Page 22 of Axel (Reed Hawthorne Security #6)

Savvy

Despite our talk last night, it’s been a bit awkward between us. I’ll admit that might be my fault. When he showed me the guest room, I asked him if he was sleeping in the same room. I really wasn’t thinking of sharing the same bed. Last time he protected me, he insisted on being in the same room.

He said no and showed me where he would be.

Then we parted ways until this morning. Now I’m making us egg salad sandwiches while Hunter is trying to find out when Bob’s trial is scheduled.

The courts can take a while. It’s hard to accept that Bob will be free for the duration of his entire trial.

I keep telling myself that if he doesn’t come after me in the next couple of days, he likely won’t. But deep down, I don’t believe that.

Hunter steps into the kitchen. “I’ve got good news and bad news.”

I turn around and lean against the counter. “Good first. ”

He nods. “Bob has agreed to a plea deal. He’ll be sentenced in two weeks, and it will include jail time.”

My body relaxes. “That’s great news. Then I won’t have to keep looking over my shoulder.”

He winces. “You might want to hear the bad news before you celebrate.”

I grip the counter behind me, knowing I won’t like this. “Go ahead.”

“The FBI is releasing Bennett later today. He got an attorney who convinced a judge he was entrapped. Stevens is taking the process slow to give us time.”

“Time?”

He nods. “Since Bennett knows my house, we need to leave.”

We already had to run from here once because of that man. At least this time, we can leave before he arrives.

“How much time do we have?” I ask as I turn back around and finish spreading egg salad on the bread.

“A couple of hours at most.”

Grabbing the plates, I turn and bring them to the table.

“Myers mentioned Bennett’s boss might try to kill him. Do you think that will happen?” I ask.

“Hopefully,” Hunter says. He takes the plate from me. “Thank you.”

“And you could live with that? Letting him get killed?” I ask.

He has the sandwich almost to his mouth. “Better him than you. Besides, Bennett isn’t a good guy.”

“Yes, but could you live with that? ”

“I’ve lived with worse. In combat. No, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Oh.” I’m not sure how I feel about this.

On the one hand, I don’t want Bennett out on the streets.

But do I want him dead? And Hunter seems to have no problem with the idea of people dying.

Well, that’s an overstatement. He did say Bennett isn’t a good guy.

This is what Hunter was trained to do—take out the bad guys. Was trained. Is this what he does now?

I shift in my seat as I think of how to ask. “Are you ever asked to kill someone on your work assignments?”

He sets his sandwich down. “No. But people do get killed sometimes.”

“Are you ever in danger?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

“Savvy, I’m trained for those assignments. I know what I’m doing.”

I nod. We finish our lunch in silence as I think about him in danger. He has always known what to do to get us out of each situation. Except he did get shot.

“I’m not a monster,” he says. “But I’m not going to cry when bad guys die.”

I place my hand over his on the table. “I never said you were a monster. I’m sorry you have had to do some of the things you’ve done. It must be hard.”

“Sometimes it was. But I’m okay.”

“How’s your wound?”

“Healing. It’s good.”

A loud pounding on the front door causes me to jump .

“You expecting someone?” I ask.

“No.” He glances at the back door. “Go upstairs.”

“Okay.”

I run up the stairs and into the bathroom, but I keep the door open to listen.

The front door creaks open.

“Why the hell are you pounding? I thought you might be Bob.”

“You really think he would announce his arrival?”

I recognize Durango’s voice and know it’s safe. I join them in the living room.

“Sorry to stop by unannounced,” he says. “But I finally got more information on Bennett’s boss.”

“You could have called,” Hunter says.

“No, we need to talk about this.” Durango steps over to the couch and sits down. He pulls something out of his jacket and hands them to Hunter. “Once Myers gave me a full name, I asked Trip to get some more information.”

Hunter unfolds what appears to be a stack of papers.

“I was at the office when Trip sent this. I thought it would be better to show you in person.”

I step up, trying to get a look at what Hunter is holding.

“This guy isn’t just Bennett’s boss; it’s Bennett’s cousin.”

“Myers has to know this,” Hunter says.

“His cousin? Bennett won’t run away from him. He’ll run to him. Both of them will be searching for me,” I say.

If Marco’s half as twisted as his cousin, I’ve got real problems.

Maybe this is what Myers wanted all along, to use me as bait again .

“We need to get far from here,” I say.

“It probably would be best,” Durango says.

I lean against the wall. For the best? No, what would be for the best would be for me to get back to my clients.

When I got my new phone, I checked my voicemail and had several clients checking in.

I have one listing that’s supposed to go live next week.

Maggie will steal it. I know she will. Hell, she probably stole all my clients by now.

“We can talk to Reed about trading off on watching her. I’m not sure if he had any assignments coming up for you or not,” Durango says.

“He hasn’t said,” Hunter says.

“No, I can’t keep hiding! I have clients who count on me. What am I supposed to tell them?” I ask as I sit down on the couch. I grab a pillow and hug it. I don’t want to hide anymore, but what choice do I have?

Hunter sits next to me. “This has to be hard. But you can’t be showing properties right now. Doing so would put your clients at risk, too.”

He’s right, but I still don’t like it.

“Myers did say that there is a team actively looking for Marco,” Durango says.

“Do you know what he looks like?” I ask.

Durango glances at Hunter. “Myers shared a photo with me, but it’s grainy and hard to make much out. Marco was wearing sunglasses and a baseball hat, and the photo was at an angle.”

As his words sink in, Durango takes a step backward toward the front door. “All right, let me know when you relocate. I’ll keep in touch with Trip to try to track these men down.”

“Thanks for coming by,” Hunter says as he gets up and sees him out.

Hunter returns and sits on the couch again.

I turn sideways to face him. “I have to hide from a man who may or may not be coming after me and that we have no idea what he looks like?” I ask.

“That’s correct.”

I toss the pillow aside and stand up. “For how long?”

“We don’t know.”

All the emotions I’ve been holding back bubble to the surface. My eyes well, and I can’t stop the tears from falling.

Hunter stands up and wraps his arms around me.

“I’m so angry with Bob for getting me into this mess! And I’m angry at myself for never picking up that anything was off with my boss. I really thought he was a great friend and mentor.”

He rubs my back. “I’m sorry you have to deal with all of this.”

I pull back and wipe my eyes. “All that keeps going through my mind is why? You know? Because Bob has money. He owns a couple of commercial buildings, he’s always driving a new car, and his house is huge. He doesn’t need money. So why would he do this? I can’t make sense of it.”

He takes my hand in his and sits on the couch again, so I sit next to him. “Sometimes we aren’t meant to know or understand someone’s motives. He could be spending more money than he’s making. Or someone’s blackmailing him. The reason doesn’t matter.”

I take a deep breath and lean back. “It does matter. Because two weeks ago, if you asked me about Bob, I would have said what a great guy he is. He was my mentor and helped me succeed in my career. How could I be so wrong about someone?”

He squeezes my hand. “You only saw what he wanted you to see. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy but got wrapped up in something beyond his control.”

“Wasn’t such a bad guy?”

He lets go of my hand and wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer. “All I’m saying is it’s okay if you thought he was a good man. Don’t beat yourself up about it. We’ll find out what led him down this path, and it can provide you some closure.”

“I don’t think there are any answers that will help me to understand why that man tried to kill me. I was expendable to him.”

He frowns. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

If I keep thinking about this, I’m going to spiral. “Can we talk about something else?”

“Sure.”

There are so many things I want to ask him, but right now we need a lighter topic. “Why do the guys call you Axel?”

He laughs. “That’s actually a fun story. I won an ax-throwing contest years ago. One of the guys kept calling me Ax because of it. Somehow that changed to Axel, and it’s stuck ever since. ”

“An ax-throwing contest?” I ask.

He stands up and points to himself. “You’re looking at the tri-state champion right here.”

“Wait, there’s a competitive ax-throwing league? I haven’t heard of this.”

He shrugs and sits back down. “Well, the competition was at a bar one night, but I’m pretty sure I’m the best in the area.”

I stare at this man, waiting for him to laugh, but he doesn’t. He’s serious. No, he can’t be. I have to find out.

“I’m afraid you’ve met your match because I am an actual ax-throwing champion. Not here but back home in Connecticut, where they have real lumberjacks.”

His eyes widen. “Are you demeaning my win?” Oh no, he is serious.

“No, I’m not trying to demean it. I’m saying it’s something I’m good at, too.”

A chuckle escapes his lips. Apparently, he can’t hold it in anymore, and he rolls onto his side on the couch, laughing.

“I thought you were serious!” I say. “I was worried for a minute.”

“Worried about what?”

“That you have ego issues.”

“That I have ego issues?”

I think he emphasized the word I . “What do you mean by that?”

He laughs more. “I think I like messing with you too much. ”

His gaze turns heated. I lean forward and kiss him. When I pull back, he’s smiling.

“I could get lost in you,” he says. “But we do need to get out of here.”

“Do we?” My hand goes to his hair. It’s soft and thick.

He closes his eyes. “Yes. Bennett could have already told his cousin about this place.”

He’s right. We need to get out of here now.