by Susan Stoker
“Right.” Cade grinned huge at her. “I should’ve guessed. Give me your email, and I’ll find you on Facebook.”
“I’m under Elizabeth Parkins. There are about a million of us though, so it might be easier for me to look you up.”
“I think there are around two million Cade Turners on there. Not sure it’ll be any easier for you to find me.”
Beth grinned. “Turners maybe. Cade Turners? Doubt it. But honestly, if I can find a hole in a firewall, I can find you on Facebook.”
Cade smiled back. “Right. Forgot for a second I was talking to Garcia’s twin,” he teased, then stood up and, because he hadn’t let go of her hand, pulled Beth up with him. They walked to her front door and he watched as she unlocked her locks with one hand.
When she’d gotten all the locks undone, she looked up at Cade. He leaned down, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and pulled back. His thumb caressed the back of her hand before he let go. “I’ll be in touch, Beth. Sleep well.”
She never slept well, but she didn’t say anything other than, “You too.”
He leaned over and picked up the two bottles of cleanser he’d brought and disappeared down the hallway. Beth felt her heart rate increase at the sight of the long hall and quickly shut herself back into her apartment and locked herself in. Feeling safer, she wandered back to the couch and plopped down. She sat right where Cade had been and felt the warmth from his body seep into her skin.
It had been a long, weird day…but interesting. And Beth hadn’t had an interesting day in a long time.
And to think it’d all started because of a fire. That had to mean something, but she was too keyed up at the moment to think of what it was.
CHAPTER 3
“Stay there, I’ll come around,” Penelope said in a soothing voice a week later.
Beth gave a short nod and took a deep breath. She counted from one to ten in her head and tried to stay relaxed…which was hopeless. She’d thought that going outside would get easier, but it seemed that as the days went by, it actually got harder and harder.
Intellectually, she knew it was highly unlikely that someone was going to jump out of a van or car and grab her as Ben Hurst had, but she just couldn’t shake the fear. Who would’ve thought it could happen to her the first time? It was a fluke…but if it was a fluke once, it could be a fluke twice.
Her door opened and Beth visibly jumped and lurched to the side.
“Easy, Beth. It’s me.”
Shit. “Sorry, Pen. I know it’s you.”
“It’s fine. Give me your hand.”
One thing she liked about Penelope was that she didn’t let Beth’s weird quirks get to her. She pretended not to see the stares from people who probably assumed because they were holding hands they must be lesbians rather than just good friends. Penelope didn’t care if Beth flinched at loud noises or if, like now, because of her fears, Beth completely forgot that ten seconds earlier Penelope said she’d be around to get her from the passenger side of the car.
Beth held out her hand and sighed in relief as Penelope’s warm hand closed around hers. The panic didn’t disappear, but the feel of another person’s palm against hers went a long way toward reassuring her that she couldn’t be snatched away easily or without someone else knowing about it.
And that was the crux of the matter. She’d been taken from that Walmart parking lot and no one had known. The only reason someone knew she was missing as soon as they did was because that Navy SEAL team had already been looking for Summer, the woman who’d first been taken by Hurst. Since Beth lived on her own back in California, her parents wouldn’t have noticed she was missing for several days, and because her brother lived up in Pennsylvania, he wouldn’t have known either. Beth shuddered to think of what Hurst would’ve been able to do to her if she and Summer hadn’t been found.
Penelope’s chatter broke through Beth’s internal musings as they headed toward the grocery store.
“I swear to God the guys are driving me crazy. Crash even waited for me after we’d arrived at a medical the other night because he didn’t want me to have to walk in by myself in the dark. They’re hovering and it’s completely unnecessary. I feel like I did right after I’d graduated from the academy and the team didn’t completely trust me.”
“They’re worried about you.”
“I know, but it’s still annoying.”
“How’s Moose?” Beth wasn’t the most man-savvy person in the world, but even she could tell Pen had a thing for her fellow firefighter.
Penelope shrugged. “Fine.”
“Fine, huh?” Beth smiled. Penelope usually had no problem bitching about her friends when they were irritating, but all Beth could get out of her about the tall, extremely good-looking man was “fine.”
“Yeah. Why?”
“No reason.”
“You’re in an awfully good mood today,” Penelope observed as they entered the large grocery store.
“Not really. I can’t wait to get this over with, but talking about you seems to make my anxiety go away.”
“Figures,” Penelope griped good-naturedly.
Deciding she’d better drop the subject before Penelope switched the attention from Moose to her brother, and asked how she was getting along with Cade, Beth simply smiled at her friend.
The fact was that Beth had communicated with Cade several times since she’d seen him last week. She’d found him easily on Facebook and he’d immediately accepted her friend request. She would’ve thought it strange that he was as active on Facebook as he was, but his social media habits were good for her, as it allowed them to chat all the time.
He never posted information that was personal, but he shared hilarious videos and some funny memes and firefighter cartoons, with his favorite being by some guy named Paul Combs.
The first night, they’d sent instant messages back and forth for two hours before Beth reluctantly let him go. He’d stayed true to his word and answered all of her questions about him. Beth learned he’d graduated from Texas A&M and had trained extensively at their world-renowned Emergency Operations Training Center. He’d explained that they had several acres set up to train personnel on anything from HazMat emergencies to train derailments, on top of the required annual firefighter training. It all sounded fascinating, especially because it was a world so far removed from what Beth was used to.
The second time he’d caught her online was when she was in the middle of breaking through Exxon’s extensive firewall. She’d just wanted to see if she could do it—and she had, but in the back of her mind, she’d known that her actions would set off some pretty intense anti-hacking attacks. She’d had her hands full trying to make sure she got out with her identity and hands clean.
Cade hadn’t liked it, but Beth had promised she wasn’t doing anything with the data. He’d lectured that what she was doing could land her in jail, and that if she wanted to work on her hacking skills there were safer—and legal—ways to do it. He’d once again told her that he was going to introduce her to his officer friends…but only if she quit hacking into some of the biggest corporations in the world. She could hear in his tone that even though he was teasing her, he was still serious, telling her he didn’t exactly relish the idea of visiting her in prison.
Thinking about Cade was enough to distract her from the fact that she was not in her safe apartment, but rather standing in the entrance to the grocery store. Penelope had to say her name twice to get her attention. They each grabbed a basket, as it was impossible to push a cart with one hand, and headed toward the produce section. Beth had no issue getting dried goods delivered to her apartment via the Internet, but fresh fruit, vegetables and meat were another story.
She was more thankful to Penelope than she could ever say; if it wasn’t for her, Beth didn’t think she’d ever leave her apartment. Beth had asked once what she could do to pay her back and Penelope had gotten pissed, saying they were friends and friends didn’t pay each other for doing favors.<
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Feeling as though she’d needed to do something, Beth had used her computer skills to deflect news reporters and other annoying, obnoxious people who constantly bombarded Penelope for interviews and exclusive statements about her time spent as a captive of the infamous terrorist group ISIS. Pen had no idea, but it was worth it to Beth when Penelope had confessed one day that she didn’t know why the press had backed off, but she was relieved, and felt like she could finally start to get her life back.
Beth had hacked into Penelope’s email and Facebook accounts and answered, blocked, and generally kept the trolls away from her. She let the big networks through—Pen could decide on her own if she wanted to give exclusive interviews to Barbara Walters or Ellen, and she had talked to both—but no way was she letting TMZ or Fox News get their claws into one of the best people Beth had ever known.
If a reporter got too aggressive, it was all too easy to unleash a virus on the person’s computer, which would make them forget about Penelope for a while. It was illegal, and she knew Cade wouldn’t approve, but so far it’d worked, and Penelope was none the wiser. It wasn’t much, but it was the only thing Beth could think to do to thank her for all she’d done. Since Pen wouldn’t take money, and only occasionally allowed her to thank her, having her back electronically, even if she didn’t know it, was what Beth did.
They were headed toward the meat section when Penelope announced, “Oh look, it’s Cade.”
Beth turned her head and, sure enough, Penelope’s brother was headed toward them with a smile on his face. He looked just as handsome as he had the last time she’d seen him. Today he was wearing another pair of jeans, but he had on a polo shirt and Beth could see a light dusting of dark hair on his chest. He looked good. Really good.
“Hey, Squirt…Beth.”
“Hi.”
Beth mumbled something under her breath, suddenly embarrassed for some reason to be seen out in public with Penelope as she was. She felt underdressed in her own pair of jeans and oversized T-shirt. She hadn’t put any makeup on and had merely pulled her long hair back into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. Not to mention, it was one thing for Cade to know about how she needed to hold Pen’s hand, but it was another for him to see it up close and personal. She wanted so badly to drop Pen’s hand and stand in front of this capable man on her own, but instead she gripped her friend harder.
Just as Cade opened his mouth to say something else, Penelope’s cell phone rang. She leaned over, placed the basket of produce on the ground and reached into her back pocket for her phone. Beth listened to her side of the conversation, realizing pretty quickly that this trip was going to be cut short.
“Hello? Hey, what’s up? Yeah. Um-hum. Well, I’m kinda busy at the moment. I know. All right, hang on.”
Penelope held the phone against her chest to muffle her conversation to the person on the other end of the line. She looked at Beth.
“It’s my friend, Hayden. I told her to call the next time she was going to the range. It’s not a big deal, but I really wanted her to help me group my shots closer together. Would you mind?”
“Of course not. I can get the rest of what I need later,” Beth said immediately. She never wanted to be a burden on Penelope. If she wanted to go and do something else, Beth would never hold her back. Pen had told her a bit about Hayden and she seemed like the kind of person Beth would love to get to know. She was a kick-butt cop in the sheriff’s department and sounded hilarious.
“Actually, I thought maybe Cade could help you finish up,” Penelope replied in an even tone.
Beth froze where she stood and her eyes swung to Cade’s. She couldn’t. Pen knew her. She’d seen her mid-panic attack and knew to never leave her alone. Cade didn’t know the rules. He didn’t know—
“Great idea. I’m happy to,” Cade said.
Beth swallowed hard. She wasn’t sure about this. At all.
“Look at me, Beth,” Penelope demanded. When Beth brought her eyes to her friend’s, she continued, “Relax. I wouldn’t volunteer my brother if I didn’t think he’d take good care of you. He’s not going to leave you alone. He’s not going to freak out if you have an attack. Okay? You know him. I know you’ve been talking to him online. It’s fine. You’ll be fine.”
“But he doesn’t know the rules.” Beth’s voice trembled and she could feel herself getting worked up.
“Give me your hand,” Cade requested in a semi-stern voice.
As if knowing Beth was incapable of moving, Penelope reached out and transferred Beth’s hand from hers to Cade’s.
Beth swallowed hard as she felt his ginormous hand engulf hers. She knew it was just a hand, exactly the same as Pen’s, but somehow not. Even though she was only a few inches shorter than Cade, standing next to him with her hand in his…she felt protected. Tiny. Safe.
If she could’ve, Beth probably would’ve torn her hand away from his and hurried out of the store to try to preserve some of her dignity…but she couldn’t. And if she was honest with herself, she didn’t want to. Cade knew how she was. He might not have seen her in a full-blown panic attack, but he knew enough about her to know it was a possibility. They’d talked about some of what she went through in one of their online conversations.
“What are the rules, Pen?” Cade asked his sister.
As if Beth wasn’t standing there, Penelope answered calmly, “Don’t let go of her hand. Not to pay. Not to answer your phone, not to reach for something on the shelf. Don’t let anyone get too close. Make sure not to—”
“I think he’s got it,” Beth interrupted, embarrassed beyond belief. She was sure her face was a fiery red.
Beth felt Cade’s finger under her chin as he forced her head up to look at him. “I’ll take good care of you. Promise.”
“I’m not five,” Beth grumbled, feeling like the most pathetic person on the planet.
“Believe me, this hasn’t escaped my notice,” Cade returned in a strange tone.
Penelope put the phone back up to her ear. “Hayden? I’m back. Yeah, I’ll meet you at the range in say, thirty minutes? Great. I appreciate you calling. See you soon.” She clicked off the phone and hugged her friend awkwardly, as Beth was still holding her basket of food and now Cade’s hand.
“Call me when you get home, all right?”
“I will. Thanks for coming with me today.”
“Anytime, Beth. Seriously.”
Beth watched as Penelope strode confidently up the aisle and lost sight of her as she turned left at the end to head for the entrance.
“So…this is awkward. I’m not sure what you expected when you came to the store today, but I bet babysitting your sister’s friend wasn’t it.”
“Don’t do that, Beth. Don’t belittle how far you’ve come. You’re here and trying to get better. I think you’re amazing. And not only was my day made by seeing you, I have an excuse to spend more time with you. Now, what else do you need?”
Beth was glad Cade’s tone was no-nonsense and he wasn’t going to say anything that would make her want to either hit him or throw up. She decided to ignore his comment about his day being made. He had to have been just being nice. “Ground beef, chicken, some stuff for sandwiches, cream cheese, ice cream, and yogurt.”
Cade bent down and picked up the basket his sister had left. “Lead on, my beautiful computer genius.”
Beth blushed, but headed toward the meat section of the store without a word. As she finished up her shopping, she couldn’t help but compare Cade to his sister. As far as being an interesting shopping companion, they were evenly matched. He had no problem comparing prices of the store-brand versus the name-brand food and discussing the merits of each. He had opinions on which cut of steak was the best, and he even encouraged her to try ground buffalo instead of ground beef.
But when it came to feeling safe, Cade had his sister beat hands down. Beth couldn’t say exactly what it was that made her feel that way. Maybe it was how he kept himself between her and the other shop
pers. Maybe it was how he intertwined their fingers and squeezed her hand every now and then when he approved of something she’d said. Maybe it was simply the fact that he was a man. Beth hated to be sexist—she’d heard stories about Penelope carrying someone even taller and heavier than Cade out of a fire—but deep in her heart, she knew people would think twice about messing with her when Cade was by her side.
Before she knew it, they were in the parking lot headed for his truck and Beth realized she hadn’t even fearfully looked around before stepping foot outside the store. She was with Cade. He wouldn’t let anyone snatch her away. It was a heady feeling.
They stopped on the driver’s side of a large black Ford F-350. Cade clicked the locks and opened the door, putting her bags on the floor of the backseat then gesturing to her. “Ladies first.”
Beth looked up in confusion. “I’m not driving.”
“I know.” Cade smiled at her as if she’d said the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “But you can crawl over to the passenger side from here since I’ve got bench seats.”
Beth couldn’t think of anything to say before he went on.
“That’s the rule right? I can’t let go, so I’m not. Go on, scoot up and crawl over. I’ll be right beside you.”
“I’ll be fine for the ten seconds it’ll take you to walk around the truck. That’s what Pen always does.” Beth didn’t know why she was protesting, except the knot in her stomach was back at his thoughtfulness. The goosebumps springing up on her arms were new though.
“Beth, I got this. Scoot. In.”
Okay then. She awkwardly climbed up with Cade’s help and moved out of the way of the steering wheel. He hopped up behind her and settled in. When Beth tried to continue moving into the passenger side of the seat, a tug on her hand stopped her.
“Sit there in the middle. There’s a seat belt. It’ll be more comfortable and you won’t have to lean over to keep hold of me.”