Lost in Silence (The Lost Series Book 1) (10 page)

I tuned out of the active conversation long ago. Losing myself in my thoughts, I’m interrupted from them when Hudson softly touches my arm.

“Alice, are you all right?” he asks.

Huh?
I look up at him wide eyed, struggling to remember anything anyone said in the last thirty seconds. I had nothing.

“Dizzy asked if you had any family we could contact for you,” his voice is cautious. My gaze shifts to Dizzy who is carefully watching me.

Family.

I did have family but I don’t give them much thought. I knew Erik would have someone watching them in case I did decide to go home. It wasn’t an option for me, not with Erik still out there hunting. I had to keep them safe from him. Besides I wasn’t sure how happy they would be hearing from me anyways.

But now, at the dinner table, a dozen eyes rest on me waiting for my response and I don’t know how to answer. Shrugging, I shift in my seat, keeping my gaze on the delicious chocolate cake I no longer had an appetite for. I don’t respond any further. Thankfully they don’t ask any more questions and the subject is dropped with Missy offering more cake to the table.

Hudson

I wake with an afghan tucked snug around me, a pillow under my head and my boots sitting neatly beside my chair. It’s dark still and glancing on the clock, it’s sometime early morning. Hoping Alice found everything she needed before bed, I shake my head. I don’t remember falling asleep but the exhaustion I’ve fought the last few days must’ve finally caught up to me when we got home from dinner.

My cell phone chimes from somewhere in the kitchen. I cringe, hoping the noise doesn’t wake Alice. I stand up from my chair, stretch the dull ache that has settled into my lower back and walk into the kitchen. The room is spotless, our cups from this morning sat on the drying rack near the sink.

I pick up my phone and smile at her thoughtfulness. She set my phone onto its charger. A flurry of text messages blink at me. Most are from the guys welcoming me home, offering to help Alice anyway they can and the usual banter. The guys who couldn’t attend the dinner tonight were mostly on assignment or just incommunicado.

Kingston’s message would be the only message not welcoming me home. I didn’t need to open it to know what it would say. It was a summons.

KC:
Hudson, my office, noon. Shit to discuss.

I rub my eyes, releasing a frustrated sigh knowing this might not go well, praying it did. I respond. The sooner I lay it on King the better. Once he knows what’s she’s running from and why I stepped in, he might throw in his support too. Meanwhile, I need to figure something for her to do while I’m at the office. I don’t want to leave her alone. Picking up my phone and I send another text.

HR:
Missy, do your little brother a favor...our girl needs more

clothes. I hate shopping.

She responds almost instantly. Sometimes I forget how much of a morning person she is.

MR
: You hate shopping? I would’ve never guessed.

My sister is a smart ass. I chuckle.

HR:
I’ll make sure to send you an email with all my dislikes. The

first being the meeting I have to sit through with King this

afternoon.

Again she responds instantly.

MR:
You knew it was coming. He’s worried. We all are.

They’re worried because I haven’t told anyone besides Sneak and Missy about Alice and the situation we dealt with in LA. I wasn’t sure what Sneak told King, likely only pieces of the story, leaving him to guess the rest.

HR:
Nothing to worry about. See for yourself…if you can hang with

her.

MR:
Anything I should know before agreeing?

HR:
Let her take the lead.

MR:
She talking yet?

HR:
No and I would appreciate if you didn’t pressure her. Things

are...delicate.

MR:
Understood. What time do you have to meet Kingston?

HR:
Noon but I want to go in early and see Sneak.

MR:
I’ll be by around ten. You think she’ll be up by then?

I don’t have an answer for that question. Our sleeping patterns have been sort of sporadic. I wasn’t sure what Alice’s schedule is when there isn’t a job to get to. I know I can make sure she is up by the time Missy comes by, if it comes down to it. I can’t help wondering what she’s like first thing in the morning, after spending the night in a real bed.

A noise behind me startles me and I turn to see Alice walking into the kitchen, pulling the belt on her new robe tightly around her. She has a cautious look in her eyes and god-awful morning hair.

“Good morning,” I swallow, my voice vibrates a deep sleepy baritone. She nods and offers me a half smile. “Give me a moment and I will get the coffee going.”

She crosses the room to the coffee pot and hits the button. She already set it up before going to bed, I smile.

HR:
She just woke up. I’ll make sure she’s ready for you by ten. See

you then and thanks.

Shooting the final text off to Missy, I set my phone down onto the counter. I watch Alice as she picks up our mugs from the rack and crosses to the refrigerator in search of the vanilla flavored creamer. She’s cute in the morning with her hair wild and her eyes still droopy from sleep.

“Did you sleep well?” I ask and she nods. I shift more aware of how much I’m alright with her standing in my kitchen like she’s done it for years and she belongs there. “Thank you for prepping the coffee.”

She nods again, turning back to the coffee maker. I want to say more, apologize for falling asleep on her last night but the words fail me. She tucked me in with a blanket, she straightened up the kitchen, she placed my phone on the charger and now she stood in the middle of my kitchen looking all kinds of cute, making me aware of the fear settling in my stomach. Fear that I might be getting too comfortable with her here. Fear that I’m going to miss her more than I’m willing to admit when she finally does go.

“I need to go into the office today,” I clear my throat and cross the room to sit down at the breakfast bar. “I asked Missy to come by and take you shopping while I am gone. Is that alright with you?”

Her brown eyes meet mine and I freeze. I notice how much the dark rings around her eyes have faded. How much her coloring has improved and what a few days of good food and sleep has already done for her. She looked more and more like the girl in the picture Detective Edwards showed me. She smiles at me and nods.

“I don’t know what time I’ll be back but I’m leaving a little early to meet up with Sneak. I should be back before dinner, maybe we can get some takeout. There are a few menus in the drawer. You can have Missy order something for us. She knows what I like to eat.”

She shrugs, making it difficult for me to gauge her thinking.

“She’ll be here around ten and I’m not leaving until she gets here,” she busies herself pouring the finished coffee into the mugs. She hands me one and smiles again. My breath hitches. Fuck, her smile lights up the room. I take the mug from her and take a slow sip, the hot liquid burning my tongue as punishment for staring so hard.

She mixes some creamer into hers and takes a sip.

“I’m going to hop in the shower,” she makes no move to stop me. I take my mug with me and head to the bathroom, briefly contemplating a cold shower.

Damn it Hudson, you shouldn’t notice things like her smile.

*****

Hudson

I walk into the modern office on a mission: talk to Sneak, straighten out this shit with King and head home. I need to gather as much information about Erik as I can before showing my cards to King. After meeting Alice last night, I don’t know what to expect from him.

“He’s not in today,” Annabelle, King’s receptionist, watches me from her spot at neat desk centered in the middle of the room. She’s isn’t simply a receptionist to the company, more like job-site mother. She cared for each of us more than her job required. She was also someone you did not want to fuck with. Her quiet, sometimes murderous stares were the only warnings you needed. Hanging my head, I approach her with a shy smile.

“He leave anything for me?” I ask hoping like hell I don’t get shit from her too.

“He did,” she smirks knowingly before handing me a thin manila folder. I sigh, there couldn’t have been more than a dozen pages in it. Her dark eyes watch me, missing nothing, and her smirk turns into a smile. “Disappointed cowboy?”

“You know me Belle,” I shrug, trying to play it cool, like I didn’t care. The problem was I did care, maybe a little too much. “Missed you last night at dinner.”

“May’s home for the week,” she explains. May was her college-age daughter. Sometimes I forget Annabelle was older, she definitely didn’t look old enough to have two adult age children. “How’d it go?”

“Better than I hoped,” I answer cautiously. I’m sure my sister had already called this morning, telling her all about the dinner with Alice and the guys. Annabelle’s dark eyes watch me like a hawk. I knew she was studying my reaction for any further details. Flipping through the folder, I try to ignore her gaze. There wasn’t any new information regarding Erik or Alice but it would have to be enough for King.

“Any idea when our electronic detective might be back?”

“He’s running an errand for King, a client needed some...detective work done on his wife’s computer,” she smiles sweetly and I chuckle.

“Kingston available?”

“Go right in,” she singsongs.

Nodding at her, I walk towards the large office door to her right. I knock hesitantly, before shaking off whatever is tormenting me about this meeting. This was Kingston, my brother in arms, what in the hell did I really have to worry about? I open the door to find him sitting behind a large desk, file folders in stacks around him. He motions for me to take a seat and adjusts the phone pressed against his ear.  I sit, flipping through Sneak’s research again.

“Seth, got to let you go man,” he laughs into the phone. “I’ll have Max check him out and send you the report...”

Tuning him out, I read the small section Sneak found on Alice. My heart skips a beat as I stare down at her school photo, all smiles. Fuck, it’s hard to see the joy in her eyes and not want to put it back there.

“We have a problem,” Kingston exhales loudly, bringing me back to the moment. He leans back in his seat, narrowing his eyes on me. “This little stunt is going to cost us.”

“Stunt?” I ask confused.

“The girl,” he rubs his face and places both hands on his head. My gaze hardens. I knew he was going to give me shit about Alice but right off the bat?

“Leaving her behind wasn’t an option,” I state feeling a little hostile towards him.

“Not the way I see it brother,” King’s eyes are guarded. He’s purposely trying to upset me. “She’s a distraction and the last thing you need.”

“She’s not going to be a problem.”

“Sneak said the LAPD came looking for her?”

“The asshole she’s running from told them she had been kidnapped,” I explain, feeling like he isn’t hearing me but I knew better. He’s questioning my judgment which bothers me because he hasn’t doubted me in a long time.

“If he was lying they would’ve sorted it out. Why didn’t you let them do their job?”

“I could’ve left her with them,” I admit because he was right but my gut told me something else.

“The cop, Detective Edwards, what did you think of him?”

“She slept in the fucking closet the first night, King. She cringed anytime I spoke to her, even looked at her. She ate a sandwich like she hadn’t seen food in days. Fuck, you saw what she looks like.”

“I did,” he hangs his head. I can see he’s struggling. He wants to throw his support in but something is stopping him. I know he would’ve done the same thing in my situation.

“The woman you met is nothing compared to the rabid animal who stole into my motel closet as if her life depended on it. I made the right call,” my voice came out as a whisper, the words ripping at my gut. “I don’t understand why you can’t get behind me on this.”

The memory of her beautiful brown eyes cast down because some asshole wanted her submission makes me sick. I want nothing more than to track the sick mother fucker down and show him what real submission is.

“You got through?” King sees the concern and the anger flash across my face.

“Yes, but nowhere near deep enough,” I admit. It’s hard to gauge the damage without know how long she was under his control. Her ability to trust me so quickly and easily was a good sign. It proves she is already working through any obstacles she might be experiencing. “She trusts you and the guys.”

“Missy said she doesn’t speak?” he asks and I get the sense he’s coming around. “Has she said anything to you?”

“Accidentally but she denies saying anything. I think she’s been conditioned to think, act and do a lot of things she wouldn’t normally do. I’m sure he took her ability to speak.”

“Fuck,” he curses loudly. His face turns hard and various shades of red. 

We both know what it’s like to be tortured. The training we faced as SEALs taught us how to endure through it. Imagining someone like Alice, with no training, being subjected to something this bad is heart wrenching. Taking someone’s ability to speak, without removing their physical ability to do, is some deep psychological shit.

“Tell me about it,” I sigh feeling a wave of relief wash over me. I know from the gleam in King’s eye, everything has changed. The urge to rally the guys and track down this rotten son of a bitch rages in me but I use it to focus on her and finding a way to reverse the ill-effects of his conditioning.