Growth 0f Love (The Heirs 0f Orion Series Book 2)

by D. Anne Paris

  The warehouse was massive and filled with various pallets containing brown shipping boxes stacked at least three high. He walked up to one of them to get a better look. It looked recently shipped with not even a speck of dust on it. He could stick his head in one, but without light it wouldn't do him any good.

  He turned around and headed to the right. As he continued to walk he started to hear voices coming from the back of the warehouse.

  I'm sure rats don't know how to talk. He passed by a forklift.

  He could see the truck parked in the middle, as were a SUV and two small tricked out coupes. Two men stood by the SUV laughing. Another one was using a forklift to remove the pallets from the truck and five others were unpacking the pallets.

  He noticed a spot closer by a pallet and glided over to it. He pushed his head through the boxes and slowly pushed part of his face out so he could get a better look. The men were pulling out a variety of smartphone accessories- cases, cords, packs of screen protectors and bags of...

  Drugs. He smirked. They were going to nail these guys.

  "Whoa, Look!" One of them screamed and pointed to Keith’s face sticking out of the box. He quickly brought his face and the rest of his body into the boxes. He hated cramming into an object that was filled. It made him feel like he was stuck in a box filled with lead packing peanuts.

  "I don't see anything," another man commented.

  "I saw a face! A guy!"

  Footsteps ran over to the pallet as they looked around.

  "There's nothing here."

  "I swear I saw a guy!"

  "I think you inhaled too much of the new drug, man." Another man laughed as they continued to search the area.

  "I didn't! I know what I saw. It looked like a ghost!"

  "Enough!" a commanding voice called out to them. "Get back to work. We don't have time for games!"

  The footsteps receded back to the loading area. He waited another five minutes before he poked his head out the back of the pallet. No one was there. He wanted to get a better idea of the layout before the team stormed in, so he slowly crept through the shadows and made note of the area. They could surround them easily with backup. Question was what kind of weapons did they have?

  He looked through the area. AR-15 rifles leaned against the truck. He noticed the selector switch included a "full auto" option. No way that those were legal. A couple handguns he could see on the guys. He guessed the main stash was in the cars. Slowly he sank under the floor and glided towards the vehicles. He scanned through the coupes and then the SUV. A couple of Berettas and Colts lay in the coupes, but there was an ugly one in the SUV.

  Keith's astral self could move small objects, but his ability to physically move anything larger than a shoe box was severely limited. Since he couldn't take anything significant out of the vehicle he had to get creative and hide it. He nudged the ammo off the seat and rolled it underneath. In the pending chaos they would not think to check under the seat. That would give his team extra time.

  He moved back and popped behind some pallets as he made his way back. He could have easily just popped back to his body, but he wanted to be sure no new enemies converged between them and the building.

  His projection rounded another container, scanned the area and continued back. He heard a shot ring out back by his body and he popped back into his body. He scrambled up and walked over to where Dwayne waited.

  "Great, we got company, and they ain't friendly." Dwayne aimed his rifle but hesitated to take a shot so as not to disclose their location. "You see how many?"

  "No." Keith muttered and moved around the other side of the container so Dwayne wouldn't see him. He pushed out his astral projection again towards the container where the shot came from. He walked into the container and poked his head out. Nothing. He bolted to the other side and popped out again. Nothing again.

  Where the hell is this bastard? They couldn't be far...

  A loud pop broke his thought and another followed. It was very loud, almost as if...

  His mind raced as he popped his astral form back to his body, opened his eyes and saw the barrel of a gun in front of him.

  "Not so powerful now, huh?" the masked man asked him.

  Rage filled his blood and he focused on the man's eyes to push some answers out of him.

  "Who are you?"

  The man didn't answer.

  Keith was sure the man heard him, but why didn't he answer. The gun moved closer, but it was off slightly. He wasn't looking directly in his eyes, that's why he couldn't get an answer.

  He bolted up and swung his arm to grab the gun. The man didn't let go. Instead, he twisted and drew another gun out of his other holster. Before Keith could react the sharp sting entered his lower back and his body fell forward. As he tried to turn around to face the man another shot rang out and the man fell down next to Keith, with a bullet wound in his head.

  Keith glanced back and saw Dwayne holding his gun in the dark.

  "Always got your back, man," Dwayne said before the world turned dark.

  Chapter 8

  Jeri lightly knocked on the metal door.

  "Come in," came a muffled reply.

  She twisted the cold knob and poked her head in. A fluorescent light hung in the front of the garage. Logan, the large beige conversion van, was parked closest by the far wall and Hawk, the black sports car, sat closer to the door.

  Anne Stevens sat on the floor, her back leaned against the black car. No one would have ever expected Hollywood's starlet to be sitting on the floor of a garage in her worn jeans and flannel shirt. She looked out of place, and yet she also looked more comfortable there than in front of a camera.

  "Anne?"

  Her head shot up and she looked over at Jeri. "Hey."

  "Am I bothering you?"

  She shook her head and crossed her legs, her baby belly resting on them. "No, come on in."

  Jeri closed the door behind herself and pulled up a plastic lawn chair to sit in front of Anne.

  "Still, nothing out of him?" Jeri asked as she tilted her head towards Hawk.

  Anne lifted her hand over her head and petted the metal. "No. Nothing. I'm starting to think he won't ever come back."

  "Maybe you could give him a new engine."

  Anne’s long brown hair bounced as she shook her head. "It wouldn't be the same. The engine is like a soul. If I put a new one in, it will be like I'm creating a new being. It won't be Hawk."

  "I'm sorry," Jeri whispered, rubbing her hands together.

  Anne looked up at Jeri and narrowed her eyes. "You look worn out. You okay?"

  Anne could see right through her, even with though she added blush and a little mascara. "Not really." She sighed and rubbed her sweaty palms against her pant legs. "I need some advice."

  "On?"

  "Men," she said meekly.

  Anne laughed. "Well, my office is open." She motioned around her. "And you can speak freely because Logan won't tell anyone."

  Logan's wipers swished to show he was listening.

  Jeri looked at Logan and back to her. "Well, I've been asked on a date."

  Anne leaned forward. "Really? Did you say yes?"

  "Not yet."

  "Why not?"

  "Because I haven't been on a date in years, and I guess I'm scared to get hurt again."

  "Honey, Keith's a great guy!"

  "Keith?" Anne actually thought Keith asked her out. After their last encounter she'd be lucky to get a single word text from him. She shook her head. "He didn't ask me out. This guy Brad I met online did."

  "What?"

  Jeri sighed and stood up. She knew Anne wouldn't let this go. She walked towards the front of the garage rubbing her coat. "I met this great guy on that dating site I showed all of you last night and he asked me out."

  Anne slowly got up and slapped the dirt off her jeans and fixed the thick flannel shirt over her protruding belly. "Jeri, last night you
were going to cancel that account and ask Keith out on a date. What happened?"

  Jeri turned towards her and shrugged . "I was going to ask him before he left, but he went off on me."

  "What? That doesn't sound like Keith."

  "He saw my dating account on my computer."

  Anne's mouth formed into an O. "That may be part of the reason."

  Jeri shook her head. "It doesn't give him the right to demean me and tell me to go to a nursing home."

  Anne's eyebrows raised. "Nursing home? Oh, shit, he saw the ages of the guys, didn't he?"

  Jeri nodded. She should have just closed the stupid account last night after everyone left. Instead, she had to be nice and reply back to everyone that she wasn't interested.

  "Text him and tell him that you need to talk to him in person."

  Jeri shook her head. "I thought about it, but I'm still pissed at the way he went off on me."

  Anne walked up to her and wrapped arm around Jeri’s shoulders. "Jeri, deep down inside he cares for you so much. He was probably angry you didn't ask him out. I'm sure if you have a chance to sit down with each other and talk you can clear all of this up."

  "I am just worried about losing him."

  "Jeri, sometimes we have to take a risk in order to be happy."

  The corner of Jeri's mouth lifted. "Talking from experience?"

  Anne smiled back. "Yes, and I couldn't be happier with Dean."

  A loud thump against the window made them both turned to see a camera lens plastered against it. It dropped and the face of a man with dark hair was squished into the glass pane.

  "Oh, come on!" Anne sighed, grabbed her coat and raced outside, Jeri close on her heels.

  Right outside the garage they saw Dean and Kenneth with the man pinned against the garage's side window.

  Dean's arm held the man's face against the window as his other hand searched the pockets of his jeans and winter coat. Kenneth stood behind him, shotgun pointed at the man's face.

  "Let me go!" the man screamed.

  "You're trespassing, asshole!" Dean roared.

  "I got lost in the woods..."

  "So you decided to take pictures of the inside of my garage?" Kenneth spat, inching the shotgun closer.

  "I wanted a picture of the classic car!" he whimpered.

  Dean leaned harder against him. "More like you wanted a picture of who was in the garage."

  "Ow, this is assault!" he screamed as Dean pulled out his wallet and threw it to Anne.

  Anne went through it and pulled out a business card. "Right. I doubt the police here are going to believe that you got lost in the woods since you work for Hollywood Garble magazine."

  "More like Hollywood Garbage," Jeri chimed in.

  "Hey, I got bills to pay."

  "And I got a woman to protect, so I suggest you get the hell out of here and don't bother coming back." Dean ordered grabbing his camera.

  "Hey." The man reached for the camera, but Kenneth stepped in with the shotgun, which made him back up.

  Dean yanked the media card door open and pulled out the memory card. He tossed the camera back to the man, who caught it.

  "You can't just take my media card, that's stealing."

  Kenneth nudged his shotgun closer to the man. "And you're trespassing. So how about this, you walk away and I will call it even."

  The man seemed unfazed. "You wouldn't kill me."

  "Nah, I wouldn't kill you." Kenneth acknowledged. "But I can definitely hurt you." He titled his head towards Dean. "Show him, Dean."

  Dean walked up and removed his jacket. Jeri had an idea of what was coming and turned away since she didn't want to be reminded about what happened to Dean. He pulled up his shirt to reveal the shoulder scar he had from the fight with Marshall Foss.

  The man paled and started to walk backwards.

  "That's right, keep moving." Kenneth's shotgun didn't move away from its target. When he was far enough away the man turned around and ran.

  "You two love to mess with people," Anne told them as she closed the wallet. "You never gave Dean that scar." She poked fun at her dad.

  He lowered his shotgun when the man disappeared and shrugged. "I could have, if I didn't like him."

  Dean brought his shirt down. "You know, Ken, we should go to the range again since it looks like we'll have more bozos like this showing up." He picked up his leather jacket off the ground and put it back on. "We should grab the no trespassing signs for practice and then hang them in the front of the driveway."

  "What a day for Helen to take Boomer to visit the hospital kids," Kenneth muttered. Boomer, Kenneth and Helen's black Labrador, was their baby and the friendliest dog Jeri ever met. He would have alerted them to the intruder before he even got to the garage.

  Anne sighed and threw the wallet towards Kenneth.

  He caught it and smirked. "If I wasn't an honest man..."

  "But you are an honest man, Dad," Anne replied. "Get that over to Stan and have him give it back to the jerk."

  Kenneth laughed. His friend Stan was the local police chief and he knew after Kenneth told him the story he'd give the guy his wallet and a good warning, too.

  Jeri's cell phone started to ring and she pulled it out of her pants. The area code was from the city. One of her friends, maybe?

  "Hello?"

  "Yes, hello, is this Jerilind Miller?" a young lady on the other end asked.

  "Yes, it is. Who is this?"

  "My name is Molly Johnson, I'm a nurse at Northside Memorial Hospital. Your contact information was given to me by the police department."

  "Police department?" She stopped and then it hit her. "Keith? Is he okay?" She pushed the phone closer towards her ear.

  "Detective Brinks has been shot and is in the ICU. We need you to come in as soon as you can."

  Dean and Anne moved closer to her.

  Jeri's heart began to race as the breath was sucked out of her lungs. "Yes, yes. I'm on my way." She pressed the button on her phone and looked up at both of them.

  "Keith was shot." Tears blurred her vision. "He's in the ICU at Northside."

  "Let's move." Dean's voice boomed as he started walking towards his truck.

  Anne wrapped her arm around Jeri and led her towards the truck, which was already running.

  "Anne, call us when you get there." Kenneth called out as he watched them get into the truck.

  Anne nodded as Jeri climbed in and she followed.

  Before they could buckle their seat belts the truck was already moving towards the main road. With Anne inside there was no doubt they would be there in record time.

  Chapter 9

  Jeri held Keith's cold hand in hers. The steady beeps of his heartbeat calmed her nerves a bit.

  The moment she arrived she’d raced straight to his room and plopped down on the chair next to him. Anne and Dean, though, could only come in ten minutes every other hour, which gave Jeri a deserved break.

  According to the doctors he was pretty lucky. The bullet went in and out cleanly, but it still messed him up. They gave him some powerful pain medications which caused him to sleep the whole time.

  Jeri rubbed her thumb across his knuckles. His hands were so large, purely masculine. She took hold of one and placed his palm against her face. It was so cool and it felt so wonderful. Would he ever touch her face so tenderly?

  Her cell phone buzzed, breaking her out of her trance. She pulled it out of her pocket and unlocked the screen to view the text Dean sent.

  Rose and Donna will be here tomorrow morning.

  Jeri sighed, so much for having Keith all to herself. She’d never met his mother but had heard she had a take-charge personality and wondered if she would tell her to go home. She typed back. Thanks. There’s no change with Keith.

  Need a break?

  I’m okay.

  Text me when you do and I’ll be down.

  Thanks.

  S
he slid her phone back into her pocket and took hold of Keith’s hands again.

  His fingers began to twitch and his head moved slightly.

  Jeri placed his hand down and hovered over him. "Keith?"

  "Oh." He moaned and turned his head towards her voice. "J...Jeri?"

  She took his hand again and squeezed. "Yes, I'm here. You were shot and now you're in the hospital."

  His eyes opened and he blinked a few times. "Feels like I was shot." He tried to sit up but moaned.

  Jeri placed her hands on his shoulders. "Don't move. You need to rest."

  Keith blinked again and looked over at her. "Dwayne...."

  "Is fine. He's been worried about you."

  "He saved my life."

  Jeri gently caressed his face. "You would have done the same for him, and he knows that. Plus, there is some great news. They caught the guys and got all the drugs.”

  He sighed. “Thank God. At least this injury isn’t in vain.” He blinked a few times and looked around the room. "Did you drive by yourself?"

  Those ice blue eyes captivated her. How could his eyes make her soul feel like it belonged to him? He didn't have to say a thing, just look at her and she was completely his.

  She forced her gaze away before she said something they would both regret. "Anne and Dean came with me." Part of the blanket started to fall off the bed and she grabbed it and tucked it around him. "Are you cold? I can get you another blanket."

  "No, I'm fine," he croaked as his head fell back against the pillow. "I'm glad it's just you guys."

  Jeri's hands stopped and she looked over at him. "Dean called Rose."

  Keith closed his eyes. "Oh, no. She didn't tell Mom..."

  "Yes, she did. They'll be here tomorrow morning."

  He opened his eyes and looked at her. "So much for peace and quiet."

  A knock interrupted them and the nurse walked in. "Hello, Mr. Brinks. How are you feeling?"

  "If I were feeling good I wouldn't be here," he joked as she walked over to the IV pump.