Page 55 of Devious Obsession
He won’t.
There’s a wariness in his eyes. A man who has seen everything and wishes he hadn’t. How long before I wear the same expression? How long before the weight of my world crushes me, hurting Elana in the process?
“It’s going to get dark soon. When that sun sets, you won’t have an easy time of getting out of here.” He shuts down his computer and picks up a pen. He scribbles out a note on a card. “All I ask is a little warning.”
Taking the card, I glance at it. Two phone numbers. The first is a direct line to Cole O’Brien. The second is his own, a burner, most likely.
“Artem?” Elana’s voice carries from the top of the stairs. After her experience with the flash bang, she hesitates to come down here again.
I fold the card and tuck it into my back pocket. “There will be another way.”
He straightens, tightening his jaw. “If there isn’t, don’t hesitate.”
Elana stands at the top of the stairs watching us climb up to her. Her brow is pulled together. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I slide my hand around to her back and lead her into the living room. “We need to get going.”
She tilts her head, inspecting my expression. When she can’t find the answers she wants, she leans to check Seamus. “What did you do?”
He laughs, a deep guttural laugh that I remember from my childhood. Before the long disappearances started happening.Before my mother stayed up all night worrying when he didn’t come home. Before he turned his back on us and walked away.
“He didn’t do anything. Get your shoes. If the sun sets, we’re stuck here until morning.”
That gets her moving.
Seamus packs up the medicine for myself with extra syringes and a bottle of antibiotics.
Once I have her in the car, I turn to Seamus, holding out my hand to him.
His eyebrows lift.
“Take care of yourself,” I say.
He takes my hand. There was a time when his was like a paw wrapped around my tiny fist. I’d thought nothing could take down my father. Until it did. But my hand fits perfectly against his now. We’re equal in size.
“You do the same.” He eyes the car behind me. “What are you going to do if her brothers aren’t willing to allow the hired gun to have their sister?”
“Nothing will make me leave her,” I say with finality.
He gives a sharp nod. “I thought the same thing once.”
There’s emotion in his voice, small and soft, but it’s there.
“Go.” He clears his throat. “Once the sun starts going down, it’s fast.”
I leave him standing on the porch of his cabin, his hideaway from the rest of the world. Alone.
“What did you two do while I was asleep?” Elana questions as I take the SUV through the hidden roads of the woods.
“Nothing.”
“You looked tense when you came back up. Did he piss you off again?”
I smile. “No. He surprised me is all.”
“Surprised you? Since when is there a moment when you don’t know everything?” She teases, sliding off her shoes.
“It’s an hour drive back to the cabin; get some sleep.” I place my hand on her thigh, squeezing. “You won’t be getting much rest once we get there.”
