by Susan Stoker
There was a lot of talk about the “mysterious” men who’d saved the day, but from what Caroline had seen, so far no one knew who they were. And there had been no mention of her name that she could tell, thank God.
One thing Caroline did hear when she’d watched one of the stories that made her extremely nervous, was when the hijacking was called a “trial run” for a bigger operation of taking over planes that was supposed to have happened later on. That had certainly riled the country up. Airline security had been tightened, and people were obviously scared to fly. But what made Caroline nervous was knowing it wasn’t just four people acting alone. There was someone, or some people out there who wanted to do it again and possibly hurt and kill more innocent people. Caroline wouldn’t wish what she’d gone through on anyone else.
After seeing that news story Caroline had tried to not watch anything else on the hijacking. She’d lived it, and knew the truth, and honestly it was just freaking her out hearing all the political reasons why it might have happened. She started listening to the oldies radio station for noise factor instead of turning on the television.
Caroline’s new apartment wasn’t too far from where she worked, so she didn’t need to drive to get there. She took the bus most places she had to go, but Caroline would drive to the beach or up the coast. She enjoyed the Virginia countryside. It was soothing to her frazzled nerves.
As far as getting to work, Caroline varied her travel times and routes, any single woman alone knew it was a smart thing to do, but she still felt extraordinarily nervous. A few times she’d thought she was being followed, but when she tried to figure out by whom, she couldn’t find anyone who looked suspicious. Caroline had also been getting hang up calls at work—answering the phone to no one there, or at least they weren’t saying anything.
Caroline hadn’t given much thought to the episodes before she’d seen the news reports about the attempted hijacking she’d been involved with. With the potential threat for other planned hijackings, now she couldn’t not think about them! What if somehow the terrorist group, knew who she was and about her part in the failed hijacking? What if they were following her?
A few days after watching the news reports about the hijacking, Caroline was late leaving the office—working late on a project that was having a breakthrough. Her coworkers had stayed as well, but they’d all left in their cars to head home. Caroline actually watched them walk to their cars, leaving her standing in the doorway of the office building. She mentally shook her head. She was the only one who used public transportation and no one thought to ask if she wanted a ride home. Too independent for her own good sometimes, Caroline knew she should’ve just asked for a ride—now it was too late.
Caroline wistfully thought about Matthew. She knew he was the type of man that would never let a woman take any type of public transportation this late at night alone. At the very least he’d escort her home. She sighed. Caroline never thought about this sort of thing until she’d met Matthew and his team. She’d just taken it as status quo and gone about her business.
Caroline got out her cell phone and walked with a purpose toward the bus stop. She only had to go three blocks, but it was dark out. Luckily the bus arrived not too much after she arrived at the bus stop, which was good because Caroline didn’t want to stand in the dark waiting for it. She was too freaked out.
The feeling she was being watched didn’t abate once she was on the bus. Once again she didn’t see any passengers that looked out of place, but she couldn’t get rid of the creepy feeling.
She hurried off at her stop and power walked all the way to her apartment building. She didn’t relax until she’d made it inside and had closed and locked the door. Keeping her phone in her hand so she could beat herself up over whether or not to call Matthew later that night, she put her purse and bag down and headed toward the bathroom. She wanted to splash some cold water on her face and change out of her work clothes. The anxiety about her uncertain relationship with Matthew, her feelings of being watched, along with the stress of the aftermath of the hijacking were messing with her big time. She wasn’t sleeping well and she was exhausted.
As she reached the bathroom, she heard a noise behind her. She looked back and saw the doorknob of her apartment being turned. The door was locked, but someone was out there. Holy crap. She wasn’t losing her mind. Someone had to have been following her. If it was someone who wanted to talk to her legitimately they would’ve knocked. No one came up to a door and grabbed the doorknob to open it; they knocked and announced themselves…unless they were up to no good.
Caroline didn’t wait to see who was at the door, or if they got through it or not. She bolted into the bedroom and opened the window at the fire escape. She had no idea if it would trick the person at the door into believing she’d left that way or not, but maybe, just maybe they’d think she fled and wouldn’t take the time to search the rest of the apartment.
She raced back toward the bathroom just as she heard the creak of the front door notifying her that someone had just opened it. They’d obviously used some sort of lock pick to get in; otherwise she would’ve heard the door being broken down. They were trying to sneak up on her to surprise her. They also obviously didn’t want to make a ruckus so others in the complex would hear and become suspicious.
Heart racing, she entered the bathroom and left the door open. She prayed the open bedroom window would make whoever it was think that she left that way. The open bathroom door would hopefully also make them think no one was in there. She climbed into the tub and eased the shower curtain most of the way shut. She didn’t close it all the way, again in the hopes that it would look like no one was in the shower.
Caroline noticed her cell phone in her hand. Thank God. She almost cried in relief. She quickly dialed 911 and waited for someone to answer.
“Hello, 911, what is your emergency?”
Caroline heard the voice on the other end of the phone and literally sagged in relief. She had no idea who the person was, or what they looked like, and she didn’t really care. All she cared about was that someone was there to help her.
Whispering in a voice so low she had no idea if the woman on the other end of the line could hear her, she said, “I’m in my apartment, someone broke in. I’m hiding in the shower. Please. Hurry!”
“Okay, I’ve got your address. The police are on the way. Stay put, stay quiet, they’ll be there as soon as they can.”
Caroline sighed in relief. The 911 operator’s voice was calm and soothing, just what she needed at that moment. Still whispering Caroline said, “Thank you,” then hit the off button on the phone. She knew she probably was supposed to stay on the line until the cops got there, but she couldn’t, she wanted to hear Matthew’s voice.
Caroline hit his name in her address book and dialed his cell, almost on autopilot. She didn’t know who was in her house, but whoever it was, wasn’t going to let her live if they were somehow related to the terrorist incident. She knew it.
Caroline didn’t want Matthew thinking she never wanted to see him again. If he got back from his mission and didn’t hear from her that’s exactly what he’d think. He’d probably never know she’d been thinking about him and how much she’d enjoyed the time they’d spent together. It was time to leave that message for him.
She waited through his message, tearing up at hearing his low, grumbly voice. After the beep she whispered, “Hi Matthew, it’s me, Caroline…um…Ice. I wanted to let you know I would’ve loved to have gotten together with you again when you got back. I didn’t want you to think that I didn’t….but I don’t know if I’ll be here…..I’m in my apartment, but someone just broke in. I’m hiding in the bathroom. I’ve called 911, but if they don’t get here in time… I wanted you to know that I desperately wanted to see you again…”
Caroline hit the disconnect button to end the call and turned off the phone entirely. She didn’t want the concerned sounding emergency operator calling her back and having the p
hone ring at the wrong time. Even on vibration mode, the ringing could still be heard.
She tried to slow her breaths and be as quiet as she could. That was harder than she thought. It was scary that she was actually hoping it was just someone that wanted to rob her, or God forbid assault her, but deep down she knew whoever it was would kill her if he found her. She listened as whoever it was in her apartment went into her bedroom and closed her window. Caroline thought she heard him swear, then she heard him going through her drawers. She couldn’t even be embarrassed. He could look at her undies all he wanted, if he just left.
At one point, he actually came into the bathroom, looked through her medicine cabinet and even used the toilet. Caroline was afraid to breathe. She was more scared now than she was on the plane. All it would take is one breath, one wrong movement, one cough, one sneeze, to alert him she was there. Matthew and his team weren’t there to help her. Caroline was on her own and she suddenly realized how out of her element she really was. She thought she was brave, but when push came to shove, she realized she wasn’t brave at all. She’d never felt so alone in all her life.
Finally whoever it was left the bathroom. Caroline heard sirens in the distance, running feet and her door close quietly. Jesus, he didn’t even slam the damn door. That said a lot about his control and level of professionalism. She didn’t move. What if there were two of them in her apartment? What if the person wasn’t really gone and only wanted her to think he left the apartment to try to draw her out.
Caroline stood silent and quiet even when she heard the police banging on her front door. She was frozen in fear, but desperately wanted to rush to the door and throw herself into the officers’ arms. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized she couldn’t trust even the police, what if it wasn’t really the cops? She didn’t move until she heard the officers in her little apartment. Knowing she couldn’t stay cowering in her shower forever, she slowly moved the curtain aside and called out to the officers.
Chapter Thirteen
Wolf couldn’t wait until the ship he was on got closer to land. He wanted to check his voice mail, but knew it wouldn’t work until they were in range of a cell phone tower on American soil. For the thousandth time he wished he had a satellite phone, but of course that was impractical for everyday use. He shook his head and laughed at himself. He was worse than a high schooler with his first crush.
Mozart and Abe had given him a hard time, but he knew they were just as anxious to hear from Caroline, to make sure she was all right. They’d really taken to her and had told Wolf all the time how lucky he was.
Cookie, Benny, and Dude hadn’t met Caroline, but they’d certainly heard all about her from the team. They’d been stunned at her actions on the plane and had asked a million questions about her job as a chemist. Wolf knew they’d find her as amazing as he did. As long as they kept their hands to themselves, all would be well.
Wolf should’ve been surprised at how possessive he felt about Caroline, but he wasn’t. It just seemed right. He couldn’t be freaked out about it when she felt like his.
It went against everything Wolf knew to leave Caroline in that hotel bed without talking to her first, but he didn’t have a choice. As soon as he’d answered his phone he knew he’d have to leave. His boss had notified Wolf the situation had changed and they had to go right away. No one argued with him, such was life as a Navy SEAL, but Wolf hadn’t liked it. For the first time in his life there was someone in his life that came before his job.
Being a Navy SEAL had always come first. Always. At no time had he allowed a woman to dictate what he did when. It felt weird because in the past when a woman tried to tie him down, he got antsy and broke things off. Now, he wanted Caroline to tie him down. He didn’t know if he loved her, but he figured with the way he felt about her after the short time he’d spent with her, he was well on his way.
When he’d made it to the ship Mozart and Abe wanted to know how Caroline was doing. How was her side? Were the stiches okay? Wolf had answered their questions and told them how much he’d enjoyed his time with her. Expecting the guys to give him crap, he was shocked when they’d just smiled at him and told him it was about time he found a woman who was good enough for him.
Even Tex had pulled him aside at his house and told him how much he liked Caroline. Tex had always been an easy-going guy and never, not once, had he commented on Wolf’s choice of woman…until Caroline. His team’s approval meant a lot to him. That wasn’t to say Wolf would’ve listened to them if they didn’t like her, but he was glad they did. They’d hopefully be seeing more of Caroline in the future.
Finally the phone in Wolf’s hand vibrated. They’d sailed close enough to the United States to be able to receive a signal. Thank God he had a message! He eagerly drew the phone up to his ear, hoping to hear Caroline’s voice saying she wanted to see him again.
“Hi Matthew, it’s me, Caroline…um…Ice…” At first Wolf was thrilled to hear her voice, but confused about why she was whispering. Then his blood ran cold. What the hell? Oh shit. His Caroline was in trouble. Listening to her soft voice quavering in fear was heart wrenching. She’d been in trouble and called to reassure him. Jesus. She knew he couldn’t help her, but she’d called anyway. Wolf couldn’t even think. Him, the Navy SEAL, had no idea what to do.
He spun, took the stairs two at a time, and burst into the day room. All five members of his team looked up sharply, instantly alarmed. They’d never seen Wolf so frazzled and it put them on high alert.
“Caroline,” was all he could get out. He was breathing hard and was definitely panicked. Mozart and Abe came over to him and Wolf just held out the phone. Abe grabbed it and played the message on the speaker for them all to hear.
No one said a word until Mozart uttered, “Fuck.” It looked like she’d called about twenty four hours ago. Twenty four freaking hours ago. There were no other messages from her. No one wanted to say it, but they all knew that wasn’t a good sign.
They couldn’t get off the ship for at least another four hours. They had to dock and get clearance. Benny, Cookie, and Dude hadn’t met Caroline, but with everything they’d heard enough about her from the others, they were just as concerned about her as Mozart, Abe, and Wolf were. Well, maybe not as concerned as Wolf.
Wolf immediately dialed the number Caroline had called from. He listened to it ring and ring and ring. When her message came on, he didn’t bother to listen to it. As much as he wanted to hear her voice again, he wanted to hear her in person, not a recording. He hung up and called back. He had no idea how many times he would’ve kept calling her back, probably until one of his team members confiscated his phone, but luckily the third time he’d hit her number she finally answered.
“Hello?” She answered tentatively.
“Caroline?” Wolf said urgently, hoping like hell it was her. How she’d become so important to him in such a short time, he had no idea. But there it was. It was the moment he’d heard her whispered voice and realized he wasn’t there and couldn’t help her that he knew she was his. Period. His.
“Yes, this is she,” Caroline said shakily. She hadn’t recovered from the break in at her apartment and didn’t recognize the voice on the other end of the line.
“It’s me, Wolf…er…Matthew. Are you okay? Jesus, Caroline. Talk to me.”
“Matthew!” Caroline breathed a sigh of relief. Oh my God, she was so relieved to hear his voice she had to sit down. She collapsed on a chair that luckily was nearby, then remembered the message she’d left for him. “Are you back? Are you calling to see when we can get together?” Caroline tried to play dumb and pretend Matthew was calling about a date. Maybe he hadn’t checked his voice mail yet. She wasn’t thinking straight because he wouldn’t know her number if he hadn’t checked his messages. She also knew by the tone of his voice when he’d asked if she was all right, he’d heard the panicked message she’d left.
“What the hell, Caroline?” He practically roared at her.
“Are you all right woman? What the hell is going on?”
Caroline winced. Shit. Maybe she shouldn’t have called him from her apartment after all. He sounded pissed, not excited to hear from her. She leaned over in the chair clutching her stomach. Her lower lip trembled and she closed her eyes.
Abe grabbed the phone from Wolf and glared at him as he brought it up to his ear. Abe knew Wolf was frantic, but Jesus, he was going to piss Ice off or scare her away if he didn’t get control of himself.
“This is Abe, Ice. What Wolf meant to say was that he got your message and he wanted to make sure you were all right,” he said quietly gesturing at Wolf to “relax” and shooting daggers at him with his eyes.
Caroline sighed and choked back a sob. “I’m okay, Christopher. Thanks. Can you put Matthew back on? Please?” Caroline was impressed she remembered his real name. She’d been afraid she’d forget them, so she’d repeated them to herself several times over the last few weeks, making sure she knew them backward and forward.
Abe looked over at his team leader. Wolf was sitting on a chair with his head resting on his clenched fists. He could see the whites of Wolf’s knuckles and could tell he was in no condition to talk rationally yet.
“Um, no, sorry, not just yet. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on.”
Caroline sighed. Christopher had asked her to tell him what was going on, but she knew it wasn’t really a question. It was a demand.
“I didn’t mean to upset him, Christopher. God, can you tell him that? I just…hell…If something happened, I didn’t want Matthew to think I didn’t want to see him again. That’s all. He’s the best thing that’s happened to me in my life.” She paused, took a deep breath, and continued. “Then I …got busy…and forgot to call him back.” That was a lie, but she figured it was safer for the moment to stretch the truth. She didn’t want to blurt out that she missed Matthew terribly and had wanted to call him every day, every hour. That was a little too “stalkerish,” even for her.