by Tijan
the tray into the back room.
I followed. I heard a groan come from the bathroom hallway, but I didn’t look to see if it was the guard or not. I didn’t care.
When Amanda saw that I had followed her, more curses fell from her lips. She took the tray to the sink and wiped all of the cookies into the garbage beside it. “I know you texted on Monday, but I tossed my phone. Things don’t feel right to me.”
“You said that Mallory and Ben are gone?”
She jerked her head in a tight nod before she turned the water on. “Yeah. I packed all your stuff at the apartment and took a few things to Ben’s on Sunday, things that I thought Mallory would want, but his place was empty.”
“Empty?”
“They were gone. His clothes looked packed. He had boxes out in the kitchen with dishes. I went back Monday and everything was locked up. I tried the extra key, but they changed the locks. From what I could see, even his furniture was gone. They took off, Emma.” The pan was in the sink and the water was on, but she didn’t move to clean it. She studied me instead. “You look good. I’m glad someone’s doing okay with this whole ordeal.”
I stepped back, as if slapped, but she didn’t know. She hadn’t pulled the trigger, that’d been me. “I’m sorry that you got dragged into this.”
“Into what?” she snapped. “Doesn’t seem like anything happened. The body’s been missing, who the hell did that? Then you left, now those two. It’s just me. I didn’t even know what to do with your stuff so I put it all into storage.”
“You need me to pay for that?”
She shrugged, putting the pan underneath the water now. “It doesn’t matter. Ben gave me enough money so it’s paid for a year.”
“Wait.” I grabbed her arm. “Ben gave you money?”
“Yeah. Why?”
He wasn’t the type to give money, much less have money. “Where’d it come from?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t say, just tossed me a big envelope and told me to take care of Mallory’s stuff. I didn’t question it. After you took off, I learned that maybe it’s better if I don’t ask any questions.”
My eyes narrowed. “How’d Ben look?”
“What do you mean?” She grew weary now, more than she had been at the beginning.
“Was he his normal grouchy self?”
“When’s he not his normal grouchy self?” She paused with the pan in her hand. “Actually, now that you mention it, he looked happy last week.” She shuddered. “I don’t even want to know what that means. I took the money and did what he said. I told you before that I would take care of your apartment. Two of my co-workers helped me clean and I left your keys on the counter. Your landlord seemed fine with that.”
I nodded. I tried to tell myself that things were fine. I was safe. Amanda seemed fine, pissy, but fine. However, I couldn’t shake what she told me. Mallory and Ben were gone. What’d that mean? That had to mean something. And Ben had money. Ben never had money. Something was off, well, considering the situation, something was really off.
She bit her lip, eyeballing me. “You don’t look too good now. What’s wrong, Emma?”
I jerked my head up. “Nothing. It’s fine. Thanks for taking care of the apartment.”
“Look,” her shoulders dropped and her voice softened. “I’m sorry that I didn’t text you or call you. You gave me that new number and I know you were never one to really call, but I was mad after you took off. I know you did something to keep us all safe and I know that I’m not supposed to ask what that was, but Mallory went off the deep end a few days after you left. She got real bad again. Ben wouldn’t let me call you. He said that you deserted us so we would make do without you.” She blew out a deep breath. “Anyways, so I was mad at you for a bit. And I missed you. I miss making fun of Ben with you. He’s so weird sometimes.”
I grinned, despite myself. This wasn’t a funny situation, but I missed those moments too. “You said he was happy? What’s Ben like when he’s happy?”
“Oh, you know.” She chuckled. The pan had been cleaned and put on the drying section. “He was walking around, strutting like some peacock that got laid by a swan. I dunno. He had some weird new walk, thrusting his hips around.” More chuckles poured from her. “I know he thought he was hot stuff, but he looked ridiculous. Like a plump turkey that got stuffed and liked it.”
My grin widened, and I relaxed. I had missed this. I missed our camaraderie. “He thought he was hot stuff?”
“I caught him checking himself out in the mirror. I think he’d been jerking it, but I wasn’t sure. He was all sweaty and his pants were undone.”
“Gross.”
Her nose wrinkled up. “Tell me about it. By then Mallory was starting to come around again. She thought he was stupid too, but it’s not the same. She doesn’t…” Her voice trailed off and a glimmer of sadness appeared before she looked away. Mallory wasn’t me. She didn’t laugh at Ben like we did.
“So,” my voice hitched on a note. “Mallory was doing better before…” I couldn’t bring myself to say it, that Mallory and Ben were gone. Oh god. I swallowed a knot in my throat. What did that mean? They had left. No one had taken them? My chest tightened. Had Franco found Mallory? But Carter hadn’t said anything, he would’ve told me, wouldn’t he? But then I knew—he wouldn’t. And he’d been gone all week.
Just like that, my stomach dropped, and I knew something horrible had happened.
“Emma?” Amanda was frowning at me. She was pale now. “You don’t look so good.”
“I have to go.” I turned on my heel and walked out of there. I would’ve run if it hadn’t looked suspicious, but as I went, my heart dropped again. Everything had changed. Jeremy Dunvan changed everything. Carter was right. This had been done to me. I lost my friends because of what he did to Mallory.
My jaw hardened.
I was done with waiting and hiding. I had taken care of Mallory before Carter came into my life. I wasn’t helpless and he needed to start telling me what was going on. This was my life too.
As soon as I cleared the cafe’s entrance, I was whisked into a car waiting for me. Mike pushed me inside and climbed behind me. Another door shut in the front so I figured the guard by the bathroom sat by the driver. I glared at Mike and rubbed my arm, where he had gripped me harder than he ever had before. “Ouch.”
He growled, then blanched and sat up straight. “Is your arm okay?”
“It’s fine.” I eyed him. I’d never seen Mike as anything other than professional, but he quickly switched, oozing it again. “You’re mad at me?”
He stiffened.
I corrected, “You’re all mad at me, aren’t you?”
He didn’t respond.
That was my answer. I sighed and scooted down. “I just missed her. I’m sorry.” And I wouldn’t do it again. I knew that much. They were only doing their job, and I had gotten mad. I was still mad, but I was going to take it out on Carter. And when I said take it out on him, I let out a deep sigh and knew I wouldn’t say a word. He was protecting me. I shouldn’t forget that and I had, for a little bit that afternoon.
“When you deviate into an unmarked room without us, you’re going in blind. We were not prepared for the back room of that café.”
Oh. Huh? “When you say unmarked, you mean…?”
“We’ve been over every room in your work building. We’ve even planned for the café, but you went into a dark room. We didn’t have a guy in the back ready because we didn’t think you would follow her. We thought you would stay in the front room.”
“So a dark room is somewhere that you guys haven’t mapped out yet?”
“Planned for.”
“What’s the difference?”
He grimaced. “We will be better next time. I promise.”
I blinked at him for a moment. Why was he apologizing to me?
He saw my look. “If something had happened, if someone had grabbed you, it would’ve been our fault. We weren’t ready. W
e have to always be ready.”
“Oh.” And the Shame of the Month Award went to me. I was flooded with guilt. “I won’t go into rooms like that again. Would that help?” There was so much about what they did that I didn’t know about. “Maybe you guys could help me learn about how you operate. I don’t really know that much, except that Carter told me to call 09 for when I’m ready to go home. I never call it, but you guys always seem to know. He said you guys have been watching me for a long time.”
He shrugged. “We have a blending technique, but you don’t need to really understand that. We’ll do better next time.”
“Okay.” I wanted to know. I wanted to help, but I sensed that Mike wanted the conversation to be done. I let it go.
It was later that I wondered about all the security guards again. I had showered, changed clothes, and my stomach was rumbling. When I heated up food, I saw one of the guards turn suddenly away from me. His hand grabbed at his stomach and I knew it hadn’t been mine that was rumbling. I wondered when the last time these guys ate, but no—they must’ve had breaks at times. Still, I looked at the huge casserole in front of me. There was too much for me so I dished it onto three plates and handed one to the guy. A fork was next. He was startled, but shook his head. “No, ma’am. That’s alright.”
His stomach sounded again. I rolled my eyes and pushed it into his hands. “I’m not going to die in the two minutes it’ll take you to eat that. Go ahead.” I lifted the other plate. “Where’s the other guy?”
He hesitated, but gestured with the fork to my floor. “He’s outside by the elevator.”
“Eat.” I pointed to his plate as I started towards the stairs.
The other guard had a similar reaction except he dropped his radio. It hit the floor with a loud screech and he grabbed it, muttering apologies at the same time. I left the plate on the bench beside him and waved. “Have fun. Eat up.” I scanned the small hallway. No Mike. “Where are the others?”
His head jerked up. “Ma’am?”
I sighed. Why did they all have to call me ma’am? “Mike and the rest of the guards. Where is he and how many are there? I’ll cook something for everyone. They can eat it when you guys take your breaks.”
I could tell he hadn’t expected that. He almost dropped his plate. “Mike got called away for a transport and there are eight others.”
Eight? Really? “Okay. I’ll make more.”
I didn’t ask what a transport was. I was starting to figure out what they would tell me and what they wouldn’t. Whatever a transport was made the list of Things Not To Discuss With Emma. But when I went back to the kitchen, I was surprised at how many guards Carter had enlisted. That meant there were ten security guards around me at all times. Ten…my stomach dropped and I sat down with a plop on the counter stool. I swallowed a lump in my throat. Ten guards. I had known there were a few, but ten—it was serious. My situation was serious. Carter wasn’t one to waste anyone’s time. Then I remembered what Amanda had said about Ben and Mallory.
My hands started to tremble.
I pushed that thought away before, but now I couldn’t shake it. Something happened. I knew it. I could feel it. That same something could happen to me. Ten guards. All ten of them were trained and ready to take a bullet for me.
My stool started to wobble and I grabbed onto the counter. I couldn’t hold on. My hands were shaking too much.
“Ma’am?”
I heard the guard’s voice in the distance. Things were going black. He sounded far away. I thought he had been in the next room? Maybe he moved, and then the darkness covered all of me. Something crashed far away, and I heard his radio buzz.
“She’s down…call the boss…”
“Emma.”
A hand touched my arm briefly. I jerked awake and was disoriented. A large black silhouette stood above me and I started screaming.
“Stop!” He bent further down. “It’s me, Mike.”
I gasped on my last scream when he turned on the light, but my chest was still heaving from the panic. My heart was pounding. I rolled over to dry heave until I started to calm down. I felt something cold against my arm.
“It’s Carter. He wants to talk to you.”
“What?”
The cold thing pressed against me again. “It’s Carter. He’s on the phone.”
Phone. Carter. My hand streaked out and I grabbed the small cellphone. When I rolled over, I pressed it to my ear and asked, “Carter?”
“Hey.”
Everything in me sagged in relief. His voice soothed me. In the distance, I was barely aware of a door clicking shut. I murmured back, “Hey.”
He chuckled. His smooth baritone came over the phone and sidled over me, like another caress from him. I closed my eyes and snuggled deeper into bed. I didn’t care how I got there, what had happened, all I needed was Carter. That was all I knew.
“They said you fainted. Are you okay?”
I grimaced as I remembered. “Yeah. I did.”
“Why?”
“Because you weren’t here. Because I think something happened to Mallory and Ben. Amanda told me they’re gone and I think you know something happened to them. Because I’m tired of feeling trapped. Because I got booted off a great project at work and I don’t know why. Because I miss Amanda. I miss all of them, even Ben.” I felt stupid saying all of that and I felt even more stupid because it was coming out of me in a rush. I needed him. My hand shook as it held the phone to my ear. “Because I miss you and because I’m scared.”
There was silence on the other end.
Another beat passed.
“I’m coming back.”
Everything in me exploded, but I tried to argue with him. “No, I didn’t mean for you to do that—”
“I’m coming home anyway.” He sounded tired. “I have some business in New York, but I’ll head to the jet right after.” He paused. “I miss you too.”
Warmth burst inside of me, but I tried to tone it down. I was becoming one of those gushy types. I hated those types, but I whispered back, “I’m glad you’re coming back.”
“You have to promise me something first.”
“What?”
“Stop taking your anger out on the guys and making sudden changes.”
Guilt sunk low in my gut.
“You can go wherever you want, just tell the guys first. They’re good at their jobs, but sometimes they can’t adapt fast enough. Please, Emma.”
“I will.”
“Good. How was your week?”
“It sucked.”
He chuckled again. “I’m guessing it’s not just because of last week?”
“What?”
“Friday night, Emma.”
“Oh!” My eyes widened. I’d forgotten about the attack. How could I have forgotten? “That slipped my mind. I can’t believe that…”
“Look,” his voice dropped to an intimate tone. “I can’t talk about a lot of things over the phone, but I’m making things happen. I’m making sure you’re safe and someday you might not need all those guys around you. I’m trying, Emma. I’m doing my damnedest right now to fix it so you’re going to be okay.”
“But my roommate,” I whispered back.
He sighed into the phone. “I can’t make any promises about her. I’m trying, but you’re my first priority, Emma. I promise you, this will all be over soon.”
I clenched the phone tighter. “You promise?”
“I do. I can promise that.”
I nodded and felt a tear fall onto the pillow. “Okay.”
“Are you okay?” Concern filtered into his voice now. “Are you eating?”