“Hound is just a worry wart by nature, sweetheart. We still have time for a tour if you wantone or Hannah can show you around.” He said the words, but she could tell by his stance Liam wanted to leave as if he left sooner he would return sooner.
“Why don’t you just show me where I can set up my computer and Hannah can show me the rest.” It seemed like a perfect compromise and wouldn’t take up their time.
Aaron seemed to like the arrangement too. “Well then follow me. Did the equipmentI had sent over get set up?”
Liamwas the one who answered. “Everything is set up. It should be accessible to your computer.”
“Perfect.” Aaron rubbed his hands together as he led them downstairs into the basement. The only things the man loved were computers and guns. Liam and the guys had tried getting Hound out more than once, but he was terribly shy around the ladies so they learned toleave him alone and teased him that he had an unhealthy relationship with his computer. Too bad Blade wasn’t a girl, they would be perfect together. And really boring in his opinion.
When Cora saw his computer room, she could only gape. One wall was taken over by several computer screens that were showing footage of people walking and pausing as it did facial recognition. Batman eat your heartout.
“Pretty cool, right?” Aaron asked her as he walked over to a work table in the middle of the room. “You can use this space for your work. If you need anything else, you can use the end two computers over here.” He pointed to the left. “The rest are being used to try and locate Alejandro, or any of his known contacts. I used the phone number you gave me, but it’s a burner phone, so I can’ttrack it.”
Cora was disappointed she hadn’t been more helpful to them. She might have to do her own snooping when the guys left. “Are all these of town?”
“Some, I have others on LAX and a few on your street. Now I’ll have some on your house.”
“This is incredible.”This is insane. Who needed this much hardware?Cora knew Aaron was a computer genius but who hacked into LAX’s footage?
“Wearen’t doing anything illegal here, sweetheart,”Liamassured her. “Hound here has a contact with the FBI, and they allowed him access to try and locate Alejandro.”
FBI?“You know people in the FBI?” she asked. She really didn’t know Liam’s friends at all.
“One person,” Aaron chuckled. “We met one night while I was looking through their database. Blade tracked me down and shut me down. Wetalked on the internet from time to time, and eventually, we started helping each other out.”
“Are you sure Blade isn’t some crazy old man pretending to be someone else?” Cora knew there were all kinds of pervs on the internet.
“Considering the fact, he found me while I was hacking into the FBI database and their server linked back to the FBI and have saved our lives more than once I thinkthat legitimizes him.”
“Okay,” Cora wasn’t convinced, but then she didn’t know anything about this Blade person. They could be just who Aaron said they were.
A heavy set up boots stomped down the basement stairs. Cora turned and saw a man with deep scaring on his face that gave him a mean scowl that reminded her of a bulldog. “Wheels are up in thirty. I suggest you get going.” The man saidbefore going back upstairs.
Well, that was interesting.
“Don’t mind Bulldog. He’s not the most social creature.” Aaron told her as he headed upstairs.
Liamtook Cora’s hand and led her upstairs. “Is he going with you?” Cora didn’t want to sound rude, but the man didn’t look that friendly. She couldn’t imagine him hovering over her untilLiamgot back.
“Not this trip. He and a few ofhis teammates will be staying here to look after you girls and see if they can get any leads on our bad guys while we're gone.”
At Cora’s scowl, he stopped and faced her. “Bulldog may not seem the most personable of guys, but he is loyal and definitely someone you want at your back in a fight. I would trust him with my life. And now I’m trusting him with yours.”Liamtook Cora’s hand and kissedher knuckles. He wanted to ease her into all these changes with a new place and surrounded by people she didn’t know but the plane was leaving soon, and he didn’t have the luxury of staying any longer.
Cora remained quiet but nodded. “Besides, we owe him. He and his team were there when we found Hannah.” Cora suddenly understood. They were brothers. It didn’t matter that they were from differentbases. They made an oath to protect each other’s backs.
“Say no more. I’m sure I won’t even notice he’s here.” Cora didn’t wantLiamto worry about her while he was gone. He needed to focus on the mission. “I’ll see you when you get back.”
“Maybe when all this is over we can go on a little vacation of our own? Not fortified fortresses and bad guys lurking around every corner.”
“Let’s seehow I do on this vacation first before you start booking hotels.” Cora liked the idea of going on a vacation withLiam. She had never really been on one. It would be nice to relax and not worry about everything. She had no doubt he would be good at distracting her from worrying about her house.
Liampulled her into his arms one last time and kissed her slowly and deeply. Cora was reaching upto pull him closer when someone cleared their throat. Cora stepped back quickly and kept her head down to hide her blush.Liamjust smiled wolfishly.
“Well, I guess I don’t have to ask how you are.” Hannah teased coming up behind her and looping her arm through Cora’s.
Cora pinched her lips together and watched the men leave. Cora kept her spine straight and waved them goodbye. How many timeshad she stood like this and waved her parents goodbye? Wondering if they would ever come back. She had done the same withLiambefore and yet for some reason, this time felt different. There were no more barriers between them. This was a new beginning for them.Liamwould come back to her. He couldn’t leave now that they were just getting back together.
“It never gets any easier,” Hannah saidabsently.
