by T K Eldridge
Em sipped her coffee and looked at the glittering purse on the table beside her. The night before had been full of anticipation and fear. She rubbed two fingers between her brows, soothing the lines furrowed there as she tried to put all the pieces together. The judge and her grandmother were connected somehow. Her grandmother, as she’d learned last night, had died in some kind of home invasion. That stank to high heaven, because she knew her grandmother wasn’t liable to open her own door, nevermind to someone she didn’t know. She also had security measures in place at home, being that she lived in Boston’s Back Bay and had been known to be a wealthy woman. Stupidity wasn’t one of Emilia Brewster’s traits and Emlen didn’t think the story remotely plausible. Add to that the fact her grandmother was killed the same night she and Cullen were attacked. Well, there were holes in that story big enough to drive an eighteen-wheeler through.
The table jostled, pulling her out of her thoughts and lifting her gaze to the man sitting down across from her. Dark hair curled against his collar and brilliant blue eyes shadowed from lack of sleep and worry stared across the table at her. It was his smile, though, that had her heart racing a little faster. “Hey Cullen,” she murmured, keeping her voice low.
“Hey beautiful. You okay?” he asked, nodding as the waitress brought his coffee over and a plate with two blueberry muffins. Putting one muffin on a napkin, he slid the plate over to Em before taking a bite of his own.
“Pissed off, confused and still feeling a little hazy, to be honest,” Em replied, picking up the muffin and pulling the top off, taking a bite of the bottom half.
“You can tell me what happened later. For now, can I see your purse?” Cullen asked, then brushed his fingers clean as she nodded before reaching for it. He pulled the phone, her lipstick, a compact, a debit card and a couple of folded bills out before sliding his hands around the inside of the lining. Pausing, he tugged on a bit of the lining and pulled a tiny black button free and lay it on the table. Examining it for a moment, he picked it up and dropped it in a glass of water the waitress had left. Then he reached for her phone, popped off the case, opened the back and slid out the sim card. A moment later, the sim card joined the button in the glass of water. Tucking everything back into the purse, he looked up at Emlen. “Those aren’t your clothes, are they?”
“No.” Emlen replied, finishing off the muffin faster than she’d expected. “Guess I was hungrier than I thought.”
Cullen took a few more bites, finishing as he rose and picked up the to-go cup. “Let’s go. I have a bag in the car so you can change.”
Both continued being very careful with what they said, for what were now obvious reasons, so Em just nodded. She picked up her purse and the bundle of her things from the chair before following him out. Once in his truck, she slid into the back seat and opened the bag, pulling out her own jeans and a sweatshirt. Em peeled off the borrowed clothes and dressed once more. Once fully back in her own things, she stuffed her gown, heels and the borrowed clothes into a trash bag and handed it to Cullen. Tugging ankle boots on, she leaned forward to watch as he pulled into traffic and then paused near an alley. He jumped out, dropped the trash bag into a dumpster, then got back in and pulled away.
Em looked behind them and spotted the guards from the coffee shop in a black sedan a couple of car lengths back before turning forward as Cullen headed out of the city. “I had a feeling they’d let me go too easily. I should’ve checked sooner. I’m sorry.”
“They drugged you, didn’t they?” Cullen asked, glancing in the rear-view mirror to see her face.
“Yeah, last night they put something in my tea. I woke this morning, feeling hungover. They told me I’d drank too much and passed out, but I knew that was bullshit.”
A slow breath slid from him and he reached for one of her hands with his, squeezing lightly. “I’m just glad you’re okay. We’ve been looking for you all night. One of the Garda saw you taken out of the hall with JJ and Elise and we figured you were still with them, but we weren’t a hundred percent sure until you called. We couldn’t get into the building to find out any details.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just still feeling a little out of it, but it’s fading fast.”
“Maybe I should take you to the ER or something first?”
“And what, tell them that I was drugged by the Vice-Presidential candidate, my father, after nearly being killed by my grandfather, the Federal Judge? Yeah, no. I think I’ll just keep drinking water and coffee to flush it out of my system.”
“Yeah, good point.” Cullen fell silent while Em dozed on the ride. He nudged her awake as he pulled up to Joel’s cottage.
Em stretched and slid out of the truck, leaning back against it. Her gaze shifted to Cullen as he climbed out to stand beside her. “I’ve been thinking. It’s time we went on the offensive. I’m done being the pawn or puppet or whatever you want to call it.” She turned to look out at the water, the waves rising as a storm moved closer to shore.
Cullen gave her a nod. “I agree. We need to end this once and for all.”
Emlen laughed, taking his hand and leading him towards the cottage. “End it? Oh, no. This isn’t the ending. They have no idea what they’ve stirred up. I’m just getting started.”
Acknowledgements
When you’ve spent your life dreaming of being an author, there are always too many people to thank, but I’m going to give it a try.
To everyone who ever said “Hurry up and finish it! I want to read it!”, thank you.
To Wayne, for bouncing around ideas and dealing with my “I’m writing!” moods, thank you.
To my beta team: Reed, Donna, Caity, Kili, Justin and Kim - thank you for your encouragement, your corrections and your patience.
To Nathan Lowell - for your wisdom and guidance that made this book so much better!
To Emily G., Lisa Manifold and Lori Johnson - thank you for the blurb help!
To Briana - the cover is amazing! I’m so happy you were willing to give it a chance.
To Allison - thank you for being the first absolute stranger to love my book - and to Dyan Chick for letting me ask her ARC readers to read my scribbles.
To the Dizzy Dragons - for your support, your encouragement and your answering of my bazillion questions - thank you from the bottom of my heart.
About the Author
T.K. Eldridge writes paranormal, supernatural, and urban fantasy. When she’s not writing, she’s enjoying life in the Blue Ridge mountains of western North Carolina. Two dogs, two cats, a garden, a craft hobby and a love of Celtic Trad music keep her from spending too much time at the computer.
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