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Several loud bangs and then they were inside the apartment. The noise covered our movements.
I had to even out my weight so Axel didn’t have to hold up so much in one spot. The space was tiny and I had to calm myself so I wouldn’t get claustrophobic.
It was harder to breathe with his body practically holding up mine and pressing. He was clinging to the frame to hold us up and not crack the wood. I reached up, finding the wood, doing my best to do the same and relieve him of having to hold me.
“Don’t move,” he whispered close to my face.
No duh, I wanted to reply but held my tongue.
Male voices were becoming clearer now. My heart was pounding so loudly in my ears, I could hardly hear anything else, but it was clear they were covering the house.
Footsteps came closer to the bedroom. I cowered into Axel a little, like I could hide more if I did so.
Axel pressed harder against me and somehow I was turned until I was chest to chest with him.
I was a ripple of water against his touch. He was a rock, steady. I couldn’t stop my heart from pounding so hard. I couldn’t even breathe as quietly as he did. It was too stuffy. I wanted to sneeze.
“No one,” a male voice said above us. “It’s clear.”
“Check everywhere,” another one said, deeper. “Contact says they saw them inside still. They didn’t leave.”
“There’s no one here.”
“Check.”
There were a couple of quieter curse words and then more footsteps toward the closet. “There’s no one hiding in the closet.
A large banging sounded, like metal against metal and the bed got shoved over. I rocked one way. I started to gasp.
Axel held to the wood slats, and his lips pressed down against mine hard.
I realized his intent. He meant to quiet me and his arms were too busy hanging onto the bed. I clawed at the wood to hang on, and kept my mouth against his. While I understood the purpose, I couldn’t help but feel enthralled with it.
Axel sucked in a breath against my lips.
The bed got shoved again, and while I was quiet now, Axel’s lips grazed mine.
Out of instinct, and perhaps a crazed we might die now panic thinking these guys would find us at any minute, I returned a kiss against his lower lip.
“There’s no one under the bed,” one of the men said.
Axel, in the dark, moved his lips against mine, testing.
He had already saved me several times and now we were neck deep in this together. In the moment, pressed against him, adrenaline running through my veins, I had an instinctive desire for someone using his strength and power to save us.
Axel slowly released one of the slats long enough to draw a palm against my face. He pulled strands of my hair away from my forehead.
There was grunting above us. The guys were checking out the bathroom and questioning each other about how two people could have escaped.
“Nothing here,” one of them said. “I can’t tell if anyone’s even been inside.”
“False alarm. This Jonas wants some drama or attention. Let’s go.”
Footsteps started fading out toward the doors. I started to move.
Axel clamped down, smothering me against the wood slats.
“Not yet,” he breathed against my face.
I couldn’t hear anyone, so I wasn’t sure why he was trying to still hang onto the bed.
I waited, starting to feel too stifled against him in the confined space. I pulled my head away, wanting to breathe freely.
Axel kept a hand on the back of my head, toward my neck. He massaged, slowly, deeply, meaning to be relaxing.
I just wanted out from under the bed. I felt creepy-crawlies now, and I twitched my leg to scratch an itch against one of the boards.
“Shh,” Axel whispered.
“They’re gone,” I whispered back.
“Just making sure. I don’t particularly want to go to jail today.”
I stopped, holding my breath for a moment. Do I dare? Yes. “You say that like you’ve done that before.” It was a test.
Axel was quiet for a long moment. I wondered if he heard me or just chose to ignore the question. “I’ll tell you about it later,” he said finally.
I didn’t answer, as I couldn’t think up a response that didn’t involve telling him I knew it already and needed to know more. I’d have to wait.
Axel started moving toward the hole he’d made. “I’ll go first and check it out.”
I didn’t want to stay in the box spring, so I climbed out behind him.
“Stay,” he said as I put my foot to the floor.
“No. It’s itchy.”
He grunted. “Stay under the bed.” With that, he slid out.
That I could handle. I crawled as close to the edge underneath the bed as possible though, and stuck my head out.
The place was empty as far as I could tell.
Axel left the room. Moments later, he returned. “It’s okay,” he said. “They left.”
“Told you,” I said. I crawled out, sprawled on my back on the carpet, and sucked in a bunch of air. I gazed up at Axel.
He knelt next to me, his eyes intense.
At first I thought he’d yell at me for crawling out and telling him no.
His hand drifted over me slowly. He hooked a finger around a few locks of my hair and drew them back behind my ear. “You okay?”
My voice was lost to his tender touch and look of concern. I swallowed, nodding.
“I’m going to scout the area and make sure it’s safe. I’ll get the SUV. You should make a circle around the apartments and meet me across the street, at that grocery store in the shopping center.”
“I thought we weren’t supposed to split up.”
His lips pursed and he leaned over, touching his palm to my cheek. “If I’m not there in thirty minutes, I need you to call Marc. Have him come pick you up.”
I sat up quickly, the blood rushing around my head made me dizzy. “Why?”
He stood and walked to the door. “Because.”
I started to get up but he walked out quickly.
I understood he was offering himself up as bait so I could get away.
I waited for him to disappear around a building then closed up behind me and dashed out.
Touching my mouth, I could still feel the press of his lips still against mine. He hadn’t said anything about it, but my heart was still pounding and not just from the surprise visit from bounty hunters.
I hated it, because I wasn’t supposed to like him. He was the boss of this secret group I was trapped with. If this was some sort of ruse, he was doing one hell of a job.
What I hated more was that I still felt strongly for Brandon and Marc, and growing feelings for Raven, too.
I smothered the thoughts as I made my escape.
DINNER DATE
It took me ten minutes just to walk around the buildings and cross the road. I was waiting in front of the shopping center when the phone buzzed and I checked it.
Corey: How’s it going?
Did Axel call him? I typed in a quick message.
Kayli: Waiting on Axel.
Corey: What happened? Why is he not there?
Kayli: Got chased out of the apartment by the bounty hunters. He’s bait so I could slip out. Waiting to see if he comes by.
A minute passed as I waited for a reply when the phone vibrated to life with a call coming through.
“You okay?” Corey asked after I answered.
“Yeah,” I said. “I don’t think they were chasing me.”
“That’s weird they came by,” Corey said.
“Hey,” Brandon’s voice cut through. He sounded distant but I could still hear him. “Tell her to stay put.”
“I am,” I said.
“She is,” Corey said to him.
“I’m fine,” I said. “Did something happen with you guys?”
“We went over to the bus tour place,” Corey
said. “We’re about to head out to Mrs. Gunther’s house. No one has seen Fred here since he left and now that the police have been by, and the bounty hunters stopped to talk to people, they basically fired him.”
“That sucks,” I said. “By the way, it looks like Fred had the daughter living with him.”
“Huh?”
“Axel said it looks like Sara lived there full time.”
“The custody agreement says she lives with the mother. We’ll have to wait to see what Marc and Raven say after they find her.”
“They haven’t found her?”
