by Leanne Tyler
Chapter 9
Carly sat in the middle of her stripped bed to make sure there were no hidden surprises in the sheets, trying to wrap her head around what had happened. How had the gang that had shot Phil at the Pied Piper Bar found her? How had they broken into her apartment and left twin cobra snakes in her kitchen sink, turning her apartment into an active crime scene?
Animal Control came to collect the snakes. A crime scene unit dusted for prints and took photographs of the wreckage that had once been her tidy home. Detectives combed through her apartment to make sure there were no more surprises.
Her head had already been spinning after the interview when she learned Justin Porter had called Stella Stone trying to get her the job. Then she came home to find Ragsdale picking her lock because Justin Porter had had him bug her apartment. That had turned out good because Ragsdale had overheard the break-in and knew something dirty had gone down while she was away. But it still didn’t make what Justin Porter did right. She would get a restraining order against him. She would find a way to get one if it was the last thing she did. Either that or she’d leave Chicago. That was still an option. After this was all over she could leave Chicago. There was nothing holding her here. Other than Jules, Simone, and Colleen. But they could keep in touch no matter where she lived.
“You still doing okay?” Brand asked, popping into her room.
She slowly nodded.
“Commander Burns is here and he is talking about moving you to a safe house until the trial. Are you okay with that?”
“A safe house?”
“An undisclosed location that no one knows.”
“If you think that is what we should do.”
“It is. Go ahead and start packing your clothes. Be sure to pack something for the funeral.”
“The funeral?” Her pulse began to race.
“Phil’s funeral. You still want to go, don’t you?”
“Oh. Yes. I do. I’d forgotten. I – I guess when you said funeral I thought you meant mine.”
He grinned. “That’s not going to happen. So don’t even think that.”
“After today, I wouldn’t be so sure.”
“Things may look grim, but they will get brighter,” he said, coming over to where she sat. “May I sit with you?”
She nodded and scooted for him to join her.
He took her hand in his. “I was shot in theater which left a piece of shrapnel lodged too close to a blood vessel in my chest that can’t be removed. I’m physically fine, but it’s too risky for active duty. I thought my world had ended when I got the news that I couldn’t be a SEAL anymore. I went into a black hole in my mind. I thought my life was over. There was nothing left for me. Then one day as I was recuperating at Walter Reed I got this phone call from Hank Patterson. I didn’t know the man. Never heard of him before. Yet that one little phone call from him changed my life, Carly. He offered me a job with the Brotherhood Protectors doing what I couldn’t do for the SEALs. I’m working with former SEALs or Army Rangers or Marines that have been wounded or retired out that still want to serve their country with their skills. The Brotherhood Protectors allows us to do that. So what looks bleak right now can change tomorrow. Give it time. It will get better.”
She swallowed, squeezing his hand. “When is Phil’s funeral again?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Do you think it will be safe for me to go?”
“There will be plenty of Chicago PD and detectives there. You’ll be safe. And you’ve got me. I’m not going to let anyone get to you while I’m still breathing.”
“Okay.” She tried to smile.
By late afternoon, everyone had departed from Carly’s apartment. Ragsdale had even left, giving his word not to follow them when they moved to the undisclosed location. Brand wasn’t sure if he believed the P.I., though he’d take his word for it and keep an eye out as well to make sure they weren’t tailed.
Brand helped Carly take her luggage to the lobby and get it into the SUV. Then he loaded his own duffle and tactical bag that hadn’t been touched when the Twin Cobras had trashed the apartment. They’d thankfully stayed to the living room and kitchen area. Petree brought out the two laundry baskets full of food items from the refrigerator and freezer they were taking with them, as well as canned items from the pantry since they didn’t know how long they’d be gone.
They traveled in silence across town to the safe house as the sun began to set, giving off a rosy orange glow over the harbor. Petree drove around for longer than necessary it seemed to Brand before he finally turned down Lakeshore Drive and pulled to a stop in front of an apartment building.
“Are you sure we’re at the right location?” Carly asked.
“This is the address Commander Burns texted me. A Margot Wills should be waiting for you inside with the keys.”
“Margot Wills as in Senator Wills daughter?”
Petree turned around from the front seat to look at her. “I guess so. I didn’t put two and two together, but now that you mention it.”
“Is there a problem, Carly?” Brand asked.
“No. We were sorority sisters in college. I can trust her to keep my whereabouts secret.”
“Then let’s go meet her.” Brand opened the door and got out, waiting for Carly to slide out of the SUV.
A deep chestnut haired woman in a one-piece sunburst-bathing suit with a matching sarong wrapped around her waist and strappy heels greeted them. “Carly Manning! Darling, it has been too long. I had no idea I’d be meeting you here today. When Burnsie called daddy needing a favor, we were only too happy to help out. We aren’t using the furnished apartment right now. Daddy only keeps it around for when he and Mumsie dearest number five are on the outs and he needs a place to get away.”
“Burnsie?” Brand said.
Margot batted her fake eyelashes at him. “Yes, do you know him?”
“I do.”
“Put in a good word for me then.”
“He’s married.”
“That is irrelevant. One day he may not be and he’d remember your good word.”
“The apartment?” Carly asked.
“Yes. Come this way. It’s on the top floor. Excellent view of the skyline. The balcony opens up to a gorgeous patio area for entertaining. Sometimes I think that is why my father bought the place. Daddy had the whole place renovated last year and put in a new marble shower with all new fixtures in the bathroom. If I didn’t have my own apartment in this building I’d be clamoring for his.”
“So you live here as well.”
Margot nodded. “I’ve been sunbathing by the pool. I don’t go around town like this, though I do have the body for it.”
“You haven’t changed, Margot. Still a spit-fire.”
The woman giggled as the elevator doors slid open and the three of them stepped inside. She slid a key into the panel on the right and pressed the 20th-floor button. “You’ll have to do that to access your floor. Otherwise, no one can get up there. It’s another security measure my father had installed, being a senator and all. You can’t be too careful.” She turned to Carly without taking a breath. “I heard you and Porter divorced. Such a tragedy when young love goes sour.”
“Doesn’t it make entertaining difficult?” Carly asked, ignoring her last statement.
“No. Daddy has a service run the elevator all night, screening guests and only letting those on the list up. Works perfectly. The other tenants hate it though.”
“What about the stairs? Couldn’t someone get up there easy enough?” Brand asked.
“Not without a key. You can go up and down to the 19th floor all you want, but you have to have two keys to get into the 20th stairwell door. They are on this key ring too. I’ll show you from the hallway that leads to the stairs outside the apartment.”
Margot did that and more when they arrived on the 20th floor. Brand busied himself checking on the security aspect of the apartment while Carly and Margot scoped out the amenities. He didn�
�t care how luxurious the place was for their comfort as long as he had a place to sleep, water to shower and could prepare food to eat. So what if the place had a state of the art kitchen, open floor plan and floor to ceiling windows all along the perimeter wall giving an ample skyline view. Which in Margot's words meant location, location, location real-estate wise. He noticed that the windows were triple-thick, shatterproof glass for security measures. The senator was no fool. Brand was more concerned where this door off from the kitchen led.
He turned the knob but the door wouldn't budge. “Where does this door go to?”
“That leads up to the sky roof where there is a helipad. Another one of daddy’s necessities as a senator. Gotta get to the state capital right away he can whisk away in his helicopter. Need to get to DC but if traffic is horrible to O’Hare he takes his helicopter. Men and their toys.”
Brand grunted. Men and their toys indeed. That might come in handy if they needed a speedy getaway. “I assume we’ll have a key to this door as well, in case of an emergency helicopter exit?”
“Of course.” Margot held up the key ring full of keys and shook it at him. “They’re all labeled. This is my set. Daddy has the other. You’ll be perfectly safe here. Burnsie wouldn’t have asked for you to stay if you weren’t.”
“Thank you, Margot.” Carly touched her arm. “We do appreciate it.”
“I don’t know what kind of trouble you are in, Carly, but you have my sympathy. I don’t think I could sleep at night.”
“Be glad you don’t have my worries right now.”
Kevin and Brand brought up the luggage and food while Carly was ordered to stay in the apartment for her own safety. After the day she’d had, she didn’t really have much of a fight left in her to protest. She curled up on the leather sofa and laid her head against it, watching the sun sink into the fading light. Sometime later, she opened her eyes, surprised she had drifted off to sleep, only waking to the clatter of pots and pans Brand and Kevin made in the kitchen.
“What’s going on over there?” she asked, slowly uncurling her legs.
“We’re making comfort food,” Kevin said. “My momma’s homemade vegetable soup and primo deli grilled cheese sandwiches.”
“Primo?” She sniffed the air, savoring the delicious aroma that filled the apartment.
“Yeah, there’s this gourmet deli down the street that makes grilled cheese sandwiches with Gouda and Asiago cheese on artisan bread. I was on a case with another detective and we ate there once. I ran down and purchased the ingredients to make our own. If we’re on Lakeshore, we might as well eat like we are on Lakeshore, right?”
Carly laughed. She believed this was the most she’d heard Kevin Petree talk the whole time he’d been driving her and Brand around this week. “Might as well.”
“You have a good nap?” Brand finally asked. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her since she’d joined them in the kitchen area.
Nodding, she glanced at him, feeling heat flood through her from his gaze. “It helped me feel less tense about today. Maybe I’ll rest better tonight.”
“Momma’s soup should do the trick,” Kevin said going back to the gas range to flip the sandwiches. He turned the flame down to low, then ladled three bowls of soup for them.
“I’ll go freshen up,” Carly said, heading down the hall to the master bedroom. She found her suitcase lying on the bed and her makeup case sitting beside it. Taking the smaller bag into the bathroom, she opened it up and took out her brush, making sure her hair wasn’t too messy from the nap on the couch. She freshened her makeup too before heading back to the kitchen.
A glass of tea and a bowl of soup waited for her beside Brand at the counter. Kevin was slicing the grilled cheese sandwiches diagonally with a large knife and placed them on the counter as well before taking his place on the opposite side of Carly.
She felt like a protection detail sandwiched between the two men. All safe and sound. She wondered if Kevin was going to start sleeping here now that there was more space than her tiny apartment, but she didn’t voice her question. It wasn’t up to her. That was a Brand call. If Brand thought they needed the extra man for security purposes, then she was certain Kevin would be here.
The three of them ate in comfortable silence for most of the meal. Until Brand and Kevin began discussing the latest baseball stats. They even talked about catching a game together at Wrigley Field once the case was over. Carly felt like an invisible spot they were talking over. She finished her food so she could get out of their way.
She cleaned up in the kitchen while they talked, refilled their bowls, and poured more tea without them even noticing. It made her feel like she was back to her old routine at Justin Porters and that made her cringe. No. No. No. This is nothing like that. Brand and Kevin were finally getting to know one another after a week of the man serving as only their driver. Today he’d played a vital role in saving her life with Brand and they were bonding. That was all.
Why did it bother her that she was no longer Brand’s focus? Because it had felt nice to have had his total attention. She’d lost that with Justin Porter too soon after they married. She realized that now.
She finished up in the kitchen and slipped down the hallway to the bedroom again. The closet was empty. She began hanging up clothes and putting things away on the shelves since there was no chest in the room for her foldable items. It was all part of the modern look of the apartment.
Brand knocked on her door twenty minutes later. “Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
“Kevin’s gone for the night. We didn’t expect you to clean up. We didn’t even realize you were doing it as we talked.”
She shrugged. “No problem.”
“Are you upset about something?”
“It’s been a long, upsetting day all around. I’m not upset about one thing, Brand, I’m upset about lots of things. None of them about you or Kevin ignoring me at dinner, talking about baseball, forgetting I was even in the room. If I were, that would be pretty shallow, now wouldn’t it?”
He cocked his head to the side and creased his brow. “So you’re saying you’re not upset about that, but everything else that happened today?”
“Yes.”
“Just making sure. Because we really didn’t mean to exclude you in the conversation.”
“Not everything has to be about me.”
“See, when you make comments like that I get the feeling you are pissed at me.”
“Well…maybe I’m pissed at the male population in general, which unfortunately you happen to be one of. My world has been shattered for the second time this year, okay. No…third time if you take into account what happened at the bar. I have nowhere that I truly feel safe because of Justin Porter and the Twin Cobra gang. Nowhere.”
“Yes, you do.”
Brand closed the distance between them and pulled her tight against his chest, wrapped her safely in his strong arms. “Right here. That is where you are safe. I will not let anyone do you harm.”
Her breath caught in her throat for a moment as she relished the security she felt, but she was a smart woman. This was a temporary situation here. “That is good for now, Brand, but you won’t always be here. I’m an assignment. That is all. I know that. Once I testify your job will be done.”
She felt him tense at her words.
How could she think she was only a job to him? Hadn’t he told her he would protect her with his life? Sure, that was his job, but he’d meant it as far more when he’d said it, didn’t she realize it? It was clear she hadn’t taken it that way. What more did she want from him?
He released her, stepping away. “I’ll go unpack.”
“Oh…okay.” She stepped back as well, crossing her arms and hugging herself.
She looked confused. The same way he felt, but he didn’t know what to say to her at the moment, so he left the room. He needed to think and he couldn’t do it with her so close. He was glad his room was on the opposite side of t
he kitchen to put distance between them.
Traveling down the hallway, he tried to understand why he was feeling this way about her. He’d never let an assignment get this close to him before that he became so emotionally messed up inside. Too bad he hadn’t thought to find out from Margot if there was a workout room in the complex. He could bench-press some weights or go a few rounds with the punching bag. Maybe then, he could figure out why he was having these feelings for Carly.
Maybe he could even figure out why the feelings were happening. Had he changed? Or was it the situation? Or had this woman somehow wormed her way into his soul where no one else had ever been able to go?
The only possible way Carly had been able to worm her way in was if he’d let his guard down. He was a Navy SEAL. He didn’t let his guard down.
Questions about this possibility swam in his head as he opened up the closet and hung up a few clothes beside the garment bag containing the suit he’d purchased just so he’d be able to play his role while she went on her interview. A clear sign he was going soft. Whenever would he have purchased a new suit for undercover work? He’d spent hours shopping to make sure he’d gotten a good deal and the right fit. In the end, he’d chosen a black so it would serve him a long time. As well as a couple of shirts and ties to go with it and new dress shoes.
He unzipped his duffle and shoved his foldable clothes on the open shelves as fast as he could not wanting to think it was possible that he had let his guard down. The only way he’d ever have done that is if he had feelings for Carly. But how? When? Had it happened gradually as he’d gotten to know her this week?
He saw a flash of her cracking that whip when he walked into her apartment on Saturday morning. Then her showing him the garden spot on the rooftop of her building. The hours they’d spent preparing for her interview. The accidental kiss this morning before her interview, then that long, agonizing drive having to pretend it didn’t happen. Had it only been this morning? It seemed so much longer than eight hours ago.