Watching You: KJ Elite Inc. (22 page)

“Let me explain.” He commanded, mildly.              

She nodded at him and he continued.

“I got home from the Afghanistan desert where I was sent as part of a special operations team – basically it’s need to know, seal team type shit so don’t ask. We were in the heart of the area where the Taliban were born and it was in a real bad way. Some good and some really bad info got us locked down in some serious heat, battling for our lives and…” he took a deep breath, swiped at his brow with a hand towel and looked away from her. She had opened both eyes now, swiveled in the tub and stared at him, arms wrapped around her knees, enthralled.

“I lost a lot of really good men that day. Men who had kids, wives, real young guys and some older. Candace was a part of my unit already and hurt, pretty bad. She had taken a shot to the Kevlar and thank everything holy, it held tight. One more shot to the dome and she wouldn’t have been here to piss you off the other day. On top of the head, she was shot in the right calf and left shoulder. We couldn’t get anywhere really good for cover, and we couldn’t tell where they were all coming from, how many there were, and so on and so forth. Candace was our radio tech and even though she was severely injured, she could work but it didn’t matter because all of our communications were lost. A few of our guys had been shot, some blown up, one knifed and others scattered, too out of reach to group together or out of range to communicate anything to.”

Tommy took another deep breath and he could tell that Taylor was struggling with coming over to him.

She sat still in the end and waited meekly.

“Well, anyways, we fought on and off for nearly a week, never knowing if relief was coming. We didn’t give up even when it seemed like the only thing left to do. I lost too many guys that day and the only thing that kept me sane or alive, was the face I kept in the forefront of my mind, day in and day out. It hurt. It hurts still. When I got home, Mike was the one who took care of me and got me back on my feet…sort of.”

“What do you mean he took care of you, exactly?”

Tommy stood and walked out of the bedroom without a word and listened to Taylor climbing as fast as she could out of the tub, splashing water all over the place. He returned only seconds later, snaking his arm around her as she faced the vanity and wrapped a fluffy towel around her glistening and still soapy body. Tommy set down the nearly empty bottle of Jack Daniels and she looked up at him through the mirror with knowing eyes.

“I drank myself stupid; nearly drank myself to death. On multiple occasions. That face, always wading through the dark to pull me back to the surface. It helped that when she found me laying at the bottom of my own soul, drunk as a damn skunk, Mike was sitting there with me. He would drop a bucket of ice water on my face, slap me out of it, put me in cold showers, clean my clothes and the house, make me eat, whatever needed to be done - he did it for me.”

“Tommy…” She closed her eyes and leaned back into his solid chest, inhaling the scent of him. Taylor was blaming herself if he knew anything at all about her.

“You didn’t try to kill me and all my troops.” He was going to stop there but whispered, “You saved me.”

That was the last he was going to talk about the desert with her, for now at least. But she already knew that.

“So where does Lissy fall into all of that? Some drunken escapade?”

“One might call it that.” He hedged.

Taylor spun around and nearly fell over, what with wet feet on a wet floor and all of that disorganization she had going for her. Tommy cursed and felt his heart rate pick up as he reached for her elbows to steady her. She would be the death of him, no doubt.

“You said you didn’t sleep with her.”

“And I didn’t.” He inclined his head at her and placed a chaste kiss on the corner of her downturned mouth. “She managed to find her way here one night while I was absolutely hammered, crashed on the couch and she figured she’d take advantage of my inebriated state.”

“How did she get in the house in the first place?”

“Funny story. See, what had happened was… she had a key.”

He nearly flinched, semi-fearful that she would up and backhand him. He was unashamed in his slight fear of his wife… she was a hell of a shot.

“Explain.” It was one word that said a million, the most important of which were probably, “You better explain why you fucked up so immensely and explain it before I cut off your balls and feed them to you before shoving your own dick up your ass.”

He couldn’t hold back the chuckle. She was trying her hand at vicious but when she winced every time she cussed, it made it real hard not to laugh.

“When I finished the house, she was starting up her interior decorating company and didn’t have any clients for her portfolio, so I let her do a few of the rooms. Not ours. That was all me and she was never in there. I swear. I totally forgot she had a key because by the time she was finished I wanted to claw my eyes out at the mere sound of her voice. I debated on putting the glock in my mouth – it’s horrible, have you heard it? It’s like a fucking mouse with ADHD on cocaine and uppers.”

Taylor tried not to laugh, but couldn’t help it.

“She just walked in that night and I was useless to stop her. I’m lucky I managed to get her out.”

“That bitch.” Taylor spat out the words and balled her fists. “She thought that with me gone and you drunk she could just waltz into my house and sleep with my husband. I’ll cut her. No, I’ll shoot her. Which would hurt more and take longer?”

She shook her head and Tommy couldn’t help but laugh at how sincere and completely sexy she was. If she thought Tommy was jealous, she ought to turn back around and look in the mirror.

“
Now
you agree with my stance on not sharing.” He stated, watching her mumble on.

She caught his eye and pointed a stern finger in his face, almost touching his nose.

“You hush, I am planning a murder.”

Tommy laughed from the bottom of his gut and wrapped his arms around her small waist, hoisting her up his much taller frame. “Is this okay?”

“Like you need permission.” Taylor rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms and legs around him.

“As a matter of fact, I do. You told me to leave you alone.”

“I think we’ve already established that you don’t ever listen. It’s like it’s perpetually opposite day in your head.”

“Not when I tell you that I love you.” Tommy eyed her as the words spilled from his mouth. He couldn’t help them, but didn’t regret them because it was the absolute truth and it wasn’t as if they hadn’t said the words to one another a million times before.

Taylor stared a long hard minute before she planted her lips on his and ravaged his mouth with a need so desperate, she could have been dying of thirst and just got hold of a water spout. Tommy met her with a savagery to match her intense desire.

* * *

The greatest thing about being with your soul mate is that no matter how much passion or sexual desire there is, they know that sometimes you just need to be held. I like to tell people that sometimes a woman just needs to be held and told she’s pretty, but when that doesn’t work, and it won’t always, run away and throw chocolate at her from a safe distance back. Sex is not the only way to connect with someone and chase away you’re your demons.

After learning all that I had in the past week, I really just needed to lay here with Tommy but unfortunately the world had other plans, naturally.

Stupid world.

I mean, I would bet that no one ever made their way out here but all of a sudden there’s a stalker and I’m here hiding and everyone and their mama wants to come-a-knockin’! Literally.

It really isn’t fair.

Tommy and I had settled onto the bed and lay there tangled up in each other’s space, completely silent, fiddling with each other’s hands and hair when a loud ring from the doorbell cuts the silence. As I was very nearly asleep, it rattled me and pulled me from that promise of sweet slumbers in la-la land, so of course I grunted back at it. Tommy gave a small snicker before smacking my backside and rolling off the bed.

“Seriously, it’s like three or four something in the morning. Don’t they know these are sleeping hours?” I groaned into the pillow.

“You do remember this is a farm-town, right?”

Something like a grumble was all he got when I rolled over and buried my face in his pillow, inhaling his still warm scent. No matter how hard I tried, I wouldn’t be able to go to sleep now, after being woken up on the cusp of sleep. It was a curse, really.

Tommy told me of this really cool back staircase from the second story to the back of the library and the only thing I could think was, ‘how who-dunnit’, so I got up and slid on a pair of sleep shorts before going in search of my best friend who was kind of still in the doghouse.

* * *

He looked down and saw a package with a large envelope set under it. Tommy stared at both for several long seconds before deciding against leaving them. Unexpected packages were kind of a trigger for him and that was not what he needed right now. Then again, when did PTSD ask permission?

Taking the package and envelope to the sitting area, he put the box on the coffee table and picked up his cell phone that had a few emails and one missed call, no texts. Ignoring the emails, he opened his call log but didn’t recognize the number so he copied it and sent it to Luke with a question mark. Tommy listened into the silence a few heartbeats to make sure no one was coming and opened the envelope to find an 11 x 14 of Taylor sleeping on the porch…but she was not alone. If his palms weren’t already sweating, he’d have ponds in them now.

The picture seemed to capture a blacked out figure standing behind her in the bedroom. There was no way this picture was taken by the stalker but it seemed to serve as a warning and a threat in one. It only took one half of a second for him to realize the photo was of Taylor just hours before. He dropped the picture, hit the second speed dial on his phone and made a run for the stairs three at a time. Nearly shaking the walls of the whole house, he took no time kicking the bedroom doors in and called out.

“Taylor? Baby, where are you?”

When she didn’t answer immediately, he ran into the bathroom, yelling out her name progressively louder. She wasn’t in the bedroom, bathroom, closet or on the balcony that was still open with the drapes blowing around. He realized his phone was only just connecting the call and it seemed like eternity until he got an answer.

C’mon, pick up asshole! Pick up!

“Mike.” His clipped tone answered finally and Tommy used every ounce of strength in his reserve not to bark at his brother.

“I can’t find Taylor and there’s something you need to see.”

“I’ll be there in three mikes.”

They hung up and he vaulted the stairs when he jumped over the banister midway down, heading for the room where he set Matt up.

“Taylor, where are you?”

Every piece of his heart broke in sheer relief when her soft drawl answered, “I’m in here,” before he had even reached Matt’s door.

When he threw the door open and found her standing beside Matt’s bed, shoving something under his pillow; his shoulders fell and he felt like he could finally breathe. “Fuck Tay, don’t do that again.”

“Do what? I just came downstairs to get... something.” She turned and walked to the door, to him.

“You don’t leave my sight, do you hear me?”

“Hey, I didn’t leave your sight, you went downstairs without me to check the front door. What’s your problem anyways?” Taylor shouldered him to pass by and he caught her upper arm in a firm grasp.

“You don’t leave my sight from now on, do you hear me?” He repeated, his tone growing colder and firmer.

“Tommy, you’re starting to scare me, what’s wrong?”

“Damnit just say okay and listen to me! This isn’t a test, it’s not a fucking joke. You have a god-damned stalker hunting you and you are acting like a childish brat. Just listen to me, for once in your life.” He punched the door with the side of his fist and made her jump.

After the words left his mouth, he wanted to scoop them up and shove them back into his dumb head. It may be overkill but that one picture scared twenty years of Taylor off his life.

“Okay, yes, fine, whatever you say.”

Two steps forward, twelve steps back.

The look in her eyes told him that he had just hurt her but as stupid as it sounded, he loved her too much to care about that right now. He needed to know that she was safe and whoever was sending these warnings and little messages was about to find out that they were fucking with the wrong family; with the wrong damn woman.

Tommy let go of her arm, closed Matt’s door and took a deep breath to relax himself a little before he led her to the sitting room.

“Sit down please, Mike is on his way over.”

“I’d ask why but I wouldn’t want you to break anything.”

Her face had turned sour and Tommy knew that if he ever had a chance of having his carefree, full of life, happy-go-lucky Taylor back to himself, he had probably just blown it by going berserk on her like that. To be honest, that was the very least of his worries right now and he told himself the same thing he did for years - as long as she was healthy and safe, that was all that mattered to him. He stood leaning his hip up against the door frame and ran a hand over his face when he noticed she was looking at him, watching him for any of his tells. Years in Special Forces could not hide him or his inner workings from Taylor and that was something he was pretty damn glad for. He didn’t want to scare her nor did he want to push her away, but right now, he wasn’t given many options. As he opened his mouth to speak, Mike barged through the door with his hand on his unclipped holster, ready to draw and shoot. Taylor moved back and shrunk into herself.

“Here.” Tommy held out the photo he snatched up off the floor when they got back into the sitting room.

“Where the fuck…WHO the fuck…” Mike was fuming and probably for the first time ever, at a loss for words.

“Your guess is as good as mine. Look at the time stamp. We were in the meeting right in there.” Tommy pointed to the wall indicating the library on the other side of it.

One look at her and TJ could tell that Taylor was fighting internally with speaking up. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she made her decision.

“What is that?” Her words were shaky but she had on a brave front. Some things never changed.

“It’s a picture.” Mike took up his, recently acquired, clipped tone when speaking about or to Taylor.

“Of what?”

“Not a what, a who.”

“Okay, who then?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

“If you had asked me earlier, I so would have pushed this but right now, I’m too tired to give a crap. Go, be male, bang things and make them bleed.” She sneered and retreated up the stairs, muttering curses under her breath.

Considering the psycho on the loose, Tommy looked to Mike and simply said, “Find this son of a bitch before I do some serious damage.”

With that, Mike patted his brother on the back, nodded and left Tommy to chase after Taylor.  

Chapter 12

I heard the front door close after several agonizing minutes and Tommy was right behind me, walking into the bedroom. He slipped into the shadows of a corner and watched over me in silence. I had nothing to say to him so I just rolled away and fought every particle of my being not to get up and get physical with him. Good or bad physical. His tense silence deeply hurt but I wasn’t about to tell him that, not like he couldn’t tell. One minute I was practicing how perfectly I would tear into him and the next, I was falling into a heart pumping, fearful slumber full of monsters and darkness.

* * *

Smoke billows off his burning cigarette from the shadows; waiting, watching and planning his next move. He spies Taylor through his Steiner 10x50 Military LRF Rangefinder binoculars as he squats on the branch of a tall oak tree a half mile away. She is sleeping in the bed that her dumb lackey built especially for her, upon returning from his mission overseas as a baby killer. He has no business being near her now, or ever. If Tommy thinks he is keeping her safe or just plain keeping her, he has another thing coming. Incompetent, the lot of them. Always have been. It would be all too easy to walk into that house and snap the bitch’s neck totally undetected.

Even in New York, she slept so heavily, all those nights he would sit beside her and watch her. How dare she spread her legs for Tommy when she wouldn’t do the same for him in high school; he earned that much after all the hell she put him through. If Taylor believed for even one second that she could string a man along all these years and simply get away with it, she would learn all too soon; yes, she would learn that she belonged to him and no one could stop him from taking what was his.

Now, all he had to do was catch this freak who was daunting and scaring his precious love, then he could save her and take her away; far, far away where Tommy would never find them.

* * *

I dreamed I was running through a wooded area and kept getting hit in the face by little branches, in the pitch black dark of night. The place was familiar but somehow changed and now I feared it. Someone was chasing me and so near me that if I faltered or slowed down even a little they could grab my hair and yank me back to them. A light touch grazed my shoulder, chilling my bones and pushing me, making me pump my legs even harder. Even in my dream I had no idea who it was, but I knew that I did not trust them and they scared me to the core. Just after I felt the touch to my shoulder, I saw a blurry, menacing figure standing before me and it made me lock my knees up to stop before I ran into their arms. I was yelling for help, for Tommy, my brothers, Matt, anybody that could hear me but there was no one else; I jumped out of my skin, right out of the dream when a hand wrapped around my waist and pulled me backwards. A voice called out eerily, “He’s always been so close to you. Open your eyes, wake up!”

Clawing and shrieking, I reached wildly for my gun with one hand while throwing my elbow backwards with the other, kicking a storm out of the sheets. The hand grew tighter and another hand covered my mouth, a whisper at my ear. “Wake up!” I would be damned if I stayed quiet enough to let the voice scare me further and doubled my efforts, panic seeping through my body when I couldn’t find my gun. When I didn’t listen, the lips at my ear parted with a hot breath on the shell of my right ear and a familiar pair of lips traced up the back of my ear.

What the fu-

“Baby calm down, I’m right here. I’m here Taylor, I have you, and you’re safe. It was just a nightmare.”

He kept repeating it in my ear, getting louder over my wails until I finally stopped fighting and melted into him, sobbing. Not until he was wiping the tears away, had I even known that I was crying and it made me feel all the more weak and small. This bastard didn’t deserve to affect me like this.

“It’s okay Annie, cry it out. I’m not going anywhere. I won’t let go.”

No matter how angry I was or hurt, Tommy’s voice was just what I needed. It was always what calmed me and soothed me absolutely; regardless of what he was saying. Despite our shitty history and apparently equally shitty future, he was my best friend, my soul mate, my other half and simply the one who knew me better than I knew myself, always. He could predict what I was going to say or how I would feel before I had even worked through it all and figured it out myself.

It made wanting to be pissed off at him so much harder and especially now when I just wanted to be able to walk away, because really, I didn’t. I couldn’t. Not mentally or physically, selfishly or realistically.

There was a knock on the door and Matt walked in with a tray, carrying a teapot billowing steam, a large oversized mug, spoon and little cups with milk and sugar in them. He set the tray down on the side of the bed I faced and held up a finger.

“Ah! And lastly, because I could never forget…” He pulled out a bottle of honey and set it down on the tray before reaching to squeeze one of my hands. Matt used sign language to tell me, as he had a million times before, that if I needed anything else to just call.