Hunter: A Reed Security Romance

by Giulia Lagomarsino

  My eyes drifted to the floor in front of me and red pools of blood oozed across the floor. Seth was lying there, bleeding out and Graham was lying next to him unconscious. My heart started hammering in my chest. This couldn’t be happening again. Why were all these students just sitting there? Why weren’t they trying to help Seth?

  I had to get out of here. I couldn’t do this again. I backed up quickly, right into a hard chest. Hands immediately gripped onto my arms to steady me and I felt a brush of air move past my ear.

  “It’s okay, Lucy. I’ve got you.”

  I knew that voice. It was familiar, but the image of Seth lying on the floor was still right in front of me and my whole body felt paralyzed. I began shaking my head wildly. I couldn’t do this. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t be here and pretend that nothing had happened. I spun around and pushed my way out of the room and began running down the hall. I wasn’t sure where I was going, but I knew I had to get out of there. I was just getting to the stairs when Chance wrapped his arms around me.

  “Whoa. How about we calm down and not run down the stairs in high heels? Hunter would kill me if you broke your neck.”

  I couldn’t catch my breath. I needed to get out of here. I just couldn’t do this. The tightness in my chest was so painful that it brought tears to my eyes. Chance spun me around and cupped my face in his large hands. “Breathe, Lucy. It’s alright. I’ve got you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  I shook my head wildly as tears streamed down my face. “I can’t do this. I can’t be here.” I squeezed my eyes shut as Chance pulled me against him and hugged my body to his. I gripped onto the back of his shirt and prayed that my heart would stop trying to jump out of my chest.

  “Let’s get out of here. You don’t have to be here.”

  “What about my classes?”

  “Fuck the classes. The dean will understand and if he doesn’t, I really don’t give a shit. After everything you’ve been through, he can’t expect you to just walk back in here as if nothing happened.”

  He gripped onto my hand and led me over to the elevator, pressing the button. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder as we descended to the first floor and walked outside. I was freezing at this point and it had nothing to do with the cold weather and everything to do with what I saw when I walked in my classroom.

  “Gabe will grab your things. I’ll take you to Hunter.”

  I nodded numbly and got into his SUV. I sat in the front seat, disappointed in myself that I had let it all get to me. That I couldn’t even come back and do my job. The drive to Reed Security went by in a blur and before I knew it, we were pulling into the garage and Hunter was yanking me out of the SUV and into his arms. His scent and the warmth of his body immediately calmed me and I found myself practically crawling up him to wrap myself completely in his arms.

  “It’s okay, Lucy. You’re alright now,” he murmured against my ear.

  “I can’t go back there,” I whispered. “I just can’t do it.”

  “You don’t have to. You never have to go back there again.”

  “But what about my job?”

  “I’ve already talked to the dean and explained the situation. He completely understood. He’s going to find someone to cover your classes.”

  “How am I going to support myself? I don’t have a job anymore.”

  “We’ll get that all worked out, Lucy. I don’t want you to worry about that right now. Just let me take care of everything, okay?”

  I nodded and buried my head further into his chest. Everything was fine as long as I was with him.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  I stayed at Reed Security with Maggie while Hunter finished up his work for the day. She came in halfway through the day with her daughter and just hung out with me. We didn’t talk about anything in particular and mostly played with her daughter. When Hunter came to get me, I was calm and ready to head home for the night.

  After saying goodbye to Maggie and Caitlin, Hunter brought me back to my apartment where my car was waiting for me.

  “Did someone go get my car?”

  “Jackson brought it back here.”

  “Oh, well, please thank him for me.”

  He came around to my side of the truck and helped me down, and then walked me upstairs. “How did you know that I would need someone with me today?”

  “I didn’t. I just didn’t like the idea of you being at the school. I talked Cap into putting a detail on you for another week, just to be sure.”

  “Do you think I need one?” I asked nervously.

  “Not at all, but it made me feel better and he knew that.”

  I opened the door and turned off the alarm while Hunter went and checked my apartment like he always did. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay with me tonight?”

  “I’m sure, Hunter. I need to do this.”

  He pulled me into his arms and kissed me. “I know you do, but I’m always here for you, no matter what you need.”

  “I know. I just need to know that I won’t need someone by my side the rest of my life.”

  “It’s okay to have someone by your side the rest of your life,” he grumbled.

  “That’s not what I meant. What kind of life is it if I can’t do things on my own?”

  “I understand, but you have to give yourself time. It’s been two weeks.”

  Hunter was my savior in every way. I wanted him more than I could ever have dreamed, but my insecurities that he would get tired of me gnawed at my brain. I just couldn’t take the chance that I would lean on him too much and he would leave me. I just couldn’t handle that right now.

  “Come on. Let’s eat some dinner and watch TV. Your choice.”

  I wanted more than a quiet night at home. I wanted him to take me and do unspeakable things to me, but he absolutely refused. Part of me wondered if it was because he saw me as damaged or if he worried I was too fragile. The other part of me worried that he didn’t really want me anymore, but knew that I couldn’t handle him walking away.

  I started drifting off as we watched the movie and I felt Hunter pull me in closer. I glanced over at the clock on the wall and saw that it was already ten o’clock. I couldn’t keep Hunter here anymore. He had to work in the morning and it was selfish of me to keep him up late at night.

  “You should go home. I don’t want to keep you up.”

  “I can stay the night, Lucy. You don’t have to be alone.”

  “I’m okay. I promise.”

  He didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t argue. He stood and walked to the door, giving me a kiss before leaving. I made sure to lock the door and enter the code and then I went around and checked the window, even though they hadn’t been opened the entire time I had lived here.

  I plopped down in my bed and closed my eyes, refusing to acknowledge the noises I heard. I tossed and turned before finally falling asleep around midnight.

  I ran through the halls of the school, trying not to make any noise as I hid from Coach Boots. He was going to kill me. I absolutely knew that. I had witnessed him murdering Seth and he wouldn’t let me live. I ran down the hall of the older part of the school and locked myself in a dark room. I found the back wall and followed it until I reached the corner and slumped down to hide.

  Every noise, every shadow had me jumping and caused my heart to skip a beat. How long would it be before he found me? Would he kill me quickly or would he torture me? Nausea bubbled up inside me until I was sure I would be sick. I couldn’t take the not knowing. I almost wished that he would just find me and end my misery. I couldn’t just sit here for hours on end and pretend that I was going to get out of this alive. Just come for me already!

  Hours passed and my legs went numb from squatting for so long. I stood and slowly made my way along the wall. When I touched something soft, I gasped in surprise and took a step back. Cold fingers wrapped around my wrist, pulling me into a rough body. Nails scratched at me, clawing me until I could feel the blood d
ripping down my body. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. It was like I was paralyzed. No, this wasn’t happening. I tried to yank myself back, but the hands gripped me tightly.

  “Darling, don’t you know that you can never escape me? You think I’m gone, but I’ll always come back for you. You’ll never get away.”

  I finally let out a piercing scream and yanked my arm back, running for the door. It swung open and I ran down the hall, but halted when I saw him. Noah. He was standing at the base of the stairs, blocking my way out. I turned and ran in the opposite direction, but the only door that was open was the one to the basement. I fumbled along the wall as I searched for the door to the hidden tunnels.

  My breaths came out in ragged pants as my body shook in fear. I had to get out of here. I finally found the door and flung it open, running blindly in the dark. I stumbled and fell, then got back up and ran with my hand along the wall, hoping that I didn’t run smack into another wall. When my hand left the wall and felt only air, I stopped and turned back. Feeling along the wall, I felt a tunnel break off in the other direction and I followed it until I saw a sliver of light peeking in. There was a door! I tried to turn the hatch, but nothing happened. I was trapped.

  “Did you really think you could get away from me? I won’t ever let you go, Lucy. You’re mine.”

  He charged forward and I screamed as loud as I could hoping someone would hear me. I could hear ringing in the distance. Someone was coming. I just had to hold on a little longer. I screamed louder and louder, hoping that whoever was coming would get here soon.

  I sat upright in bed with a jolt, sweat pouring down my face and in-between my breasts. My shirt was soaked through and I could feel my sheets drenched with my sweat. I took a few calming breaths and then realized what the ringing in my dream was. It was my phone. I scrambled out of bed as the ringing stopped, but picked it up as soon as it started again.

  “Hello?” I tried to keep the fear and shaking out of my voice, but I failed miserably.

  “Lucy? Are you okay? You sound upset,” Hunter said, concern filling his voice.

  “Bad dream.”

  “Do you want me to come over?”

  “No. Of course not. It was just a bad dream. I’ll be okay.”

  I heard him sigh into the phone. “Lucy, you can ask for help. It doesn’t make you weak.”

  “I know, but there’s no point in you coming over here. I’m just going to go back to sleep.” There was silence on the other end, like he didn’t really believe me. “What were you calling for?”

  “I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I know that this has been tough for you and I just want to make sure you’re doing okay.”

  “I’ll be fine.” That was my new catchphrase. If I had a quarter for every time I said that recently, I would be a millionaire. “Thank you for calling to check on me. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  “I love you, Lucy.”

  “I love you, too,” I whispered.

  I could hear in his voice how much he wanted to help, but I just couldn’t allow it. Hunter was such a strong man. He didn’t want a weak woman and the more he saw me as weak, the more he would realize that I wasn’t right for him.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  The next day, I went over to Derek and Claire’s house. Claire was still working at the library, but she worked in the afternoon, so I took advantage of her time off. I knocked on her door and heard her yell for me to come in. I opened the door hesitantly and then peeked inside. All clear.

  “Claire?”

  “I’m in my bedroom,” she yelled.

  “Yeah, I’m not going back there.”

  “Shut up! I’m just doing my makeup.”

  “Which damsel in distress are you becoming?”

  She walked out of the bedroom with only half her face done up, sneering at me.

  “Two face? Really? I wouldn’t think that Derek would be into fantasies that involve another guy, but who am I to judge?”

  “I’m not trying to look like two face. I’m trying out two different looks and I wanted to know which one looked better on me.”

  “Definitely the one on the right. The left side really does make you look like The Joker.”

  “Whatever. Give me a minute.”

  She walked back to her bedroom and returned a few minutes later with a freshly scrubbed face.

  “So, how are things going?”

  “Good. I had to leave my job, but other than that, everything’s just peachy.”

  “Yeah, Derek told me about what happened. I was going to call you last night, but he insisted that Hunter was taking care of you and I should let him. Apparently he thinks that I can be too pushy.”

  “You? Too pushy? Nah.”

  “So, what are you going to do now? Are you going to find another job?”

  “I’m not sure. I have to talk with the dean still. I’m sure the school won’t continue to pay me if I’m not working there, so I’ll have to find another job.”

  “Any idea what you want to do?”

  “Well, I’d like to teach still, just not at the college, but nobody is hiring in the middle of the year. I could always substitute teach until I find something, but that’s not steady income.”

  “You know that Derek and I will help you out with whatever you need.”

  “I know, but I don’t want other people to pay my way.”

  “You’re so stubborn. You have to give yourself time to heal.”

  “That’s what Hunter says,” I grumbled.

  “So, how are you really doing?” she asked.

  I tried to decide what to say. I didn’t want her to think that I was going crazy, but I also needed to talk to someone about what was happening.

  “Did you have nightmares about what happened with Derek in D.C.?”

  “Are you kidding? All the time.”

  I blew out a breath and smiled. “I’ve been having nightmares every night and I was afraid I was going insane.”

  “Psh. You wouldn’t believe some of the things I dreamt about. One night, I dreamt about the man that was chasing us. It was horrible.” I nodded along, needing to hear what it was like for her. “He was in the restricted section of the library with us and he…” She shook her head and sighed. “He started yanking the books off the shelves and tearing them apart. He insisted that if I didn’t hand over the book, he would tear apart the whole library.”

  I sat there stunned. “That was your nightmare?”

  “Well, yeah. It was scary. I mean, at one point, I’m pretty sure that he ruined the oldest copy of the Bible. I also had a dream that I tried getting back into The Library of Congress, but they flagged me right away and I was hauled off to jail and then nobody would hire me as a librarian ever again. They said I had broken ‘the code’ and I no longer had the right to call myself a librarian.”

  “Claire…” I shook my head, unable to really fathom what she was telling me. “I meant scary dreams. I dream about people chasing me and being murdered. You’re not talking about a nightmare. You’re talking about your imagination running wild.”

  “Hey, it may not be scary to you, but it could actually happen to me and then what would I do?”

  “I thought maybe you had dreams about the man who shot at you or something.”

  “Well, I didn’t know that man. Maybe the reason you’re having such bad nightmares is because you knew Seth, Graham, and the coach. And what happened with Noah, I mean, who wouldn’t have nightmares? You can’t compare what happened to me with what happened to you. I had Derek with me the whole time. You were on your own. I’m sure if I had been running from that man by myself, I would have ended up dead. You were running on your own and you survived. That’s like, ten times more scary than anything I went through.”

  “I just feel like I’m going crazy when I have those nightmares.”

  “Lucy, I’m dreaming about books being destroyed. If anyone’s going crazy, it’s me.”

  She wasn’t wrong about tha
t.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Hunter

  I CALLED FOR the tenth time today. I needed to get ahold of Lola and find out if she was okay. I had been calling every day since Knight pointed out how wrong I had been to leave her alone. She wasn’t answering my calls, but I wouldn’t give up. I needed to know that she was okay.

  “What the fuck do you want?” she asked. I almost forgot to speak because I really hadn’t thought she would answer the phone.

  “I’m surprised you answered.”

  “Yeah, well when you wouldn’t stop calling, I figured I might as well find out what you needed to talk to me about.”

  “I just want to check in with you. See how things are going.”

  “I’m fine. I’m enjoying a wonderful vacation alone and not thinking about any of you.”

  I snorted because Lola couldn’t stand to be away from the action. This had to be killing her. “Right. Why don’t you just come home and work shit out? We all want you back. Derek and I have had the shittiest jobs without you here on the team.”

  “Really? Because Knight told me that he was filling in for me. Sounds like you don’t really need me back.”

  “Knight filled in for you because Lucy went missing and I had to find her, which you would know if you were here with us like you’re supposed to be.”

  “I can’t, remember? I’m not allowed back in the field.”

  “Lola, all you have to do is follow Cap’s instructions. You can still train with us. You’re still a part of this team and it’s not the same without you.”

  “Did you stop to think that maybe I don’t want to be back on your team? Why would I want to be back with people that didn’t have my back?”

  “Lola, you know that I always have your back and sometimes that means doing what you won’t do for yourself. I should have never let you push me away. I knew that you were still struggling and I told myself that you didn’t want me anymore because you could handle it. But I fucking knew that everything wasn’t okay. I’ll never forgive myself for not being there for you.”