CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

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- NOW -

WHEN I WOKE UP the next morning, Kellan wasn’t there.

“He left for Nathan’s office pretty quickly,” Phoenix told me. “He’s getting a crash course on how to quickly and correctly plant a microphone.”

I’d cleaned up and cooked, and then cleaned up some more. Left with nothing to do, I’d settled onto the couch and flipped through some channels.

Five minutes later, I was watching a show about beauty pageants, munching on a bag of chips.

I felt around for my drink on the floor, feeling like a real couch potato, when a flash of awareness tingled down my spine. Kellan.

I looked up to see him leaning against the door frame. There was a small smile on his face, just a casual upturn of his lips, a quick flash of his dimple, eliciting a sea of butterflies in my stomach.

“What are you watching?” he asked, his eyebrow raised.

A flush worked its way onto my cheeks. “There was nothing else on,” I said, defending my choice of reality TV show.

He watched the screen for a moment. “At least it’s not as bad as those dance shows you used to watch,” he said, a reminiscent smile on his face. “Those were awful.”

“There was nothing wrong with them!” I said, sitting up straighter. “It wasn’t like I ever even got to enjoy any of my shows. It seemed like you were always there, bitching and moaning at me to change the channel.”

“I’ve never bitched about anything in my life, princess,” Kellan said, looking insulted.

“Don’t call me that,” I said sharply.

He looked surprised. “Does it really bother you?” Yeah, it kinda did. I shrugged, staring at my toes. “April?” he said softly, suddenly right there in front of me.

“I guess I don’t exactly relish the idea of you thinking of me as a little kid,” I said, glancing up at him through the strands of blonde hair framing my face.

“You think I see you as a little kid?” He was incredulous. “Believe me when I say that that is far from how I see you. Maybe it would be easier if I could see you that way, but I don’t. I can’t,” he breathed.

He was so close to me that our faces were less than an inch apart. I swallowed, seeing the quick movement of his pulse at his neck. My eyes moved to the sinful curve of his lips, suddenly wanting desperately to taste them again.

The kiss was unexpected, but at the same time not. I’d been waiting for it to happen again.

He pulled me towards him, my legs tangling with his as we fell back onto the ground. I shivered as he nibbled on my bottom lip, winding both my hands into his hair as his own roamed my back. My shirt had ridden up a little, his hands scorching the naked skin of my back as they pressed me even closer to him.

I was breathless as I broke the kiss. My hands moved from his hair, slipping under his shirt as I straddled him. He sucked in a breath as I made contact with his stomach, his heartbeat seeming to rise to an impossible rate as I trailed my fingers down his chest.

“God, April,” he said, the words a breathless plea that I felt in every cell of my body. Placing a hand on the back of my head, he pulled me down towards him, kissing me again. My hip came to rest firmly – intimately – against his. He seemed to freeze at the movement and suddenly rolled us so that I was no longer on top of him, but at his side, both of us facing each other.

“I don’t have anything to wear!” Phoenix’s voice reached us before he did, and we both scrambled to straighten up. He appeared at the doorway of the living room a moment later, looking frazzled. “Poppy is working double shifts all this week. She’s only free tonight. I asked her to dinner. What am I going to do?” He looked panicked.

“You called her?” I said blankly, my mind struggling to focus on anything other than Kellan.

“I haven’t prepared,” he said, beginning to pace.

“It’s a date, mate, not a pop quiz,” Kellan said, standing up. He clapped Phoenix on the back. “Be yourself. You’ll be fine.”

“I can help you choose something to wear,” I offered, getting up.

“Thank you,” he said, looking relieved.

There was a pause as I followed Phoenix out into the hallway before Kellan caught up to us.

“I can give you a male’s perspective,” he said gruffly.

He checked his phone quickly as we made our way upstairs before putting it back into his pocket.

“How did the meeting with Nathan go?” I asked him, having gotten distracted from inquiring earlier.

“Good. It was pretty straightforward. I know what I’m doing. I just gotta wait for the call telling me it’s time to go in.” He looked completely at ease as he said this.

“When is that likely to be?”

“It could be today. It could be a week from now. The warehouses’ operating hours are unpredictable, but there are always people there. Nathan’s agents will report back to him when there’s a big shipment and one of the warehouses is likely to be mostly empty. I’ll go in then.”

I nodded, feeling on edge just thinking about it.

We stepped into Phoenix’s bedroom, and I glanced around. I’d never actually been inside it before. It wasn’t the master suite in the house, but another room that looked a lot like the guest room I was currently occupying. I’d peeked into the master bedroom when I’d first arrived, amazed by its grandeur. I hadn’t asked, and Phoenix hadn’t said, why he slept in this room when he had one as splendid as the master bedroom.

His room was a little cluttered, but it fell short of being messy. It was a little too organized for that, with a number of shelves in place containing Phoenix’s things. There were only two computers in the room – a miracle for Phoenix – and both of them were in pieces. It looked like Phoenix had been dismantling them when he was supposed to be sleeping.

Clothes were thrown haphazardly onto the bed, and the closet doors were wide open, showcasing the disarray inside.

“Where are you taking her?” I asked.

“It’s this little restaurant about ten minutes from here. Nothing too fancy, but the food is amazing,” Phoenix told me, following me inside the closet.

“So you wanna dress semi-casual,” I told him, looking through the clothes. Most of them were on hangers, only a few currently occupied the closet floor. It was neater than my old closet back at the apartment. I hadn’t lived at our new house long enough to turn my closet into an unholy mess. The thought sent a pang through me.

Kellan leaned against the wall, watching me, instead of looking through clothes.

“Oh, before I forget.” Phoenix hurried over to the bedside table. There were a number of bottles and pills littering the top of it, as well as a small rectangle box the size of my smallest finger. Picking it up, he passed it to Kellan, who was looking a lot more alert. “I tested it out last night, and it works fine. The sound quality on it is amazing.”

“And it transmits the recordings straight to your computer?” Kellan asked, bringing the little device up to his eye. The second bug, I realized. The one he planned to plant so we could also hear what was going on in the warehouse.

“Yeah,” Phoenix said. “It has an atomic battery, so it’s bigger that the FBI bug. But at least you won’t have to attach it to a power supply. I’ll work on getting more for the other warehouses.”

“Thanks, man,” Kellan said, placing the bug in his pocket.

“I hope this works,” I said, biting my lip.

“So do I, ballerina.” Kellan sighed. “So do I.”

* * *

I shoved both our plates into the microwave after Phoenix left. It was late and we were both starving. Phoenix had walked out looking remarkably more composed, dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a navy blue button-down shirt. I’d convinced him to trade his sneakers in for leather shoes and had run a brush through his unruly red hair. He’d cleaned up very nicely. Poppy would be impressed.

Kellan seemed a little quiet as the food revolved around in the microwave. “I’d take you out on a date – if I could.”

I looked at him, surprised. His brows were furrowed and he looked as though this had been seriously bothering him. “I never considered you as a romantic.”

“Not a romantic.” Kellan thought about it for a moment. “For you, maybe I could be.”

My smile faded slowly as I scrutinized him. “You know I don’t care, don’t you?”

Kellan’s eyes bore into my face. “I don’t know. You were flapping about, excited for Phoenix’s date–“

“Oh, shut up,” I said with a light laugh. “I was not flapping about.”

I was secretly thrilled at what he was saying.

He wanted to take me out on a date.

I moved, stepping hesitantly into his arms. Any physical contact between us had always been initiated by Kellan. But it felt right – natural – to step into his arms.

“When this is all over...” he promised, his hands coming to rest on the small of my back. I melted into his arms, both of us stilling when his phone started ringing. He seemed reluctant to let go of me, but pulled his arms back to reach for his phone. His face hardened as he looked at the caller ID.

“Nathan?” I guessed, apprehension filling me. He nodded, bringing the phone to his ear.

“Yes?” he said, and then paused, glancing at the clock on the wall. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

It was the call he’d been waiting for. It was happening. He was going into one of the warehouses.

* * *

“That’s the main exit,” Nathan said a while later, pointing to a spot on one of the floor plans. There were three blueprints in total, all pinned to a wall of the van. “Out of all of them, this is the most used warehouse. Though it will be relatively empty tonight, it is likely that there will be some people around. Stealth is essential.”

Kellan and I had met Nathan in the middle of nowhere. There were three big black vans parked on the road, their windows tinted so that nothing was visible from outside. Nathan had been inside one, Max and some other men with him.

The inside of the SWAT van looked a lot like what I’d seen on TV. There was a small table with chairs, a lot of small monitors on the walls, and endless keyboards with buttons and switches.

One of Nathan’s undercover agents had learned that there would be a huge importation tonight and that a lot of men would be going to retrieve it. Nathan was certain that an opportunity like this would not be coming again anytime soon. We had to seize it.

“You’d be better off using the rear exit. There’s a massive fence back there, and because there’s no storage there, it’s hardly used,” Max informed Kellan. He, along with the other undercover agents, would be going with the gang members to retrieve stolen car parts. It would be his first task for the LSG. He’d only gotten a glimpse of the warehouse just this morning. The floor prints had been drawn up by the other agents.

Kellan concentrated on them, taking in all the rooms and exits. I leaned into his side, feeling pure unadulterated fear at the thought of him going in alone.

“Here.” Nathan passed him a mic that was a lot smaller than the one Phoenix had provided. “Remember, you’ll need to attach it to a power outlet. You want to place it around here, somewhere inconspicuous.” He pointed towards the back of the warehouse on the floor plan, where there were a number of smaller rooms.

Kellan nodded impatiently. “I know. We already went through this in the morning.”

Nathan stuck his head out of the van, and beckoned someone over. “You’ll be wearing a wire the entire time. That way, we’ll be able to listen in and provide any assistance should things... go awry after you’ve planted the bug.”

I was immensely relieved to hear this. Kellan wouldn’t be completely alone while going into the wolves’ den.

“Shirt up, please,” the guy said, some tap and wires in his hand, as he entered the van.

Kellan lifted up his shirt, revealing the hard panes of his stomach. Despite how nervous I was for him, I couldn’t help but admire the view. He glanced up, shooting me a droll smile as though he’d guessed the direction of my thoughts.

“Okay.” Nathan clapped his back once Kellan’s shirt was back in place. “We better get going. This surveillance van will be staying here. We’re taking another one.”

Kellan and I hung back a little as we exited the van. Max and Nathan both strode towards the other van where there were guys standing in SWAT uniform outside it.

“Be careful,” I whispered to Kellan. His hand trailed down my arm, leaving goose bumps across my skin as he reached for my hand. I gave it a squeeze.

He shot me a steady, confident look. “I’ll be fine. I’ve had lots of practice sneaking into places I shouldn’t be in, ballerina.”

Despite myself, I smiled. Dad had donned some pretty crazy disguises while working, wearing anything from a plumbing outfit, to golf clothes. The smile slipped from my face as we made our way towards the other van where Nathan and Max were waiting.

“Max will escort Miss. Mansten back to where you’re staying,” Nathan said. “The shipment won’t be arriving until another hour.”

Kellan placed a quick, open-mouthed kiss on my lips before nodding at Max.

I got into Max’s car, watching Kellan climb into the van. I was terrified already.

* * *

Phoenix was still on his date when I got back. I hoped that the dinner was going well. Both Phoenix and Poppy deserved someone special in their lives.

I still wished he’d hurry back.

The house seemed larger and more expansive than ever without anyone there with me. I couldn’t imagine how Phoenix did it, living here all by himself. The solitude would drive me insane.

I slipped into Phoenix’s den, the clutter in the room making it feel cozy and comfortable.

I pulled out my phone as I booted up a computer. I hadn’t talked to Axel at all today, and tried to Skype him. It rang for ages, the call going unanswered. I hoped he was doing okay. The craziness of my life hadn’t left him unaffected and I knew that he was going through some stuff with his mom.

Opening up the search engine, I paused. I didn’t actually have anything to do. An ad for a home college course popped up on the monitor, making me think. My fingers moved of their own accord, searching for different college courses for myself. It was such an ordinary task in the face of everything. But it calmed me down; making plans for the future. It helped reassure that me that there was a future.

I tried not to think about Kellan and where he was as I sat there in front of the computer. But soon, I was drumming my fingers on the desk. My knee was bouncing up and down. I kept fidgeting with my hair and glancing repeatedly at the clock.

I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard static fill the room. I looked around wildly before noticing a computer in the corner that I hadn’t noticed was switched on.

It took another moment for me to realize what was going on.

Kellan had switched the microphone on. He was inside the warehouse.

I bolted out of my chair, towards the computer, and raised the volume as high as it would go. I didn’t want to miss a thing, though I currently couldn’t decipher anything through the echoes and static filtering through the speakers.

Suddenly, the static evened out, voices becoming audible. I tensed, every muscle locking into place as though I was right there in the warehouse beside Kellan.

“Yeah, man,” a voice chuckled. “We’re making big money tonight.”

I swallowed, hardly daring to breathe. My knuckles were white as I clutched the edge of the desk in front of me.

“Hey, Chambers,” another voice yelled. Chambers?

I heard a hitch through the speakers, almost as though Kellan had drawn in a sharp breath. Could it really be Archie Chambers? That would be too much of a coincidence.

I edged closer to the speaker, my ear practically pressed against it as the voices faded to nothing.

It didn’t seem like Kellan moved at all for the next few minutes, and I worried about how many other people were inside the warehouse. Would he be able to get back out the way he’d come?

I heard some rustling, certain voices fading away, and others replacing them. There were at least five people in the warehouse with Kellan, I was sure of it. Panic cursed through my veins. What if he was discovered?

A door slammed shut, the sound reverberating across the warehouse. I drew in a sharp breath. Every second that passed, with Kellan still there, was another opportunity for him to be discovered.

There was some more crackling – it sounded like Kellan was finally moving. I heard another bang as another door shut, and then my heart stopped beating altogether, relief and dread battling equal wars within me.

As clear as day, I heard Dad’s voice come through the speakers.

“You’re welcome to try,” he said, his beautiful, familiar voice hoarse.