by Evelyn Glass
She liked him. Of course, she liked him. He was the most stunning looking guy she’d ever met, and he had a calm confidence she admired. She enjoyed being in his company too, and she couldn’t help but be intrigued by his exciting past and his mysterious career.
But did guys like him get involved with girls like her in the long-term? Or were they just getting swept up in the excitement of the danger and the case? What if she got too invested in this and then when they figured it all out and caught the would-be bomber, it all fizzled out? Could she handle that?
She crept out of bed gingerly, and while picking up her underwear, she decided to keep a safe distance, emotionally, from Zeke. She’d continue helping him with the case, of course, but this couldn’t happen again. Or was she just freaking out?
As she stood in the doorway, about to go for a shower in the small adjoining room, she looked at him and felt a longing tug at her.
Maybe you need to just go with the flow Sophie, she thought. Don’t shut him out. Maybe he could be yours when all is said and done.
Chapter Thirteen
Zeke
Zeke heard the hissing sound of the shower coming from the room next door. He rolled over and smiled at the realization of where he was and with whom.
His stomach flipped as he relived the details in his mind. She’d be a tough one to forget. But maybe he wouldn’t have to forget her. Maybe this could really be something. That thought caused his eyes to widen. How do I act around her? Are we still just friends? Oh man, why does it have to be so complicated?
He jumped out of bed and picked his clothes off of the floor. He’d shower in the main house and leave Sophie to have some privacy to get ready. What if she thinks I’ve done a runner? Stop over thinking it, man. Be cool.
After showering in the main bathroom, Zeke helped Tina chop fruit for breakfast.
“Jeffrey will be back later today,” she said. “It’s strange that he won’t know about any of this.”
“I still think you should tell him,” Zeke offered gently.
“I might. I will. When the time is right. But hopefully, you’ll catch your guy so soon I won’t really need to reveal everything.”
“Yeah, that’s the plan,” Zeke said cheerfully.
“Were you both comfortable enough last night?” she asked, flipping pancakes in a frying pan.
Zeke sniffed, and his chopping got faster. “Yeah, of course. Thanks.”
“I hoped it was OK there was only one bed... but then I figured, you two seem close enough you wouldn’t mind. And there was a sofa if you needed space.”
Zeke cleared his throat and nodded in agreement.
Tina grinned. She was clearly fishing for details.
“That’s the fruit done,” Zeke said just as Sophie appeared in the kitchen.
She smiled shyly at the ground. “Morning.”
“Morning, honey,” Tina said cheerily. “You’re just in time for breakfast. Pull up a chair.”
Zeke desperately tried to make eye contact with Sophie. He needed to know everything was OK between them; that it hadn’t been a mistake. He wanted so badly for her to shoot him one of her trademark shy little smiles, but she was avoiding his direction.
They ate and chatted about the sunshine. Tina was going to visit some friends before lunch and Zeke said he wanted to go home and research how to find someone. He had an idea of an old boss he should get in touch with. Finally, Sophie looked at him. It sent a wave of relief through him to lock with those cool blue eyes.
“Oh really?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’ll explain on the way... that is, of course, if you’re free today and want to help. You really don’t have to.”
Sophie smiled. “Of course I’ll come. Do you really think I could miss all the action?”
He grinned and ate the last bit of pancake off his fork.
Tina smiled and paused with her fork in mid-air. “You know, you kids should really just get all this awkward stuff out of the way and get together. There’s no point in wasting time with all the ‘should we, shouldn’t we?’ stuff. Life’s too short.”
Zeke smiled. “You’re right there. Life is too short to waste time.” He looked at Sophie who was trying and failing to contain a huge grin.
“I don’t want to overstep the mark,” Tina continued, “but you’d be really cute together. I don’t understand why you say you’re just friends.”
Zeke cleared his throat. “We’re just getting to know each other.”
“Yeah, it’s been, like three weeks...” Sophie chipped in.
Tina nodded. “Very wise. You just have a good time getting to know each other. That’s the best part. I’d love to go through all that again with Jeffrey. He was so handsome and swept me right off my feet. My dad hated him – this cocky, young soldier waltzing in and stealing his daughter’s heart, but I knew Jeffrey was the one for me.”
Sophie leaned her face on one hand as she listened intently. “That’s so sweet. I haven’t got a protective father for you to contend with, so you’re lucky there,” she said, turning to Zeke.
He swallowed hard. Were they supposed to be a “thing” now? What if he couldn’t match up to what she deserved and that after they’d found the attacker, she was bored with just plain old non-life-threatened Zeke? He really didn’t know her at all. Maybe she got off on danger.
They thanked Tina and left, telling her to call the moment she felt uneasy about something.
In the car, Sophie turned in her seat to face Zeke as he drove. “So, tell me who we need to go visit next.”
He smiled. She really was enjoying all this. “OK. When I was in the shower, a name sprung to mind – Nathan, my former commander. He knew everything about everything. He’s bound to have people on the inside who can help do a little digging. Or even just help us work out if Troy has anything to do with this or if we’re barking up the wrong tree.”
“Can’t hurt to find out. We need all the help we can get.”
After a long pause, she said, “Aren’t you scared? I mean, do you worry he could be trying to kill you again at any minute?”
“Of course,” he said, taking his eyes off the road for just long enough to meet her inquisitive gaze. “But I’m more focused on catching him. Determination kills fear every time. I’ve seen the worst things in life. I suppose I’m slightly numb to it. But don’t get me wrong, I’m treading carefully at every point. I don’t know if you noticed any of the checks I did to this truck before we set off?”
“No,” Sophie said, her eyebrows arching in surprise. “I didn’t notice a thing. Wow, you’re good.”
“Anyway, I’ll see if I can get Nathan’s number and arrange a visit. But for now... let’s enjoy the sun.” He indicated left and pulled off down to a secluded lake lined by trees.
When Sophie hopped out of the passenger side, she shut her eyes and held her face up to the sky, letting the warm rays wash over her skin. Zeke crept up and planted a kiss on her cheek before running off to the forest path. She let out a laugh, which echoed across the water as she caught up with him. As much as they both felt compelled to investigate, they needed to take a break from thinking about it. Nature, in all its calm, warm glory, was what they needed to blow away any tension between them. When Sophie tripped on a branch ten minutes into the walk, Zeke caught her with the crook of his arm and their eyes locked for a few seconds longer than expected. He was in trouble. This was more than just an investigative partnership. If he could have, he would have taken her right then and there on the tree-lined trail, but a dog-walker, humming a happy tune, put an end to that thought.
Chapter Fourteen
Sophie
With a list of errands as long as his arm, Zeke set off just after breakfast on a day of shopping, tasks and, most importantly, surveillance. Stephan and Sophie followed slowly behind in Stephan’s beat-up spare motor – as unnoticeable as it got.
Every time Zeke went into a shop or office, he left his bike out on the street and Stephan and
Sophie kept watch.
Two hours in, Sophie was struggling. “Are we really going to have to do this all day?” she asked Stephan.
“Listen, I’m technically paying you right now, I’ve shut up shop for this, so quit your whining or I’ll send you back into Dayna’s for more muffins.” He ruffled her hair, which caused her to shriek.
She laughed. “OK, OK, I’ll be patient.”
“Cops do this for weeks to get their man,” he added. “If someone’s worth getting, they’re worth the boredom.”
“I suppose you’re right. We need to catch this guy somehow,” Sophie said. “I’d hate for anything to happen to...” she trailed off, scared of sounding soppy.
Stephan grinned. “It’s so damned obvious you like each other, so stop being all coy. It’s cool.”
Her jaw dropped as she turned to him. “I... I just...”
Stephan laughed so hard he had to hold his stomach. When he eventually calmed, he said, “Jesus, Sophie, you’re a human being. You’re allowed to have feelings. You don’t have to hide them all the time. I’d love it if you met someone you wanted to be with. Someone who could look after you... like Zeke. Not that you need looking after, Miss Independent.”
She fell silent, her eyes on the bike. If she was truly honest with herself, she did want to be with him. She hadn’t stopped thinking about that night, a week ago, alone in Tina’s guest house. It was the best sex of her life, and she craved more of it. He’d given her a taste then closed the candy shop. They’d both been so busy at work they hadn’t spoken about it again, let alone got together. And there were no mysterious phone calls to trace or bits of vital information coming through. This surveillance plan was all they could think of.
Stephan’s phone rang. It was Zeke. “Good idea,” Stephan said before shifting into drive and heading off.
“Where are we going?” Sophie asked, watching the bike desperately as they drove past it.
“Zeke thinks we need to be somewhere less public. Maybe if he rides to the building site just outside of town, and leaves his bike there, pretending to go on site for something, he could leave it for longer, and we can watch from a distance?”
“Could work,” she agreed.
Chapter Fifteen
Zeke
With the bike in place, Zeke walked through the metal gates of the builders’ yard, as casually as he could, before running to the edge of the site and climbing up over a brick wall to escape. He waited behind another wall for ten minutes, before darting towards Stephan’s car across the road. They were so far from the bike, Stephan needed binoculars to keep it in clear sight.
Zeke jumped into the back seat, catching his breath. Sophie passed back a can of cola and a bag of chips. He’d been so focused on the plan he’d barely eaten all day. He smiled as he took them.
“Holy shit!” Stephan suddenly called out, “I think someone’s approaching the bike.”
Zeke chucked the food onto the seat next to him and sat bolt upright.
“He’s leaning down to touch the bike, go, go, go.”
Zeke leaped out of the car and ran so fast his limbs were moving like powerful machinery.
As he got closer to the bike, the man in question, who was wearing a black hooded top heard him and looked up, startled, before turning to run.
“I don’t fucking think so!” Zeke called out through sharp, fast breaths as he placed one hand firmly on the guy’s shoulder with such force it knocked him to the ground.
“Who the hell are you?” Zeke demanded, panting as Stephan’s brakes screeched to a halt next to them. He pulled down the man’s hood but didn’t recognize him.
“What were you doing?” he yelled.
The guy blinked and shook but said nothing. He was skinny with a gaunt, pale face. “Who sent you?” Zeke continued through gritted teeth.
Suddenly, the man slipped out of Zeke’s grip and leaped to his feet, but Zeke wasn’t going to give up that easily. He wrapped his strong arms around the guy’s feeble body in an attempt to force him back down again. But before Stephan reached the tangled bodies to help, the young guy produced a can of pepper spray and aimed it into Stephan’s eyes before Zeke smacked it out of his hand and pushed the guy’s face into the concrete.
Sophie jumped out of the car and rushed to Stephan’s side. Through gritted teeth, under red streaming eyes, Stephan reassured her he’d be fine.
“Sophie, open the trunk,” Zeke ordered from his position on top of the guy.
“What?”
“Just do it, now.”
Sophie did as he asked and stood back as Zeke lifted the guy like a sack of potatoes and dumped him in the trunk, kicking and screaming. He slammed it shut.
“Zeke, you can’t do this,” Sophie cried, her voice high with panic. “It’s all getting out of hand. You could get in serious trouble for this.”
“Like I’m not already,” he murmured in a low voice as he headed for the driver’s seat.
Stephan got to his feet and reached out for Sophie’s hand for support. “He’s right. We can’t just give up and let this guy run free. Just trust him, OK?”
Sophie nodded. She couldn’t bring herself to agree out loud, but whatever was in the plan, she knew Zeke had morals. She knew this must be leading somewhere. She glanced at the trunk, which was being violently kicked at from the inside, as she made her way round to the back door and climbed in the car before Zeke sped off to a garage he had keys for nearby.
“This is one of the Frontiers’ lock-ups. We can keep this asshole here until he talks,” Zeke said.
Stephan’s eyes were red raw, and despite blinking all too often, he could see again and was able to help Zeke get the wriggling, tangled body out of the trunk and into a bunch of ropes. They tied him to a metal door frame inside the garage and gagged his mouth with a rag.
Zeke paced in a semi-circle in front of their hostage, like a jaguar eyeing up his prey. “Who sent you?”
The guy mumbled through the cloth frantically. Zeke pulled a pocket knife from his jeans, walked over calmly and cut the fabric loose. “Make any loud noises, and things will get significantly worse for you. I’ll ask you again. Who sent you?”
The guy shook his head. He looked weak now, his eyes wide and his gaunt, thin face at only chest level with Zeke. “I don’t know.”
Zeke laughed. “Nice try. You don’t come after someone without knowing who you’re working for. Who sent you?”
The guy bit his lip repetitively. “Some guy. I don’t know his name. I thought he wanted to buy meth, but he offered me money to do one job.”
“Where did he approach you?” Zeke asked, his thick arms folded across his chest.
Sophie watched from a shadowy corner, her breath short and fast and both arms curled around her body. This wasn’t the Zeke she knew. This was the military version of him, the bodyguard, the one who looked danger square in the eye. Although it frightened her, she couldn’t help swelling with respect for him. He knew how to handle himself.
“On the corner of Madison Avenue,” the sniveling captee said. “I don’t know who he is, where he comes from, or what he wants. I just wanted the money.”
“And after you were supposed to stick a bomb on my bike...”
“Jesus, it wasn’t a bomb,” the guy interrupted. “I may be no angel, but I’m not a goddamn killer.”
“Well, what was it?” Zeke asked, stepping closer and towering over him.
“A tracking device.”
Zeke nodded. “Where is it?”
“In my pocket.”
Zeke signaled to Stephan to come over. Stephan placed one hand on the guy’s chest to stop him being able to move while Zeke bent down and rummaged in the pocket of the guy’s trousers. He found the tiny device, dropped it on the ground and crushed it with his heel.
“We’d better get moving. He might already know where we are. Shit.”
“So, can I go?” the guy asked. “You don’t need me for anything. I didn’t even get paid. I
was supposed to go straight back to Madison Avenue with a photo of the device on your bike, and then he’d pay me.”
Zeke paced back and forth for a minute. “How about a deal? I’ll let you go... straight to Madison Avenue.”
“But I don’t have a picture.”
“I’ll give you a damn picture. You get your payment, I get my man. I’ll follow him.”
Zeke picked up the remains of the tracking device and assembled a convincing set-up of them in his exhaust and took a photo on the guy’s phone.