All I Need Is You (31 page)

“You’re probably right. I’m just overreacting. I’ve always had an active imagination.” Mara leaned her head back against the wall and stared at the television.
 

Eli poked his head around the doorjamb. “Ridley, Jackson said you guys need to go check into the hotel.”

Ridley patted Kay on the knee. “We’ll be back later. After we check in, I’m going to take a nap and then we’ll be back for dinner. Eli agreed it’s safe to go out to eat as long as we pick a restaurant he’s familiar with and we don’t tell anyone in advance.”

Kay clapped. “I never thought I’d be so excited just to go out for dinner.”
 

Mara waved good-bye as Ridley left. Then she turned back to Kay. “Well, Matt and I are staying here. So, that means we can watch movies and eat chocolate all day.”

AFTER JACKSON AND Ridley left, Eli pondered the best way to convince Kay to leave, too. If he was the guy’s target, then it wasn’t in anyone’s best interest to stay near him. Jackson hadn’t wanted to leave, but fear for his pregnant wife came first and foremost.
 

Eli wished he could wave a magic wand and move them all to a safe place. If he told Kay what was going on, she wouldn’t want to leave him behind either. He wasn’t sure what he’d done in another life to deserve all the people in his life who loved him so much, but putting them in danger seemed like a crappy way to repay their loyalty. The only thing he could do was leave without telling her. Tank and Matt could stay behind to protect her. This guy clearly knew Eli well if he’d figured out that hurting Kay was the best way to get to him.

He shouldn’t be surprised, really. He’d known it would only be a matter of time before his past caught up with him. Considering the types of guys he’d run with back in the day, it was only surprising it hadn’t happened sooner.
 

Tank appeared in the doorway. “We’ve set up a surveillance van. What should we tell the girls?”

“Nothing right now. Eventually I’ll figure out a way to get Kay out of here without arousing her suspicions. If I’m the one he’s after, then I’m the one he’ll get. No one else.”

Tank and Matt left so Eli could start getting his things together. Leaving Kay wasn’t what he wanted to do, but it was inevitable. Being together was a dream. Reality was that he was a hazard. She’d come into his life and brought joy, laughter, and light. He wouldn’t repay that by knowingly putting her in danger. He would make some calls, get things in order. She would be protected always.
 

But not by him.

The sounds of feminine laughter floated through the walls. Mara and Kay were still in the guest room watching a movie. He moved around quietly since Hope was asleep in the corner. After he’d put together a week’s worth of clothes, he zipped them into a duffel bag, then walked over to the playpen and looked down at Hope. She was asleep with her bottom in the air and her blanket clutched in her fist. The sight filled him with a bittersweet longing.
 

For a short time he’d been a part of their lives, and he would cherish the memories they’d given him forever.
 

He carried the duffel bag out to the garage and stashed it in the back of his truck. Over the years he’d learned to function with the bare minimum, so he had no doubt that what he’d packed could stretch for a month if he needed it to. There were several safe houses he could retreat to, but it was tempting not to bother. Maybe he should just check into a hotel under his real name. Bring the fight to him.
 

If the Circle was truly intent on rounding up former members to bring them back into the fold, it wasn’t the kind of invitation you could turn down without expecting a fight. But the FBI was determined to bring in as many members as possible, and he would be effective bait. He could draw them out and possibly get them closer to the core of the organization. All it would take was for them to capture the right member. Someone who would crack under pressure and give them useful info.

He walked back through the house and out the front door, setting the alarm behind him. Tank had set up a surveillance van and parked it across the street and down a few houses. He’d need to get either Tank or Matt to relocate to the house before he could leave. As he got closer, the back door opened. Matt peered out from the doorway.
 

“You needed to see us?”

Eli hopped up in the van and pulled the door shut behind him. “I think I should just leave. You two can stay here with the girls. This has gone on long enough. I’m kind of ready to get off the ride.”

Matt whistled. “Are you sure?”

“I’m tired of always waiting for something to happen. Maybe it’s time to just let the other shoe drop. Get it over with. If they’re going to come for me, I probably have a better chance when I’m ready and waiting for it.”

Eli was just about ready to go back in the house when Matt suddenly hit a key and brought up one of the images from the video screen.

“There’s someone approaching the house from the right side,” he muttered.
 

Tank leaned over his shoulder and squinted at the image of the small figure creeping along the side of the house. He climbed over Matt and then opened the back doors of the van. “I’ve got it.”
 

Eli and Matt watched on the monitors as he crossed the street and then disappeared behind the house. A few minutes later, he reappeared dragging a small figure with him. From the size of the guy, it was only a teenager.
 

“He’s got him.” Matt slapped his knee triumphantly.
 

The back doors of the van swung open again. A burst of cold air flowed into the van as Tank climbed in.
 

“Look who I found sneaking around the back.” Tank yanked the small figure forward and when she pushed her hair back from her face, Eli instantly recognized her.

“Sasha? What the hell are you doing here?” He moved aside to make room for her and Tank. The surveillance van was only designed to fit two or three people at a time, so it was a tight fit. It wasn’t intended to be a party bus.
 

“More importantly, how did you know how to find Kay?” Tank slammed the doors of the van behind them and pushed Sasha down onto a seat.
 

“Ow! Let me go, you big bully!” She smacked him with her purse a few times before Tank reached up and grabbed it.

“I’ll tie you up if you don’t behave. I just caught you trying to sneak into a safe house. You’re lucky we don’t call the cops right now.”

Sasha’s eyes rounded with horror. “But I didn’t do anything! I was just trying to see if Kay is even in there. I had to warn her. Devin is looking for her, and it won’t take him long to figure out that I’m gone.”

Eli crossed his arms. “Explain.”

She shrank under his glare. “I was at home yesterday waiting for my boyfriend, Devin, to pick me up. We were supposed to be going to the movies, but then he called and canceled. He said he had a business meeting up north that he couldn’t miss. Well, I’ve been catching him in lies lately, so I didn’t believe him.”

“I’m going to need the CliffsNotes version,” Eli growled.

“I’m sorry. I’m just not exactly sure what all this means,” she wailed.

Matt put a hand on her shoulder and she instantly calmed. “Take a deep breath, Sasha, and start from the beginning. Your boyfriend suddenly decided to take a weekend trip, and so you followed him?”

She twisted the strap of her purse between her fingers. “Yeah, I did. He was pissed, too. I could tell he didn’t want to let me in the room. I was convinced he had another girl in there, but I was wrong. So I just figured I was being paranoid. But then this morning I found a slip of paper in the bathroom with all these words on it.” Her hand slipped into her pocket and pulled out a small scrap of paper.
 

“Long drive. Night. Dollhouse. Blue shutters. Gym. Dance. Snow. 116,” Eli read. “It’s just random words and numbers.”

Sasha shook her head. “It’s not random. Each of those words corresponds to something Kay said to me when she called. The first time she called, she told me how it was a long drive and you drove at night. She thought your house was so cute. Like a little dollhouse with blue shutters.”

“They’re descriptors,” Tank said. “He was pulling out keywords from your conversations to see if he could identify where she was staying.”

Eli turned back to Sasha. “Who is this guy? Does Kay know him?”

“No, they’ve never met. Not to my knowledge anyway. I’ve tried to introduce them several times, but he always has an excuse. He even met me at Kay’s apartment once. We were going to order pizza and watch movies, but he got a phone call and left before she got home.”

Eli closed his eyes. “And that’s how he gained access to her apartment to steal the figurine.”

Sasha nodded. “It must have been. He said he had to go to the bathroom. I never thought he’d take something.” She swiped at the tears on her cheeks.
 

“It’s not your fault, Sasha. What happened earlier today?”

She looked down at her hands again. “He told me he needed to go out, so I decided to follow him. He drove down this street, and I could tell he was checking out each house. When I saw number 116, the cute little dollhouse with the blue shutters, that’s when I figured out what he was doing. That he’d somehow figured out where she is. I went around the side of the house to look in the window, just to see if I was right.”

 
“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know. He drove off, so I figured he was on his way back to the hotel. This might be my only chance to warn Kay before he figures out that I know.”

Tank suddenly leaned forward, his attention fixed on the surveillance screens. “We’ve got action on the back of the house. Someone coming in fast.”

On the screen, a black-clad figure emerged from the trees behind the property. With no hesitation, the figure headed straight toward the house. A chill ran up Eli’s spine. He’d only seen that kind of single-minded determination a few times in his life. Paid assassins and sociopaths.

Eli sprang forward. “I have to get back in there.”

KAY AND MARA both sighed as the credits rolled on the romantic comedy they’d just finished watching. The hero of the movie had been a little too Hollywood-perfect, and of course the actress in the lead had been perfect and thin and blond. In other words,
so not her life
. But it had still been the perfect combination of sappy and funny. Exactly what she’d needed.

“I’m really glad you came,” she told Mara. They were both backed up to the wall with their feet dangling over the edge. Mara had ditched her socks an hour ago and her bright orange toenail polish was on display. Kaylee looked with dismay at her own feet, covered in thick black socks. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a pedicure. A little me-time was long overdue. Especially now that there was someone to admire the results.

“Me, too. I was sitting at home alone, feeling sorry for myself. This is way better. I think I know what I’m going to do now.”

There was a loud bang and then the sound of glass shattering. A few seconds later, the alarm screamed out its distinctive warning.
 

“What is that?” Mara asked, sitting upright.

Unlike the last time the alarm went off, Kay instantly knew something was wrong. She sprang forward off the bed and grabbed Mara by the arm. She pulled her out of the guest room and into Eli’s room. Her eyes fell on the playpen in the corner of the room.
 

“Hope’s still asleep. Grab the baby!” Kay turned to lock the bedroom door behind them. It wouldn’t stop someone from getting in if they wanted to, but hopefully it would buy them a few extra seconds.

Mara rushed over to the playpen and leaned down to pick up Hope while Kay pulled open the closet doors.
 

She came up behind Kay and then let out a soft gasp. “Holy mother, are those what I think they are?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Kay yelled over the sound of the siren as she hurriedly typed the code into the keypad next to the door. A small section of the wall moved aside and she ducked inside. Mara followed and Kay slapped the button next to the door and the panel slid closed. Immediately, the sound of the siren was muffled.