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Cal’s body tenses, and he’s immediately on full alert. “What’s wrong?”
Side note: How does he react so quickly in the middle of the night? I need a hand crank to get going, even with shitty news like this. I’m just going to say if a zombie apocalypse happens, it best be while I’m well rested, or else I hope I enjoy the taste of brains. My adrenaline delivery system is down for repairs between the hours of midnight and seven.
He shakes my shoulder when I don’t answer him, jostling my thoughts to the impending doom.
But words. They’re hard.
“The security system at my house went out again.”
“Son of a bitch.” Springing out of bed, he quickly dons his boxers.
“That’s what I said. Get your own reaction.”
“Watch your eyes; light’s coming on,” he warns a few seconds before flipping the switch. That was considerate for someone who pounded me into the mattress and called me his dirty slut two hours ago.Fuck, I love him.
“Checking on Ma. Get dressed. Fast, please.”
Tossing on the Army tee I pilfered from his dresser earlier, I root around the floor to locate my panties, then quickly abandon the search and get a new pair out of one of the three drawers he cleared for me.
Not one, but three.
I’m keeping him. You can’t have him, ladies.
Cal returns and dashes into his closet, quickly throwing on clothes. “Somehow, she slept through that.Thank Frank.Call Big Al for me while I get dressed.”
“Wait. What’s the plan here? You wanted me dressed, but now you don’t? And who is Frank?”
My brain isn’t awake. I hope he speaks slowly. Maybe I was the slippery baby.
“I need you dressed so you can watch Ma. I’m going to your house. Where’s your gun? Do you need one of my Glocks?”
“Hold the fucking phone. No way. I’m going if you are. I’m not letting you walk into a trap without backup.”
He pauses after stomping his foot into his boot, indecision written on every handsome line of his face. “Shit. Well, we can’t both go. I’m not leaving her alone in the middle of the night. And I’ll be damned if you’re going there solo.”
I rake my hand through my hair. “You’re right. That could be a trap too. If they get her, they could force us to do anything they want.”
“Fuck that. We both stay here.” He puts his fists on his hips, clenches his jaw tight, and grits out, “Shit. This was our chance to catch them. None of the cameras in your place work with your system down, huh?”
“No.Dammit.” My palm meets my forehead with a resounding smack. “Why didn’t we install new cameras linked to Redleg’s system?”
“Too many other problems, babe.” He grabs his phone from the nightstand and fires a message in the SOS chat group on the Redleg comm app.
Jonesy and Aaron are closest to my place and respond almost instantly. I follow that with a call to CPD. No offense to law enforcement, but our guys will be there sooner. The dispatcher didn’t sound too worried about a faulty security system on a house that’s currently unoccupied.
While we wait, I fire up my laptop and try to get my system online. Cal checks the perimeter and contacts Big Al with an update.
Twenty-minutes later, I slam my laptop shut in utter frustration. “It doesn’t make sense. I thought I’d locked it down after the last time.”
Cal joins me on the couch and rubs my back. “We’ll figure it out, babe. At least you weren’t there tonight. You’re safe. We’re safe. Everything else can be handled as long as you’re okay.”
Normally, his positivity is refreshing, but I’m not in the mood. I jump to my feet and begin pacing. “Whoever he is, he’s good. There werenoopen doors to my system. I was certain of it.”
Cal quirks his head to the side, looking like an adorable puppy dog. It lessens my rage a touch. “What did you just say?”
My feet lurch to a stop. “Whoever he is, he’s a good hacker.”
“Not that. The door thing. You said you didn’t leave a door open.” He snaps his fingers, and his eyelids narrow to slits. “Remember when we were at your house on the night we rescued Lettie?”
