Page 11 of Hidden Obsession

Chapter Five

Cleo closedthe box and put both her hands on it with force, trying not to lose her mind, but

Fearing it was too late. She was shaking hard, but couldn’t move. If she did, what was in the box was going to get out.

People quickly surrounded her, which was no surprise considering her scream. Screaming was very unlike her. The Alliance agents surrounded her desk with Mason pressed against her side, but all her focus was on the box.

“Cleo, what’s going on? Talk to me,” he said, and she could hear the urgency in his voice.

She opened her mouth to tell him, tell them, but no sound came out, and a shiver made her tremble. Mason touched her shoulder, trying to remove her from the box, but she vehemently shook her head.

A scratching sound came from inside the plain brown container, and a whimper escaped from her lips. “I… I… have a phobia, okay. And it’s inside the box. If I let go of it, they’ll get out and be all over the place. I can’t let go of the lid. I don’t know what to do.”

Damn!At that moment, she hated herself for reacting that way, but it was a visceral reaction and something she had no control over.

Mason started rubbing her back. “It’s fine. I can keep the lid closed. And I’ll take it outside.”

Cleo breathed hard and tried to move, but it was like being trapped in cement. “I can’t. I can’t let it go, Mason. I’m sorry,” she said, hating the weakness in her voice.

People shifted around, and Malco moved to her other side. More sounds came from the box, and Malco nodded. “I can guess what’s inside. Don’t worry, Cleo. You can leave it with me. Go with Mason now.”

Still unable to move, she felt Mason circle her hips and shoulders from behind and pull her against his muscular body as Malco grabbed the box and took it outside with Alex, Shane, and Emme on his heels.

Mason’s hold was reassuring and calming, and after a moment, muscle by muscle, she relaxed.

“I’m sorry.”

His mouth was close to her ear with a low, annoying growl. “You have nothing to be sorry for. You’re safe with me.”

A male yelp and Emme’s muffled scream came from outside, making Cleo jump, but Mason didn’t let her go. Alex came running inside, disappeared for a few seconds and came back with a plastic storage container in his hands. He appeared pale and swallowed hard before disappearing out the door.

“What was in the box, Cleo?”

Calming down, she exhaled, slowly returning to herself. “Snakes. I have a snake phobia. So many snakes…”

She shuddered. “I was checking the mail, and there was a box addressed to me. I thought it was the office supplies I’d ordered because the box was so big…”

“Easy. A fear of snakes is not uncommon, and if I’d opened that box, I probably would have screamed louder than you.”

The silly thought made her laugh, helping her to relax even more until finally, Mason loosened his hold on her.

Glad her head wasn’t spinning anymore, and her legs held her up, she turned to him. “Thank you. Damn, I hate being this weak.”

“It’s not weak to fear snakes. Some are dangerous, and you didn’t know what kind they were.”

The team came back inside, Malco carrying the empty shipping box with him. “I was right. There were several baby Arizona coral snakes inside. There are coral snakes here in Florida but they are a bit different. The sicko must have gone to a lot of trouble getting them. They’re extremely poisonous. You did well keeping the box closed, Cleo.”

She shivered but remained calm. “I come from Arizona and never saw them. Not that I was ever an outdoorsy girl anyway. Didn’t know you were an expert on snakes, Malco.”

The man smiled. “Not an expert, but as I used to live where they were found it was prudent to learn to respect them and be aware. I’ve put them in my car and called animal control to pick them up.” Malco showed them a tarot card: the Lovers. “When we transferred them into the plastic container, we saw that inside the box.”

Ice settled in her belly, and she rounded the desk. She took the card from his hand and frowned, turning the card over. “I need to go home. Now.”

Shane stepped in front of her before she could bolt for the door. “Easy, Cleo. Why do you want to go home now? What’s the significance of the card?”

She hesitated. “I have a similar deck there and that card could have come from it.”

Shane nodded. “Okay, take Mason and Malco with you.”