Ultimate Courage

by Piper J. Drake

  “You’re not going back to your car.” He pulled out his smartphone and sent a text to Forte and Cruz.

  “I have to.” She said it quietly. “I know he could still be there watching, but everything I own is in that car besides the overnight bag I left upstairs at Revolution.”

  He nodded. “Which is exactly why he’ll stay out of sight and follow you until you feel safe. Then nab you. You’re too attached to what’s in that car.”

  “It’s still afternoon. Broad daylight.” Elisa unclasped her hands and held them in fists at her sides. “It was a busy parking lot with plenty of people walking back and forth. I can slip to my car and drive away. He wouldn’t be able to grab me in front of all those people without me making a racket and drawing unwanted attention.”

  “True.” And good for her for having thought of those things. “Do you know how to check your car for anything he might’ve attached to the bottom? You said he spent some time looking under there. What if he wasn’t just looking?”

  Her eyes widened, and her face paled. “Like what sort of things?”

  What, indeed? Normal people didn’t have access to things like tracking devices or worse, explosives. “It really depends on who you’re running from and what sort of resources they have at their disposal.”

  She pressed her lips together in a thin line. Her eyes dropped, and her gaze settled on Souze. “He owned half a dozen dogs like him.”

  Rojas waited. Considering the pressure she was under, if he just let her uncork, it’d all come flowing out without her having a chance to filter it.

  “My ex is a businessman. The CIO of his own company with all sorts of contracts and security clearances. He was very good at his job, and he was a control freak. He kept me under his influence until I finally gathered the courage to leave. To be honest, I should’ve left way earlier but it took a hard look at what he was really doing with his special projects to make me decide.” She continued to study Souze, who in turn stretched his neck toward her, sniffing. The dog was inquisitive, which meant her fear was turning to something else. Rojas was hoping it wasn’t her giving up. “There were dogs like Souze walking the property, loose. A lot of them were like him. They noticed everything. And I didn’t know how to make friends with them. I thought about leaving a trail of hamburger patties across the lawn if I snuck away from the house at night, but dogs like Souze ignore food if they’re trained well enough. I couldn’t be sure one of them wouldn’t pull me down as I was trying to get out.”

  True. Food was a powerful distraction, but all sorts of working dogs were trained to resist the temptation. A dog didn’t have to be a military working dog, police dog, or other type of service animal to reach that level of training. Besides, guard dogs like those may have had training to ensure they weren’t poisoned by potential intruders. Such training wasn’t foolproof, but it reduced the chances of success.

  “When I left, I only took what I could fit in my big shoulder bag. I pretended I was on my way to run some errands and took a detour. I just took a wrong turn and kept driving. Didn’t even plan it. It occurred to me that the moment, the opportunity, might never come again, and I just drove. I’d keep going until I couldn’t stay awake any longer and catch a few hours’ sleep and drive again. When I found a small town, someplace barely on the map, I’d try to stop and see if I could get a job and hide for a while. I even sold my car twice and bought a used vehicle in its place. I’d stay for a week, maybe two before there’d be a text on my new phone or a strange man in town. Small towns always notice strangers. And I’d leave. It’s been six months and almost as many towns.” Elisa tipped her head to the side, still staring at Souze. “You know, the only things I missed about the house were the dogs. I thought I’d feel so much more secure if one of them would be allowed inside the house with me for accompany. German Shepherd Dogs are beautiful.”

  Rojas couldn’t help a faint smile. She’d listened and learned. She’d taken an opportunity. And she’d given him a decent amount of information, most likely without even realizing it.

  She straightened her head and dragged her gaze away from Souze. “At this point, I’ve driven across the entire country. I can keep going. The stuff in the car I pulled together along the way, things that were mine and a part of the life I was building but I was never sure how long I’d stay. I can leave it all behind again if I have to and make do.”

  With nothing. Not even a car to live out of.

  “How does he keep finding you?” Rojas watched her blink, come out of her fugue of sadness. She had really hoped to be happy at least for the morning.

  “It’s been a learning process for me. You already taught me about the phone.” She lifted her fist and ticked off points on her fingers. “Cruz taught me about incognito windows not being enough. My ex is good with computers, has people who are good with them, too. Maybe they found the e-mail account I set up for myself and noticed when I logged in to check my e-mail in the first town or two. My mother means well, but she might’ve told them about it before I stopped checking in with her. I didn’t realize I wasn’t being careful enough. If I can learn to stay away from those mistakes, I should do better.”

  Maybe. Probably. But she didn’t have the training, skills, survival instincts developed from mission after mission in hostile territories to draw from and he did. Forte and Cruz were soldiers, too. She wouldn’t have the enhanced senses of canine companions like the ones here. She wouldn’t have him.

  “The next place you come to might not have the same type of people.” In fact, the chances were extremely low. Somebody, well-meaning or ill, could give her right back to her ex in any number of ways.

  “You and your friends are all very kind.” Elisa looked toward the house. “Your daughter is amazing. I don’t want to cause any more trouble for any of you.”

  He shrugged. “We’ve all seen our share of trouble. It’s all sort of relative these days.”

  In fact, Souze had run down a gunman just a few months ago right there on kennel grounds. They’d had some truly unfriendly visitors when Lyn had first come to the kennels.

  Elisa didn’t argue further. She just took a step away. “I should go.”

  Should. But she didn’t say she wanted to. Didn’t say she had to. Didn’t explicitly say she was going to. So he had no trouble lunging forward and catching her hand. “Don’t.”

  She did yank her hand out of his. Souze surged to his feet and barked.

  Rojas didn’t reach for her again, but he stepped right into her space. She didn’t back down. Her ex might’ve tried to repress her, but the core of who she was still had a whole lot of strength. He could push her, and she’d push back. Whether she consciously understood it or not, it was because she believed he wouldn’t hurt her. And she was right.

  Chapter Eleven

  Letting her employer kiss her was definitely not the way to manage expectations. But Alex’s lips were warm and firm against hers, and excitement zinged through her at the contact. Every bit of good sense she had flew right out of her head, and instead, she enjoyed.

  The discussion had wrung every emotion out of her and then he’d gone and given her hope. He’d offered her protection, a support system, friends. And he was offering her this.

  She almost believed in him.

  But she was still going to leave, and the idea of leaving without knowing what it’d be like to kiss him would’ve haunted her forever. So she was going to savor this one kiss. Just one.

  Alex’s hand came up slowly to cradle the side of her face, encouraging her to tilt her head, and she did. He deepened the kiss then, his tongue running across her lips and coaxing them to open for him. She opened with a sigh, and his tongue swept into her mouth, gently tasting. She kissed him back in return, leaning into him until she had one hand braced against his hard chest.

  A needy moan escaped her, and he responded in kind. When he lifted his mouth from hers, she almost tipped into him, her knees not holding her upright anymore and her head spinning
. Wow.

  She took not one, but several long breaths to clear her head, looking down at a black and tan face staring up at her with soulful, dark eyes. Souze wasn’t shy about watching, apparently.

  The thought brought her the rest of the way to her senses, because weird. Yeah. Weird.

  She took a step back, and Alex let her. He’d done that since the beginning. Letting her go if she wanted. So why was it so hard to leave now even if she kept saying she should?

  “Thank you,” she told him, not looking up into his eyes.

  “But?” Alex’s voice came cool, deep, and so sexy it just wasn’t fair.

  “But I should go. Especially because this is obviously not a professional thing now.”

  “No. But none of your previous employers particularly cared if you left, did they?” He sounded reasonable. “Did they bother to try to check on you?”

  “Not that I know of.” She said it slowly. She’d had her phone with her, and she’d been checking her e-mail. Both big mistakes, she knew now. But she’d been paid under the table and they didn’t really have a way to contact her after she disappeared.

  “I think that’s a little odd.” Rojas lifted his hand, giving her plenty of time to avoid him, and brushed her hair back from her face. “Maybe this time, it wouldn’t hurt to have someone care about whether you disappear.”

  Tempting. Oh, it was tempting. “Getting tangled up with my boss is exactly how I got into this mess in the first place.”

  “Ah.” There was a pause. “I take it you started working at your ex’s company, then got involved with him?”

  Shame burned through her. She just nodded. This entire sharing exercise had gone way beyond her comfort zone. But Alex and his friends had already done so much for her, and this was some of what she could do to balance the ledger.

  Personal information was a valuable currency, after all.

  “Well, in the first place, your ex is an asshole, but only one representative of the human race,” Alex said slowly. “And, secondly, you’ll technically be working for Forte since he owns the place.”

  “Semantics!” Scandalized, she looked up into his eyes and saw humor and amusement.

  “Details,” Rojas countered. Then he cleared his throat. “Look. It’s not just about how much I’d like to get to know you better. And believe me, I would. There’s also something off about the way your ex has chased you. His texts to you to mess with your head. The unidentified creep messing around with your car, who I’m guessing is employed by your ex. A normal stalker is bad enough, but this is taking it up a notch in terms of money and resources invested in getting you back. I really do think your best chance of staying out on your own is to let us help.”

  He was right. Part of her wanted to scream at moving backward, at admitting there was something she couldn’t do for herself. The other part of her, the part with the survival instinct, admitted pride wasn’t her best defense at the moment. Learning was. And Joseph Corbin Junior had found her a couple of times already. It was time to change the way she made her choices, break the pattern.

  “You all can help me learn what I need to know to prevent him from finding me, right? Even if I decide to leave eventually.” It was important to her, being the person to decide when to leave even if she’d been feeble, wobbling about whether to or not all this time.

  Alex nodded, serious. He wasn’t laughing or belittling this point, and she appreciated it. Everything about this conversation had become close to unreal in her head, and she was absolutely going to replay it in her mind over and over tonight, wherever she decided to go to sleep. Dissecting a conversation for every nuance and every possible way she could’ve chosen to handle it was sort of like counting sheep for her.

  “I’m all about teaching a person to fish for themselves.” Alex glanced at her to see if she caught the reference.

  She raised an eyebrow at him. Duh.

  The corner of his mouth lifted in a lopsided grin. “And I have a lot of respect for those who recognize they need some help to get to where they need to be going. People helped me along the way, and I consider it paying it forward.”

  Fair. She looked down at Souze. “You are a really patient dog.”

  “He is,” Alex agreed. “And he’s been paying more attention to this conversation than he has to his training sessions for weeks. It’s interesting.”

  Huh. Elisa studied Souze more closely. The dog returned her regard with an enigmatic doggy silence. “He does seem to like to be part of conversations, or at least listen to them.”

  “Could be part of it,” Alex agreed. “Why don’t you stay here with him for a couple of minutes while I go inside and make sure Boom’s settled? Then we can walk him back to the kennels and you can tell me what I’m getting into with Boom’s project.”

  Sounded simple. “Okay.”

  Alex handed her the loop on the human end of the six-foot leather leash. She took it and slid it over her wrist, hoping Souze didn’t suddenly try to charge off across the yard. The big dog simply sat again.

  “Elisa.” Alex reached out to touch her hand.

  She looked back up at him. “Hmm?”

  “I’m glad you decided to stay a little longer.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Gary and Greg had a date tonight, but we stop in a lot to check on the school or help out with the computers. They already said it was fine for us to review the security feed.” Even though they were coming in through the back entrance, Rojas entered first with Souze, visually clearing the room once he’d turned on the lights and watching for signs from the big dog.

  Souze first sniffed the floor, then lifted his head to catch the scents in the air. This was the dog’s first visit to Revolution MMA, so he didn’t expect Souze to signal a stranger’s scent, but the big dog would alert him to the presence of a live person.

  Once he and Souze had stepped inside, they continued on to check the few rooms on this floor including the office, bathroom, changing rooms, and supply closet.

  Elisa entered after them with Cruz bringing up the rear. As much as Rojas enjoyed Elisa’s company—and he intended to explore their chemistry more once she’d had time to catch her breath—it was easier to travel off kennel grounds with backup to help watch their six. Souze could come in handy both inside and out, plus he needed the exposure to areas off the kennel’s property for his training, anyway. Cruz was the wiz with the computers.

  Inside the MMA school, big blinds were drawn down over the front windows facing the parking lot, so they didn’t have to worry about observers for the moment. Rojas made his way around the center matted class area to Gary and Greg’s office. He could’ve cut straight across, but school rules were no street shoes on the mats, and he wouldn’t disrespect those guidelines even after hours with no one to call him on it. Besides, dogs weren’t allowed on the mats at all on the rare occasions they visited.

  “This place seems a lot bigger with no one here.” Elisa trailed along behind him and Souze.

  The big dog didn’t show any notice of her. Souze was in working mode and focused on the task of sniffing out any strangers present. Rojas was glad to see the big dog’s attention to his work even with people he liked nearby. A good working dog didn’t get distracted.

  “The space fills up fast once you pile two dozen sweaty bodies in here actively moving around.” Cruz passed her and proceeded into the office to sit at Gary’s desk. He immediately brought the computer online and started tapping away at the keyboard, ignoring the mouse as much as possible.

  It was a thing for Cruz. Rojas left him to it.

  “The kids’ classes get really crowded.” He was proud of what Gary and Greg had established here. “It’s a really good program. Boom loves it.”

  “She told me about it that first night.” Elisa smiled at the memory, her eyes slightly unfocused as she thought back to it. “I couldn’t imagine her wanting to get back to the thing that broke her arm so soon, but she seemed like she couldn’t wait.”

>   Rojas leaned against the doorway to the office, facing out toward the main class area. Souze sat to his left, relaxed and alert. “It was pure accident. The kids all wear proper padding when they spar. Greg was supervising. He always keeps a close eye on the kids to make sure it’s as safe as possible.”

  “It’s still direct contact.” Elisa dropped her big shoulder bag and grabbed a broom from the closet.

  “Yeah.” Rojas wasn’t going to argue, but he could provide some additional context. “The sparring isn’t ever all-out for the kids, but it’s important for them to apply the moves they’ve learned against a partner around their size and skill level. Otherwise, they might not be able to use what they know in real life if the need ever comes up.”

  Elisa slipped off her shoes and stepped onto the mats, starting in one corner and beginning to sweep in short, strong strokes. He noticed she never seemed to remain still for long, always looking for something to do.

  “I guess I can see that, but it seems young to start learning to fight a real person.”

  He grunted. Hers was not an uncommon perspective. “Never too early for self-defense. Besides, learning the timing and how to move in response to someone else isn’t a bad thing. I hear dancers and athletes learn similar skill sets when they train. In Boom’s case, her arm wasn’t even the result of a direct strike.”

  “No?” Elisa didn’t look up from her sweeping, but she did sweep more slowly, more quietly, so she could hear better.

  “Nah. Her protective gear would’ve prevented a break that way. In this case, somebody mentioned she’d learn fastest if she was continually pushing beyond her comfort zone to try new things.” Rojas sighed. “Which is true.”

  “Hey, Forte felt real bad about what happened,” Cruz called from inside the office.