Kiss Kiss Bang_Iron_Clad Security

by Sidney Halston

  Once Sophie was in the car animatedly telling Joey what she’d colored with Annie, Olivia asked, “do you mind swinging by my office really quick? I’d like to pick up a brief for a speech I need to prepare for.”

  He hesitated and she added, “He’s behind bars.”

  “Fine. But only a minute, okay? I want to do a total overhaul of your office before you officially come back.”

  “That seems like overkill considering Colin’s in jail.”

  “But there could be another crazy person out there. You’re a public figure, and if you win the election you’ll have even more enemies. And to be honest, without a motive, I’m still uneasy.”

  Enemies? What a terrible word, she thought. But it was, unfortunately, an accurate one.

  “Can I go back to the pool when we get home?” Sophie asked. A big bout of melancholy hit Olivia. They hadn’t discussed anything, but there’d be no need for her to go back to Joey’s home tonight.

  Joey’s home.

  Not her home. She almost corrected Sophie, but instead, without missing a beat, Joey replied. “Only if we can have a cannonball battle.”

  “Yay! I wanna win.”

  “So do I, freckles.” He looked at Olivia’s daughter through the rearview mirror and winked and the little girl giggled. Giggled!

  Of course she had. When Olivia was around Joey she felt the same way. She too felt like giggling. But liking him this much this fast felt wrong, and an unfamiliar and unwanted bout of nostalgia flooded her system. She tried to shake it off, though.

  It was okay to be happy. It was okay to fall in love. It was okay to move on. Neil would have wanted all of that for them.

  Sophie was counting from one to ten over and over as she skipped to the elevator at the government building where Olivia had her office. “I wanna pwess da button, mum.”

  “Sure sweets. Push ten,” she told her daughter once they stepped inside. “But no more counting, okay?”

  Joey chuckled and she gave him a meaningful look, silently thanking him for his patience with Sophie.

  “Joey, did you know that lizards that are humungous and swim are called Gapagaglos Iguanas. Have you ever see a Gapagaglos Iguana? They are this big,” she outstretched her arm as big as they went.

  “I think you mean Galapagos, and no, I’ve never seen one, but I want to. Maybe they have them at the zoo?” Joey said.

  “We’re going to the zoo?” Sophie jumped excitedly.

  “No. No,” Olivia said. “I mean, we can one day, but not today.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “No, sweets, not tomorrow.”

  “The day after?” Seeing as this was not going to ever end, Joey got on one knee and said, “How about one weekend when your mommy and me are not working, we can all go? But today we’ll do a cannonball contest instead.” And the change of subject worked, because she began to talk about the pool.

  As the elevator ascended, the lights immediately began to flicker. Olivia’s eyes moved to Joey who immediately stiffened and his arms twitched for his weapon, instinctively. It was déjà vu.

  She hated small confined areas. A few weeks ago, when she’d been stuck in the elevator, the only reason she hadn’t gone into a full-blown panic attack was because Joey had distracted her with conversation and kissing. Plus, back then she hadn’t just been assaulted in the locker room of a gym. But the odds of being stuck in an elevator again were . . . nope, just couldn’t happen.

  * * *

  Something felt off. The building where Olivia had her office was a relatively new building, and the flickering lights and the way the elevator jolted slightly made the hair on his neck stand up.

  His hand was already on his Sig but he wouldn’t take it out unless absolutely necessary. No way would he scare Sophie. The flickering continued for a few more seconds, and Sophie seemed completely unaware as she talked about the pool, but Olivia’s face was pale.

  They looked at each other. A silent communication passed between them and he reached for her hand and squeezed. He was about to open his mouth to tell her it was okay when the lights went off completely, and they were jolted to a complete stop in darkness.

  Then there was silence.

  “Mommy?” Olivia’s little voice immediately turned into a sob. “Mommy? Mommy?”

  “I’m right here, sweets.” But Olivia sounded just as scared.

  Even though he needed to assess the situation, he couldn’t do it if the two of them were frightened out of their minds. He bent down on his knee. “Hey freckles, tell me more about iguanas.” He took her hand in his and then reached up, blindly searching for Olivia and taking her hand.

  “Joey.” She was shaking so hard, it felt like she was going to lose it completely.

  “Come here, baby.” He pulled Olivia down to the floor, holding Sophie close and tight on his right and Olivia on his left. He should have his weapon out and ready for battle, but instead he was waging a different war—comforting these two, who were coming to mean so much to him.

  “I want to go home,” Sophie cried into his chest, and a fierce protective desire spread through his body as he pulled her in tighter.

  “I know, freckles. I know. But you’re here with me and your mommy and there’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s just a little dark, is all.”

  “It’s okay, Soph.” Olivia tried to soothe her too, attempting to be brave for her daughter, but the feel of her trembling against his side betrayed her.

  “Have I told you guys how my siblings and I used to play hide and seek in the dark when we were growing up? It used to drive my mom crazy,” Joey said, holding them both against him. Though to them he probably sounded in control and relaxed, he was beyond anxious inside. If someone tried to hurt them right this very moment, how would he protect them? He wasn’t even holding his weapon. He tamped all that down and continued his distraction. “We used to wait until my mom went to bed and all the lights were off and all of us, except one, would hide. Not only did we do it in the dark, we had to be quiet so my mom wouldn’t hear and wake up.”

  “Did she wake up?” Sophie asked.

  “Always. Annie was always loud when she couldn’t find us. She’s a sore loser, that one.”

  “Mommy, I want a sister.”

  Joey laughed as Olivia stiffened.

  “I want to play hide and seek with a sister while you and Joey are asleep.”

  Joey laughed again, and this time so did Olivia. “Not the best time to discuss that, sweets.” Olivia said, and Joey kissed the top of Sophie’s head.

  “How long do we have to wait?” Sophie asked.

  He’d been so intent at calming the two of them he had forgotten all the things he should have done. He pulled out his phone and dialed. “Annie, we’re in Olivia’s office building stuck in the elevator between the ninth and tenth floor. All lights out. It’s been about seven minutes. I need eyes and info.”

  “Gotcha. Headed out that way and will have the guys see what they can find from here.” With Jax gone, Annie had really stepped up to the plate. There’d been a time, not too long ago, when he wouldn’t have put Annie so close to the danger zone. After their father passed away, Joey had taken the role of father figure and protector over Annie, his only sister, and sometimes he got carried away. He loved her so much, and when she’d been in Iraq and had gone missing for two grueling days, he’d almost died from fear. But Annie had proven herself more than capable.

  “Thanks, kid. There’s no one I trust more handling this than you.” He meant that from the bottom of his heart. It was his way of apologizing, which was long overdue.

  “Wow, Joe. That really means a lot. Love looks good on you, brother. Really good.” She chuckled and hung up.

  Olivia pulled out her phone next. “Mark, I’m stuck in the elevator at the office,” she said. “Yeah, wasn’t planning to, but came by. No, I’m with Sophie and Joey. Okay, bye.” She shut down her phone. “He’s across town but he’s going to call one of the interns to see what’s go
ing on with the building.” A moment later a text dinged on her phone from Mark explaining that the rest of the staff had confirmed that the electricity of the entire building was down and that the electrical company, according to the building manager, had already been notified and were working on it.

  At some point, around fifteen minutes into the ordeal, Sophie fell asleep with her head on Joey’s lap while he soothed her hair, which was now damp and sticky against her little head. “I need to get out of here, Joey,” Olivia said, standing up. He turned on the light app on his phone and watched her try to pry the door open with her hands. “Babe, stop. Come down here, and sit.”

  “I can’t. I’m freaking out, Joey,” she said in a panicked tone, pressing the elevator’s buttons as if that would do something.

  He reached forward, trying not to jostle the little girl, and pulled Olivia down to the floor. “You are Olivia Russo. Badass politician. You do not freak out in an elevator. Take a breath for me.” He placed his palms on her shoulders. “We’ll be out of here soon.” It was a guess. He knew it and so did she.

  “What if it wasn’t Colin? What if the doors open and there’s a man waiting for me and Sophie right outside this door ready to kill us? I should have transferred the money. I shouldn’t have listened to you. Oh, God, what if—”

  “Stop!” he said firmly. “Do you want to scare your daughter?”

  It was a low blow, but he needed her to focus and breathe. “Breathe in and out. Come on. Do it.”

  She did, slowly, and then she was sitting next to him, her chin on her knees and her arms wrapped tightly around her legs.

  The truth was, these things were rarely just nothing, especially when you were getting threats. The hair on his neck stood up. The coincidences of all the threats, the arrest . . . everything . . . it didn’t feel as if this was just a fluke.

  He’d been trained for many things, but compartmentalizing the way he felt about Sophie and Olivia to deal with whatever was possibly happening outside the confines of their small elevator was not something he’d learned in the military.

  Luckily, he wasn’t a hothead. He was rational and calm and even if inside he was scared and trying to formulate a plan, he would show them nothing but calm.

  “Shit,” Olivia said, “we didn’t ring the bell. How could we have forgotten? Or made a call. They probably don’t know we’re even here.” She began to move, but he pulled her back. “No. Don’t. I didn’t ring it on purpose. If—and I’m saying if because it’s probably just a run-of-the-mill power outage, but if this is directed at you, I don’t want to draw attention to where we’re at.”

  With the same flare that they’d gone out with, the lights came back on. It took the three of them a moment for their eyes to adjust and for the elevator to start again. Quickly they shuffled to their feet. “Stand behind me,” Joey said, standing up with Sophie tucked against his hip, but slightly back.

  Even with just the slight slit of the door opened, Joey’s shoulders relaxed when he saw Annie barking orders at someone. He knew that Olivia did not want to be seen with a boyfriend or a lover or anything that could skew her pristine image. But he could care less at the moment. Unconcerned as to who was around, Joey hoisted the sleeping little girl up, her cheek resting on his shoulder, grabbed Olivia’s hand in his, and led them out of the elevator.

  He should have had his weapon out, he should have been completely vigilant and ready to take on any and all threats, but he knew without any doubt his ICS team would be there covering for them.

  His two girls needed his comfort at the moment.

  “Talk to me,” he said to Annie, who flanked them on his right. Ben was on the left next to Livie.

  “Lights went off, the entire street. They are calling it a glitch.”

  Without skipping a beat, he asked, “What are we calling it?”

  “It really was a glitch. I know it seems like too much coincidence, but lightning struck the electrical box and most of the street got hit.” Annie looked over at Olivia who was listening to the conversation intently. “Remind me never to get into an elevator with you.”

  Olivia rolled her eyes, feeling a little bit more relieved. All the drama had her on edge.

  Tucking Sophie into her toddler car seat first, Joey then helped Olivia into the car, while Annie and Ben sat in the front.

  Joey turned to Olivia. “Where to? Your house is secure. Colin is jail and Connor, who I’m still not ruling out, is in Ocala.”

  “Do you think my house is safe?”

  “I wouldn’t suggest it if I didn’t.”

  “Do . . . do you think you can stay with us tonight? If you don’t mind. I’m still spooked.”

  He chuckled. “I wasn’t going to leave you at your house alone. I was going to stay—with or without an invitation.”

  She sighed with relief and Joey turned his attention to Annie and Ben. “Are the reports on Tom and Mark back?”

  “Tom and Mark? Reports?” she asked.

  “We ran a full investigation on them,” Joey said. “On Winnie too. Anyone and everyone who you have contact with.”

  “Winnie and Mark are like family. That is an invasion of their privacy,” she said incredulously.

  “My job is to make sure you two are safe.”

  “Well, it’s not them,” Ben interjected. “Their reports came back clean.”

  Olivia rolled her eyes. “Of course they did.”

  “No offense, darlin’,” Joey replied, “but you are the shittiest judge of character I’ve ever met.” She opened her eyes wide. “Tom? World’s worst security guard. Connor? You said he was a good guy. He served six years.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’m checking everyone.”

  “Whatever,” she said, snarkily.

  And her mind wandered again to Connor.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  BREAKING NEWS: Sources tell us that a suspect has been apprehended and jailed in the assault on Olivia Russo. More to follow . . .

  That name, Connor Mathers, meant something—something big. Definitely more than she was letting on. Joey eyed her warily, but she swallowed and stayed silent. He wanted to shake her and get her to tell him all her secrets, but he decided that he’d wait until they were alone. There had to be a reason why she didn’t blurt it out—whatever it was.

  He knew Annie and Ben were monitoring to make sure they didn’t have a tail, and Ben had made a few strategic turns before pulling up to her house. Once there, Jax and Annie checked everything before Joey, Olivia, and a stirring Sophie walked in. Olivia, however, stared into the distance as if in a daze.

  After some more conversation, with Olivia clearly not paying attention, her mind elsewhere, Ben and Annie left. Finally, Joey was alone with Olivia. Well, not alone—Sophie was watching television in Olivia’s room—but as alone as they were going to be that night.

  He pulled Olivia onto his lap and kissed her silly, but even the way she kissed was off. He was hoping she’d spill whatever it was she hiding without him having to pry, but it wasn’t working. She was completely zoned out, her mind reeling about something.

  “Today was intense,” he said, trying to find a way of nudging her to talk. Her skin was warm and soft under his touch, and knowing how she felt about him made the contact even more intimate.

  “Talk to me, darlin’.”

  If he wasn’t such a good judge of character, if he hadn’t had the best military training, which included interrogation techniques, which entailed reading the enemy’s voice, mannerisms, and facial expressions, he would have missed the way she swallowed when he said it. “What are you keeping from me? I can’t keep you safe without knowing all the facts. And Sophie . . . I need to know.”

  “I didn’t keep this from you on purpose. It was so long ago, I thought it would never touch me again. How was I supposed to know there was a connection?” She was beginning to sound slightly hysterical. “I didn’t even think about Connor during this ordeal.” She pushed off him and paced around.

>   “Olivia, just tell me. Who is Connor Mathers, exactly?”

  A small twitch in her jaw—the smallest—but he saw it.

  * * *

  EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO

  “Liv! Yo, Liv!” Connor yelled from outside her window. “Come on, Liv girl, I know you’re home.”

  She was looking at the rows of A’s on her report card, proudly, but the hollering from outside overshadowed the selfish moment she’d taken for herself. The fact she went to school at all was enough to make her an outcast in the small rundown house in Brownsville—a little area in Brooklyn where she lived with her junkie parents.

  It was late, way too late for a seventeen-year-old on a school night, but her parents wouldn’t care. They were likely not even home, and if they were, they were probably stoned out of their minds. She didn’t check, nor did she care. She was way past the point of giving a shit, as heartless as that may have sounded. Mostly because they didn’t give a shit about her.

  But Connor—her eighteen-year-old neighbor, protector, best friend—he did give a shit. In fact, he was the only one who cared about her.

  Olivia and Connor had both grown up in the shitty neighborhood with even shittier parents, and they’d both vowed at a young age to get the hell out as soon as they could. His brother, Colin, was currently serving six months for possession with intent to sell. He was a high school dropout and had been to juvie more times than Olivia could remember. Connor hated him. He resented the fact that instead of trying to get out of this hellhole, his brother had fallen victim to the crappy life.

  But both friends had fallen off the track about a year ago, when Connor introduced Olivia to the exact crowd they’d vowed to avoid. After dabbling in underaged drinking and drug use, she stopped cold one day—she’d missed a week of school and her favorite teacher, Ms. Escro, called her out on it. Just like that she’d stopped missing school, stopped drinking and using drugs, and tried to distance herself from Connor. And now she’d gotten straight A’s. It was the only thing she’d ever done that had made her proud of herself.