Chapter 13

 

Levi

 

“Do I look ok?”

Elle.

Fuck, but did I love her. 

We were currently in Tucson.  We spent the night in Phoenix last night and got up this morning to make the two-hour drive to Tucson, where she was performing for the third time in as many nights.  Elle performed last night and, thankfully, there was no further contact from her stalker. 

That situation had been pissing me off since day number one when Elle showed up at my office terrified out of her mind, but now I was beyond pissed.  My girl was being targeted by someone for reasons unknown to all of us and every time I turned around my team and I were hitting dead ends.

I’ve had previous cases where the person of interest was elusive and very difficult to locate.  We worked our asses off and would eventually find our target.  It required a great deal of patience and level-headedness.  This is something I’ve always had the luxury of having, the ability to persevere and remain rational when things were getting difficult. 

Unfortunately, now that Elle was involved, I was finding that I didn’t have so much tolerance and I was afraid that it’d eventually make me do something illogical.  I wasn’t prepared to see harm come her way and what I told her brother the day we filled him in on the situation was the truth.  I’d lay down my life to protect her if it ever came to pass.

My little ray of sunshine.

There was no better way to describe her.

She lit up my world just being in it.  It was evident her friends adored her.  When she got on stage, I knew her fans felt the same way.  Elle was the kind of person that made everyone happy.  When she walked into the room, she didn’t need to be loud or obnoxious to get noticed.  She was the kind of person that most people couldn’t help but be drawn to.

Of course, I also received admission from her yesterday that she had fallen in love with me.  Now that I had that, I wasn’t liking the fact that I may need to die to keep her safe.  Obviously, I wouldn’t think twice about it, but I was finding that I very much enjoyed being with her. 

As I looked at her now, standing in front of me all dolled up ready for her show tonight, I couldn’t help but let that feeling of contentment spread through me.  And she wanted to know if she looked ok.

“No,” I answered honestly.

Her eyes rounded and she took a step back as she looked down at what she was wearing.  I had to laugh.  She couldn’t seriously think she looked bad.

“Sunshine, you don’t look ok.  You look fucking magnificent,” I quickly explained.  I didn’t like seeing the doubt in her mind.

“I was getting ready to go change my whole outfit,” she retorted.  “That wasn’t nice!”

“Sorry, Elle, but it’s just too easy to get you.  Give it some time; you’ll soon learn that no matter what you’re wearing or what your hair and makeup look like, I think you always look beautiful.”

“Levi…” she trailed off as she stepped back into me and wrapped her arms around my waist.  She pressed her cheek to my chest and held on tight.

I put one hand in her hair at her neck and kissed the top of her head.

“Are you ready for your performance tonight?” I asked.

“Yeah, but I’m exhausted.  I’m so happy I have the day off tomorrow and don’t have to perform again until Tuesday night.  Of course, having to get on a plane tomorrow is not my idea of fun either.  I hate flying.”

“So, let’s drive,” I suggested.

Elle pulled back and looked up at me.  “What?”

“If you don’t want to fly, we can drive.  You don’t have to perform until Tuesday night in LA.  From here to LA is what?  Seven hours?  I’ll drive you.”

“You’ll road trip with me?”

“To be honest, I’d prefer to do that instead of flying as well.”

“I think I really, really like you,” she joked.

I brought my lips to within inches of hers and corrected her, “I think what you meant to say is that you really, really love me.”

“That, too,” she approved just before she kissed me. 

She tasted like watermelon. 

This woman and the fucking flavored lip balms.  I used to think it was innocent, but now I had a feeling she purposely put it on before she’d kiss me.  I knew flavored lip moisturizers were a thing, but not in the variety that Elle had exposed me to.  I didn’t know any flavors existed beyond cherry and strawberry.  Oddly enough, I wasn’t sure I had tasted either of these flavors on her lips yet even though I’d spent quite a bit of time kissing her lately.  To top it off, I had yet to taste the same flavor on her more than once. 

Last night, it was pomegranate. 

Fucking pomegranate. 

Who the fuck makes pomegranate lip balm? 

Now, watermelon. 

If she kept this shit up, I’d be happy to spend the rest of my life kissing this woman and doing nothing else.

I tore my mouth from hers, kissed her on the forehead, and said, “Come on.  Let’s get you to the venue so I can get started on spending more than a few hours with you alone and uninterrupted.”

Her body visibly reacted with a shiver before she nodded at me.

She turned to walk toward the door when she stopped and inquired, “Wait.  You won’t have me alone.  What about Pierce?”

“Pierce has a plane ticket, Elle.  Not only do I want you to myself for the drive, but I’m willing to bet Pierce wants nothing to do with a seven-hour road trip in the car with us.  He’ll fly and meet us in LA.”

“Oh, ok,” she sang, approving of this arrangement.

She turned back on her heel and made her way to the door of the hotel room.  I followed directly behind her. 

Pierce was waiting for us just outside the elevator, so the three of us made our way to the venue for Elle’s performance.

A few hours later, I was relieved that we had gotten through another night on this tour without any incidents.  I walked Elle backstage to her dressing room, so she could grab her things.  When we got back there, she asked, “Do you mind staying for a drink or two?  I figure since we don’t need to worry about being on someone else’s schedule tomorrow and can go whenever we’re ready, it’s ok if we sleep in a little.  And this place reminds me a little bit of Lou’s.  I’m feeling a bit homesick and would love to just take some time to enjoy the fact that I’m almost halfway through this tour.”

I could give her that.  As much as I wanted to take her back to the hotel and keep her to myself, I also wanted to make sure she could let loose a little.  Besides, if she had a couple of drinks in her before I took her back to the hotel, I figured that wouldn’t hurt in the least.

“Sure,” I agreed.

We walked back out to the front.  I told Pierce we were going to stay so Elle could have a drink and then we’d be heading out.  He didn’t mind.

After ordering Elle a drink from the bar, we found a booth and sat down.

“You guys are going to make me drink alone?” she asked.

“I’m driving, El,” I answered.  “And I don’t drink.”

Pierce replied, “I’m on the job.  Drinking is not an option.”

“Well, if I had known that we could have just gone back to the hotel.  I feel bad now.”

I was about to respond, but Pierce attempted to convince her it was fine before I could.  “It’s been three days of performing, Elle.  You can take a minute to breathe if that’s what you need.  I don’t mind and I’m willing to bet Levi doesn’t either.  It’s ok.  Just relax and enjoy yourself for a minute, honey.”

“Thanks, Pierce.  I appreciate that.”

The three of us spent the next hour or so in that booth giving Elle the break she had been craving.  She did a lot of talking and asked Pierce and me all about the work we do.  She wanted to know the kinds of cases we worked, which were our favorite, which we despised, and how dangerous things got sometimes.  We answered what we could and I did my best to make sure she knew that no matter what the danger was that we faced, my entire team was highly skilled.  We knew what to do in a high-pressure situation and had the training to handle ourselves well.  The last thing I wanted was her worrying about what could potentially happen. 

After finishing her third drink, Elle announced, “Ok, I’m going to head to the ladies’ room and then we can get out of here.  Thanks again for giving me this.”

As I stood to let her out of the booth, I responded, “Anytime, sunshine.  Whatever you need, just ask.”  I squeezed her hand before I continued, “I’m watching you all the way there and back.  Ok?”

She looked toward the bathroom.  It was only about twenty-five feet away from where we were seated and, after realizing I had a clear line of sight to the door of the ladies’ room, Elle nodded her head at me.

Elle took off and I watched her all the way there.  She pushed through the door and stepped inside.  I sat, watching the door like a hawk.  I didn’t have to look at Pierce to know he was doing the same.

A waitress came up and asked if we needed refills.  I never took my eyes off the bathroom door.  I heard Pierce tell her we were all good.  A few minutes had passed at this point, and that’s when the door opened and Elle stepped out.  Her eyes locked with mine and I knew immediately something wasn’t right.

Not taking my eyes off Elle, I stood and ordered the waitress to call the police.

“What?  Why?”

“Just do it,” I demanded.

“Reynolds,” I bit out.

He was moving right behind me.  As we made our way across the room toward her, I saw it happen.  A man in a hooded sweatshirt grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down the hall in the opposite direction.  A woman, who I hadn’t seen before, had been standing directly behind Elle and followed them down the hall.

Pierce and I struggled to make our way through the crowd of people and all I could think about was getting to my girl.

We made it to the hallway, where the crowd had significantly thinned out, and took off running.  Sure enough, there was an exit door that led out to the parking lot in the rear of the building.  We stepped outside and I scanned the dimly lit lot searching for signs of her.

“There,” Pierce said from beside me as he pointed in the direction of where Elle was being held up against a car with this man hovering over her pressing his body into hers.

She was on the other side of the parking lot.

Fuck.

We ran.       

I could tell she was struggling against him.

Fight, sunshine. 

We were maybe fifty feet away when Elle yelled out to me.

“Levi!”

She was terrified.

His hand was around her throat, so she struggled to get out that single word.

The man turned, saw us, and threw Elle to the ground.  He moved to get in the passenger’s side of the SUV. 

“I’ve got her,” I shouted to Pierce.  “Do not let him get away.”

Pierce made it to the side of the SUV before the man could even close the door.  He ripped him out of the seat and took him down to the ground.  I went to Elle. 

“Elle, are you hurt?” I asked as I picked her up and carried her away from the side of the vehicle. 

“Oh my God,” she cried in my arms.

“Shh, it’s ok.  I’ve got you,” I said softly.

She buried her face in my chest and cried.  I did what I thought she needed in that moment and that was to hold on tight to her.  I heard the sirens in the distance.  They were muffled by Elle’s crying and the grunts coming from the guy Pierce was currently apprehending.

“You’re safe, sunshine.  Please tell me if you are hurt.”

She was so wound up and just pressed her body further into mine.

Minutes later, the police arrived.

The waitress I told to call them had apparently followed behind Pierce and me and saw what was happening.  When the police pulled into the lot, she directed them around the back to where we were. 

Clutching Elle tight to my body, I moved closer to where the SUV had been parked so that I could hear the interrogation and what was being said.  In the midst of me taking care of the only thing that mattered in the last few minutes and Pierce handling the animal that put his hands on my woman, the woman who had followed behind Elle out of the bathroom took off in the vehicle. 

Pierce was giving a description of the vehicle to the officer along with the partial plate number he managed to catch before the woman drove off.  My guys were fucking fantastic.  Pierce not only took down the guy who grabbed Elle, but while doing that he also got a partial plate number for the vehicle the second suspect was driving.

Pierce then went on to explain what happened from the moment Elle performed until the moment they arrived.  

A second officer walked over to where Elle and I were standing and explained, “I need to ask her some questions.”

I looked down at her and asked, “Elle, can you do that now?”

She took a minute to gather her bearings and pulled out of my arms.  She stayed close to my side and I kept an arm wrapped around her shoulders.

“Can you tell me what happened, darlin’?”

Elle’s voice was trembling and scared when she murmured, “We should have just gone back to the hotel after the performance.”

“What happened is not your fault, Elle,” I assured her. 

I looked to the officer and shared more of the back story.

“I’m Levi Cunningham, owner of Cunningham Security in Windsor, Wyoming.  Elle is currently under the protection of my firm as we investigate a case for her.  She’s being stalked -- someone entered her apartment a few weeks ago and has been contacting her ever since.  We’re doing everything we can to locate the individual, but have been unsuccessful so far.  She’s a well-known singer and has a pretty sizeable fan base.  We’ve narrowed the list down to possible suspects, but it spans several hundred people so it’s taking time to go through.”

I paused a second and Elle started speaking again, “I’ve had performances for the past three nights.  I merely wanted to relax for a bit, so we stayed so I could have a couple of drinks.  We should have just gone back.”

Her fingers dug into the skin at my side as she tried to fight back her emotions. 

I spoke to the officer to continue the story, “We were about to leave, but Elle needed to use the restroom first.  As soon as she opened the door to walk out of the bathroom, I knew something wasn’t right.  My partner and I started moving across the bar toward her and thankfully got out here before they could get away with her.”

The officer interrupted, “We know there was another individual involved who took off in the SUV.  Did I hear someone say it was a woman?”

“Yes,” I answered.

“She had a knife,” Elle added.

I froze. 

“Pardon?” the officer asked.

“I was just washing my hands and noticed her standing there staring at me in the mirror.  I was creeped out.  When I turned to walk toward the door to leave, she held out a knife and stopped me.”

She stopped speaking and took in a deep breath.  Her body leaned further into mine.  I took her weight and squeezed her shoulder to give her the support she needed.

“If I didn’t do what she said, she told me I’d know what it felt like to have the cold metal blade penetrate through the skin of my back.” 

She couldn’t fight it anymore.  Elle began to cry.  I couldn’t say I wasn’t a mess of emotions as well.  My Elle.  Scared. With a knife at her back.

“I remember seeing Levi when she opened the bathroom door,” she got out through her sobs.  “I remember being grabbed, but nothing else until his face was in mine delivering a message.”

My body went tense.

“What was the message?” the officer asked.

Her body began trembling as she, I’m assuming, mentally recalled what he said to her.  It took her a bit to speak, but she managed to relay the message, “You think you can have it all?  You better watch your back, you greedy, selfish cunt.”

Pierce was standing nearby, heard what Elle said, and when I looked him in the eyes he turned to walk back to where the fuckwad who delivered that message to Elle was standing.

My attention came back to the officer when he spoke again.

“Was that all?”

She took in a deep breath, shook her head, and ended, “Looking forward to seeing you soon.”

“Were you hurt, Ms. Blackman?”

She held up her hands and answered, “Just some cuts and scrapes from when he threw me to the ground.”

“I can call a paramedic to come and have you checked out,” he offered.

“No, it’s ok.  I’d really like to just leave and go back to my hotel now.”

He nodded and brought his eyes to mine.  “Do you have a card?”

I pulled one out of my pocket and handed it over to him.

“I’ll reach out to you with any updates.  We’ll get our men searching for the second suspect and deliver any information we find that can be helpful to you and your team.”

“Appreciate it, Officer.”

“No problem,” he returned.  His eyes went back to Elle and he continued, “We’ll need you to come down to the station to make an official statement.  I hate to have to make this any worse than it already is, but it’s protocol.  If you want to get this over with, I’ll call over and let them know you’re coming now.”

“Ok,” she squeaked out as she wrapped her arm around my waist and squeezed.

The officer walked away to notify one of the several other officers that had arrived on the scene while I held on to Elle. 

I looked over to find Pierce in the face of the man he’d taken down mere minutes ago.  Pierce was attempting to find out who the bastard was that hired this guy so we could put an end to Elle’s misery.  From what I could tell based on the guy’s reaction to Pierce’s inquisition, he had no idea who hired him.  My guess is that he was somehow contacted anonymously and he likely did it for money, not really caring or considering about the consequences of what he was being hired to do.  Pierce could tear someone down with the best of them, but Elle was scared and had already dealt with enough, so I decided we needed to waste no more time in getting her back to the hotel.

“Reynolds,” I called out.

He looked to me and I jerked my head, indicating he could leave it alone.  Pierce took one last look at the asshole, said something menacing, and walked over to us.

“You ok, rock star?” he said to Elle as soon as he was standing in front of her.

She nodded and stated, “Yeah.”

“Were you hurt?”

“Just a few scrapes and cuts from when he threw me on the ground.  Other than that, it’s just the emotional wounds.”

Pierce’s eyes came to mine.  “I’ll drive,” he started.  “Keep her in the back with you.”

We walked to the rental, got in, and Pierce drove us to the station so Elle could make her statement.  After, Pierce drove us back to the hotel.

The three of us walked in and got on the elevator.  Finally being in a place that was well lit with mirrors surrounding us, I saw just the barest hint of something I was not happy to see.  I pulled Elle’s hair back away from her neck and confirmed it.  I clenched my jaw, doing my best to tamp down the anger I felt.  Pierce saw my face, looked to Elle’s neck, saw what I did, and had the same reaction.

Marks along the skin of her neck where that vile piece of shit put his hands on her.

Pierce spoke.

“I’m calling Cruz.  Updating him.  Assuming he doesn’t need me on anything back there, I’m staying for the remainder of the tour.  On my own dime.”

I gave him a chin lift in acknowledgement, knowing if I spoke about what I just saw I’d lose my shit.

Elle lifted her head to Pierce. 

His face softened when he looked at her, but since she still hadn’t seen her own neck, she didn’t understand it. 

She looked to me in confusion. 

“Elle…” I trailed off.  “He marked you.”

“What?” she asked.

“Your neck, sunshine.”

Her head snapped to the side, allowing her to look in the mirror.  Instinctively, her hand went to her throat, where her fingertips traced over the spots that his hands had left a physical reminder of her ordeal.

Elle’s eyes welled with tears.  She tried to stay strong, but the tears rolled down her cheeks. 

The elevator arrived at our floor and the doors opened.  I ushered her out and down the hall toward our room.  As I pulled the room key out of my pocket, Pierce offered, “I’m down the hall if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Reynolds.”

“Pierce?” Elle called.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you,” she said softly.

He gave her a chin lift and turned toward his room. 

I pushed open the door to our room and let Elle in ahead of me.  She walked through the suite to the bedroom and finally into the bathroom.  I followed behind her and, standing in the doorway to the bathroom, watched as she pulled her hair up and tied it up on top of her head before removing her jewelry.  After all of her necklaces, bracelets, and earrings were off, she began removing her clothes and boots.  She stepped out of the boots, pulled her top over her head, and dropped her shorts to the floor.

Elle turned to face the mirror and my heart broke for her as her hands balled up into tiny fists.

“I don’t fight bad guys,” she whispered.

What?

She continued to stare at her reflection in the mirror. 

“Elle?”

Her head turned toward me and she repeated, “I don’t fight bad guys, Levi.  You do.  I sing.  I spend too much money on lip balm.  I do not fight bad guys.”

“I know.”

“I didn’t like how it felt.  I was helpless tonight.  And terrified.  And I didn’t know what to do to help myself.  I hope I am never in a situation like that again, but I know I don’t ever want to feel powerless again.  As much as it’s not what I do, Levi, I’m begging you to teach me how to fight the bad guys.”

“Anything, Elle.  Whatever you need to make you feel safe, I’ll give it to you.  Dom can train you in self-defense.  He’s in California with us tomorrow.  If you want to start tomorrow, we’ll make it happen.  If you want to wait until we are back in Wyoming, know that we will have you covered either way.”

She visibly relaxed.  Her shoulders dropped and her fists were no longer clenched. 

“I’m sorry,” I lamented as I walked toward her.  “I should have walked you over to the bathroom.  It was a rookie mistake and you paid the price.”

“It’s not your fault, Levi.  I don’t blame you and I don’t want you blaming yourself for this.  The only one to blame is the person who’s after me.  And when you catch him, I want the chance to tell him what I think of him.  And I want to know why he did this.”

“If it’s in my power to give you that, sweetness, I will.  But know that I will not do anything that will jeopardize your safety again.”

“I know you never would,” she said softly.  She waited a moment before continuing, “Will you shower with me and then hold me tight the rest of the night?”

Fuck yes, I would.  I wasn’t sure I was prepared to let her more than an arm’s length away from me at this point. 

“Yeah.  But in between the shower and the bed, I want to take care of your hands.  I’ll call down to the front desk and get a first aid kit up here.”

“Ok,” she agreed.

“I love you, Elle.”

She smiled, the first I’d seen since before tonight’s ordeal, and returned, “I love you, too.”

At that, I turned on the shower and stripped out of my clothes.  Elle removed her bra and panties.  Then, we proceeded with a shower, first aid, and Elle being wrapped up in my arms the rest of the night.