Run tests. It’s our job to make sure you’re okay before we send you back into the big, bad world.”

  “I’m not staying here.” She got out of bed and searched for her bag. The doctor who’d helped her to the curb had been nice enough to get her things from the car. “My sister needs me.”

  The nurse’s face got a don’t-fuck-with-me look. “Call your sister and tell her that you need her.”

  Autumn blinked. “She’s in a coma.”

  “Well, then she won’t miss you for a while. You have plenty of time for the CT scan the doctor ordered.” She put her hands out. “Get back in bed, sweetie. You’re not thinking straight right now.”

  “Listen to the nurse, Sugar. That’s an order.”

  Hearing David’s voice made harsh realities intrude. Big tears started forming in her eyes, and she looked up to see him standing in the gap between the curtains that partitioned her from the rest of the people in the ER. “But Summer—”

  He shook his head, a firm warning not to argue. “Tess understands. She’ll drop by tomorrow.” He turned sideways to pass the nurse, and he helped her back into bed. “Right now, you’re going to rest and wait for the test results. You may have a concussion.”

  “The orderly should be here in about ten minutes to transport you to radiology.” The nurse made her pronouncement and left.

  “I don’t remember hitting my head. It was a fender-bender. That’s all.” She rested her face against his chest, and he held her loosely, though he was tense.

  “What were you doing in your car? You were supposed to stay at Sunshine Acres and wait for Tess.”

  “Summer’s records are at my apartment. I asked Julianne to wait for the doctor, and I went to get the files.”

  Some of the stiffness left him, and when he spoke again, most of the irritation was gone as well. “We’ll grab them when I take you home to pack a bag. You’ll be staying with me tonight.”

  She wanted to sleep in her own bed. “Sir, that’s not necessary. I’m sure all this is a waste of time and money.”

  “We’ll see about that.” He eased her back on the bed, and then he sat in the visitor’s chair. His presence filled the tiny space, and she found having him close to be so very comforting.

  “How did you know I was here?”

  “Julianne called me.” He rubbed his palm down the thigh of his pants. “I tried to call you, but your phone goes directly to voicemail, so I called a friend to find out where the ambulance took you.”

  He certainly had convenient friends. Might as well see how convenient they were. “Do you know where my car is? I kind of need it.”

  “It’s been towed. I had it delivered to a body shop I trust. They’ll call when it’s ready.”

  Visions of bills to come floated before her. “That’s okay. It’s just a couple of dents, nothing that needs to be fixed right now.”

  The way he pressed his lips let her know that he wasn’t in the mood to negotiate. “You’re not getting it back until my mechanic clears it. I’ll loan you one of mine until then.”

  She blinked. “One of your cars? How many cars do you have?”

  “As many as I need. Stop arguing, Sugar. Thank me and shut up about it. When it comes to your safety, I’m not cutting corners.”

  Corners needed to be cut. Going around them was always too expensive. But he regarded her with a menacing scowl, and she knew when not to poke her bear. She’d just have to make sure her extra job this Thursday really paid out. They hadn’t planned to go after the safe, but maybe while Ben was occupied with the paintings he wanted to steal, she could see if there was any cash on hand. She hated to do it, but it looked like she had no choice.

  By nightfall, she found herself in David’s car, riding shotgun. He didn’t say a word as he drove to her apartment. Julianne had come by to let her know that Summer was fine. Autumn had been forced to stay in the ER until the doctors gave her a clean bill of health. She’d merely been shaken up, not seriously hurt. Well, car accidents tended to shake her up. The last one had cost her a father and almost a sister.

  “Are you angry with me?” She broke the silence. “I’m sorry, Sir. I didn’t mean to interrupt your plans. Really, I’m okay staying by myself.”

  He dragged a hand through his hair. “I’m just tired, Sugar, and worried about y
ou. And I’m feeling guilty. This wouldn’t have happened if I had given you more than a half hour’s notice.”

  Reaching over, she twined her fingers with his. “It’s not your fault. I know it’s hard to accept that you aren’t in control of every factor in the world, but you aren’t. You were doing something incredibly thoughtful for me, and then you dropped everything to come to the ER to be there for me when I needed you. Those are the only things you get to take the blame for.” They’d arrived at her apartment building, so she unclicked her seatbelt. “And I’m okay. I know I’ll probably be a little sore tomorrow, but at least nobody was hurt.”

  He came around to assist her out of the SUV, but she was too quick. The whole way up the stairs, he hovered behind her with his hands out to catch her if she stumbled or fell.

  At the heavy security door to her apartment, she held a hand against his chest. “I love that you care, but please stop. I will tell you if I’m feeling faint or dizzy or any of the other symptoms on the warning list. I promise.”

  A half-step back was all he was willing to cede, but she’d take it. As they went inside, the alarm on her phone went off. She fumbled for it to enter the deactivation code while David turned on the light. A quick scan set off a warning bell in her head.

  She grabbed David’s arm to keep him from touching anything. “Someone has been here.”

  “Your alarm went off?”

  “No.” The alarm would alert her about intruders who didn’t know how to avoid detection. That left a whole class of savvy criminals who could bypass her security. She looked closer at everything, noting minute details.

  “Then what makes you think someone was here?”

  She opened a drawer in the tiny kitchen where she kept Summer’s unpaid bills. “Someone has been in this drawer. These aren’t exactly how I left them.” She put them back and went to the sofa. The left cushion didn’t fit quite right, and so it had to be forced into position by tucking the cover a certain way to level it out. “This has been moved as well.”

  David grasped her arms and forced her to face him. “Sugar, maybe the accident shook you up more than you thought. What you’re saying doesn’t make sense.”

  Careful not to hit the bruise at her hairline, she pushed her hair back. “I know it might sound a little crazy, but I set little traps in case someone breaks in and tries to go through my things. My dad was always paranoid about the government intruding in our lives, so I grew up with this habit. I turn every third, seventh, and twelfth letter, and I have a certain way of putting the cushion that won’t automatically reset if you lift it up and put it down, even if you try to tuck the cover in.”

  He frowned. “I’m not going to lie. It does sound crazy. But everything you’ve told me sounds like you grew up living on the run. It makes sense that you would still use those precautions even though there’s no need.”

  Yeah, her father had possessed some odd quirks, but everybody did, so that was unremarkable. It was one thing for Summer to make comments about their dad’s oddities, but it was entirely different when someone outside the family did it. “I’m going to reset everything, and then I’ll get some clothes.”

  “I’m a seasoned traveler with a lot of packing experience.” He went into the bedroom. “I’ll pack your clothes.”

  She didn’t want him going through her drawers, but after sounding like she was half-baked and paranoid already, she didn’t care to rock that boat. Nothing in there was a secret anyway. She quickly reordered her unpaid bills and refolded the sofa cover so that it was exactly the way she wanted. In the past week, she hadn’t spent much time at home, so this could have happened anytime in the last several days. Her level of vigilance was flagging, and that led to danger. Dad taught you better than this.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Having been in her bedroom once before, David scanned it to see if he could spot anything out of place. He hadn’t exactly been focused on memorizing the placement of her belongings last time. When Autumn was around, he had trouble doing his job. She commanded his full attention, and he liked giving it to her.

  If he had been raised by a paranoid father and trained in keeping himself off the radar, where would he set traps? Few pieces of furniture meant easy answers—the closet and drawers. He hadn’t looked in either place last time, so he set to work going through her closet and drawers. While Jesse was always careful, he hadn’t been looking for small traps that would only make sense to the person who’d set them. This way, he could take the blame for anything out of place.

  In a box on top of the dresser, he found a cache of photos. Riffling through, he found the oldest in the bunch and took pictures of them with his phone. The backs lacked any kind of identification like names, locations, or years.

  Autumn came in, her troubled green eyes scanning the room for anything out of place. She frowned when she saw that he hadn’t been looking in the right drawers. “What are you doing?”

  He flipped through several of the old photographs. “You were a cute kid. Is this your dad?”

  She peered at the one on which he’d paused. It showed her and Summer on a beach with plastic shovels and buckets. A man with red hair and a slight build helped them shape a sandcastle. All three sported joyful smiles. “Yes. I think I was about four and Summer was six.”

  “A day at the beach. Where was this?”

  “I don’t know.” She took the photo and her forehead wrinkled as she thought. “Maybe Texas. We spent some time there. Summer might remember. I was too young.” Then her face softened and her eyes grew distant. “Dad had his quirks, but most of my memories are things like this. He structured his whole life around us. I don’t remember a time he wasn’t there when I needed him.”

  David looked through a few more photographs. Most of them were of Autumn and Summer. Brian Sullivan was in very few pictures, which made sense if he was the one with the camera. “Who took that picture?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe a friend of my dad’s was there. Or a stranger. People at beaches tend to be friendly and helpful to one another.” She stood next to him as he went through more, and he took that as permission to keep looking.

  He stopped at one with Autumn sitting on the floor with her hand on the dial of a complex safe. She couldn’t have been more than fifteen. That type of safe had a combination that consisted of six numbers that reset any time a mistake was made, and it had two-tier protection. “What are you doing here?”

  She fingered the edge of the photo. “Dad used to put my birthday presents in a safe, and I had to guess the combination. It was a game we played.”

  It was a game a thief would play to pass along his skills to his offspring. “What if you couldn’t guess right?”

  “Then I tried again.” She laughed and patted his arm. “Like I said, it was a game. He never put anything in there that couldn’t keep for a long period of time. But the gift rarely mattered. I thrived on the challenge.”

  While he continued to look through photos and surreptitiously snap pictures of his own, she gathered her things from the closet and other drawers. He tensed when she went to the closet, as he hadn’t been there yet, but she didn’t indicate that anything was amiss. “Why don’t you have some of these in frames?” He held up one of Summer and her in formal dresses. They appeared to be in their mid-teens. “This is a special occasion?”

  Sadness clouded her irises, and she turned away quickly. “No. Sometimes Summer and I dressed up because we wanted to.” She slid the lone nightstand several feet, covering her upset with physical work. “I just need Summer’s records, and then we can go.”

  She knelt down, a metal nail file in hand. He watched as she used it to pry up a linoleum tile, and then she lifted a section of the subfloor. “Did you stash a safe in the floor?”

  “Where else would you put one? Closets and behind paintings or panels are too obvious. Nobody looks in the floor.” She lifted out several small lockboxes before reaching into the void.

  He went closer to watc
h, but she spun the dial too quickly for him to see the combination. Once open, she extracted a thick accordion folder. There was nothing else in the safe. She closed it, replaced everything, and stood up. He caught her as she swayed. She dropped the folder to hold onto him.

  “Thanks.”

  “For the time being, no kneeling, and be sure to get up slowly.”

  “Yes, Sir. Can you move the table back for me?”

  He made sure she had her balance back before doing the strong man work. “Let’s head out, Sugar. We’re both ready for an early bedtime.”

  David maintained a subdued tone for the remainder of the evening, coddling Autumn as much as she would allow until they both went to sleep. He liked sharing a bed with her. Since she was within arm’s reach, she couldn’t possibly get into trouble.

  The next morning, she woke early, and they argued as they ate breakfast.

  “Take the day off, Sugar. You were in a car accident. People will understand.”

  The scraping of a knife across toast communicated intense irritation, and the heat in her eyes threatened to blacken the toast. “It was a fender-bender. I’m fine, and I’m going to work. I don’t give a rip what people do or don’t care about.”

  “You didn’t sleep well,” he pointed out. It was a rather reasonable point.

  “I slept fine. I got up at two, took some more ibuprofen, and went back to sleep.” She washed two more pills down with coffee. “I’m not even all that sore.”

  If reasonable wasn’t going to work, then he’d appeal to the submissive side that should delight in her Dom taking care of her. “I will give Summer’s files and your consent form to Tess. You don’t have to worry about it.”

  She gestured across the table with a butter knife. “If you don’t want to loan me a car, just say so. I can ride in with you, and Julianne can take me to see Summer and then home.”

  “You’re staying with me tonight.”

  “Negative. Sir, I like you, but we just started going out. I don’t want to be one of those couples who are glued to each other and get a blended name like Davumn or Auvid. See? It doesn’t even work with our names. I need personal space, and so do you. It’s healthy to want some time apart. I’m going home tonight, and we’ll go to the game together Wednesday.” She polished off her food with gusto, and he was glad to see that she felt well enough to eat.