Second Sight (3 page)

Chapter 2

Ella Frolic stared at her computer screen, picking up the outlines of monsters and silly faces in the letters making up the code scrolling across her screen. Closing her eyes, she sat back in her chair. The fact she was seeing things in the pixels proved she had been looking at the thing for too long.

She rubbed her eyes and stood, stretching her hands above her head. As she made her way into the kitchen, a sharp knock sounded at the door. After grabbing a soda from the refrigerator and her gun from the counter, she went to the entrance, her bare feet silent on the black marble tile.

Glancing through the peep hole, she sighed. A man with sunglasses on stood next to Joe, and behind him lingered one of Joe’s drivers. Anger boiled in her gut at Joe’s presence—nothing new there.

She swung the door open, not bothering to greet anyone.

“Hello, Ella.” A small grin played on Joe’s lips. “May we come in?”

“Who’s this?”

She nodded toward the man with the sunglasses. He stood about six feet tall, his physique thin, yet muscular. His dark hair had been combed to perfection, the stubble on his face also groomed. Next to him sat a Golden Retriever who started up at her, its tongue lolling to the side and its tail wagging.

Cute guy, cute dog.

Could he be blind? The dog and sunglasses indicated so.

“This is Zachary Johnson. Zachary, please meet Ella Frolic.”

“Hello,” Zachary said, slightly bowing his head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Call me Zach.”

He was a smooth operator, and she loathed him on sight.

“Why are you here?” she snapped.

“May we please come in, Ella?” Joe asked. “I’m feeling a little exposed sitting out here.”

She sighed. There was no way out of it. She rolled her eyes and stepped aside, letting Joe’s driver push him in.

“You’re looking lovely, as always,” he commented once the front door had been shut.

She sighed and fought the urge to shoot him. She hadn’t looked lovely in a number of years, and she never would again. ‘Lovely’ did not describe the scar running down the side of her face that she tried to cover up with her long black hair. “What do you want, Joe?”

“Well, Zachary is a new employee of mine, and he needs a place to stay for a few days until I get all my ducks in a row with where I want to station him. Unfortunately, right now, I have an emergency in Arizona. The client will be moved to Dallas tomorrow, and I need to be there.”

“No.”

Damn Joe for using this house as a drop-off for those he recruited and then dumped on her when he didn’t have anywhere else to put them. She’d grown tired of acting as a babysitter, and she especially didn’t need a blind guy around, regardless of how nice-looking the man and the dog were. She had work that needed to be done.

“Ella—”

“No, Joe. I’m not babysitting a blind guy—no offense, Zach—and I don’t like dogs.”

She’d never really spent any time around the animals as she’d grown up in a military family and had moved twelve times throughout her childhood. Her mother had always said she had enough responsibility caring for Ella and her four brothers, so the last thing they needed was a dog. After graduating from high school, Ella followed in her father’s and brothers’ footsteps to go into the military where she’d studied nursing. She hadn’t had time for a dog then, and she held no interest in having one now.

“No offense taken, Ms. Frolic.” Zach’s smooth voice held a glacial tone. “However, I can assure you that I do not require a babysitter, and neither does Savannah.”

“He’s perfectly capable of taking care of himself, Ella. There’s really no reason to be so rude,” Joe said.

She glanced from Joe to Zach, irritation running through her. She didn’t have time for this crap. Joe had asked her to try a new virus to break the backdoor code for Group Nine’s server
s,
and he wanted it done yesterday. Now, he wanted to saddle her with guests?

“You’re the one who’s been hassling me about the Group Nine server, Jo
e.
” She’d tried to keep her voice neutral but could hear the vitriol that ate her up on the inside in her words. “I don’t have time for guests.”

“It will only be for a few days.”

Joe gave her a small smile meant to soothe her, but it only irritated her further.

“Fine.” She threw her hands up. “These are the rules, Zach. You stay out of my way and pick up the dog shit.” She then looked at Joe. “A few days, and that’s it.”

As she turned and walked away, she heard Zach quietly say, “Lovely woman.”

Joe sighed. “Yes. She used to be, at least. Now, her demeanor doesn’t quite match her last name of ‘Frolic.’”’

Tears stung her eyes as she slammed the office door shut and leaned against it. At one point, before her life had become the empty, pathetic thing it had been reduced to today, she had been a lively, kind person. That had been before she and Joe found out about the government experiments and had then tried to run, just the two of them, in love; a David and Goliath story if there had ever been one. She’d loved her life, and Joe, before the government caught up with them, putting two bullets in Joe’s spine and disfiguring her face; before Joe became so obsessed with figuring out who stood behind the experiments and helping others affected. He’d then let their relationship die, leaving her truly alone in the world with nowhere to go. He’d offered her protection from the government, kept her hidden away, kept her safe, but had given her nothing emotionally. All he had went towards his need for revenge, his desire to right the wrongs his government had done.

She wiped a lone tear from her cheek and sat down in front of the computer, laying her gun next to the mouse. She didn’t have time to think about what she’d been, or what she’d become.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to focus on her work, because if she gave too much thought to her life, she may completely fall apart.

Chapter 3

Joe’s driver led Zach and Savannah to what would be his bedroom, and then on a quick tour of the house. As they went from room to room, Zach developed a mental layout of the floor plan and tracked the number of steps it took to get from one room to the next as he gripped Savannah’s halter handle. The whole process was a necessary irritant.

“This is Ella’s room,” the driver said as they came to a stop. “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you. The last guy who stayed here tried to do her a favor and put her folded laundry on her bed. He didn’t know she was in the room, and when he opened the door, she shot him.”

Zach chuckled, despite the serious nature of what the man had said. “Did he die?”

“No, she got him in the leg. He was supposed to be activated in the near future, so you can imagine how angry Joe was.”

“Yes, I can.”

“So just stay out of there.”

“And maybe not do anything kind for the lovely Ella?”

“Probably a good idea.”

A few minutes later, they said their goodbyes and Joe left, promising to update him on Garrett and Ruby’s safety. Zach worried for them, and hoped they would be safe. He also wondered what Joe would think when he found out Garrett had been banging his client. Probably not the smartest move, but Ruby would be a perfect match for Garrett, although he assumed his friend would be too pig-headed and set in his own ways to realize it.

He flipped the lock on the front door and took a deep breath, pushing his sunglasses up his nose. Calming himself, he concentrated on the smells and sounds of the house.

He heard the faint tapping of a keyboard, and assumed Ella must be pounding the keys in her office, two doors down from his bedroom. The foyer had a slight smell of new carpet and glue, and if Ella had shot someone in her bedroom just a few paces to his right, the carpet would have needed to be replaced, for sure. Hence those lingering smells. He also detected the weak hint of paint.

He cringed—it must have been a bloody one.

As he moved toward the kitchen, the faint change in the air as he entered it rolled over his exposed skin—a couple of degrees cooler, tinged with the fading aroma of coffee that most people probably wouldn’t notice. His footfalls still echoed, so he must be walking on tile. He ran his fingers over the cold countertop—marble or granite, he’d say.  A large island sat in the middle of the kitchen, and he felt his way along the countertop to the kitchen’s exit into the living room.

Carpet muffled his steps here and he caught a whiff of leather conditioner.  Savannah stopped and whined.

“Do you have to go out?”

She whined again.

He reached to his right and cool glass met his touch. Finding the handle to the sliding glass door, he flipped the latch and slid the panel open. Savannah led him outside, and he tapped his foot out in front of him, making sure he wouldn’t fall down a flight of stairs if he ventured farther.

She guided him to the left, and concrete gave way to grass. As she sniffed around, he listened to the birds high up in the trees, calling to each other as they got ready for sleep. The smell of chlorine assaulted him, and he guessed the pool had to be to the right in the yard. The air held a little chill that hadn’t been present before, and he released Savannah’s halter so she could roam while he followed the sound of her paws meeting the grass. She did her business, and the tension in his shoulders eased as the cool evening breeze caressed his face. Although a bit hungry, he’d turn in for the night after feeding the dog, as he wasn’t in the mood to tangle any further with Ella.

The pungent smell of dog feces met his nose, and Savannah barked as he grimaced. He’d trained her to sit and bark when she finished pooping. Sighing, he pulled a plastic bag from his pocket and bent over, finding the pile with a little effort. Savannah took off again, and he heard her sniffing around the yard.

He turned toward the house and frowned. How long would Ella be holed up in her office?

Ella—a fascinating woman who had piqued his interest in a very short amount of time. During their brief encounter, the faint smell of lilacs had caressed his nose, and he couldn’t help but wonder what she looked like. Hopefully, he’d catch a glimpse of her in the mirror at some point. Whatever had happened to make her so nasty? In his experience, very few people held that disposition naturally; there seemed to usually be a catalyst. Her anger had been based on something, and the more he considered it, the more it seemed Joe could be the cause for it.

He’d only known Joe for a short period of time, but he’d never heard anyone talk to him or about him with such disrespect or with voices laced with hatred. Everyone he’d heard speak to Joe held the upmost admiration for the man, so why did Joe put up with Ella’s disdain? Could it be a case of her lashing out at the one who made her the angriest?

Interesting. He apparently had a little puzzle on his hands, and the more he considered it, he came to the conclusion he needed to make the pieces fit and figure out the answers to slake his own curiosity. What, or who, had made Ella the way she’d become?

He’d probably be better off just minding his own business, but he didn’t know how long he’d be staying with her, so he had to amuse himself, somehow.

He’d agreed to work with Joe for one reason—he’d been struggling with how to exact his revenge for his blindness, and who to target. When Garrett had showed up at his door, he’d figured he had nothing to lose. As his friend had told him the explosion hadn’t been an accident but a governmental experiment, he’d known he’d made the right choice by going with him. Now that he stood in the folds of Joe’s organization, he felt closer to his target than he ever had.

But that wasn’t the be-all and end-all—he had day-to-day life to contend with, and his time here would involve prickly Ella.

“Make sure you pick up all that crap,” she called, interrupting his thoughts.

He smiled, nodded, and waved, intrigued by the woman. He would definitely have to charm her to reveal what lay within her to make her anger boil with such intensity.

If she didn’t watch herself, that nonsense would eat her alive.

Chapter 4

“Get out of my way, you stupid dog!”

It had been one day already, and Ella had finally snapped at poor Savannah.

Zach’s anger flared at her words, and he stood from the living room chair and moved into the kitchen. “Is there a problem?”

She sighed heavily. “I feel like this damn dog is always under my feet.”

He fought the urge to gut-punch her. No one spoke of his Savannah in a negative light.

“Savannah, come,” he said, keeping his tone soft so she knew he wasn’t angry with her.

It was one thing for Ella to snap at him, which she’d done many times throughout the day. As he’d tried to engage her in conversation, the shrew had either outright ignored him, given him a one-word answer, or sighed as if he happened to be the most annoying thing in her life at the moment. He found it all more amusing and interesting than anything.

However, Savannah certainly didn’t deserve her wrath. The dog didn’t have a mean bone in her body, and if she’d been underfoot, it most likely had been because she wanted to become friends with Ella, or there happened to be a scrap of food on the floor. He wouldn’t stand for it.

“Stay,” he whispered as he maneuvered around the counter. He heard Ella messing with something about two feet away. Her back must have been to him as she didn’t say anything as he closed in on her.

“I want to make one thing very clear,” he said, and she gasped.

“Step back!”

“Or what? What are you going to do? Shoot me? Stab me? Knee me in the nuts?”

“You’re just too close! I won’t hesitate to hurt you if I need to!”

“I’m very well aware of that, Ella, but let me make something utterly clear to you.”

He grinned, as if he’d just said something funny, and crossed his arms over his chest. “You do not, under any circumstances, talk to my dog in a rude tone. She’s very sensitive to the way she’s spoken to, and your nasty voice conveys so much. If you don’t like her, fine, but she’s not a threat, nor is she a bother to you. If she was underfoot, she was either trying to become your friend—although why she’d want to do that, I’m not sure—or she was trying to  clean up a mess you made when you dropped a piece of food on the floor. Either way, she doesn’t deserve you speaking to her like that.”

Ella remained silent, and he stepped closer to her and inhaled deeply. He smelled mint, and damn, that lilac scent of hers really got his blood pumping.

“I’m going to tell you a story,” he continued, not giving her a chance to interrupt him. “This tale took place about five years ago in North Carolina. I was in a pizza joint with some friends. We’d just returned from overseas, and we were pounding down beers like they were the last ones left on this Earth. We were a little loud, but not terribly obnoxious.

“Out of the corner of my eye, I saw this woman scowling at us from a booth across the restaurant.  I looked at her companion, and he seemed just as miserable as she did, and it led me to wonder which of them was the instigator in their mutual unhappiness.

“Throughout the evening, she kept staring at us, the scowl on her face growing deeper and deeper. Her contempt for us was obvious, and every time I glanced over at her, she attempted to let me know that.

“Now, here’s the thing. You remind me a lot of her. You try to poison everyone and everything around you with your shitty attitude. However, no matter what you do to me, what you say or don’t say, you aren’t going to piss in my proverbial cheerios, Ella. I don’t let people like you affect me.”

He smiled again and took another step toward her so he could feel her body heat. They must almost stand chest-to-chest. “However, if you talk badly to my dog, then I get really, really angry, Ella, and
tha
t
,
I can promise you, is something you don’t want to see.”

He stepped back and chuckled. “I’m going outside with Savannah. I hope you enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”

She exhaled loudly as he shut the sliding glass door leading out to the patio, and he hoped she’d taken his warning seriously.

Nobody fucked with his dog.