AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I reached for my phone, checking the screen, just barely resisting the urge to text her to see what she was up to, if she was coming.
I didn’t want to come off as too demanding or overpowering. I knew she was kind of dipping her toe into this whole relationship thing. I didn’t want her to think I was suddenly trying to pick her up and toss her in before she was ready.
On a sigh, I tucked my phone away again, and went inside the house, knowing I was only going to bring the mood of the party down.
But when ten thirty became twelve, then two, and Rynn still hadn’t shown up, I had to admit that I was starting to worry.
Not about her per se, but about us. About what that crazy-ass head of hers was saying to her, getting her second-guessing things.
And she was so fucking stubborn that she would listen and push me away.
I wasn’t even sure how I would charm my way back in, past those walls and that uncertainty.
“Christ,” I hissed, rubbing the heels of my hands against my eyes.
I was getting ahead of myself.
She was someone used to being independent. She probably didn’t even think I was waiting on her. Maybe she had plans with Josie. Or had a sick cat. Or just crashed early at home.
There was no reason to assume the worst.
Until another day passed with no contact.
Until two texts and three calls went unanswered.
Then?
Yeah, then I started to worry.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Rynn
It was time.
All the planning and plotting I’d been doing for well over a week was going to get put into action.
“What?” I asked, brows pinching as I looked at Josie while I double-checked the knife and eye-gouger in my shoes, then clipped on this clever bracelet I’d found that detached and worked like a garrote if necessary.
“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head, her gaze skittering away.
“Come on. Spit it out,” I said.
To that, she let out a deep sigh. “I don’t want to mess with your headspace,” she admitted. When I gave her a waving motion, she relented. “I’m nervous about this case,” she admitted.
Her words landed like a blow to the solar plexus.
I mean, this was Josie. She was always a little worried for me on action nights. Hell, she even worried when I was just out on research trips. It was her nature as a sort of mother hen figure.
The thing was…Iwas nervous.
That was why her words packed such a punch.
Because, as a whole, I was never bothered by anxiety about the job. Were there times when situations got tense and my body was flooded with adrenaline? Sure. But it was never really in a bad way. If anything, the adrenaline helped me focus and act and think more quickly. It never gave me pause.
Tonight, though, I was having, you know, pauses.
That was why I strapped on the chain bracelet, despite never having worn it before on a job. And I’d bought it over a year ago. It was why my car also had several items stashed under the seats or in the compartments that could be used as weapons.
