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“Okay, let’s get you packed and out of here. The sooner you are out of here, the sooner this can all be over,” Ally said, leaning in to give me a hug of her own.
When she was leaning over me, I whispered into her ear. “Please make sure you’re careful. I can’t have anything happen to you.”
“We’re going to have eyes on Ally too,” Jackson informed me. Of course, he had heard. “Everyone in this room right now will have eyes on them. I’m not leaving anything to chance.”
“Jackson, I can’t even begin to thank you for all of this.”
“It’s my pleasure. You’re a remarkable woman, and like I said, there’s nothing I hate more than a bully. We’re going to get him, and I’m going to make sure he never bothers you again. He turned on his heel to leave the room. Hawkeye followed him.
Catherine and Ally remained, helping me pack a small bag along with some work necessities to keep me from losing my mind while in hiding.
* * *
I felt like I was in a Bond movie. I was moved in complete darkness and helped into a dark-colored van. We drove for what felt like hours, but apparently, it was only twenty minutes. I was on the edge the whole time.
In the dark cover of night, Hawkeye and Jackson helped me into a loft-style apartment. The floor plan was very open, the kitchen, dining room, and living room all leading into one another. The only privacy I would have would be if the bedroom door was closed or if I hid in the bathroom. Jackson and his team set up the surveillance equipment and ran checks on all the locks and doors. They worked like a well-oiled machine, and the place was set up like Fort Knox in no time.
Then they left us—Hawkeye and me—all alone in the apartment.
“There will be men outside, just in case,” Jackson had explained before leaving. But in that apartment, it was just Hawkeye and me.
We were situated in the living room. I was lying on the sofa with my ankle propped up, and he sat on the love seat nearby.
“You said Hawkeye was a call sign, so what’s your real name?” I asked him. I was curious about the man who was assigned to protect me. I wondered how he knew Jackson. What brought him into this line of work? Was he still in the military? But his quiet demeanor made me wonder if he’d allow me the answers to these questions.
“Are you going to tell me what it is? Or is learning your first name like a deeply private thing? Is that why you all only speak in call signs?”
He laughed at me again, and I threw a pillow at him.
“Come on, if it’s just going to be me and you in this apartment, it wouldn’t hurt for us to get to know each other a bit.”
“We usually just speak in call signs.”
“That’s it? No anecdotes or anything else you want to add there? And I swear, if you laugh at me again, I will.” His lips were turning up in a smile. I could tell he wanted to laugh, but he held it back. Instead, he teased me.
“Or you’ll what? You can’t exactly run over here and attack me. With the bum ankle and all,” he added, gesturing toward my cast. “Even if you could, you’re all of what, one hundred and twenty pounds? You’d be no match for me.”
I shook my head and laughed at him. “Just because you’re a Seal doesn’t mean I couldn’t kick your ass.”
This caused him to laugh out loud for a very long time, his head thrown back. I could picture him rolling on the floor any minute now. I tossed a pillow at him, hoping to shut him up.
It worked.
“Sorry,” he said sheepishly, glancing at my less than amused expression.
“Sure you are,” I teased back, hoping to let him know I wasn’t actually angry at him.
“I don’t really talk about myself. None of us do. This is a mission for us, same as any other. I’d do anything that Jackson asks of me. I owe that man everything. And owe him or not, I, too, hate to see a man victimizing a woman like this. So it’s not you, and it’s not that I’m annoyed with the fact that I’m locked away with you. I just don’t like to talk.”
I nodded, realizing I wasn’t going to get a whole lot of him in the moment. I would work on it later, maybe. This whole world I had been introduced to when Catherine called in the calvary was interesting to me. I wanted to know how they thought, what made them tick. And how in the hell all the men that Jackson worked with seemed to look like they had just walked off a GQ photoshoot.
But I would let him go until he was ready to say more.
“Now let’s see what they left us as far as food goes.” Hawkeye jumped up as if he could sense what was on my mind. “Here,” he said, tossing me the remote, “why don’t you find us something to watch while we eat our dinner.”
I nodded. “Okay, thanks.”
“Sure,” he said with a wink and headed for the kitchen.
While Hawkeye threw together some dinner, I flipped through the channels, hoping to find something we both might enjoy.
