Page 15 of Escaped (Snowbound with a Stranger #3)

The Bombshell

Eli

My shoulder ached like a motherfucker, Owen and Erin’s conversation melding into the background as my focus fixed on the amber liquid in the crystal tumbler.

I wanted that drink. It wouldn’t heal me, wouldn’t stitch the flesh Owen had sliced back together, but I hoped it might just take the edge off the insistent agony.

Glancing up at the two of them, I considered asking Erin to pass it to me—ordering her to. There hadn’t been so much obedience since we’d arrived at Owen’s, but I could understand why. She was obviously worried about me, and she presumably felt awkward calling her impromptu male guest ‘sir’ around her brother. Still, the matter would need to be addressed as soon as my strength returned.

“Please.”

Erin’s louder voice attracted my attention.

“You’re worrying me now, Owen. What is it?”

Owen sighed.

“All of this has rather taken the wind out of my sails.”

He gestured toward me.

“But when you knocked on the door, I assumed you’d heard the news somehow and had come to me.”

Inhaling, he balanced on the arm at the other end of the sofa, and for the first time, I noticed how fatigued the man looked. Granted, I’d never met Owen before, but in principle, he had the same good genetics as his sister—the same dark hair and green eyes. I hadn’t spotted his tiredness until then.

“What news?”

The urgency in Erin’s voice splintered my analysis, and as my gaze traveled between the two of them, I sensed something was wrong.

“It’s Mum.”

Owen’s eyes fell closed.

“Oh, God.”

The blood drained from her face.

“What’s happened?”

Her gaze slid to me, her eyes full of unanswered emotions. I’d seen that look on her face before, but never when I hadn’t been the cause of her confusion. That lack of control gnawed at me. Whatever had happened to their mother, she was the motivation for Erin’s current distress, not me, and that was difficult to deal with.

“She passed away.”

Owen yanked off his gloves as he explained.

“Her cleaner found her body yesterday, but it looked as though she’d been there at least a day before that.”

“She’s dead.”

Erin’s expression was vacant, as though she hadn’t understood what Owen’s words meant. “H-how?”

The tremble in her voice was the only indication that she’d registered their meaning.

“It looks like natural causes.”

Owen threw the gloves, which were covered in my blood, onto his no doubt expensive wooden flooring.

“Pneumonia, maybe.”

“I didn’t even know she was ill.”

Disbelief resounded in her voice.

“I… I messaged her recently and I didn’t get a reply… but I never imagined this!”

She flung her hands out wide as her tears started to flow.

“Erin.”

I wanted to go to her, wanted to wrap her up in my arms and take away some of the pain, but in my current state, I was rendered useless. Irritation flooded my system at my sudden impotency. I’d been a lot of things in my life, but incapable was never one of them. It was an unsettling reality.

“I’m so sorry.”

She glanced my way, her eyes filled with emotion.

“I can’t believe this.”

“I’ve been calling you.”

Owen ran his fingers through his hair.

“But I never got an answer. I’ve taken a few days away from work and had intended to go looking for you if necessary, but then, there you were at my door.”

He peered over at me.

“I’d never been so glad to see anyone before.”

“Owen.”

She ran to him, throwing her arms around him and burying her face into his shirt.

“We’re orphans now.”

“I know.”

Holding her close, his eyes welled with emotion.

“It’s going to take some getting used to.”

They stood in silence, hugging each other, and I watched on, aching, not only with pain, but also at my powerlessness.

“I’m just glad you’re here.”

Kissing her forehead, Owen withdrew and turned to me.

“I guess I have you to thank for that.”

“In a twisted way, yes…”

I managed a small smile.

“Erin tells me you looked after her. She says you saved her.”

His tone was skeptical.

“I made a promise to look after her, and despite all this,”

I nodded at my newest gunshot, “I meant it. While I can protect her, I will.”

Wrapping her arms around herself, Erin smiled sadly.

“Why do you need to protect her, though?”

Owen’s brow rose.

“That’s what I’d like to know.”

“I was her tour guide.”

That life seemed like a hundred years ago.

“It was my job to look after her, but then a huge storm moved in and we were stranded in the snow…”

My voice trailed away as I looked to see whether Erin wanted to pick up the story.

“Eli found somewhere safe for us to wait it out, but we ran out of food and wood.”

She swallowed.

“It was perilous.”

“And then my old associate came knocking.”

My tone was dry.

“He beat the shit out of me and took us both as hostages.”

“His disgusting men flew us away on a helicopter.”

Her brow creased.

“We were in hoods, so I couldn’t see what was going on, but honestly, Owen, it was terrifying.”

Owen’s eyes widened at her words.

“What sort of an ‘associate’ would, one, behave that way, and two, have access to a bloody helicopter?”

“A low life.”

My voice dropped at the thought of Hawkins.

“He was vile.”

She shivered at the thought of him.

“Was he the one who shot you?”

Owen’s gaze was on me again.

“No.”

Shifting forward, I flinched at the searing pain.

“One of his so-called cohorts did.”

“How did you get away?”

Owen queried.

Staring at his face, I couldn’t tell if he was only genuinely concerned for his sister or probing for more information because he wanted to involve the authorities.

“We ran for it.”

It was Erin who answered.

“We stole that car and fled. If we hadn’t, I dread to think what would have happened.”

“Nothing good, that’s for sure,”

I added.

“Listen, I’m sorry I’ve embroiled your sister in all of this, but please know, I never intended to put her in danger.”

“You haven’t put me in danger.”

Erin closed the distance to me and perched at my side.

“It’s not your fault that those awful men showed up.”

Her desire to jump to my defense was warmly appreciated, but I wasn’t sure it was accurate. If I hadn’t sent the message to Baron, Hawkins would never have been able to intercept it and track our location, but she knew Hawkins was the real villain of the piece. Apparently, he’d harbored resentment for many years and had just been waiting for an opportunity to make Baron and me pay. I’d inadvertently handed it to him on a plate.

My head fell at the thought of my old boss, Baron. I had no way of knowing what had happened to him, and that dismal reality clawed at me. Either one of Hawkins’ men had shot him dead and he’d bled to death in the same suffocating hallways Erin and I had grappled our way out of, or he’d managed to eventually get out, only to find us already gone. Fresh hurt sliced at me at that possibility. What would he have been thinking had he got to the garage and found us gone? Would he ever be able to forgive me?

He knew how worried I was for Erin. The explanation echoed around my skull. He’d have understood.

Heaving in an agonized breath, I hoped I was right, but I was also doubtful. In his place, I suspected I’d have been less forgiving.

I’ll never know.

For the first time, I understood how Erin had felt in the aftermath of Chelle’s departure. It was the not knowing that stoked genuine torment, not the reality.

“It sounds like you two have quite the story.”

Owen’s tone was a little more upbeat as he rose.

“Let me clean this up and put the kettle on. We can talk more.”

“We should get going,”

I countered, though the last thing I wanted to do was be forced back into a car again.

“Where are you planning on going?”

Owen’s tone was knowing, as though he realized we were only lurching from one crisis to the next.

“We didn’t have a plan beyond coming here.”

I cringed at Erin’s admission. She seemed incapable of keeping any cards close to her chest where her brother was concerned.

“We’ll need to go back to the cabin,”

I replied, thinking out loud.

“Both of our possessions are still there.”

“I wouldn’t recommend any hiking in your condition, Eli.”

Owen smiled, but I wasn’t sure the gesture reached his eyes.

“At least, not for a few days.”

A few days?

He had to be joking. I wasn’t staying anywhere I didn’t know for that long.

“Why don’t the two of you stay here?”

Owen’s shrug was nonchalant, but I couldn’t help thinking the suggestion had been his plan all along. He was clearly concerned about the company his sister was keeping and wanted to have her close.

“I have plenty of space, and honestly, Erin, it would be a real comfort to have you here while we plan Mum’s funeral.”

“What do you think?”

Erin spun toward me, her eyes excited, despite her obvious upset.

“We don’t have anywhere better to be.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Owen shook his head with a laugh.

“You know what I mean.”

She swatted his chest playfully, the look in her gaze reminiscent of the woman I’d first harbored from the snow, rather than the one who’d been forced to fend off Hawkins.

“Yeah, yeah,”

Owen replied, pretending to still be offended by his sister’s choice of vocabulary.

Watching their interaction with interest, I pondered what the best course of action was. The last twelve hours had taken it out of Erin and me, and my body would definitely benefit from the rest in comparative luxury, but I couldn’t shake the sense that Owen didn’t trust me.

I bit down on the smirk that wanted to rise at that realization. Why would he trust me?

I’d arrived with his sister, a victim of a mysterious gunshot wound, and our story, though true, was fanciful. I’d have probably thought less of him if he had trusted me, but still, the nagging apprehension loitered.

If I couldn’t trust him, then I didn’t know what he’d do next. He could take our admission to the authorities, and even without proof, they might be inclined to investigate. Scanning the space, my gaze landed on the jug of water he’d dropped the bullet into. With the right tests, that ammo could reveal something about the weapon it was fired from and potentially lead back to Hawkins.

I prickled at the idea.

I might have loathed the bastard and wished him dead, but that didn’t mean I wanted the police crawling over his place like ants.

The line of work Hawkins, Baron, and I had met in avoided the scrutiny of the police at all costs.

They had no feel for nuance and only saw the world in black and white, legal terms.

If they got into Hawkins’ bunker, who knew what else they’d drag up and how many hours their endless questions would go on for? When I’d been employed, I’d had professional impunity from prosecution, but so long in the wilderness meant no such offer still existed, and after finally finding a woman like Erin, I simply wasn’t prepared to do jail time for the things I’d done.

Coward.

The accusation bounced around my head.

Perhaps I was a coward, but I was a smart and practical one. If there was a way out of prosecution, I was going to take it. She deserved to avoid prison more than I did.

“Eli?”

Lifting my head, I realized both of them were watching me expectantly.

“Sorry, what?”

“Shall we stay?”

Her tone was imploring, and I noticed the confusion in Owen’s eyes. Apparently, he couldn’t decide why his sister needed my permission to do anything.

If he only knew…

There had been a time not so long before when his sister had knelt and begged on my command. I hoped I’d see that devotion from her again.

“Let’s stay tonight and see how we feel in the morning,”

I suggested.

It was the only realistic option.

Time was marching on, and neither of us had rested or eaten, plus, Erin had just discovered she’d lost her mother.

I was sure time with her brother would help to ease that pain, and it would give me the opportunity to find out more about her and who she was before she stumbled into my big, bad world.

“Perfect.”

Owen clapped his hands as he rose to his feet.

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

“Let me help,”

Erin offered as she chased after him.

“I’ll get a bin bag and tidy up.”

“I guess I’ll just sit here, then.”

Laughing at my inability to do much else, I watched as they both left the room.

I’d appreciated everything Owen had done for me and I’d make the most of his hospitality, but it would be a cold day in hell before I trusted him.