Engaging (Alluring Book 2) (15 page)

She must have dozed, for suddenly, she was awakened by the dogs barking downstairs.  "I'll see what's going on," Gage said, slipping out from under her and disappearing into his closet.  He came out a moment later in jeans and a T-shirt.  He gave her a smile before leaving the room.

Cassie sat up and spied her dress laying on the floor.  No way in hell, she would put that thing back on.  She went to Gage's dresser and pulled a T-shirt from one of the drawers.  She slipped it over her head and looked down at herself.  It covered more than the dress did.  She looked in another drawer and found a pair of shorts that had a drawstring about the waist and slipped them on.  She wouldn't walk a runway in this outfit, but it would be good enough to go home in.

She went to the bathroom, did her business, brushed her teeth with Gage's toothbrush (it's only gross if you think about it too much), then made her own way down the stairs.

"Well, lookie who Gage brought home."

Gage held out his arm and said, "Come here, baby.  You remember Steve and Mike?"

Of course, she remembered Gage's band mates.  They had spent a lot of time together when Gage and she had been a couple.  She gave them a smile.  "It's good to see you guys again."

"Fuck that," Steve, the one who had spoken earlier grabbed her arm and pulled her into his embrace.  "After all this time, you give me a hug, Missy, not some lame ass
nice to see you,
bullshit."

Cassie couldn't stop her giggle.  Steve always had been a wiseass.  She leaned back and gave him a big smile.  "It is
nice
to see you."

Mike, who had always been the quiet one, pulled her into a hug next and whispered in her ear, "I haven't seen Gage this happy for five years.  Glad you're back where you belong."

Cassie wasn't sure what to say to that.  Gage had obviously told his band mates something different from the truth.  Probably his own brand of crazy. 

"Now, we need to be introduced to these fellas,"  Steve said, patting each dog on the head.

"Well, only one is a fella, one's a girl," Cassie said, taking offense on Sunny's behalf.

Gage told them all about his new dogs then said, "You guys should come to the ranch with us.  You can meet Logan."

Cassie stiffened at his side.  She should have figured he would have told his best friends about Logan.  She glanced at Steve and Mike to catch their expressions, wondering what they must think of her and her deception, but they were both smiling and nodding their heads.

"Sounds good, man.  We'll pick up the girls then stop at a store and pick up some meat for a BBQ."

Gage gave Steve's shoulder a slap, and they all did a manly handshake thing before Gage escorted them to the front door.  Cassie could hear them arguing over what kind of meat to buy, and she smiled, wondering what they would show up at the ranch house with. 

Gage came back into sight, gave her a kiss on the lips, asked her to let the dogs out while he finished getting dressed, then they were on the road, too.  And not once did he say anything about his toothbrush being wet.

Everyone was in the backyard, sitting around the patio table piled with food.  Steve and Mike had arrived laden with beef while their wives, Katie and Rosa, came equipped with everything else needed for a BBQ.  Cassie had invited Sam and Derek to stay when they had come to pick up Kyle, and currently, Logan and Kyle ran around the backyard playing dinosaur hunters. 

Laurie had made her excuses, saying she needed to get some shopping done for her trip, but honestly, Cassie suspected she wanted some time to herself after having the boys all night. 

Everyone laughed as Steve told a story about an unfortunate series of events that had occurred during their Berlin tour a few years past, when Cassie heard someone shout
hello
.  She turned and leaned in her seat to see a head sticking up over the side fence that separated the front of the house from the back.

Cassie got up and cautiously made her way over.  The man was very large, and she knew this because the fence was six feet tall, and his head visibly showed over it.  He was bald with tattoos covering his head, and he didn't look friendly.

She stopped, a good twenty feet from the fence, then asked, "Can I help you?"

"Is this Tail Wagners?"  His voice was deep and gravelly.

"Yes," Cassie said.  She took a few steps forward then felt heat at her back.  She turned her head.  Gage stood behind her. 

He placed his hands on her shoulders.  "What can we do for you?"

"Name's Jeremy Beckett.  You have three of my dogs."

Cassie's body went tight.  Jeremy Beckett was the guy that had been arrested for dog fighting.  Rosie, Sally, and Hank were his three pit bulls.  Gage must have felt her tension, for he moved in closer to her.  "I'm sorry, but those dogs no longer belong to you.  They were given to me by Animal Care and Control to foster until I can find permanent homes for them."

"Listen, lady, I don't want any trouble.  I just want my dogs back."

"And I've already told you, they're not your dogs anymore.  If you have a problem with that, you need to take it up with Animal Care and Control."

The guy took a step back from the fence and held his hands in the air.  "Fine, like I said, I don't want any trouble.  I'll take it up with them on Monday."

Cassie and Gage didn't move as they watched the guy walk away.  They heard his car start at the front of the house and pull away.  "You okay, Sunshine?"  Gage asked, feeling Cassie shiver.

"Yeah, that guy just gave me the creeps.  He was arrested a few weeks ago for dog fighting.  I have his three pit bulls."

Gage seemed to think about that for a minute.  "Can he cause you trouble?"

Cassie shook her head.  "Naw, he'll go to Animal Control on Monday, and they'll explain everything to him."

"Okay, baby."  Gage turned her around by the shoulders and steered her back to the party.

Chapter Twelve

Cassie wasn't sure what had woke her.  She lay in bed, perfectly still, barely breathing, listening but all was silent.  She and Logan were the only ones in the house.  Laurie had left for her trip earlier that afternoon and Gage had been a no-show for dinner. 

Gage had called earlier while she was in the middle of washing one of the dogs.  Cassie had her hands full, trying to hold on to Rico, a feisty little terrier mix, so she only half-listened when he told her he had an engagement to go to that he'd forgotten about.  She hung up with Gage just as Rico escaped her clutches, and she had to chase him down.  Logan, of course, had found the whole thing hilarious.  Cassie, who had been a dripping mess, did not.

She listened some more.  Nothing.  She knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep unless she checked on Logan.  She reached over and turned on her bedside light then got out of bed.

Logan slept peacefully, curled around his bear and his guitar.  How he slept with a guitar, Cassie would never know, but he refused to sleep without it.  She went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water.  She stood drinking it, looking out the kitchen window into the backyard.  She thought she saw a shadow.  She stared, breath held but didn't see it again.  Probably her imagination, or a trick of the moon.  She put her glass in the sink and went back to her bedroom.

Unable to stop herself, she went to her bedroom window, parted the blinds, and peeked out.  Her window was at the side of the house and faced the kennels.  She saw something again, only this time it wasn't her imagination.  Someone walked along the perimeter of the building that held the kennels.

She went to her nightstand, picked up her phone, and dialed.  The phone rang three times before Gage answered.  "Everything okay, Sunshine?"

She heard music in the background and laughter.  Cassie looked at the clock, five after eleven.  She wasn't sure why she'd called Gage.  When she had picked up her phone, she'd just automatically dialed him.  Why didn't she call 911? 
That's who you're supposed to call when you see a prowler, you ninny.

"Sunshine?"  The noise on his end of the line dimmed.  He must have moved someplace more private.

"Um... I didn't mean to call you.  You sound busy.  I'll let you go."

"I'm never too busy to talk to you.  I'm at a press party.  I won't be missed for a few minutes."

But, he would be missed.  She stood there silently for a moment fully realizing how far apart their worlds really were.  Of course, she had always known that but this really sank it home. 

She remembered her intruder.  How she could have forgotten him, even for a few minutes, told her how much Gage messed with her head.  "I need to go.  Sorry for bothering you."

She heard him start to say something and quickly disconnected the line.  She immediately dialed 911. 

"911, what's your emergency?"

Cassie moved back to her window and peeked outside again.  "There's an intruder on my property."

"What's the address?"

Cassie recited her address and assured the operator she was inside with her doors locked.  The operator told her to stay on the line, that they were dispatching officers, and they would be there shortly.

While she was on the line with 911, her phone beeped several times.  She knew it was Gage trying to call her back.  She peeked out her bedroom window again but didn't see anything. 

"I don't see anyone anymore.  Maybe they left?"  Then she heard a window shatter somewhere in the house.  Panicked, she yelled into the phone, "Oh God, they just broke a window." 

"Ma'am, stay calm.  The police are en route."

Calm?  How could she be calm when someone was in her house?  She quietly made her way to Logan's room, carefully looking around for any movement and intensely listening for any kind of noise.  She didn't see or hear anything and quickly slid into Logan's room, soundlessly closing the door. 

"Ma'am, are you still there?"  She heard the 911 operator's voice.

She brought the phone up to her ear and whispered, "I'm in my son's room.  I don't hear any noises coming from inside the house.  Should we climb out the window?"

"No, stay put.  The police are three minutes away.  Just stay on the line with me until they get there."

Cassie sat on the floor and leaned her back against Logan's door.  And waited.

* * * * *

Gage stared at his phone, pissed that Cassie wasn't answering hers.  After she had hung up on him, he'd tried calling her back several times, but he kept getting her voice mail.  He slipped his phone into the inside pocket of his jacket and made his way back to the party.

As he traversed the hall, a few people stopped him, patting his back or shaking his hand, introducing themselves and wishing him luck on his upcoming album.  He kept it short, wanting to get out of there and home to Cassie. 

Once in the main room, he scanned the crowd looking for his agent and once spotted, moved directly to him. 

"Gage!"  Leo encircled Gage's arm with a meaty hand and pulled him to his side.  "I'd like to introduce you to Congressman Murphy and his wife, Hannah."

The congressman held out his hand, and Gage shook it.  "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hunter."

"Likewise."  Gage turned to his agent.  "I'm out of here."

Leo gave him a weak smile and a fake laugh before turning back his guests.  "I'm sure, he's joking."

"No, I'm not."  Gage gave the Congressman and his wife a smile.  "If you'll excuse me.  My girl's not answering her phone, and I'm worried.  I need to go check on her."

Hannah gave him a genuine smile.  "We completely understand.  Please go.  Don't let us keep you."

Gage gave her nod, told his agent he'd call him later, then got the hell out of there.

* * * * *

Gage arrived shortly after the police.  He walked through the door looking pissed.  Cassie watched him glance around until he spied her standing by the entrance to the hall.  She saw his jaw tense as his eyes did a body scan, starting at her head and ending at her toes before he made his move straight for her, enfolding her in his arms.  "Are you all right?"  He asked, burying his face in her neck and breathing deeply.

"I'm fine," Cassie said, reassuringly.  "Just a little shaken up."

"What happened?  The cops wouldn't tell me anything."

"I saw someone outside.  So I called 911 to report a prowler.  While I was on the phone with them, I heard a window shatter.  After the cops had arrived, we discovered that no one had tried to break in, someone had thrown a brick through the front window."

"A brick?" Gage asked, his body stiffening.

"Yeah, it had a note tied to it, but the police haven't showed it to me yet."

"Is that why you didn't answer your phone when I called because you were on the phone with 911?"

Cassie nodded her head.  "Yes."

"So, let me get this straight, you saw the prowler
before
you called me?"

Cassie wasn't sure where he was going with this, but she answered him, still too shaken to note the tone of his voice getting dangerously low.  "Yeah."