“Sounds good.”
We head downstairs and break out the last of the whisky. When she’s a little tipsy, I tell her it’s time to call it a night. She’s all smiles andhappiness and it’s the first time I’ve seen her so genuinely happy, it’s beautiful.
After brushing our teeth we get into bed and she snuggles into my side. As much as I don’t mind Mace being here, it’s nice to have her to myself. Mostly because my ass isn’t almost hanging out of the bed.
Whatever happens after this, when we’re sure we don’t need to worry about her, we need somewhere with a much bigger bed.
That gets me thinking about what is going to happen next. We live in different areas, almost an hour apart. Cassie will never move to the compound. Both Mace and I have houses but it would be difficult for us to move to one of them, someone will always be too far away from where they need to be.
I fall asleep thinking about getting a house somewhere in the middle, where we can have our privacy but still be ready when we’re needed. Cassie doesn’t have her job in Parsippany, there is nothing holding her there. It’s a really nice thought to fall asleep too.
Something disturbs me and I crack my eyes open. It’s still dark, and it takes me a second to orientate myself and figure out what woke me. I reach behind me, but Cassie isn’t there. Rubbing my eyes I pick up my phone and check the time, it’s a little after two, we’ve only been asleep a couple of hours.
It scares the shit out of me when it rings in my hand. What the fuck? It’s a withheld number. I answer and hold it to my ear. At first it’s only quiet breathing.
“Who is this?”
“Sanderson called us.”
Shit, I sit up fast. The Veil Line.
“Thank you. I need to ask about a woman you picked up in Ohio-”
“Don’t talk,” she cuts me off.
“But she might be in danger, her brother who got her to you is dead.”
“Do yourself a favor and keep your mouth shut.”
Seriously? What the hell?
“I won’t discuss business with you. It doesn’t matter to us what happens to anyone else.”
“What if we need you again?”
“Do not get anyone to contact us like this again,” she says. “You’ve burned Sanderson. And that is going to cause a lot of trouble for a lot of people.”
Oh Jesus. I can’t have that on me. “Don’t hang up.”
“Goodbye.”
“Fuck,” I get up and pace back and forth. I try to call them back, but the number says it’s been disconnected already. I get the feeling I blew any chance we have of knowing anything about them, or utilizing them.
Cassie still hasn’t come back to bed and I’m about to go check on her when I get a text. It’s a name, one I don’t recognize. I don’t get it. Who is this man and why have they sent me his name?
Setting the phone down, I pull on a pair of sweatpants and head out onto the hallway. I need to talk to Cassie, tell her what just happened.
There is a light on downstairs, but it suddenly shuts off, then something breaks. I take the stairs a bit quicker than I usually would have, becoming more alert.
Then Cassie screams.
I don’t think, I react and run around the corner to see her in the kitchen with a large man. She’s fighting him off, but he’s bigger than her. Fuck. I grab a vase from the bureau beside me and shout out.
“Eli!He has a g-”
She doesn’t get anything more out before a spitting sound and a pain jerks me sideways. I drop to my knees and struggle to figure out what happened. There was no sound, no gunshot.
“No!” Cassie screams and jumps on the man, fighting with him as he raises the gun again.
