Isaac
“Take her to the cabin like you originally planned. We have every angle covered. Megan won’t get close to Nick or his family without us first knowing about it. You need to concentrate on Isabelle,” Hunter says, his eyes shifting to Isabelle sitting in the back passenger seat of my town car.
She is far away in thought with her beautiful tear-stained eyes peering up at the brilliant blue sky. After she was sick, I carried her to the car in my arms. Even though her body felt warm against mine, shivers racked through her during our entire trip.
Hunter gathers something from the back of his van before striding to stand next to Brandon. “I’ll call you if anything comes up.” He hands me a satellite phone and a charger.
“I’ll drive you out to the cabin, then I’ll head back to Ravenshoe to update my guy.” Hugo shifts his eyes to Brandon. “Brandon will stay here until the authorities arrive. He has assured me he won’t mention that we were here.”
Brandon coughs to clear his nerves. “I’ll advise them I was doing some further investigations on Megan as part of your case.” His gaze drifts to Isabelle, his concern for her reflecting in his eyes. “I’ll take care of everything here as long as you promise to look after her. I still recall the first time I saw a dead body. It’s something you never forget, and my discovery wasn’t as gruesome as that.”
I tilt my head to Isabelle. She is no longer looking up at the sky. Her beautiful eyes are staring at me. When she notices she has captured my attention, her lips curve into an uneasy smile before a tear rolls down her pale cheek.
“I’ll take care of her.” I return my gaze to Brandon, Hugo, and Hunter. “Keep me updated on everything and call Ryan to give him the latest. It’s out of his jurisdiction, and it’s a suicide, but I want him to be kept informed. He has resources that are unavailable to the rest of us, and he owes me if I need to call in a favor.”
“Alright,” Hunter replies, “but we need to get moving before the authorities arrive.”
I nod. Hugo and Hunter shake hands before Hunter jumps into the driver’s seat of his van. Hugo gives Brandon a farewell with a jerk of his chin before he hops into the driver’s seat of my town car, leaving me standing across from a man whobelieveshe cares for Isabelle nearly as much as I do.
“I'll make sure you're compensated for your assistance with this matter.”
Brandon’s lips crimp. “Thanks, but your payment isn’t necessary. I don’t do this for the money.”
I halfheartedly nod. “Then, I guess, I’ll owe you a favor.”
“That’s got to be more valuable than any monetary amount,” he says before offering his hand to shake. Even though his comment could be construed as witty, his tone doesn’t allude to that.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Brandon.” I accept his handshake.
“Likewise.” His handshake is surprisingly firm for how timid his nature seems.
After one last glance at Megan’s house, I slide into the back seat of my town car. My mind is jumbled with the diverse range of situations it is trying to comprehend. So much is happening in my private life right now, that unless I stop and assess each individual situation, something will unravel, and that's when mistakes happen. So, I’ll stick to my original plan and take Isabelle to my private cabin in the foothills of the mountain. It will give me a chance to evaluate everything while also taking care of her. It will also bide some time for Hunter and his team to trace who placed the equipment in Isabelle’s apartment before she returns there.
I seize Isabelle’s wrist and carefully pull her over to sit side-straddled on my lap. She plasters her body as close to mine as she can before she nuzzles her nose into my neck. The thump of my heart increases when air whizzes out her nostrils.
The pulse in my neck stops throbbing when she murmurs, “The academy tries to prepare you for stuff like that by showing you terrible, gruesome photos, but they can’t prepare you for that smell. That smell was…” A shiver runs through her body before the dampness of her tears wet the collar of my shirt. “I can still smell it on my skin.” Her lips quiver against my neckline.
Hugo’s eyes lift and meet mine in the rearview mirror. After a swift lift of my chin, he raises the privacy partition without a word needing to spill from my lips. Once the barrier is in place, I undo the top three buttons of my business shirt before tugging it out of the waistband of my trousers.
Isabelle’s head lifts from my neck and her tear-filled eyes stare into mine. “I… can’t,” she whispers, her voice pained.
“I’m only going to hold you, baby,” I promise, staring into her glistening eyes. “To remove the smell from your skin with my own scent. Then when we get to the cabin, I’ll wash it all away.”
Isabelle inhales a shaky breath before she nods. Because of the confines of the backseat, she has to assist in tugging her tight jeans down her shaking thighs. Her dark locks flick out from the breeze running over her body from the sudden removal of her shirt.
Once she’s in nothing but her bra and panties, I pull her back in close to my chest. She splays her body into mine, every soft curve melting against me. I grab my jacket from the floor to cover her trembling shoulders. She is shaking more from shock than the temperature, as Hugo turned the heat up the instant he raised the barrier.
I glide my hand up and down her back, offering her comfort. The scene she just witnessed was horrific, and the smell was unlike anything I’ve ever sampled before, so I can comprehend her shocked reaction. She is an FBI agent, but she is still a human being. I'd be more concerned if she weren't reacting the way she is.
* * *
By the time we arrive at the cabin, several hours later, Isabelle has stopped shuddering, and she managed a few hours of restless sleep in my arms.
Hugo lowers the partition down an inch. “Give me a few minutes to scope the premises,” he says.
I nod, acknowledging his request. The deep rumble of Hugo’s voice instigates Isabelle to stir in my arms. When the driver’s side door closing echoes through the car, her head rises from my chest. Her heavy-lidded eyes glance into mine for several seconds before the smallest smile curls on her lips.
I lick my thumb and rub it under her eyes to clear the smears of mascara formed there from her salty tears. Once all the marks have been removed, my thumb lowers to brush the cupid’s bow in her lip. My touch is as soft as a feather, but a shiver still runs through Isabelle’s body. A smirk etches on my mouth. Even in the most distressing circumstances, Isabelle’s body can’t help but react to my simplest touch.
