AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"It might.”
"Do you—do we have a plan B?"
"Nope."
"What's your plan with all the security at the house and all over your land? What would you do if someone breached it?"
"I'd get ready to kill them. At the very least defend myself and anyone in the house. But, I couldn't leave you there alone without my protection, and my hope is that they won't expect me to move so quickly. I think we have the time advantage."
Her slight nod was the only acknowledgment of his comments, so he took it. As he neared his best friend, he flashed his brights once, which glistened off the sleek black Charger his friend just loved above all other cars. When he'd made detective, it was the first thing he bought. The department paid for his gas and insurance, but he bought the car, so it was his and he didn't have to share it with anyone else.
Rory backed up to let them pass, and he turned onto the road that would lead them out of Lynyrd Station. A few things he knew for sure at this moment in time were that he’d come back to this house for good once this was over and he was finished with bounty hunting. It was time he lived life instead of existing in it. What he wasn't sure about was if Megan would be in his life. That thought made his gut twist.
"How would Marcus get a tracker on my phone?" Her soft voice pierced his thoughts.
"I don't know. I wanted to talk about that. Would there have been any time when you thought someone had been in your house? When something was out of place? A feeling?"
His heart raced as he waited for her answer. When he glanced briefly at her, he saw the moisture in her eyes reflected from the ambient light from his phone.
"There was a night that I thought Marcus was on my front porch. I thought I heard something and looked out the window and saw his car out front. My heart was beating so fast I could barely breathe. But I didn't think he'd come in the house. I got up and locked my bedroom door and listened for movement in the house, but I didn't think I heard anything."
"Had you been sleeping?"
"Yes." Her one word was so soft he could barely hear it.
"Could he have been in your house before you woke and you heard him leaving?"
The glint of a tear sliding down her cheek and falling on her lap caused an instant tightness in his throat. Her shoulders lifted and fell silently. "I don't know."
"Did you sleep with your phone by the bed?"
Shaking her head no, her breath caught in her throat. "I usually left it in the living room on the charger by the sofa."
He reached across the console of his truck and took her hand in his. Squeezing it tightly, he held on trying to give them both comfort. Marcus had gone so far as to gain entry into her home while she slept. Putting a tracker on her phone was the least of the things he could have done to her—something she was already realizing.
Chapter29
Weak and nauseous. There was no other way to describe how she felt right now. The level to which she was in over her head muted her. And, to top it off, she'd done nothing wrong other than having been married to that asshole, Waylon. If she had a crystal ball right now, she'd wish herself back to the day she'd met Waylon and change it all. Everything.
They trudged up the steps to the apartment on the third floor of an older building in South Pass. The business below was a tiny card shop run by a nice hippy type lady named Sunflower. She'd met her years ago when her grandmother was still alive, and they came shopping for cards. Sunflower's cards were handmade, unusual, and pleasing to the eye. Some of her sayings inside were obscure and weird, but the cards with the blank insides were the ones she usually purchased. Sunflower lived on the second floor, and she'd turned her third-floor apartment into an Airbnb for extra income. Not a bad gig for a hippy.
Ford unlocked the door, and the welcoming feeling that washed over her actually soothed her nerves. Earth-toned furnishings and all colors accented the brightly colored paintings of sunflowers, of course, and other florals that she'd guess were actually painted by Sunflower herself. Not something she'd ever have in her own house, but for some reason, this worked beautifully. She stepped farther into the living room, and Ford stepped in behind her, set his bags next to the sofa and looked out the window before closing the blinds. The apartment was small with an open concept. The small, but quaint living room floated into the kitchen area which was no more than a small bank of cabinets with colorful orange and yellow flowers inlaid within blue tiles. The cabinets were painted gray and complimented the living room perfectly. A short hallway led to the bathroom and then the bedroom toward the back. Setting her bag on the queen-sized bed she took in the decorating of the bedroom, much the same as the rest of the apartment. Sparsely furnished but comforting. Ford followed her into the bedroom, went straight to the window overlooking the back alley behind the building and closed the blinds.
He pulled his phone from his back pocket and tapped an icon. "We're here. It looks safe enough, and I'll install the portable motion sensors on the first and second flights of stairs. Thanks for your help, Rory." He headed back to the living room, pulled the blinds back a slit with one finger and surveyed the street below.
Turning to look at her for the first time since they'd found her phone, he smiled. "Will you be okay here for a few minutes while I install the sensors?"
"Yeah. Go ahead." Her stomach roared to life again and not in a good way. Motion sensors, guns, on the run; it all held such surreal and negative vibes. She wouldn't be able to get used to a life like this.
He nodded, dug through his bag and pulled out a small black case with, she assumed, the sensors. "Lock the door behind me, just in case."
Running her hands up and down her arms to ward off the chill that went through her, she opened the cabinets in hopes of finding coffee. Feeling lucky at her find of caramel and sea salt coffee, she set about brewing a pot. It would probably be a very long night. The mundane, routine task of finding cups and creamers and a spoon helped to settle her nerves. Fleetingly, she thought of calling Jolie to see how she was doing and let her know she was okay, but after the phone incident, she didn't want to screw anything up, so she set that thought aside.
The sound of voices floated up to her from below, and her heart hammered in her chest. Listening at the door for signs of friend or foe, she could only hear talking but not specific words. Sunflower may have guests, and hopefully, they were friendly, and no one knew they were here. Ford told her Rory gave their names as Michael and Jane, nothing suspicious or unusual enough to remember. The key to this apartment had been left in a lock box inside the garage, so they hadn't been seen.
A key inserted into the lock made her jump back, her heart pounding in her chest, her throat suddenly dry.
Ford stepped into the room, turned and locked the door and pulled his phone from his pocket. Bringing up the screen, he turned it toward her so she could see six green lights in tiny squares. "These are the sensors in the stairs at each entry point. They'll flash red if someone breaches a sensor. My phone will also chirp in case I'm not watching the screen."
