The Lost Soul Trilogy (Primani Book 5) (31 page)

SUNNY DANI WASN'T SMILING today. A shadow passed over her eyes as she stared out the window. She had no bruises on the outside, but I sensed her pain and my heart twisted in sympathy. She was the sweetest soul I knew in this crazy new world of mine. I wanted her to stay innocent. I hadn’t told her anything about the earlier run-ins with Scott to keep her from worrying. She’d had no idea that we had a history. She turned back to me and sighed.

“How are you feeling?” I whispered.

Her mom was listening outside her bedroom door. I didn’t want to say too much. Instead, I handed her some cookies I baked and tried a smile.

She frowned back at me.

“I know you’re worried about me. Don’t be. I’m not the first girl to be attacked by a stupid guy. I’m just glad Aric got there before he could…well, you know.” Her hand fluttered and dropped back to her lap. She tapped her fingers against the side of her leg and pressed her lips together.

Her sadness was breaking my heart.

“I’m so sorry! It happened so fast! I can’t believe they dragged you into this.”

Usually Scott and his merry band of psychopaths tried to drag
me
someplace private for their entertainment. His thug friend must be new in town.

Dani looked me in the eye and said, “This has happened before, hasn’t it? You and Scott seemed to have a rhythm going.” Her voice was soft but laced with underlying steel that sent an alarm bell off inside my head.

I squirmed in my chair next to her. “Uh, no, it’s not. He just won’t leave me alone. Sean and Killian have beaten the shit out of him a couple of times but he keeps coming back. The guys have been training me for the past few years. I was ready for him this time. I don’t need help any more. One of these days I’ll probably have to kill him.”

Dani’s eyes narrowed. “You say that so casually; like you’ve done it before.”

“I’m not trying to be casual. But I’m not going to let the psychopath kill me. That’s what he wants and I’m not going to let him do it.”

“Okay,” she paused and asked, “And what about Sean? And Dec? There’s something not right about them.”

Yeeeeah...so
not
going to go there with her.

Stiffening, I sat back and crossed my arms. I knew I looked defensive but I had to draw the line. This wasn’t something I could share, even with Dani.

“They are who they are. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Suddenly she leaned forward and grabbed my wrist. “You’re still lying to me! Do you really think I can’t tell? You’re my best friend; I know you better than you think I do. How can you keep secrets from me?”

Okay...not sadness after all.

As her nails dug into my palm, I realized I had let her down. I was wrong...I’d put her in danger and not even thought about it. I sucked. Damn.

“Okay! I’m a horrible person! I’m sorry for getting you hurt! I’m not trying to lie to you, but there are things I can’t tell you. They’re not my secrets to tell. Please try to understand that.”

Unpeeling her fingers, I got up and looked out the window. It was beginning to get dark outside. Dani’s mom was making dinner down in the kitchen and I should be getting home. This conversation couldn’t go much further anyway.

“Look, I hate this. I love you but I can’t say anything else. Is there anything I can do for you? Other than spill my guts?” I hugged her and she stiffened but then hugged me back.

“I love you too, but I’m still pissed at you. I don’t care about that idiot guy. I care that you’re involved in something that you won’t tell me about. That hurts and I don’t like it. I’ll let it go for now, but you’re gonna have to tell me sooner or later.”

I looked into her pretty grey eyes and sensed she was more disappointed than angry now. That was better, but not much. I still felt like a bitch.

“We’ll see. Let Aric spoil you for a while. That’s what he thinks he needs to do. If you don’t let him help you, he’ll be crushed.” With that last piece of advice, I headed back to the farmhouse.

As I pulled up to the driveway, I noticed all the lights were off. Hmm, that’s strange. Where was everyone? I parked the car and shut the door quietly. Before heading inside, I looked around the outside. No sign of an attack--no shattered windows, nothing blown up, nothing unusual at all. Huh. Reassured, I went in through the kitchen door. Domino greeted me and trotted along beside me, her tail low to the floor. The house was quiet. The kitchen was spotless. No one had cooked in it today. That was odd. The guys ate a lot. It wasn’t like them to clean up the kitchen so well.  Uneasy now, I crept through the living room back to the bedrooms. I listened for voices or music but the house was deathly silent. I was getting more nervous the further into the house I walked. I peeked into the bedrooms as I passed by. Dec’s was empty of life but a disaster as usual. He never worried about putting clothes away or making his bed. Life was too short.

I hesitated at Killian’s door with my hand on the knob. I hadn’t been inside this room in a very long time and the last time had been disturbing. I opened the door and peered into the darkness. His scent stopped me in the doorway. Woodsy and musky, it was unique to him and conjured up a vivid image of the last time I was here. I groaned and closed my eyes to stop the memories. They came anyway.

That night, I had been dreaming about walking down the endless hallway again. In my dream, I tried to open the doors and they were locked. They were locked until I came to this door. The door had swung open and I had walked blindly into the room. In front of me was a soft glowing light and I reached out and touched it with my hand.

Minutes later, I woke up flat on my back with stars in my eyes. My brain struggled to adjust to being smacked against the wood floor.  On top of that, my skin tingled unpleasantly all over and I was drooling. Killian, with a sheet draped loosely around his hips, crouched beside me looking worried. He was shaking me by the shoulder.

“What happened?” It felt like I was hit with a stun gun.

“You were sleepwalking. You, uh, startled me. I’m so sorry, babe.”

He pulled me up and I flopped over. My legs didn’t seem to work just yet. The natural response to falling is to grab onto something, right? Is it my fault I missed Killian altogether but did manage to snag a fistful of the sheet on my way to the floor?

My face flamed again just thinking about it. Good Lord, was there no escaping the memory? It took months to get the image of Killian’s amused face out of my mind. Then there’s the rest of him…Focus. Focus. I took a deep breath. Where is he now? Not in the room; that’s for sure. I backed out of the room and went to my own. It was empty too.  I switched on the lamp and saw a note on the nightstand. It was from Sean. I read it once quickly and then again more slowly. It was signed, ‘Always, Sean.’

Well, hmm. What to do now? They would be gone for a while and I was to stay put and not get into trouble. Huh. Why do they always assume I’m going to get into trouble? It’s not like I go looking for it! Domino had been lying on the bed watching me with interest. Now she straightened her ears and focused her attention on the note.

Well, now what?

“You want to know what the note says?”

She wagged her tail.

Tapping the folded paper against my leg, I explained, “Mission. Alex says they’ve got a lead on Dagin’s new lab and they need to go check it out. They’ll be out for a week or more. It’s status quo for me and you, Princess. Looks like we get to hold down the fort again. Are you up for it?”

She yawned and daintily stepped down from the bed. She stopped under the alarm pad and looked up.
I can’t do it alone.

Breathe in, breathe out…I sucked in hot thick air and grimaced. Mile three was going to kill me today. I was struggling to keep my pace and finish. Sweat ran into my eyes and burned like acid. Damn, it was freaky hot today! Domino loped easily beside me as we passed the mile marker. She wasn’t even panting hard; that’s all the proof I need. She’s not a real dog. A real dog would be hot too.

“You know you’re not a real dog. Admit it!”

She rolled her eyes at me and kept trotting along.
Amateur!

Laughing and sucking at more air, I slowed to a walk and slugged some water. I poured her a bit in my palm and squatted so she could drink. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a man watching me. He was standing next to a dark blue car in the parking lot. Nonchalantly, I turned so I could see him better while I poured some more water out.

“Keep drinking,” I ordered the dog.

She licked at my palm and lifted an ear.

“The guy in the khaki shorts and red polo is watching us.”

I poured more water and glanced up under my lashes. Yep, he was still there and still looking our direction. His mouth was moving just a little bit. Ah, he was using a mic. Okay, either he was a cop, a terrorist, or someone on Dagin’s payroll. None of those options were great. He was dressed in pleated khakis and a polo shirt. He didn’t fit my image of a terrorist, so that left cop or demon. Would a demon bother with designer labels? I wasn’t sure. Either way, not good. Would he follow me openly or try to hide it? Let’s see.

I led Domino back to my car and took my time getting situated. I glanced around to see if he was still paying attention but he was gone. I swiveled around in all directions but he wasn’t there. Did I imagine that whole thing? No, surely not. I pointed the car towards the house wishing the guys were home. They hadn’t come back yet, and I wasn’t expecting them for a few more days. I drove the long way home and kept an eye out for a tail. If someone was following me, they were very good. I didn’t see anyone. Finally I headed home and parked inside the garage for once. Slipping inside, I set the house alarm and called Sean. He answered on the third ring.

“What’s up?” He sounded distracted.

“I love you too! And oh, by the way, I think someone was watching me today.”

“Don’t be a smart ass. What happened?”

I explained about the polo shirt guy in the park. After listening to my story, Sean was quiet for a minute. “Well, what do you think?” I asked.

“It’s possible that you’re under surveillance. But the question is by whom. Dagin? Maybe…but that would be unusual for him. The truce is over so he’d probably just kill you if he saw you by yourself. His business partners shouldn’t know about you. Um, my guess would be feds.”

Yikes!

“Feds? What would they want with me?” I checked the mirror for a sniper beam in the middle of my forehead and stepped away from the window.

“You told me about the men who were at the house in Vermont. They wore uniforms and had NVGs and night scopes on their rifles. They were planning to raid the compound while we were inside. Bad guys wouldn’t do that. They would’ve just stormed it and shot the place up. So those guys you saw were most likely legitimate law enforcement. Local cops wouldn’t have jurisdiction over arms dealing ops. Could be FBI or even Homeland Security…hmm…”

The silence stretched.

“Sean?”

No response.

The line went dead. No signal. Crap. I needed more than ‘hmm’ from him! I hit the redial button and got voice mail. I left him a message and got to work. If someone was watching me, I needed to be ready to dash in a hurry. I pulled out a backpack and filled it with things I’d need if I have to bug out: a couple of changes of clothes, toothbrush, extra ammo, cell phone charger, extra cell phone, and some other important things. I packed a real suitcase with stuff for a longer stay and put that in the trunk along with Domino’s food and extra bowls. I added some blankets and first aid stuff and some big bottles of water. Lastly, I rummaged through our stash of protein bars. There. I could leave in a hurry by car or by foot. I loaded my Sig Sauer P229 and put it in the holster on the small of my back. There. Now I was armed. I felt loads better already.

I had the whole afternoon to kill and was too edgy to do anything productive. Instead, I practiced the Krav Maga techniques that Sean and Killian taught me over and over again. I could disarm an attacker who had a gun or a knife. I could kill an attacker if necessary. I really hoped it wouldn’t be necessary. I had to shoot two men last year and I still felt guilty about it. Oh, they deserved it--they were trying to kill me at the time. It was self-defense, but that didn’t make me feel good about it. I would do it again if I had to though.

It was 2:00 a.m. and I was restless. Domino rolled over and grumbled at me for waking her up. She was relaxed so I should be too. After all, she’s the canine with super hearing. I finally gave up pacing and checking the windows and went to sleep.

My alarm went off at 8:00 and I fell out of bed in a panic. I had my gun out and pointed at the closed bedroom door before I realized it was the alarm clock, and I had to go to work. Smacking myself in the forehead, I put the gun down and took a shower. The day was uneventful. I watched for a tail everywhere I went. I didn’t see anyone suspicious. By the end of the day, I had a splitting headache from the tension and actually hoped someone would knock me out.

“Okay, Princess, it’s your turn to play lookout. I need to get rid of this headache.” I rubbed my face against Domino’s soft fur and gave her a pat.