I looked around the alley, noting that there were three other men that were lying on the ground dead. Hunter was rushing over to us with his weapon at his side. The cops pulled their guns on him and he dropped his gun instantly, concern showing brightly in his eyes as he stared at Lola in my arms. I closed my eyes as Lola shook in my arms and fought for control of my anger. I couldn’t believe this was happening again. We had walked into an ambush and this time, Lola was the one paying the price. I couldn’t lose it right now. Lola needed me to be strong for her. I swallowed down my emotions and when I opened my eyes, I saw the cops were letting Hunter through. He walked over, almost as if it was painful to do so, and knelt down in front of Lola.
“Lola, hey sweetie. Look at me,” Hunter said.
Lola slowly raised her head and looked at Hunter. Tears slipped down her cheeks and Hunter held out his arms for her. She didn’t hesitate going to him and wrapping herself around him. It was clear that whatever they had between them was a hell of a lot more than just fucking. He carried her to a police car that was waiting nearby and slid in the backseat, saying something to the cop. He looked back at me in question and I held up a hand, letting him know that I would take care of things from here. After I dealt with the cops, I was going to have to call Cap and let him know what had happened. I would also have to talk with him about Lola. It was clear to me that she needed more help than her team could give her, and after all this time, she needed to take some time to deal with her demons.
✯✯✯✯✯
“Mrs. Arnold testified yesterday without further incident and she’s been released from police protection now that her husband is in prison,” I finished telling Cap as we all sat in his office for our debriefing.
“Thank fuck that’s over,” Cap said, throwing his pen on his desk. “Alright, you guys will have a week off. Then we’ll reassess where we’re at. Lola, I don’t want to put you on the spot, but I need to know where your head is at and I need to know what your team thinks.”
“I’m fine,” Lola said shortly.
“All due respect, but what happened out there suggests otherwise.”
Lola’s face flared with anger and a little embarrassment. “All due respect, but if you don’t trust me out there, you should be talking to me about this in private.”
Cap glanced at me and then Pappy. Leaning forward in his seat, he rested his elbows on his desk. “Lola, I don’t know when you’re going to get that you’re not in this alone. Your team cares about you. Hell, everyone at Reed Security cares about you and none of us like seeing what’s happening to you. What happened to you was…” Cap shook his head. “It would have fucked up any of us. It’s been years and you still haven’t done anything. Now, as long as you were dealing with it, I let you get away with going it alone, but what happened on the job could have turned out a lot differently, and no one blames you for that. But it can’t happen again. You need to get help and until then, you’re out of the field. You can still show up to work and train, but you won’t be working with your team again until I know that you’re fine.”
“Will that be all?” Lola said defiantly.
“That’s all. We’ll see you in a week,” Cap said with a nod.
We all got up and walked out the door, but as soon as the office door shut, Lola spun around and slammed me up against the wall. “You should have had my back in there. You’re my fucking team leader and you just let him walk all over me,” she sneered.
Lola was hurting and I didn’t want to push her right now, so I spoke calmly. “Lola, we all know that you’ve been dealing with this shit for a long time. You need help. No one thinks that you’re not capable, but the Lola that I saw outside the courthouse was scared and couldn’t defend herself. What would you have done if Hunter and I weren’t there?”
“One time. One time in all these years and you suddenly think I can’t handle myself?” She stepped back from me, chest heaving and turned on Hunter. “And where were you? You couldn’t stand up for me either?”
“Lola, you forget that I’ve seen you at your worst many times. You can’t convince me you’re fine. You need help, sweetie.”
A look of hurt crossed her face and she stepped back further from us. “That was between us,” she said almost brokenly. “What happened between us was never supposed to be talked about.” She looked up at him defiantly, like she was fighting for her life. “Did you tell Cap? Did you tell him about all the times that you had to hold me when we were on a job and I panicked in the middle of the night? Did you tell him about all the times that I was too fucking scared to stay in my room at night by myself?”
Fuck. I had to really hold back to keep from fucking ripping Hunter’s throat out right now. If he knew all this time how bad it was, he should have fucking told me. Now I was seeing for the first time how truly bad off Lola was and I knew that I should have said or done something earlier.
“I didn’t say anything to anyone. I told you then and it still stands. Anytime you need me, I’m there. You don’t have to put up a good front for me. I know the shit you went through fucked with your head and I’ll always be on your side. But part of being on your side is knowing when I can’t be the only one that’s fighting to help you. You need to fight for yourself now.”
“I don’t need your help. You all think you know what I need, but what I need is to keep working and you just had me sidelined.”
“Only until you get help, Lola. You could be back in the field in no time.”
“Right,” she snorted. “Because a shrink will look at me and clear me just like that.”
“Lola-” Hunter stepped toward her, but Lola held up her hand and shook her head.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “I don’t need you anymore.”
She turned around and walked quickly to the elevator, leaving Hunter and I staring after her.
“Do you want to tell me why all this is just coming out now?”
Hunter turned to me, anger humming through his body. “Don’t pretend you didn’t know. You heard her screams when we were out on jobs. I was just the only one that went to make sure she was okay.” He stormed off and for the first time in a while, I wondered how the hell I became a team leader.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Claire
WHEN I SAW Derek walk into the library right before I was about to close up, I almost ignored him. He had been absent for almost a week without a goodbye or any explanation of what was going on. I had texted him, but he only responded with saying, on a job. On a job. Like that was any kind of freaking answer. Where was he? Was he in danger? Would he be gone long? All of these I thought were reasonable questions, but when he didn’t even bother to elaborate further, I decided that I would wait to hear from him and then give him a piece of my mind.
Except here he was and he looked like someone had kicked his puppy. No, it was worse than that. He looked like someone had run over his puppy and then pulled out a gun and shot the puppy in front of him. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a while and his shoulders slumped like he carried the weight of the world. Putting aside my anger, I walked out from behind the counter and met him halfway through the library.
“Hey, is everything okay?”
He huffed out a big sigh and pulled me into his large frame, practically squeezing me to him. I was scared now. Something bad must have happened to make him respond this way. Derek was a strong man and nothing ever really got him down, but whatever was going on with him was obviously too much to deal with at the moment.
“I fucked up,” he whispered in my ear. “I finally followed my instincts and I was right, but everything went to shit after that. My team…” I felt his throat working hard to get the words out, so I just gave him his time and held on tight. “I think my team is falling apart and I don’t know how to fix it.”
“Is everyone okay?”
“Physically? Yes. Everything else is fucked up though.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He didn’t sa
y anything and so I held him for a few more minutes until he pulled back and gave me a small grin. “Are you done for the night?”
“Yeah, I was just about to close up.”
“Stay with me tonight?”
I really needed to be at home tonight. Lucy had wanted to go out and one of us was staying with Dad at all times, but I could tell that Derek needed me more right now. “Sure, just let me get my stuff.”
I finished closing up, grabbed my things, and followed Derek outside. I followed him to his house, calling Lucy on the way and explaining that I needed to stay with Derek. He wrapped me in his arms as soon as we entered his house. When he carried me upstairs and gently laid me down on the bed, I pulled off my shirt and reached forward for his belt, but he put his hand over mine to stop me.
“Not tonight. I just need to hold you. Can we just…” He looked away, as if I would think he was weak for not wanting sex tonight. I pulled him down next to me, but he turned on his stomach and laid his head on my chest.
“What happened?” I asked softly.
“We were on this job a few years back and it went sideways really fast. Long story short, Lola was in the hands of a serial killer, about to be scalped.”
“That’s what the scar on her forehead is?”
“Yeah. Hunter was unconscious outside after having his head bashed in and I was unconscious with a gunshot wound. It didn’t get as bad as it could have, but psychologically, it totally fucked with her head.” His left small circles over my hip and he took in deep breaths. “I think I really fucked up. I saw that it was messing with her head and I didn’t push her to get help the way I should have.”
“You can’t make someone get help, Derek. They have to want it.”
“There were steps I could have taken though. As her team leader, it’s my responsibility to make sure everyone on the team is at their best. It didn’t seem to be affecting her job performance, so I let it slide. Then this week…I should have done something sooner. This job could have gone a lot differently.”
I didn’t know what to say to him, so I ran my fingers through his hair, hoping it would soothe him. It must have, because within minutes, he was sound asleep, his soft breaths puffing across my skin. I laid awake for a long time that night wondering how I could help him, but I really didn’t have a clue. I didn’t know exactly what was going on and I thought he must have been holding back out of respect for Lola. Besides, I didn’t know anything about what it was like to be in a high pressure work environment. What sage advice could I give him? I drifted off sometime late that night with Derek still lying on top of me.
✯✯✯✯✯
“Crap,” I murmured as the lights went out in the library. That was the fifth time this year. Whatever was going on with this building, someone needed to fix it before someone got hurt. Luckily, there was no one in the library, so I made my way to my office and found the fuse box behind all the crap stacked up against the wall. I needed to find another place for it so that when this happened, I didn’t have to go digging around. Better yet, I needed to get some glow in the dark stickies to place around the fuse box so I had a direct line to it.
Opening the box, I checked the switches, but they were all flipped. That was weird. I flipped them all off and back on again, just to see what would happen, but the building remained dark. The sound of a door creaking had me spinning around in fear. My heart pounded as I searched the darkness for the mysterious noise, but I couldn’t find anything.
“Let’s find that goody two shoes and get out here,” I heard a man whisper. I dropped to the ground and scurried against a nearby file cabinet.
“Just remember what Leto said. We don’t hurt her. We need whatever information she’s holding out on us,” another voice said.
“Sure. I’ll keep that in mind, but if she doesn’t cooperate, I have no problem using more creative ways to get the information from her,” the first voice said.
“You aren’t going to tickle it out of her,” the second voice said. I reared back in confusion. “You’re so weird. That’s not a real form of torture.”
Tickling or not, that wasn’t happening. When no one appeared in the office doorway, I crawled out of the office and over to the aisle that was closest to the front door, but a hand on my shoulder had me stopping in my tracks. Another hand was placed over my mouth and I jolted from the familiar touch.
“Don’t scream,” Derek whispered in my ear. “I’ll get you out of here. You just have to do as I say. Nod if you understand.”
I nodded and slowly turned to see his handsome face staring down at me. He grinned that devilish grin and held out his hand for me, which I immediately took. Pulling me to my feet, he kissed me hard and I would have gone boneless if it weren’t for the urgency in his voice. “We have to keep moving. These men were serious. They’ll tickle the information out of you.”
He pulled me down another aisle as I wondered why Derek was worried about two men tickling me when he was a badass warrior, most likely a superhero. He could handle two men like that. We made our way over to the old marble stairs that led to the second floor and quickly made our way further away from the intruders.
“We have to get away from them. They can never know that you have one of the Horcruxes.”
Horcruxes? What’s he talking about? “Derek-”
He silenced me with a finger to my lips. “Not now. Right now we have to focus on getting out of here alive.”
“But Derek-”
“Please, Claire. You have to trust me. I don’t have a lot of faith in myself at the moment, but I need for you to trust in me now. I’d never let anything happen to you.”
I nodded in understanding. After everything he’d been through, he needed this from me. I followed him over to the rooftop access and took a deep gulp as he flung open the door and ushered me onto the roof. He searched the side of the building until he found the fire escape ladder.
“Quickly, Claire. Start climbing down. I’m right behind you.” I looked over the side of the building and shook off my fear. I was with Derek. This would be fine. Before I could step over, Derek jerked me to him and pulled me in for an earth shattering kiss that had me going weak in the knees. When he pulled back, I felt dizzy with lust.
“Go. Now,” he ordered.
“You want me to go now? Now that you just gave me one of the most spellbinding kisses of all time?”
“Claire, now’s not the time for this. We have to get out of here before the Nazgûl find us.”
“Nazgûl?”
“Yes, Claire. Ringwraiths,” he answered gravely.
I swallowed hard and stepped over the edge of the building, doing my best not to look at the concrete slab below us, and placed my foot on the first rung. Slowly, I started making my way down the ladder, but just a few feet down, the rung broke off and I slipped, flailing as I fell. I jerked to a stop in mid-air and looked up to see Derek holding onto my arm, smiling his charming smile.
“I told you I’d never let anything happen to you.” He pulled me back up to the rooftop as if I weighed nothing and pulled me back into his arms. It felt safe in his arms and I never wanted to leave, but I knew we had to keep moving. He didn’t need me breaking down on him right now. I stepped out of his arms and gave a slight nod.
“I’m ready.”
“Claire, I’m going to throw you, but don’t worry. I’ll be there to catch you.”
I looked over the edge of the building again at the concrete below. If he didn’t catch me, we wouldn’t have to worry about the Nazgûl getting their hands on me.
Turning back to him, I took his hand in mine. “I trust you, Derek.”
He picked me up by the waist and tossed me over the building. I closed my eyes as the wind rushed by me in a flurry. I felt his love burning through me and knew that everything would be fine. Derek would never let me die. He would always be there to protect me. When I landed in a soft blanket of arms, I opened my eyes to see Derek smiling back at me. A red cape danced on t
he breeze behind him and a large S was emblazoned on his chest.
“I told you I’d catch you. I always will.”
“My hero. My Superman.”
Wetness licked at my pussy and I tried to clench my legs together, but something was prying them apart. Looking down, I saw Derek between my legs and I was lying on my bed. How did he get me here so fast? Of course, he was Superman. He could fly. I laid my head back down and relaxed into the bliss of him pleasuring me when I realized that it was early morning, but it had just been night time. I sat up, jerking my body from Derek’s grasp and looked at him in confusion.
“What’s going on?”
“Uh, if I have to explain that then I’m not doing this right.”
“No, I mean. You-Superman…”
“Yeah, I heard you calling me that in your sleep. I’m not gonna lie. You can call me Superman anytime you want.”
“No, I mean…well,” I grunted in frustration. I couldn’t seem to get my thoughts out. “What happened to the Nazgûl?”
“The what?” he asked as if we hadn’t just talked about this or escaped their clutches.
“The ringwraiths,” I said in frustration. “You know, they were chasing us for the..horcruxes.”
Now that I said that, I heard how ridiculous it sounded, and apparently Derek thought the same thing as he raised an eyebrow at me. “Of course, that was two different books. That’s why it didn’t make sense,” I muttered to myself.
“Yeah, that’s why it doesn’t make sense.”
I snapped my eyes up to his and gave him my best bitch face, which was probably more like a smiling kitty. “Don’t make fun of me. It felt so real.”
“I’m sure it did. Now, can I get back to being Superman or would you like to go back to your fantasy world?”
Irish: A Reed Security Romance (Reed Security Series Book 5) Page 15
