Liv blinked. “Yeah.”
“OK. Let me see the plans, go over them with my team. We’ll stay outside, but we’ll have every door and window covered.” He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. “And we’ll have to make sure we’re not followed. I don’t want to put these women and kids in any danger either.”
“Really?” she said.
“Yeah.”
She jumped to her feet and went around to his side of the table to give him a hug. Her arms wrapped around him from behind and she gave him a kiss on his cheek. “Thanks, Dallas.”
“Yeah, OK.” He tried to scowl. “But I need to know right now if you’re keeping anything else from us, Olivia.”
“No, I swear.”
“OK.” He stood up. “Bring me the plans and I’ll go over them now.”
**
Dallas pulled up in front of the large house, checking behind him for about the hundredth time. Nobody there. He exchanged glances with Griff, and the other man nodded.
He turned around to look at Olivia sitting in the back seat of the SUV. She had been quiet the whole ride over, and appeared nervous. She wasn’t worried for herself, he was sure: he’d lay money that she was fretting that the shelter would somehow be discovered because of her.
Leave it to Olivia to worry about someone else when she’s got some fucking sicko hunting her.
“You OK?” he asked her.
“Yeah.” She tried to smile. “I just don’t want to tip anyone off about this place.”
“We weren’t followed, baby.” He checked the rear view mirror again and saw Mark’s vehicle now. “There’s Mark and Selena. They were keeping an eye out for us, and them being behind us now means that all’s clear. You can go on in.”
“OK.”
She walked up to the house and Dallas watched her knock on the door. It opened a crack, swung wide. The woman hugged Olivia and she went in. The door closed and Dallas, Griff and Mark moved. Selena stayed with the car, keeping watch on the street, while the guys approached the house, getting eyes on the side and back doors. They stayed hidden, not wanting to be visible from the street or any of the windows. They pulled down their hats and pulled up their collars and they waited in the cold and snow for Olivia to come back out.
**
Two hours later, Dallas got a text from Olivia that she was exiting the house in one minute. He spoke quietly in to his headset microphone and heard the others respond to his orders. The guys returned to the vehicles, but Dallas stayed next to the house, waiting for Olivia to walk out. Only when she was safely in the SUV with Griff did Dallas leave the yard.
He got in to the front passenger seat and looked at Liv. “Everything OK?”
“Yes. Thanks so much for bringing me.”
“Sure, hon.” He saw that she looked better than she had in a week, since this whole fucking thing had started. “Ready to go home?”
“Yes.”
They chatted easily on the drive home, Liv relaxed and happy. Visits to the women and kids always had this effect on her. She took joy in the abused women gaining confidence in themselves, in the kids starting to laugh and play without fear. The house was massive, and she’d had extensive renovations done on it so that families could live in rooms together. There was a play area for the kids, an art room, an office space with computers, a therapy room, and staff quarters. It was a home, an office, a community centre, a counselling resource, all under one roof.
They arrived at Olivia’s house, and Sully got out of his SUV.
“Everything OK here?” Dallas asked him.
“Yeah,” Sully said. “Did a few quick walks around the perimeter, checked for cars after you left. Quiet night tonight… nothing happening anywhere around here.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Dallas said. “OK, Mark and Sully, thanks for the extra hours. Be sure to mark ‘em on your time sheets. Selena and Griff, you want anything hot to drink before starting the night watch?”
“Yes, please,” Selena said. “Maybe a cup of coffee?”
“Come on in,” Liv said. “I’ll make you up a thermos, and maybe a few nibbles. What do you think?”
“Perfect,” Selena said. “Be right back, OK, Griff?”
He waved his huge hand. “Take your time. It looks like it’s all under control.”
Liv tapped in the front door code and they all walked inside. She kicked off her boots and took off her coat, headed up the stairs to her kitchen. Dallas followed her, started to help with the coffee.
“I’ll get that, hon,” he said. “Why don’t you go sit down?”
“Actually, I’ll change my top,” she said. “White shirts and making sandwiches with mayo and mustard don’t really go together, you know?”
He grinned and watched her walk down the hallway to her bedroom. He turned back to the coffee machine, adjusting the pot to make sure no liquid spilled out on the counter. That was when he heard Olivia scream.
Dallas took off down to her, his gun out, Selena right behind him. He saw Olivia back out of her room, her hands on her mouth. In one movement, he shoved her so that he was between her and the bedroom door. He pinned her against the wall with his broad back, his arms braced on either side of her, protecting and surrounding her. Selena stood facing the bedroom, her gun out and covering Dallas and Olivia.
“Is someone in there?” he asked in a low voice.
She shook her head, her eyes wide. “N – n – no. There’s a gift on my bed.”
He paused. “A gift?”
“Yeah.” She swallowed. “A – a box with a ribbon. And a photo, I think.”
He met Selena’s eyes. “Get her out of here. Now.”
She took Olivia’s arm. “Come on, Liv. We’re going.”
Liv nodded and let Selena lead her back outside. Griff saw them come out, saw their faces, saw Selena’s drawn gun. He started the engine and the second the women were in the SUV, he took off without a word.
Liv crumpled in the back seat and Selena put her arm around the other woman’s shoulders. “It’s OK, Liv. You’re out.”
“But… Dallas…”
“Don’t you worry about Dallas,” Selena said. “He can handle anything. OK?”
“OK.”
Griff put his earpiece in and called Mark and Sully. They agreed to meet up back at the Solid Security offices, and Griff disconnected. He checked Liv in the mirror. She was pale and looked terribly shaken.
“We’ll be at the offices in ten minutes, Liv. You’ll be totally safe there, and we’ll wait for Dallas to contact us.”
“You really think he’s OK?” Liv said.
“I really do,” Griff said in a firm voice. “He’ll call as soon as he’s swept the house, and knows what the hell is going on here.” He ran a hand through his blond hair. “Now. Out of pure curiosity… what the hell is going on here?”
That was when Liv burst in to tears.
**
An hour later, Dallas arrived at the office to find a very frightened Olivia sitting on a sofa, wrapped in a blanket. Without so much as a glance at his staff, he went over to her and gathered her in his arms. She held on to him, still shaking.
He pulled back, searched her eyes. “You doing alright, baby?”
She nodded. He didn’t believe her even one bit.
“OK, sweetheart,” he said stroking her hair. “We need to talk.”
“OK.”
He gestured to the others to come over and they dragged chairs from the closest desks and sat. Dallas took a deep breath, let it out.
“On the bed, the guy left a box. Inside, there was a black silk teddy and some handcuffs.”
Olivia closed her eyes. Dallas hesitated, waited until she opened them again.
“The photo?” she asked. “What was it?”
“It was of you,” he said reluctant
ly.
“One of my modelling photos?”
“No.” He wondered if he should tell her the truth, realized that she’d find out anyway when the police talked to her. “It was of you sleeping in your own bed.”
She stared at him and a wave of dizziness washed over her. “But – how?”
“I don’t know,” he said, trying to sound calm. It was fucking hard to do, though, since all he wanted to do was beat the crap out of this guy.
He stood over her when she was totally vulnerable and snapped goddamned photos! Was I fucking sleeping right next door? How is this even possible?
“How did he get in tonight?” Mark asked.
“I found an open window.”
“What?” Sully said. “Which one?”
“The one that goes in to the laundry room.”
“Dallas,” Sully said. “I swear to you, I never left the perimeter. If that window had been forced open, the alarm should have been triggered… no way that it was.” He shook his head. “I physically walked around the whole house and checked every entrance not even twenty minutes before you got home. That window was closed.”
“I know.” Dallas ran his hands through his dark hair. “I believe you, man. This fucker is disarming selective parts of the security systems. He somehow got in to the house through the front door when Olivia had it all locked up tight, he disabled the cameras the night of the party. Now, he opened a window and crawled right in to the house without detection between your rounds.” He shook his head. “What kind of blocking equipment can he have?”
“Normally, the whole system is knocked out, though,” Griff said slowly. “I mean, disabling the cameras should have also knocked out the door alarm system, right? What kind of technology only knocks out specific parts of larger, entire security systems? From outside?
Dallas looked grim. “Only ones that are military- and national security-grade, that I know of.”
Liv shivered and he tightened his arm around her.
“I want you to call Howard and Jill and have them wake up every single person on their team,” Dallas said to Mark. “Right now. Get them over to Olivia’s house, have them check what the hell is going on over there. They don’t leave until they have an answer that fucking makes sense.”
Mark nodded. “I’ll stay with them.”
“The rest of you?” Dallas said. “Canvas the neighbors… ask if anyone saw anything at all tonight. A car, anyone on foot, someone walking a dog. I don’t care – anything at all that puts anyone within fifty feet of Olivia’s house.”
They all got to their feet and headed in their respective directions, pulling out phones and checking their guns as they went. Dallas caught Mark’s eye and the other man nodded.
Dallas stood up. “I’ll be right back, baby. I forgot to tell Mark one thing to pass on to Jill and Howard. Alright?”
She nodded, still looking shocked. He felt the anger rise in him when he saw that the fear was back in her eyes; he’d hoped that he’d never have to see that again. It took a lot of effort for him to stamp down hard on his own rage – he knew that getting emotional wasn’t going to help her now, that she was counting on him to stay calm even as she fell apart.
He touched her hair gently and she looked up at him.
“It’s going to be OK, Olivia,” he said softly. “I’ll make sure of it.”
She gazed up at Dallas and he saw that she still trusted him completely. That faith in him staggered him: it was humbling and somehow beautiful. Dallas loved knowing that when she looked at him, she saw him at his best… strong, tender, capable. He’d give anything to kiss her right now, just take her to his bed and cover her body with his own, shield her from everything and everyone. Make her feel totally safe and fully loved.
She smiled now, and his heart jumped.
“I know you will, Dallas,” she said. “I believe you.”
He squeezed her hand, then walked to his office. Mark was waiting outside the locked door, looking serious. Neither man said a word until they were inside and the door was closed. They stared at each other grimly, knowing that they were both thinking the exact same thing.
“Maybe this asshole is blocking the security systems from outside,” Mark said. “But there’s one more way that he can be doing all this.”
“Yeah, I know,” Dallas said. “If he were inside the house.”
Mark nodded. “It would explain how he knew about Liv’s dress… he was there the whole time, watching and listening. He’d be able to sneak in to her bedroom and take pictures of her sleeping and drop things on the bed. He’d be able to casually open the front door or the window from inside before scurrying back to wherever the hell he’s holed up. He’d know what she was doing and where she was going. He’d know all the codes, have full access to her schedule. Everything.”
Dallas pulled out the floor plans of Olivia’s house. “I agree. The thing is, there is literally nowhere for a full-grown human being to hide for hours – or fucking days – on end without detection, man. I’ve been over every inch of that house on this plan and in person, but then again, I’m no architect or structural engineer. Any chance at all that there’s some hidden room?”
“Hard to believe,” Mark said. “Since even hidden space is always marked on building plans, for legal reasons.”
“Well, we need to check,” Dallas said. “We also need to find out where Abraham Castell has been for the past few hours.”
“I’m on it.” Mark hesitated.
“What?”
“I just – I don’t get it. If he’s had total access to her and he could have hurt her or attacked her at any given moment, then what the fuck’s he doing? Just – just playing with her? Trying to scare her?”
“I don’t know. If we’re right and he’s been in the house with her and us this whole fucking time, then it means that he gets off on the control part of it all… the all-knowing observation of someone who has no idea they’re even being watched. But now that we’ve removed her, he may well escalate again.”
“Yeah.”
“So be careful what you say in that house, man. Do not mention where Olivia is – tell everyone she’s booked in to a hotel, OK?”
“Roger that.”
Dallas sighed. “I’m going to take her to my place now, try to get her to rest.”
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Mark said. “If I were her? I’d probably never close my eyes again.”
Chapter Six
Olivia pulled the t-shirt that Dallas had given her over her head. Even though she’d just had a long, hot shower, she was still shivering. She pulled on Dallas’ socks then regarded herself in the bathroom mirror.
Despite the terror and general awfulness of the situation, she smiled a bit at her appearance. Dallas’ shirt hung off her slim body and covered her to almost her knees; the socks were about five sizes too big for her. But the clothing smelled of him, and she held the shirt to her nose and inhaled deeply, finding comfort in it. It felt like he was right there with her, and she immediately felt safe.
She heard a knock at the door and she jumped.
“Olivia? You OK?”
“Yeah,” she called back. “Be out in a sec.”
She tugged the t-shirt down as far as it could go and came out. Dallas was standing there and his eyes took her in. He was painfully, achingly aware of the fact that she was naked under his shirt and he tried very hard to not think about it. He failed in spectacular fashion.
“So what do you think, baby?’ he asked gently. “You hungry?”
She shook her head.
“You feel like you can get some rest?”
“No.” She looked down at the floor. “I’m – I can’t get past the idea of him watching me sleep…”
He reached for her then and she went to him right away, eager for his warmth and strength. Dallas wrapped her
in his arms and she tried to relax. The thought of closing her eyes terrified her, even though Dallas would be between her and the door, with a gun.
This guy has shown that he can get to me even with people right outside, watching every door and window. How hard would it be for him to get in here, even with Dallas’ security system on the windows? Alarms and codes are child’s-play for this asshole…
He stepped back suddenly, held her away from him. “Olivia?”
“Yeah?” she said.
“You want me to stay in the room with you?”
She started, stared up at him. “What?”
His blue eyes were intense. “I can sit in a chair next to the bed with my gun. Watch over you while you sleep.”
The thought of him standing guard simultaneously touched and aroused her. Liv’s mouth went dry as she imagined herself totally vulnerable and helpless, Dallas’s huge body sitting next to her in the darkness, all through the night.
“Would you…” She cleared her throat. “You’d do that?”
He nodded. “Anything to make you feel safe enough to sleep, baby.”
“OK.” Her voice was so quiet, he barely heard it.
“Good.” He touched her cheek. “I’m going to have a shower and get cleaned up, so you wait right here outside the door. Five minutes, alright?”
“Yeah.”
He went in to his bedroom and grabbed some fresh clothes, then he headed in to the bathroom. She heard the shower turn on, and she imagined him naked, just on the other side of the door. She felt her breath come faster, shallower; her pussy moistened, her nipples hardened.
Oh, God, girl. You are in serious, serious trouble.
Dallas stood under the hot spray, eyes closed, willing his hard-on to go away. His cock had hardened the second he’d held her against him with nothing but the thin t-shirt material between him and her curves. It had been a huge effort to move away from her, since all he wanted was to hold her closer, tighter. Lift her chin, kiss that sweet mouth, run his hands over her breasts and stomach. Gently run his finger along her slit, delve between her wet folds. Be inside her, hard and deep. Watch her beautiful face as she shattered around him.
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