by Dover, L. P.
Grace giggled. “I’ve lived here my whole life and I never get tired of the scenery. You’re going to love it here.”
I met her gaze and smiled. “I think I already do.”
Reed opened my door and I stepped out. “Reed, this place is amazing.”
His grin widened. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”
Ian came up behind him and squeezed Reed’s shoulders. “You two have a good night. Call me if you need anything.”
Reed nodded. “Will do.”
“Kennedy,” Grace called. I turned around and she leaned out the car window. “Reed will give you my phone number. Just in case you ever need someone to talk to, I’m always around.”
“Thanks, Grace. I’ll definitely take you up on that.”
“Good. I’m sure we’ll see you soon.” Ian waved before getting back in his truck and they drove slowly down the driveway trying to avoid Buttercup who chased along beside them.
Reed picked up our bags. “Ready?”
“Yep.” I whistled for Buttercup and she ran straight to the front door before Reed could even get to it. When he opened the door, she rushed straight inside.
Reed shook his head and laughed. “She’s a smart one.”
I followed him inside and into the living room where Buttercup had taken up residence on the couch. I was about to tell her to get off when my focus landed on the wall of windows looking out toward the mountains. “Yes, she is,” I said, sounding breathless. I walked over to the largest window in the center of the wall and peered out. “Thank you for letting her stay here with me. I don’t know what I’d do without her.” Reed set our bags down and I looked around. His house wasn’t anything like I imagined. It barely looked lived in. The dark brown leather couch and chairs didn’t have any creases in them, almost as if they’d never been sat on. “If you don’t want Buttercup on your furniture, I’ll completely understand. It won’t be hard to train her not to get up on things.”
Reed shook his head. “She’s fine. I can always get new furniture if I have to.” The joy of having endless amounts of money. Must be nice. “Feel free to do what you want here,” Reed continued, “I have a gym in the basement, a dirt bike and four-wheeler in the garage, and a pool out back.”
What did he not have? I glanced out the window at the barn. “And horses?”
He joined me by the window and smiled. “Yes, I have horses. We can go riding anytime you want.” It all sounded amazing, but I knew we had a job to do. He gently cupped my elbow and guided me toward another room. We passed through the doorway into a formal dining room and beyond that was the kitchen. It was bigger than the living room and everything was spotless. Even the appliances were shiny with not a hint of food or stains on them. There were no dishes in the sink and it smelled lemony clean.
“I know this is your house,” I said, waving my hands around the kitchen, “but do you actually live here? Everything looks brand new.”
He shrugged and crossed his arms casually across his chest as he leaned against the counter. “That’s because it pretty much is. Ever since I joined the FBI, I’ve spent a lot of time away from here. I lived at the main house with Ian and Bryce for most of my life. Bryce and his wife had their own house built on the Chandler land, and Ian and Grace took the main house. I figured it was time I got my own place so I had this one built. I’ve probably stayed here a total of six weeks.”
“Wow,” I blurted in amazement, “if I had this place, I’d be here all the time. It’s absolutely gorgeous.”
His smile faded slightly. “I’d love to be here more, but there’s always so much to do. The nights I am home I usually spend it eating dinner with Ian and Grace or Faith and Dominic.”
Ian and Grace seemed amazing, but I didn’t want to impose on them or Faith and Dominic who I’d never met. There were so many high-end appliances in his kitchen I couldn’t wait to try them out. “Hopefully, you don’t mind me cooking,” I said, gazing around his kitchen in awe. “I don’t want your family feeling obligated to cook for me.”
Reed chuckled. “Hey, I’m fine with cooking here. We can go to the grocery store after I show you around. However, just so you know, my family’s pretty tight knit. They’ll probably get pissed if we don’t eat with them at least once a week. Or maybe even invite them over here.”
That made me smile. “I can live with that.” My mother always wanted more children, but when my father died, she didn’t have the desire to be with anyone else. It would’ve been nice to have siblings. If I did, I wouldn’t be alone. I knew I had extended family somewhere out in the world, but I never had a reason to find them. Amy was my best friend and always there for me. That was good enough.
“All right,” Reed said, moving out of the kitchen. “I need to show you to your room and the media room where we’ll be working.”
“Sounds good,” I told him. We walked back through the living room and he picked up my bag. He took me down a long hallway to the very end and opened up the last door on the left. The sun shone through the windows, lighting up the navy-blue walls. There was a blue and green plaid bedspread on the queen-sized bed. “Your guest bedroom is the complete opposite of mine,” I said with a smile.
Reed laughed. “There’s no purple in my house. Actually, no one’s ever stayed in this room before.” He pointed toward one of the closed doors. “Bathroom’s in there.”
The room was very masculine and I loved it. There were four windows, two of them which overlooked the field in front of the house, and the other two which had a partial view of the mountains behind the house; it was breathtaking.
“Where’s your room?” I asked.
His eyes twinkled and I wanted to kick myself in the ass for asking. With a slight tilt to his lips, he nodded toward the door. “Right across the hall.”
“And the media room?” I mentioned quickly, hoping he didn’t pay attention to my burning cheeks. “Now that we’re here we should probably get to work.”
His expression turned serious and he nodded. “Yeah, we should. Come on, I’ll show you the media room. It’s where I keep all my computers.”
I followed him down the hall to a door that opened to a set of stairs. It was dark, but the second Reed stepped on the first stair, the lights came on. With each step he took, another light flipped on. When we got to the bottom, the whole floor lit up to reveal his own personal gym that Planet Fitness would be jealous of.
“You can come down here and work out anytime you want,” Reed said, walking past his exercise equipment. There was another door we headed towards and Reed opened it.
“Whoa,” I gasped, mouth gaping as I peered around the room. There was a large desk that took up a whole side of the room with three laptops sitting on top. The wall above the desk was filled with screens, all showing live feed from what I assumed was the Chandler land. It switched to different views every few seconds.
Reed opened up each laptop and turned them on. “Ready to get started?”
My heartrate spiked and I sat down at the desk. “Let’s do it.”
I was more than ready.
Chapter Eleven
Kennedy
“Kennedy, where are you?”
His voice taunted me, but it didn’t scare me anymore. He thought I was hiding, but in fact, I was hunting him. My breath was calm, but my heart raced. I was ready to end it. The house we were in wasn’t any house I’d ever seen before. This one was old and run down and smelled like mold. There were weeds growing up from the broken-down hardwood floors. Each step I took was slow and calculated. I didn’t want him to know I was close.
“Kennedy?”
I wanted him to keep talking. That way I could find him. There was a gun in my holster, but I preferred the knife in my hand. Shooting him was too easy; I wanted him to suffer.
“I’m going to kill you, Kennedy.”
He’d tried once before and failed. He was going to fail again. I knew where he was. As soon as I turned the corner, I could see him slowly creeping
his way through the dilapidated dining room, dressed in all black. I couldn’t see his face. With the knife held tight in my hand, I was ready, but I really wanted to see his face. I knew his voice to the point I’d recognize it if I ever heard it on the street. He was so close.
“Oh Kennedy,” he called out in a sing song voice.
Teeth clenched, I let the anger consume me. “I’m right here asshole.”
He jerked around and lunged straight at me, and then …
I awoke to the sound of my ringing phone. Most times when I had dreams about the killer, I’d wake up covered in sweat. Not this time. The nightmares didn’t scare me anymore, they gave me courage. Instead of running away from the killer, I was going to fight, only I didn’t get the chance. Groaning, I sat up in bed and looked around through squinted eyes; the sun was bright. Buttercup was at the foot of the bed and grumbled as well. She loved her sleep too. My phone was on the nightstand, but it stopped ringing before I could get to it. A couple seconds later, it rang again. I picked up my phone and wasn’t at all surprised to see Robyn’s name on the screen.
“Hey, Robyn,” I answered, my voice scratchy and thick.
She blew out a relieved sounding sigh. “My God, Kennedy. I’ve been worried about you. I tried calling you last night.”
I rubbed my tired eyes. “I am so sorry. Reed and I just got so busy and time slipped away. I’d left my phone in my room. We worked until one in the morning and then I went straight to sleep.” Reed and I were going to go to the grocery store, but we ended up ordering a pizza instead. There was so much he had to set up before we could get started searching for the killer.
Robyn sighed again. “It’s hard not to worry about you, Kennedy. When John told me everything last night, I wanted to fly straight up to Vermont to get you. But then, he told me you’re in Wyoming with an FBI agent who also happens to be an assassin. I don’t know what to think about that.”
I yawned. “I’m fine, I promise. Reed’s a really nice guy. You’d never think he was a trained killer. Plus,” I said, sitting up straighter in bed so I could look out the front windows to the field, “his home is probably more secure than the White House. I feel perfectly safe here.”
“That’s good to know,” she replied, sounding relieved. “John had his press conference about an hour ago. The whole world knows what’s going on now. I’m sure you’ll be able to pull it up on the internet to watch it. It might be hard to watch though.” I had a feeling I already knew why.
“John talks about my mother’s case, doesn’t he?” I asked. I knew he’d have to.
The line went silent for a few seconds, but then she answered. “Yes. I’m sorry, Kennedy. I know it’s not easy having to relive the past.”
I relived the nightmare every night in my dreams, but I was getting closer to ending it. I just wasn’t there yet. “It’s not easy,” I said, “but Reed’s going to find the killer. Don’t know how long it’ll take, but it’ll happen.” I intentionally left out that I was helping because I knew it’d worry her too much. It was nice having someone in my life who was almost family besides my friend, Amy.
“It’ll happen. I have a feeling,” she murmured optimistically. “Stay safe out there, Kennedy. I’m going to let you get back to sleep. I know I woke you up.”
I rubbed a hand over Buttercup’s back. “It’s okay. I’m up now.” We talked for a few more minutes about how beautiful Wyoming was, and then we got on the subject of hair wavers. She’s always wanted one and tried it out, saying her hair looked like a frizzy mess when she was done. It made me laugh and I begged her to send me pictures. God, I missed her. As soon as we said our goodbyes, I hopped out of bed. I was still in my clothes from yesterday so I took a quick shower and put on a fresh pair of black gym shorts and one of my old Appalachian State University T-shirts. Before leaving the room, I glanced back at Buttercup. “You coming with me?” I asked her. Her ears perked up, but then she rolled around on the bed and stayed there. “Fine, lazy girl. Enjoy your sleep. Just don’t you dare pee on the bed.” I laughed and opened the bedroom door, not expecting to see Reed’s door wide open. Of course, I couldn’t help myself. I tiptoed over and peeked inside, not knowing what to expect. Even though Reed had an interesting profession, he was still down to earth. His bedroom walls were a dark hunter green that went along perfectly with his navy king-sized bedspread with striped pillows. A pair of Reed’s boots sat on the floor by the foot of the bed, and there was a plaid flannel shirt hanging over the brown leather chair in the corner of the room. I didn’t know Reed that well yet, but his room fit him perfectly. It was very masculine, but sensual at the same time; it even smelled like his cologne which made me love it even more.
I stepped away from the door and hurried down the hall to the kitchen, thinking that was where Reed could possibly be since I smelled coffee. When I got in there, he was nowhere to be seen. However, there was a box of Godiva hot chocolate mix on the counter right beside the coffee maker. I was impressed.
After looking through his cabinets, I found the coffee cups and fixed myself a cup of hot chocolate. He didn’t have any Harry Potter mugs or ones with funny sayings on them so I settled for a plain white cup. I walked back through the floor level of the house, and still couldn’t find Reed. The only other place I could think he would be was downstairs in the gym or the media room. I quietly opened the basement door but there was no sound coming from the gym. The lights came on as I stepped down each step and when I got to the bottom, I could see the light in the media room was on.
“Reed?” I called out. I didn’t want to sneak up on him if he was working.
His voice echoed from the media room. “In here.”
When I got to the door, he was sitting at the desk, shirtless and writing away in a notebook. His body glistened and his hair was wet as if he’d just gotten out of the shower. It was the first time I’d been close enough to see the tattoos on his back. It wasn’t just one picture, but a bunch of different tribal designs all combined into one large tattoo. However, right in the middle of his shoulder blades was a sword holding up a set of scales with a snake wrapped around the hilt. In the middle of the blade, was a date. I wanted to know what the date meant, but figured it was personal.
Holding the coffee cup, I walked over to the desk to see if I could get a glimpse of what he was writing. “Thank you for the cocoa.”
Reed set his pen down and smiled up at me. Judging by the red, sweaty face he must’ve just gotten done working out. “You’re welcome,” he said.
I took a sip of my hot chocolate. “How did you know that’s what I drink?”
“I’m very perceptive, Kennedy.” He winked. “But if you want the truth, I couldn’t find any coffee at your house. All you had was that,” he said, nodding at my cup. “Figured you’d need some here.”
That made me smile. “Thanks.” I glanced down at the pages in his notebook. “Did you even sleep last night?”
With a heavy sigh, he leaned back in his chair and stretched. “I got a couple of hours in. Before we can begin our search, I had a lot of work to do. I knew you’d want to start today.”
My stomach racked with guilt. I was upstairs sleeping while he worked away. “Don’t do that, Reed,” I said, pursing my lips. “I appreciate you doing all of this for me, but you still have a life. Don’t let me come between that.”
His gaze was so intense as he stared at me. “I want to do this, Kennedy. It’s my choice.”
A beep went off on his phone and I caught movement out of the corner of my eye on one of the screens. There was an old green truck making its way down the driveway.
I looked down at Reed and he smiled. “We have company.” He grabbed his shirt off the desk and slipped it on. “I knew she wouldn’t be able to wait.”
She? “Who?” I asked. I looked over at the screen where a beautiful blonde stepped out of the truck. She grabbed a basket out of the passenger’s seat and walked toward the door.
Reed chuckled. “Let’s go.”<
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I followed him up the stairs just in time to hear the knock on the front door. I stood back in the living room while Reed went to the door. Buttercup rushed up to his side and as soon as he opened it, she raced out. The blonde laughed and stepped in with the biggest smile on her face. “Oh my God, that dog is so cute.” A slight ping of jealousy settled in my gut, but then I noticed the huge diamond on her finger. I had a feeling this was Faith, and I hoped I was right.
“Good morning,” she said in a sing song voice, flashing that grin of hers at Reed. “I brought you and Kennedy breakfast. Didn’t know when you were going to introduce me to her so I thought I’d come by myself.” She glanced toward my way and when she noticed me, her eyes lit up. “Hey, Kennedy. I’m Faith.” She pushed the basket into Reed’s arms and walked away from him. The look on his face was priceless.
“It’s good to see you too Faith,” Reed called out.
Faith waved her hand dismissively in the air, but kept her focus on me. “Yeah, yeah,” she teased back as she walked up to me and held out her hand. “It is so nice to meet you. Grace said you were a sweetheart.”
Smiling back, I shook her hand, relieved that it was Faith and not someone interested in Reed. “Thanks. It was nice having her to talk to on the way here. Everyone’s been so great to me.”
“That’s because we’re awesome,” she said, winking. She smiled, but then it slowly dissipated. “Plus, you and Grace and I have all had our fair share of craziness in our lives. You need the support of friends behind you and that’s what we’re going to be, whether you want us or not.”
I glanced over her shoulder at Reed. He shook his head and placed the basket onto the kitchen table. “You’ll get used to her.”
Faith scoffed playfully and turned to him. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”