The MORE Trilogy (13 page)

“Don’t forget to call for an escort,” he reminded her, and Ava held up her phone in reply, dialing the number and leaving a message when nobody answered.

The rest of the afternoon and evening passed relatively quietly—busy, but not so much so that Ava felt overwhelmed. That all changed when the concert ended, however, and crowds of excited fans filled the booths and tables. Jake asked her to stay an extra hour or two, and by the time they finally shut the doors, Ava was dead on her feet.

When she checked her phone for a response from the partner program, however, she found none, and a second call went straight to voice mail. It was after eleven, and other than Jake, everyone had left for the evening. She could ask Jake for a ride, she supposed, but he’d be cleaning up for at least another hour, and she was exhausted and just wanted to get to bed. It would be hard enough to wake up for her morning classes as it was.

“Problem, Ava?” Jake asked as she frowned at her phone. She forced a smile.

“Nah. I’m fine.” She bit her lip, weighing her options. A cab, maybe? She dialed the partner line one last time.

Voice mail.

“You heading home soon?” Jake asked as he wiped his hands on a towel. He glanced toward the door. “Looks like your buddy’s here.”

Surprised, Ava followed his gaze to find Caleb standing outside the front door, hands jammed in his pockets as he shifted on his feet nervously. He lifted a hand in a slight wave, shrugging with a small smile. Ava hoisted her bag onto her shoulder and unlocked the door.

“Uh . . . we’re closed,” she said, unsure of what else to say.

Caleb rolled his eyes. “I know that. The
Closed
sign was a dead giveaway,” he said, waving toward the dark front windows. “I was passing by and saw you through the window.” He looked down at his feet, his cheeks flushing slightly. “I didn’t see any police around, so thought you might need someone to walk with you. You know, just in case . . . or whatever,” he finished lamely, not meeting her eyes.

Ava wasn’t exactly sure what to make of that, but she couldn’t deny she felt a bit of relief knowing she wouldn’t have to walk home alone. “I appreciate that,” she said finally. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.” She called out a good-bye to Jake, who waved a rag at her in response before heading down the street with Caleb. “What were you doing?” she asked.

“Hmmm?” Caleb seemed distracted.

“What were you doing downtown,” she clarified. “Why were you ‘passing by’?”

“Oh.” Caleb shrugged slightly. “I was visiting a friend.”

“Huh,” Ava replied, unsure why his response irritated her. “You have a lot of friends.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, you know . . . the one you were going to meet the other day for lunch. Now this one. You have a lot of friends.” Ava knew she sounded ridiculous, but couldn’t seem to stop the flow of words from her mouth.

“That’s two,” Caleb pointed out. “Hardly a vast number.”

Ava gave a noncommittal grunt and looked straight ahead. She just couldn’t stop thinking that there was more to Caleb than she saw, but she also couldn’t figure out just what it was. On the surface, he seemed to be one thing, but for some reason, her gut told her something different.

In fact, her gut just about screamed at her that there was something . . .  
something . . .
about Caleb Foster.

But what?

They crossed the street, stepping into the shadows of the trees along the edge of campus and Ava found herself sidling a little closer to Caleb. He didn’t seem to notice, though, so she pretended she hadn’t, either. They walked in silence, their steps synchronized despite Caleb’s much longer legs. He seemed tense, alert, as his eyes swept the area around them, never settling on any one thing for too long.

“Is everything okay?” Ava asked.

Caleb smiled, but didn’t look at her. “Sure.”

“You seem . . . I don’t know . . . nervous?”

He glanced at her briefly. “Just doing my job.”

Ava snorted. “Your job is tutoring physics.”

“Call this moonlighting.”

Ava tucked her hands more deeply into her coat pockets as Caleb returned to his steady surveillance. She started to say something more, but forgot it immediately when Caleb stopped suddenly.

“Caleb?”

“Shhh . . .” He stepped in front of her, his head tilted to the side.

“What is it?”

He touched a finger to his lips, his body impossibly still.

Ava froze, pressed slightly against his back as she tried to peer over his shoulder. He stretched his hand behind him, as if blocking her from something, and his fingers curled slightly around her hip, stilling her movement.

A prickle of awareness ran over her skin, stealing her breath. For a long moment, the world seemed to slow around her, growing silent and still, and Ava closed her eyes, unsure what she was searching for, but feeling her consciousness reach out, calling out into the darkness.

Ava gasped suddenly as a strong arm wrapped around her waist, sweeping her up in a blur of motion. Her eyes flew open, trying to make sense of the whirling world around her, and in the next instant, she found herself pressed against a wall, Caleb’s back to her. Her fingers gripped his shoulders as she tried to regain her balance and clear her head. A low voice chilled her blood.

“Get out of the way, Foster.”

No. Not him. Not again. Ava’s confusion gave way to outright fear. She shrank behind Caleb’s back, as if hoping to disappear.

“Leave her alone, Tiernan,” Caleb said, his voice deadly. “The Council gave me three days.”

A mocking laugh grated back at him. “Time’s up.”

“Not until tomorrow.”

“Technicalities aren’t going to change a thing,” Tiernan growled. “The Council’s fed up with your stalling. I’m taking her now.”

“No,” Caleb said, his voice a quiet but not subtle threat. “You’re not.” He grabbed her again, so fast she didn’t even see him move. Once more, she found herself fighting for breath, suddenly behind a tree and unsure of how she got there. A moment later, Tiernan’s hulking frame appeared a few feet away.

“You can’t outrun me, Caleb,” he said, shaking his head. “And you don’t dare risk a shift.”

Another blur of movement and Ava was face-to-face with a door.

“Go inside,” Caleb urged. “I’ll draw him away.”

“What?” Ava shook her head. “What’s happening? Where am I?”

“It’s your dorm,” he hissed. “Hurry, before he—”

“Really, Caleb?” Tiernan’s mocking voice interrupted him. “This is getting tiresome, don’t you think?”

Caleb turned, squaring his shoulders. “You’re not taking her.”

A flash of red and blue lights drew their attention, and Ava breathed shakily at the sight of a police car driving up the path.

Tiernan glared at Caleb. “This isn’t over,” he said.

And then he was gone.

Two city cops stepped out of the car, hands resting on their weapons, one shining a flashlight toward them. Caleb pulled Ava through the door into the dorm.

“What are you doing?” Ava asked. “We need to tell them he was back.”

“Not a good idea,” Caleb muttered. He grabbed her wrist, heading down the hallway, but she yanked out of his grasp.

“Caleb, what the hell’s going on?” she asked, stepping back warily from his angry gaze. “How did you do that . . . move so fast? What happened out there?”

“We don’t have time for this,” he snapped.

She reached for the door, Caleb’s eyes following the movement. Her challenging gaze focused on Caleb as she whipped the door open to run to the police and tell them what had happened.

At least that was her intent.

But before she even turned the knob, Caleb had her across the hall, all but carrying her around the corner.

She gasped. “What . . . what
are
you?”

Caleb frowned. “That’s not your concern.”

He placed a hand on her forehead, and the world went black.

Ava awoke again in her room, dizzy and disoriented and completely alone. Her head was a muzzy mix of disjointed images, and she sat up slowly on the sofa, rubbing her temples absently. A knock sounded at her door, and she stumbled up from the couch, pausing for a moment to regain her balance. A glance at the clock indicated it was a little after midnight.

What happened? Where was Lucy?

That’s right. Her roommate had gone to the concert with some friends and decided to stay the night instead of walking home alone. She remembered talking to her on the phone just before she left work.

That memory was crystal clear. She could picture the couple in the corner booth sipping coffee and smiling—most likely a first date. Jake banging around in the kitchen, Lucy’s half-drunk voice on the phone.

But then . . .

She remembered leaving work—or at least getting ready to leave work—but the walk home was a blur.

Another knock shook her from her thoughts, and Ava peeked through the peephole to find a uniformed police officer standing outside.

The police. Why were the police there?

There was a reason . . .

She searched her mind for the answer but got nothing in return.

Ava opened the door, squinting out into the bright light of the hallway. “Yes? Is everything okay?”

“Miss Michaels?” The dark-haired officer nodded at her slightly. “Are you all right?”

Ava swept her hair back from her face. “Yeah. I was just . . .” She waved back into the room absently. “Sleeping?” She wondered why it came out as a question.

“Are you sure?” the officer asked, stretching to peek over her shoulder. “There was a report of suspicious activity outside.”

“ ‘Suspicious activity?’ ”

“One of your neighbors reported a man lurking about. A man matching the description of your attacker.”

Ava rubbed circles into her temple when a headache sprouted up out of nowhere. “Are they sure?”

“So, you didn’t see anyone, then?”

Ava shook her head. “No. No, I didn’t. I don’t remember seeing anyone.”

Of course, she didn’t remember anything about the last hour, it seemed.

At all.

“All right,” the officer said finally. “Sorry to disturb you. We’ll be outside if you need anything.”

Ava nodded. “Thank you.”

“Keep your door locked,” he reminded her with a tip of his hat. Ava smiled slightly and closed the door, throwing the deadbolt before turning to press her back against the wood tiredly. Her head flopped back with a soft thump as she gazed at the ceiling, wondering what was wrong with her. She’d never had problems with her memory before. Of course, she’d never been this preoccupied before, what with strange men attacking her in the dark, police surveillance, and trying to pass her classes at the same time.

She was grateful that the college had at least kept her identity secret from the media. The last thing she needed on top of all of that was a nosy reporter or a bunch of TV crews camped outside her dorm room. At that thought, she crossed to the window, peering into the darkness and feeling more than a little relieved to see the police car parked outside.

Exhausted, Ava went to bed, too tired to think about anything until the morning.