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I clicked on the small light on my side of the bed, but nothing happened. The power must have gone out. The generators only covered the important places of the house, and Ivy’s room wasn’t one of them. I licked around the inside of my mouth and knew I needed water. Careful not to wake her, I slipped out of bed, pulled on my jeans, and carefully felt my way to the kitchen. The storm provided just enough light for me to grab two water bottles out of the fridge.
“How’s Ivy?” Dr. Roberts nearly got a kick to the chest when he spoke. He sat at the island in the dark. I guessed they only used the generators when it was most important.
“Rattled.” I moved toward him. He wore a robe and had a novel in front of him. “Everything okay, Doc?”
“I wish it was.” He clicked off the little booklight he’d used to read on the counter next to him.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Unfortunately, I can’t.” He cleared his throat. “Job hazard.” He shrugged. “Though I do appreciate the ear.”
I turned to leave but stopped myself. “This thing that’s going on with Ivy, is it something I should know about?”
“You?” He seemed to struggle to follow my train of thought.
“Cole asked me to watch over her when we’re out in public. So, if there’s someone in particular I should be watching out for, it would be helpful to know who that might be.”
“Logical question.” He nodded. “Though I’m bound by law not to discuss it, I will share this. Ivy is caught in between the law and a very dangerous person.”
“The same man who went to her house?” He raised an eyebrow. “She was panicking and talking in half sentences. Don’t worry. I just know someone was in her house, and I know someone else hit her across the cheek. She’s obviously terrified, and I just feel…”
“Helpless?” He half smiled. “Welcome to my night,” he admitted.
“Is this dangerous person in custody?”
“No.” He pulled his glasses off. “And I fear things might get a tad worse before they get better. So, let’s make sure we’re on high alert. If your enemy could get to Ivy, so can hers.”
A deep cold spread through me at that thought. It was true Hill found her. Who knew what this other guy could do.
“I’m going to assume that he’s military?” He held my gaze, and I read him loud and clear.
“Copy that.”
“Ty?” He studied me for a moment. “Is Ivy a distraction for you, still?”
“Not a bad one.”
“Good.” He tapped his knee. “She’s strong, but this might cripple her. I’m glad she can open up to you.”
“Yeah, me too.” I held up a water bottle as a wave and hurried back upstairs. I was pleased for Doc’s insight, and I was happy he could see I only wanted to protect her.
I slipped back into the room quietly until my hip bumped the dresser and Ivy shot straight up in bed. She reached over and grabbed something from the table.
“Ty?” I heard the blankets move as she called out. “Ty?”
“It’s me.” I crossed the room and sat on the side of the bed. “I just got us some water.”
“Okay.” I heard the fear in her voice even though I couldn’t see her face clearly in the dark.
“No need for these.” I carefully removed the scissors from her hand, glad they’d glinted in the lightning as she held them up. “Thirsty?” She shook her head. “It’s early, so back to bed you go.” She stilled, and I brushed the hair off her shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I climbed in next to her, and she rested her hand on my chest. Her fingers tangled in my chain, and she let out a sigh. I was thankful for the gas fireplace, and I didn’t have to worry about more firewood. The storm cooled the house down, and there was a small nip in the air. I was more than ready for fall to come.
“At the end, in Afghanistan, everyone was pulling out.” I lowered my voice. “Two special ops teams were called to stay and take on one last mission.” I ran my fingertips up and down her arm. “At one point, when we were under attack, our teams got split up. Two of my men were with Captain Flex, and I had three of his. One of them had no respect for how I ran my unit. We’d bumped heads many times in the field. It was the last day, and we’d made it to our checkpoint. We were waiting for our chopper to get out.” I took a sip of my water.
“Brown, one of my brothers, one of my oldest friends, had been struggling mentally, and I wished I’d sent him back home. Damn, I should never have taken him on that last mission. It’s hard to break up a team, though. You know?” She rubbed my chest gently but didn’t speak. “One of Flex’s guys knew he was losing it but still gave him a hard time through the whole damn mission. Anyway, to make a long story short, he went into a house and held a family at gunpoint.” She flinched, and her hand rubbed my chest again.
“I got to Brown, and I was able to get him to focus on me. I was making progress. He wasn’t a threat to the family at that point, but the asshole showed up. Instead of taking my order to leave, he shot Brown right between the eyes.” Ivy pushed up and leaned on her elbow to look at me in horror. “We were ten minutes away from going home, and he was murdered by someone under my command.”
