Chapter 16

I followed Marcus for the whole drive back to town, and I felt that he was purposely driving slow. Otherwise, he drove like an old lady, and I’d seen him drive like a normal person already. I had always been a slower driver, but since we were just getting started, I would have driven faster to keep up with him.

After following him to the airport the other day, though, I knew he typically was not so cautious and probably was just driving slow for me. It made me smile to think that he was thinking about me on his drive back to town.

When we both parked our cars in our garages, we met in between them to say goodnight. It was almost midnight, and I was exhausted. I certainly knew I would be asleep in only a few minutes after I got to bed.

“Well goodnight,” Marcus said as he hugged me.

“Night.” I turned to walk back to my house but then stopped to look at him. “Do you want to come over?”

He didn’t hesitate at all and was standing right next to me within three seconds. His enthusiasm over the invitation to come visit my house was really cute. We had spent the whole day together, and he still wanted to come over, I loved that about him.

“I think that’s a perfect idea,” Marcus said as we walked into my house.

“I don’t know how exciting and fun I’ll be; I’m pretty tired.”

“Well, I would be happy to just lie next to you for the night. I’m going to cuddle the heck out of you,” he said with a sexy hip thrust.

And that is exactly what we did. Both of us were so tired; we lay down on the bed and fell asleep on top of the covers, fully dressed. Our bodies on top of the comforter and fully dressed in our shorts and T-shirts from the night before.

It was the first time I was going to bed with Marcus without having sex. In fact, it was the first time in a really long time that I’d had a man in my bed but didn’t have sex with him. That wasn’t something I had even thought about after our first meeting. But now I was starting to get closer to him, and this was just one more step in that direction.

Somewhere in the middle of the night, Marcus and I moved under the covers because the draft from the old house was just too much. It was nice to fall asleep next to Marcus. The feeling of being next to him made it so much easier for me to actually get some sleep.

Just before dawn, I woke up to Marcus peering out the window at his house. He was hiding from someone and just barely had the blinds open. I was about to joke with him, but then I realized something serious was going on.

“What’s going on?” I said as I got up from the bed, still dressed in my shorts and T-shirt from the day before.

“I think someone is in my house.”

I came close and was about to look through the blinds, but Marcus grabbed my hand.

“Let me see. What is going on? Why would someone be in your house?”

Marcus just ignored my questions and dialed a number on his phone. I thought it would be 911 to have someone come and investigate. Although, living in Bain, Missouri meant the nearest sheriff or police officer could be a half hour away. There just was not a need to have more than a couple officers on duty in the county at any one time.

“They are here. How fast can you get here?” Marcus said to someone on his phone.

“Who is here?” I said as I went to the other window to try and look out.

I continued to keep the curtains closed to prevent the people at Marcus’s house from seeing that I was watching them. He was right; there were people in his house. I could see the curtains moving, just like the other day when I thought I saw someone in there, but this time there was absolutely no doubt about it.

“While you were gone, I thought I saw someone in your house. I came into my house and waited to see if I saw the movement again, but I did not.”

“What day?”

“I think it was the night you left town.”

“Alright.”

Marcus went back to talking to the people on his phone. I couldn’t make out everything he was saying, but it sounded like he was trying to get them to come to his house. He was calm and controlled like he knew exactly what was going on and had even expected it. I couldn’t understand how he could remain so calm with people inside his home.

“If their team could help out today, that would be great. Send them down as soon as possible.”

I stood at the window and continued to look between Marcus and his house. I didn’t know what was going on, but I could see the tension and change in Marcus, and I felt that there was something pretty dangerous about to go down.

“I need you to trust me. Do you trust me, Isabella?” Marcus said intently.

“Yes,” I replied without hesitation.

It was a little odd to me that I did trust Marcus considering everything I’d seen from him. But I couldn’t help how I felt, and my gut told me that I indeed could trust him.

“I need you to get into the closet and not to come out, even if you hear something horrible. Even if it’s been thirty minutes, and you haven’t heard from me. I need you to stay in the closet until I come back for you. Can you do that?”

I looked at him and tried to take in everything he was saying. I hadn’t hid in a closet since I was in elementary school. What could possibly be going on that it would be necessary for me to hide in my closet? I didn’t see why I couldn’t just stay in my room. Certainly, the people robbing his house weren’t going to come over to my house. Or at least that’s what I thought.

“The closet? Why?” I asked as I looked off toward the window and tried to figure out who those people were in his house and what this something horrible might be that he was talking about.

“Isabella, this is serious. Pay attention. Can you get in the closet, please?”

Marcus guided me to the closet and moved some things out of the way. He had me climb in to the back, and then he put the items in front of me.

“How long do I need to stay here?”

“Until I come for you.”

“Alright.”

I could hear Marcus moving something around, and then he left my room. It was hot and stuffy in the closet, but I tried to stay put for as long as possible. Unfortunately, that only lasted about sixty seconds, and I was up and pacing in the closet. There was a small window that I could look out, but I couldn’t see what was going on so I opened the closet door and went to the other window and looked at Marcus’s house again.

I had never been very good at listening as a child and was horrible at hide and seek. I just had to see what was going on with Marcus; there was no physical way possible that I could sit at home and watch the coverage of the event from my bedroom. I could hardly see anything from there.

Slowly I made my way down the stairs and toward the front room of my house so I could see better. It was the only option I could think of, and I knew it wasn’t going to make Marcus happy when he found out I hadn’t listened to him at all.

I watched Marcus make his way toward the front door of his own house. He really did look like some sort of professional police officer or military man. His eyes were focused, and there wasn’t anything that could distract him.

He had a gun drawn and pointed at his house in a defensive position. I had never seen him look so serious since we met. It was scary and invigorating all at the same time. I also had no idea where he had gotten that gun from since he certainly didn’t have it while we were in bed together. Maybe he had it in his coat or something like that, but I had not seen him with a gun while he was in my company.

I thought that I should go back to the closet, but then I figured it would probably be just as safe to look out my window. Really if someone wanted to kidnap me, they would eventually find me in the closet anyways.

I watched intently as Marcus made his way around the outside of his house. He would look in the windows when he thought he could see something, and then he would move around to the next window.

Most of the fight movies and other crime dramas that I watched would have already had the hero blowing the doors up and just going inside to see what was going on. I was waiting for something exciting to happen, but Marcus just kept looking around the exterior of the house. He was being extraordinarily patient with these people that were in his house.

Finally, he saw something when he looked through his front window, though, because he kicked down the front door very quickly. I opened my window to see if I could hear what was going on, and all I could hear was a faint commotion. I couldn’t hear what was being said, and before I knew what had happened, I heard gunshots ringing out throughout his house, and I ran down to the front door. I didn’t know what I could do, and I certainly wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into, but I couldn’t let something bad happen to Marcus.

As I ran out of my house and toward Marcus’s house, a black SUV pulled up. A man that I had seen at the airport with Marcus a few days before came over to me. He was forceful like Marcus, and I listened to him.

“Get back in the house. Lock the doors, and don’t come back out.”

I didn’t question him as he was carrying what looked like a very large semi-automatic gun. I turned around and went straight back into the house. I did feel a sense of relief that someone else was there, and that they would help Marcus.

The thought came to me that the people in his house must really want something bad if they kept coming back to his house to look for it. I wondered what it was that they were looking for. Certainly, it would have to be worth a lot of money or important in some other way. Perhaps they just wanted Marcus, and that was why they kept coming back.

I locked my door behind me and pushed a few things in front of the door. Then I went around the house and made sure all the other easy entrances were locked and had a few things pushed in front of the doors.

I went back to the front window to see if I could figure out what was going on, and just then I heard a rain of shots being fired. Those men that had arrived in the SUV were clearly shooting at whoever was in the house. It was like a scene from a movie, although I was only able to hear the action and not actually see what was going on.

It sounded like one shot went on by itself and then several shots went off right after that. I estimated that it was probably more than one gun going off during the event because the sounds were closer together.

My heart sank as I watched the house for a clue as to what was going on. But I just couldn’t take it. I finally opened my door and walked slowly over to Marcus’s house. I could feel the eyes on me, but I wasn’t sure if they were good guy eyes or bad guy eyes. The man who had ordered me into my house definitely seemed like a good guy, though.

I took a deep breath and moved closer and closer. I was barefooted as I walked through the gate toward his house. The calmness was sickening, actually. Those gunshots had clearly silenced someone.

There was no more gunfire going on, and one of the people that Marcus had called came bursting out of the house and running toward their SUV. I could hear him on his cell phone, and that was what scared me to death.

“Charlie tango nine, we have an officer down. Unmarked only, but send assistance now.”

I stood still by the rock garden in front of Marcus’s house and tried to look in the window to see if I could figure out what was going on.

The man went back into the house with a first aid kit, and I could hear a man grunting. I tried to just look through the window, but I couldn’t see anything. Instead, I ended up going to the front door.

I didn’t know what was going on, but I did know the man I was starting to have feelings for was in that house. I had to find out what was going on, and I had to help if they needed anything.

“What’s going on?” Stanley said as he made his way from my yard over to Marcus’s house.

I really didn’t know what was going on, but I didn’t think Stanley needed to be around there. I quickly grabbed him by the hand and walked with him back toward the garage area of my house without saying a word until we were out of sight of Marcus’s house.

“Marcus had an emergency. I’m not sure what’s going on, but you should get out of here.”

“Not without you,” Stanley said and grabbed me like he’d never grabbed me before. “If it’s dangerous, then you shouldn’t be here either. Come back to my house with me. We will call the police.”

“I think Marcus is with the police,” I said softly. “I don’t think we should get involved. His guys are there, and I’ll let you know when I know more, okay. Go back to your house,” I said as I pushed him away. “Marcus will keep me safe. You know he will.”

“Yeah,” Stanley said reluctantly as he walked away.

I knew he was going to call the police. There was no way Stanley was walking away that easily and not getting involved, but I didn’t have time to deal with that at the moment. I still hadn’t seen Marcus, and I needed to know if he was alright.

There wasn’t anyone guarding the front door, so I took a step inside the living room of Marcus’s house. What I saw was worse than any television show or crime drama. I instantly saw why there was no need for anyone to be guarding the front door.

There were two men lying on the ground who had been shot. One of them had his face looking upward, and the other had his face down to the carpet. Blood was pooling up around the men, and I felt like I was going to pass out after seeing it.

No one was in the living room and instead seemed to be going back to another room, the second bedroom in the house. It was the room I thought Marcus had been keeping those ten large duffle bags in.

Another SUV pulled up in front of the house, and two men dressed in khakis came walking up to the front door. They looked more like accountants than police officers or EMT’s, and I was more confused than ever as they looked at me for directions on where to go.

“Where is he?”

I pointed to the back room. I wasn’t sure who the person was that he was talking about, but I was pretty confident he was in the back room where all these other guys kept going. No one seemed to care that I was standing there, and whatever danger had been going on in that house seemed to have died with the two men in the living room.

I still had not seen Marcus among the men coming and going from the back room, and I started to get very worried. I needed to make my way back to that room to see what was going on, but by this point there were men standing in the hall, so I certainly wasn’t going to be able to get past them.

For the time being, I stayed in the living room and tried to look at the walls instead of down at the two dead men on the ground. It was hard not to look at those men, and I was sure that I would have the memory of their faces burned into my brain for a very long time.

“Get him to the truck now!” I heard a man yell as the other men moved out of the hallway.

I was now trapped in the living room and tried to move into the kitchen so I could be out of the way. My heart fluttered with anxiety and fear as I waited for someone to be brought out of the back room.

In my head I thought that Marcus could certainly be one of the men helping out in the situation. Just because he was involved in a shootout didn’t mean that Marcus wouldn’t be perfectly fine. In fact, I was probably being way too over dramatic, and Marcus was going to walk out of the back room any minute.

Then I saw him. The most horrible sight I could have imagined.

Marcus was being carried by two of the men dressed in black. Marcus was wearing a blue T-shirt and cargo shorts, and he looked so out of place when next to the other men because he had been in bed with me only a few minutes earlier. He was covered in blood and looked like he couldn’t even hold his head up and was about to pass out.

“Marcus, are you OK?” I said as I tried to talk to him.

Marcus did not respond.