Chapter 17
“Oreo?” Amy tucked the key back into her pocket and slid Mrs. Phillips’s door closed. It was a rare event when Oreo didn’t come barreling out of his doggie door to greet her the moment she stepped into the yard. But for him to not at least meet her at the door was unheard of.
Please don’t let him be dead.Amy had a horrible fear of something happening to the sweet little dog while Mrs. Phillips was away.
“Oreo,” Amy called louder now. “C’mon, puppy! C’mon.”
The moment ticked on. Amy stepped further inside the house. “Mrs. Phillips?” Chances of the woman coming home early without telling Amy were slim, but who else would be there?
As if answering that question, images flashed through her mind. Faces of the men who had been captured during the Tammy Brinkman case. Amy regretted looking at them the other night. What had started out as curiosity about Jace’s recent bust had led to a sleepless night of devouring one trafficking story after the next.
Some articles had pictures of the camps where the victims were kept. Images so haunting it took hours for Amy to calm down. She’d been tempted to wake Jace in the hour of need, but she hadn’t dared. Sure, he was getting paid to protect her, but from whom—herself? If he wasn’t as into her as she hoped, then he’d have probably been really irritated by the middle-of-the-night disturbance. And if hedidlike her as much as she hoped he did, he might think she was being a tease. After all, what she’d craved most was to have him hold her until she fell asleep.
Maybe she should go get Jace. Lethimcome back and take care of the dog. She spun back to face the kitchen, ready to hurry out when the sound of pattering paws echoed off the walls. But he wasn’t coming from one of the bedrooms. Amy spun to see the small dog bounding in from the direction of the garage door and storage area. An old, battered doggie bed rested there in the corner, the center sunken from Oreo’s weight.
A wave of relief poured over her as she sank to the floor. “Oh, sweet, sweet dog,” she crooned as he leapt onto her lap with an ear-flapping flourish. The excited canine licked her face as she poured out praises. “Oh, you’re such a sweet boy. You’re just a lonely little guy, aren’t you? Did you get tired of waiting around for a friend to stop by, huh? Did you just get yourself all pooped out?” Her heart nearly broke as Oreo continued to lavish her with kisses.
“You know what? That does it. I’m bringing you home with me for a while.” Amy hopped up, marched over to where his food was stored, and hefted the bag onto her hip. “C’mon, Oreo, let’s go.”
After locking up, Amy paused in placing the key back into the hollowed rock. Why bother? She had Oreo, and no one else needed the key but her. May as well just keep it at her house.
She probably shouldn’t have snuck over while Jace was in the shower. The last few mornings, he’d made a habit of going with Amy. She’d told herself it wasn’t as much for protection as it was for the fact that he was simply… going along. She wasn’t so sure now.
She vowed in that momentnotto go over alone again. Squinting against the sun, Amy hunched down and released Oreo. She tugged open the door, ready for the alarm to sound its warning chime, but something else sounded instead.
“If something would have happened to you just now, I wouldn’t have known the first place to look.” Jace’s arms were crossed over his muscular chest as he confronted her. Cancel that—hiswet,muscular chest. Amy wasn’t one to go ogling magazine ads featuring dripping wet models with massive pecs, biceps, and washboard abs, but she could barely tear her eyes away from the sight of his chiseled torso.
“Huh?” She forced her gaze to his face and felt a rash of heat scurry up her neck and settle in her cheeks. The moisture in his hair made it look longer. Darker too, the dripping strands framing his gorgeous, scowling face. He should model. Or go into acting. He’d make millions with a face like that.
“You couldn’t wait five minutes for me to go with you? Just why am I bothering to put an alarm onthishouse when you’re just going to trot off to some empty house next door where someone could smother you, bound up your hands, and drag you off to some slave camp in Bangkok?”
“Sheesh,” she mumbled, trying to erase the image he’d just painted into her brain. Oreo barreled over to him, tail thumping wildly, and dragged his pink tongue up Jace’s shins.
“Hi, pup,” he mumbled.
Amy took advantage of the distracted moment and hurried over to the coffee pot. Instead of grabbing a mug, she snatched a paper towel off the roll and dabbed her eyes.
“I’m not trying to be a jerk, Aim, I just…” He stopped there, then chuckled under his breath. “I justhada shower, buddy, I don’t need another one.”
Amy clenched her eyes shut as the magnitude of what they faced poured into her like acid. What Jace had said was horrifyingly true; someone could have taken her just then. Dragged her off to one of those camps where she’d endure a lifetime of abuse. Images of the slave camps cut into her mind like sharp, rusty razors. Those filthy cots, dirt floors, and that sick, unmistakable sense of corruption evident in every element.
“I don’t want to worry you with all the dirty details,” Jace was saying, “but if that’s what I need to do in order to get you on the same page…”
The tears won out, and Amy gave into a thick, choking sob. She kept her back to Jace, face shoved into the crumpled paper towel, and let the fear have its way with her. How was somebody supposed to go on like this? Living day to day, knowing what kind of evil lurked out there. Amy was a grown woman, but learning what she had, knowing now what she did, it had stunned her inner child, whatever was left, and Amy wasn’t sure she’d ever get it back. Or that sheshouldever get it back. Even if she escaped the threat, that didn’t mean that people weren’t still out there suffering.
Jace was by her side, she realized, rubbing a warm hand over her back. Oreo was there too, pawing at her legs and whining.
“I’m sorry,” Jace said softly. “I’m so sorry for all of this.” He cupped her shoulder, encouraging her to turn. Amy curled into him, her body racked with a level of sadness she’d never before known.
He tightened his embrace, rocking gently as she cried, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “It’ll be okay,” he promised. “We’re going to put those guys away and you’ll never have to worry about this again.”
The heat of his body was calming, the sound of his voice soothing, and the scent of his aftershave offered a sense of reassurance and familiarity. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she mumbled. The words were muffled by the hollow created between her and his chest. She pressed a kiss just below his shoulder, smeared tears off her cheek with the back of her hand, and leaned into him once more.
“I don’t know how you do it, Jace.” She looked up at him and shook her head. “How am I supposed tofunctionnow that I know what’s happening out there? Even if this whole thing was over tomorrow, I don’t know how I could ever go back to how I was.” It was the bigger question in all of this. Moving beyond the fear itself would be a question of its own, but it was obvious that Jace had mastered that years ago. It seemed to come naturally to him. But moving forward, living day-to-day life after seeing what he had. Knowing what he knew…
Jace searched her face, concern pulling at his brow. “Thisis how I handle it. I get involved. I do what I can to stop it. But changing—turning into some serious, somber person—that wouldn’t help anyone.”
Oreo’s soft, warm weight landed on the top of her feet. She glanced down to see that he’d plunked himself over Jace’s feet too.
