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Chapter Six
Lennox
I haven’t movedfrom my spot by the end of her bed in over half an hour. I’ve stood guard, watching her, soaking in the image of the woman I haven’t seen in years.
Replaying her warning to me.
She said I was in danger, but from the manic look in her glazed eyes, I also believe she is too.
All this is too much of a coincidence.
I’m no fool. There’s no way this reunion was random.
Something’s at play.
I should go, leave this room and start doing what I do best: figuring shit out.
Yet I can’t make my feet move from their position. I can’t tear my eyes away from the sleeping figure.
There’s a strange tightness in my chest. A feeling that makes me uncomfortable and content at the same time. Rubbing at the ache, I let my eyes linger on every feature of Katrina’s face.
She hasn’t changed much in four years. Her dark hair is longer but still perfectly frames her round face in unruly waves. She looks leaner, stronger but there are bags under her eyes. Marks of exhaustion I have an instinct aren’t just from being tired. These last few years have been rough for her.
My jaw clenches at the thought.
There are so many unanswered questions that I need to get to the bottom of. But they’ll have to wait.
Forcing myself to move away from the bed, I gaze over Katrina one more time. The bump on her head is pretty nasty but there is no blood. She’s no doubt suffering from a minor concussion and needs to rest.
Her clothes are still wet and soaking into the blankets on the bed. She needs to get out of those clothes but I’m not going to be the one to do it. After making a quick stop in my bedroom and then the linen closet, I rush back to her side and lay multiple blankets over her. I also leave an old T-shirt and jogging shorts for her to change into when she wakes up.
Which I desperately hope will be soon. I’ll check in on her again in an hour.
Reluctantly, I force myself out of the room. Katrina’s not going anywhere…this time. The cabin is going into lockdown until I can figure out who sent Katrina to me. And I’m definitely not going to let her walk out of my life again without getting some answers.
What I do know at this time is that the USB was not meant for me, not if someone had been sent to retrieve it. So the question is, who was desperate enough to break into a former Special Ops soldier’s house to retrieve what could be looked at as an everyday USB?
I cross the hallway and stop in front of a small discolored panel that looks like a worn part of the wall. Totally unnoticeable unless you’re looking for it. I press the wooden knot at the top left corner and a whirling sound begins. Seconds later the panel opens revealing a keypad.
After typing in the code, I wait for a thin door to appear before squeezing myself through and into the master control room. Back to my happy place.
The screens burst to life with a click of a key and I get to work. While working behind a desk wasn’t my main operative when in the Special Forces, I did have a knack for finding information in the most unlikely or dangerous parts of the net.
As my fingers dance across the keyboard, I voice-activate a call to Connor, needing to let him know about the new turn of events. If this wasn’t about the USB key and someone had a hit out on me, Connor and Cohen might get caught in the crosshairs.
They needed to be updated.
He picks up on the second ring, but his greeting has me pausing. The line crackles with static.
“What?”
“We have a situation.”
“No shit we have a situation. I have a flooded yard, a demolished shed and it looks were about to get a mud slide on the west side of the mountain.”
“Hate to tell you this but we might have a bigger situation on our hands.”
“Seriously?” His voice fades in and out. “Wh…ew…boot?”
