Chapter Thirteen
Cora woke slowly. She was pressed up against a warm blanket. She burrowed closer to it but realized it wasn’t as soft as her down comforter. This blanket also had a heartbeat. Cora’s eyes popped open and saw a chest. A very male chest. The memories came flooding back. She had been upset about leaving, and Liam had been staring at her from her doorway. At that moment she had been tired of fighting a losing battle with him. She wanted him, and she was tired of denying herself, and so they made love. She remembered when he told her that once he was inside her, there would be no going back. So, were they a couple again? She guessed so. Hannah would be so thrilled when she told her later. Oh my God. Hannah. Liam was going on a mission today, and she would be staying with Hannah for a few days. She had to finish packing. Cora started scooting out of bed, but an arm wrapped around her and pulled her back.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Liam asked her drowsily.
“I need to finish getting packed.”
Liam cracked one eye open and glanced at his wrist watch and groaned. “It’s only six in the morning woman. I think packing can wait.”
“But we need to leave soon.”
“We still have some time.” He settled her tighter against his chest and breathed in her cinnamon scent. His erection bobbed, begging for attention.
“Well now that we’re both up what do you suggest we do since you won’t let me pack?” Cora glanced down and saw the comforter beginning to tent.
“I can think of a few things?” Liam husked as he pulled Cora over his chest.
“Only a few? How disappointing.” Cora smiled as she straddled him and slid up and down his erection.
“You won’t be disappointed here in a minute.” He promised as he placed his hands on her hips and thrust up into her. This was already turning into a fantastic morning.
An hour later Cora was finished showering and packing. Liam had left when she went to shower so he could go for a run. He said if he stayed any longer he might take her in the shower. As tempting as it was if they went another round they would be late to Aaron’s and then late for the plane to take them to God knew where. So, Cora used her quiet time to finish packing. Cora looked around her house and felt a sense of melancholy come over her. It was just a house but it meant so much more to her. Her grandparents had built on the land when they first married in 1948 and built everything by hand. She could see her grandmother’s personal touches in every room. When her grandmother willed it to her ten years ago, she had been shocked. Her grandmother knew Cora needed her own space, and a place she could finally put down roots, but couldn’t afford anything. This house was perfect for her. It made her feel closer to her grandmother, and gave her the freedom to do the work she loved. She hated leaving it, even if it was for a few days or weeks.
“What’s that look for?” Liam asked her from the doorway.
Cora jumped at his sudden appearance. “I was just thinking how much I’ll miss this house.”
Liam walked up to her and enfolded her in his arms. “It’s only for a short time. As soon as I get back, you can move back in. Just remember it’s temporary.”
“I know It’s foolish. It’s only a house, but it means so much more to me.”
“And it will be here when you get back. I’ll grab a quick shower, and we’ll go. I’m sure Hannah’s dying to see you.” Liam kissed her on the forehead, and went upstairs.
Cora didn’t feel so certain about that. Once Hannah knew of her connection to Alejandro, Hannah might wish for Cora to go back to her house. Then again Hannah never ceased to amaze her. She was glad to get some alone time with Hannah while the boys were gone. She had never had a girlfriend until Hannah, and they had become fast friends. Cora valued her friendship. Hannah was always honest with her. It would give Cora a chance to really think about her situation with Liam. While she loved him, she didn’t know if he could ever love her in return. In all their time together, he had never once told her. Sharing his secret meant a lot to her, but it didn’t honestly mean that he loved her. She didn’t know if she was strong enough to carry both their love. She had a lot to think about while Liam was gone.
Before Cora knew it, Liam was showered and dressed, and they were headed for Aaron’s. He lived a few miles away from the base on several acres that he kept closely monitored. High stone walls surrounded the property and Aaron had security cameras on every corner. Liam pulled in front of the gate and had to punch in a code and do a retinal scan. As the gate opened a snort escaped Cora.
“What’s so funny?” Liam asked as they pulled up the long driveway.
“I was just seeing the poor deliveryman having to deliver packages here and having to go through all that.”
Liam chuckled at the thought. “I guess it’s a good thing then that he picks up everything he needs on base and things that do need to be shipped end up in front of the gate.
“Doesn’t he worry about people stealing stuff?”
“Look where he lives, sweetheart. No one lives out here, and he has so many security cameras that if someone did steal from him, he would find them quickly.”
Good point.
They got out of the car, and Liam carried Cora’s duffel and took her hand as they walked up the steps to his two-story house. The house itself wasn’t much to look at. Chipped and faded white paint with blue shutters. The front porch was missing a few floorboards. It was a far cry from her home.
Liam leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Just remember, it’s only for a few days.” He said, as if reading her thoughts.
Cora smiled and turned to face Liam. How had he known what she was thinking? She gave him a brief kiss before Liam rang the doorbell. Aaron answered immediately as if he had been waiting for them. He probably had been watching them on the security cameras he had located all over the property.
“Glad you made it, Cora. Come on it. I’ll give you a quick tour then we have to go.”
“I don’t want you to have to rush,” Cora assured him. “I’m sure Hannah can tell me where everything is if you need to get going.” Cora didn’t think they had been running late, but she didn’t want to keep them from their mission.
“Hound is just a worry wart by nature, sweetheart. We still have time for a tour if you want one 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 equipment I had sent over get set up?”
Liam was 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 to leave 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 heart out.
“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’t track 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?
“We aren’t doing anything illegal here, sweetheart,” Liam assured 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. We talked 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 think that 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 said before 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.
Liam took 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 until Liam got back.
“Not this trip. He and a few of his 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.” Liam took Cora’s hand and kissed her 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 different bases. 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 want Liam to 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 see how I do on this vacation first before you start booking hotels.” Cora liked the idea of going on a vacation with Liam. 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.
Liam pulled her into his arms one last time and kissed her slowly and deeply. Cora was reaching up to pull him closer when someone cleared their throat. Cora stepped back quickly and kept her head down to hide her blush. Liam just 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 times had she stood like this and waved her parents goodbye? Wondering if they would ever come back. She had done the same with Liam before and yet for some reason, this time felt different. There were no more barriers between them. This was a new beginning for them. Liam would come back to her. He couldn’t leave now that they were just getting back together.
“It never gets any easier,” Hannah said absently.
“No, but they need you to be strong for them anyway. It gives them strength.”
After the car turned out of the driveway and disappeared, Hannah turned to face Cora. “Do you want to talk about you and Liam?” She asked wiggling her eyebrows.
Cora wasn’t ready to dive right in but knew her friend wouldn’t give her any reprieve unless she did. Cora turned to face Hannah and saw a great shadow next to her. It was Bulldog scowling down at her.
“You shouldn’t remain out here. You make for an easier target.”
Cora found herself looking out the perimeter wall for any sign of danger then felt foolish. The guy was obviously just over paranoid.
“Thank you, Charlie, for the warning,” Hannah said sweetly to him and pulled Cora back into the house.
“You know him?” Cora asked.
“Of course,” Hannah said with a quizzical brow. “He was there when I was rescued. He and a few of his teammates got here yesterday. I’m so glad they could be here. I feel so much better about having them here while Ben is gone.”
“Is he always so straightforward like that?”
“You mean his short brisk tone? Yeah, but you get used to it. Charlie has been in the Army most of his life and grew up in a military family like you. He sees danger everywhere.”
“Well, you’ve certainly gotten to know him.”
Hannah shrugged. “He did save my life and what else has there been to do around here? Ben and the guys have been planning war and keep the little lady out of the way. I needed someone to talk to. “
Because Charlie screamed come talk to me.
Cora did feel guilty she hadn’t stayed in contact with Hannah since she had to leave Ben’s home. The woman had been through more than Cora had and yet she stayed so positive. “I’m sorry I haven’t called you more.”
Hannah waved her apology away. “Cora, you have a life. A job, a home. I don’t have any of that yet. I have been on the move so much lately, I haven’t had a chance to relax and just breathe. And with another threat from Alejandro-” Hannah paused to shudder. “I don’t think I’ll feel truly relaxed until we know where he is and is gone for good.”
Cora’s guilt tripled. “Hannah there’s something I have to tell you about Alejandro.”
Hannah cocked her head waiting for Cora to continue. “I swear I didn’t know at the time, but I’ve been working with Alejandro. He contacted me a week ago to help set up security for his accounts. I had no idea who he was. I hadn’t even met him. Liam explained who he was and your connection. I promise I’m going to cancel my contract with him and we are going to find him once and for all.” Hannah just stared at her blankly. That didn’t bode well for her at all. “Are you mad at me?” Cora expected her anger. She deserved it. Cora had aided a criminal. A criminal who did unspeakable horrors to Hannah. Cora didn’t think she could ever forgive herself.
“I’m not mad, Cora.” She couldn’t have heard Hannah right. She forgave her that easily?
“You’re not?”
Hannah shook her head. Her hair swung with the motion. “Ben had already told me after we stopped at your house. At first, I was confused, but I knew you would never work with someone like that knowingly.”
A weight seemed to lift off her shoulders. “Never,”
“Then there’s nothing to forgive. The guys will find Alejandro, and we can finally put all of this behind us.”
Hannah led Cora up to her room. “I can’t wait.” Cora smiled at Hannah feeling at ease.
“Perfect, now I want to hear about you and Liam.” Hannah squeezed her arm and laughed at Cora’s groan.
~
The next four days flew by. During the day, Cora and Hannah would walk the property, with an escort and have picnics or just enjoy the outdoors. Cora would get some work done in between while one of Charlie’s teammates monitored all the security cameras. She had been trying to locate Alejandro through his accounts, but he must have his own IT guy because she wasn’t getting anywhere except for firewalls. She was having as much luck as Aaron had. Her house remained quiet which she was thankful for but Ortiz “Oreo”, one of Charlie’s teammates, told her that it could always mean someone had been watching the house and knew no one was there now. That didn’t make Cora feel any safer.
That night Cora couldn’t sleep. She had this terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was going to happen and soon. She had no idea when Liam was going to come home, and she knew she couldn’t tell Hannah and make her worry for no reason. Hannah had already had one flashback since Cora’s staying there. Hannah wanted to see the base psychologist, but Charlie told her that she was restricted to the base until Midas and his team got back. Charlie had only brought two of his teammates with him and they couldn’t properly monitor the computers, and take her to base. Cora figured they could if they wanted to, but he wanted to keep them close to the house and weapons. It wasn’t like they could go on base heavily armed. Cora had talked to Hannah about her flashbacks as best she could. Cora wasn’t very good at giving advice, but she was a good listener. Hannah had been allowed to call the base therapist, and that helped a lot.
Since Cora couldn’t sleep she decided to wander the halls and saw everyone was asleep, unlike her. She thought she might do some work on the computer when she saw the front door ajar. Thinking it was odd Cora went to investigate. She found Charlie sitting on a chair with his feet up on the rail staring up at the sky. Cora started to turn away when he spoke to her.
“Couldn’t sleep?” How had he known she was there? Cora stepped out on the porch and sat in the chair next to him.
“I feel something coming,” she felt foolish saying it out loud.
“Your instincts aren’t wrong.” Was all he said, still staring off.
“What do you mean?”
“Oreo noticed heavy movement coming in through the airport and cars parking in the area. They're coming. They’ll be here before dawn.” He said nonchalantly.
“How can you remain so calm?” Cora snapped and stood up. “This place may have a lot of weapons, but it won’t protect us from all of them. However, many there are. It doesn’t change the fact there are only three of you.” Her nerves were frayed and the anticipation was killing her, and here was Charlie telling her they were about to be attacked by many men and he didn’t seem to care.
Charlie turned and faced her. His scowl seemed deeper with only the house light in the background and casting shadows. “You’ll just have to trust me on this. I’ve been doing this a long time, Cora. Against worst odds.”
She doubted it.
“Do you have some magical army coming to the rescue I don’t know about?”
“I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”
Realizing she wasn’t going to get any real answers out of him Cora stomped back into the house to her room. She couldn’t wait for Liam to get home. If she was even alive to greet him when he came home. Heavy movement coming. That didn’t bode well at all for them.
“Hurry home, Liam,” Cora whispered before she fell into a restless sleep.