Chapter Seven
Kellie woke to the annoying peel of a cell phone, she could only assume was Dane’s. She had no clue where hers even was after last night. He lay beside her gloriously naked and free of any covers. That was a site she could get used to waking up to. She hated to because he looked so good, but gently nudged his shoulder to wake him.
“Dane, your phone is ringing.”
“What? Oh shit.”
He flipped over and searched the floor until he found and answered.
“Dane here.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed, all serious and business like. That was her cue to find clothes and visit the bathroom to give him some privacy. She kissed the middle of his back and crawled from the bed.
As she brushed her teeth, looking in the mirror, she saw a different person. One she didn’t know but she’d sure like to. The last twenty-four hours had been more eventful that half of her life. Having Dane on her side was another positive step toward moving forward.
When she sat to use the toilet, the muscles in her thighs protested. It hadn’t been that long had it? And never that rough but she wouldn’t complain. She liked it.
When she didn’t hear his voice anymore, she assumed Dane was done with his phone call so she emerged from the bathroom to find the room empty. She packed her pajamas away into the small bag she brought with her, left it on his floor by the door and went in search of the heavenly smell wafting down the hallway.
“Hey, I wondered where you went.”
“Sorry to disappear, I needed coffee.”
He came out from behind the island and wrapped an arm around her waist. After thoroughly kissing her, he handed her the coffee mug he had in the other hand.
“Apology accepted, thanks for the coffee.”
“Are you hungry?”
“I could probably eat, what are you offering?”
“Well, food this time, you wore me out.”
“Ha, who would have guessed that from a strapping marine like you.”
“Very funny. Have a seat, I’ll make you breakfast. We need to go over a few things.”
***
Kellie seemed so much more relaxed this morning than he’d seen her in weeks so what he had to tell her was going to be hard. The only positive to everything was that after last night, he wouldn’t be leaving her side if he had anything to say about it. She now had her very own personal security.
Dane grabbed the eggs and some other ingredients from the frig to make omelets for them while he tried to find a way to explain the next part.
“You know I can take it right?”
“What?”
“You’re beating around the bush, avoiding trying to tell me whatever it is that’s bothering you. You don’t have to though. I can handle it.”
He knew that and it was probably an insult to her to keep it from her. He hesitated only because he hated to see her scared.
“So, I’m just going to come right out with it. There was a break-in at your place last night.”
“What? How do you know? Is that what your phone call was about?”
“One question at a time, I’m not that quick.”
“Oh, I beg to differ.”
Rare sexual humor, that’s a new twist.
“Okay, we’ll explore that thought later. The call I got this morning was about your house. Do you remember when I told you I was going to contact some of my friends at The Phoenix Agency?”
“Yes, we were going to meet them today I thought.”
“Well kind of, but only based out of necessity.”
“What does that mean exactly?”
“There were a few things I left out of the scenario last night.”
“I was gathering that. Would you like to explain now?”
“Basically, I blame myself for you being targeted.”
“Why’s that?”
Dane finished the omelets and placed the plates on the counter in front of her, then took a seat beside her.
“You’ve helped me with a lot of cases, which I am very appreciative for, but inadvertently, that put you right in the middle of the shit storm.”
“It was my choice to help you so that’s not your fault.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that then. Anyway, when I talked to the Phoenix last night, we decided to do a little covert op since you wouldn’t be at your house. More than likely, they wouldn’t hit my house twice in two days so we put out some bogus information that you would be relaxing in your home for the night because I had to go out of town.”
“Who did you tell this information to?”
“That I can’t really tell you but it’s only for your safety for now.”
“So, did it work?”
“Partially. They did catch someone breaking in but as we expected, it was only a runner.”
“A runner? What is that?”
“A runner is someone that goes ahead of the group to make sure the scene is clear. Basically, checking to make sure they don’t all get caught and are able to pull off the kidnapping.”
“So, you caught this runner? Does that mean it’s over now?”
“We did but that doesn’t mean it’s over. He was expendable. Has a rap sheet a mile long but only misdemeanors, nothing major. They turned him over to the locals and this B&E will just be added to his record. Might spend a little jail time.”
“That’s it? What about the other people he was running for?”
“That’s all for now. We’ll be working closely with The Phoenix Agency to hunt down the real threat. In the meantime, you’ve got me.”
“Well, that’s all I really need.”