“We were in their awful office building.” I take a large gulp of beer. “I could tell even before we arrived that this company was in desperate need of financial backing. They were in a high crime area of the city. I lost count of the number of abandoned or burnt out buildings we passed on the way to the office. The office, and I use that term lightly, was in the basement of an old row-home with no windows and hardly any ventilation. Our cell phones only worked in one corner of the basement; it wasn’t until we finished touring the small space and after Mr. Meyer met with the owner, did we finally return to the corner where we could get a signal again. Almost as soon as we approached that area, both of our phones started dinging like crazy with notifications of missed calls. I immediately knew something had happened. I’m so sorry that I couldn’t answer your call right away.”
“It’s not your fault,” she tries to assure me. “I was glad that you left me Luke’s phone number. I called him as soon as I couldn’t get ahold of either of you. He stayed on the phone with me until Cole arrived in the lobby. As you saw, Cole insisted on staying with me until you came home.”
“I’m glad.”
“Do you have any idea who broke in or what they were looking for?” she asks.
“No.” I take her hand in mine, if for no other reason than to touch her. “Emily was able to get the video system reconnected and thankfully the person or persons who broke in didn’t cut the power to the main building’s security cameras. Through that footage, we saw at least two individuals enter the building through the parking garage and use the service elevator. They were dressed in black, with hoods over their heads and they pulled on ski masks as soon as they exited their car. They avoided looking directly at any of the cameras so we don’t have a good picture of them. It’s possible it’s the same person that caused our accident, but we have no way to confirm it yet.”
“How did they access the service elevator though?” Like the main elevator, the service elevator requires a security code to access Mr. Meyer’s floor.
“We don’t know,” I admit. “It appears from the footage that they enter a code, but the angle isn’t the best so it’s difficult to tell.”
“When did it happen?”
“Late last night, they entered the elevator around 2:15 and exited just before 3.”
“They were here a long time,” she says what we already considered.
“They were,” I agree.
“Was Mr. Meyer able to tell you what was missing?” she asks after a few minutes of silence.
“I think he knows exactly what is missing but doesn’t want to admit it,” I can’t hide my anger. When we walked through the apartment earlier, Mr. Meyer got antsy when he saw the state of his bedroom. I chalked it up to what had happened, but then he got suspicious when we went into his office. I had the distinct feeling he was hiding something, though I have no idea what.
“You think, they were looking for something specific?”
“We watched the two masked men take at least two decent size boxes to a van in the parking garage. I don’t know if they found what they were looking for or if they need to look through the stuff they took.”
“Mr. Meyer didn’t know what could have been in the boxes? That’s a lot of boxes to not know what was missing,” she points outs.
“I know, but he’s adamant that he doesn’t yet know what’s missing. He mumbled something about needing to go through his office before he could tell me what might be in the box.”
“Can Emily trace the van?” she asks.
“No, the license plate was registered to a different car and the van itself matches the description of one that was reported stolen two days ago,” I explained the little we’ve found out since I got back.
“Interesting,” she says.
“Very. I’m not happy about Mr. Meyer keeping things from me. I can’t protect him if I don’t know what he is involved with. I’m having a call with Luke tomorrow to discuss how he thinks I should proceed.”
“So what now?” she asks.
“Mr. Meyer is working from home tomorrow,” I explain. “Since his office looked the worst, I believe that whatever the people were looking for must have been here. He doesn’t seem concerned about them returning, so I think they took whatever they were looking for. I don’t like the idea of you being here by yourself the rest of the week though.”
“I don’t think I like it either,” her voice is shaky at just the thought. “But, I can’t just not work, I have a job to do.”
“I wish there something I could do to keep you safe too,” it kills me that I can’t have someone here to protect her while I’m with Mr. Meyer at work. “Promise me you won’t leave the apartment by yourself.”
“I promise,” she assures me.
I wrap my arms around her, tugging her closer to me, until she’s seated on my lap. My hands roam her body, touching her everywhere, needing to feel that she’s safe. I groan as she leans down, pressing her lips softly against mine just as her hands slip under my shirt. I know in that moment that she’s it for me, that I can’t imagine my life without her.
We make love right there on the couch; it’s slow with neither of us racing toward a release, but instead just letting it find us when it finally does. I can’t get out of my head the nagging feeling that something could have happened to Hope. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared and helpless in my entire life. There was absolutely nothing I could do from Boston and had to trust that Cole would take care of her for me.
Chapter 31
Hope
I’ve barely seen Garrett all day, he was up and in the shower before I even woke up this morning. He kissed me goodbye just as I was getting dressed, explaining that he had a call scheduled with Emily and Luke this morning to see if there have been any leads on the break in. After everything that happened the other night, I’m counting down the days until my contract is done here. The agency offered to pull me earlier and send someone else in if I needed to leave sooner, but I told them I was fine for the next couple of weeks.
“Ms. Williams.” Mr. Meyer walks into the kitchen just as I’m cleaning up from dinner.
“Do you need something, sir?” I ask.
“If you have a moment, I would like to meet with you in my office,” he requests.
“Of course.” I close the dishwasher and follow him to his office where I’m surprised to see Garrett waiting for us. I look at him confused, but he doesn’t give me any indication as to why Mr. Meyer requested to see me.
“Ms. Williams, first let me apologize for what you found yesterday morning when you arrived here,” he begins.
“Mr. Meyer—” I try to tell him it wasn’t his fault.
“I take the safety of my employees very seriously, and I am thankful that you were not here the other night when your living quarters were broken into,” he interrupts. “In speaking with Mr. Foxx, we are both concerned about your safety while I am at work until this issue is resolved. We have decided that during the day, we will have additional security based here for your protection.”
“I’m sure—” I try to argue that I don’t need security.
“Ms. Williams, this is not only for your protection, but to hopefully prevent what happened here the other night from happening again,” he interrupts sharply. “Tomorrow morning, the gentleman from yesterday…”
He pauses and glances at Garrett having clearly forgotten Cole’s name.
“Cole Hart,” Garrett supplies.
“Tomorrow morning, Mr. Hart will arrive before Mr. Foxx and I leave for work,” he continues. “He will be based here. However, in the event that you leave the apartment he is to accompany you wherever you need to go. Do you have any questions?”
“No, sir.” I realize I’m not going to win an argument even if I try.
“I understand from both of your respective companies that you have both submitted your resignation. While I am sorry to hear that, I understand your decision. If there’s nothing else either of you
need, you’re both dismissed for the evening. Foxx, we will leave by eight am tomorrow for the office.”
“Yes sir,” Garrett confirms.
We walk back into the kitchen where I finish putting the last few dishes in the dishwasher and turn it on before heading into our apartment.
“What was that about?” I ask feeling railroaded about what just happened.
“It was Mr. Meyer’s idea,” he answers, however, I highly doubt what he is saying is true. He takes my hand and leads me over to the couch, encouraging me to sit down before he continues. “He is just as concerned as I am about your safety while we’re gone tomorrow.”
“I somehow doubt that,” I argue.
“Okay, maybe I’m more concerned about your safety than he is, but he is the one who initially approached me about his concerns over your safety,” he admits. “I told you last night, we don’t know that these fuckers won’t come back. What happens if next time you are here? What happens if they hurt you next time?”
“You’re right.” I shudder at the possibility of being attacked again. I don’t know that I could survive something like that a second time.
“I know you don’t think you need security, but please Hope…please for me, just work with Cole. We only have a couple of weeks left and then we’ll be done,” he begs.
“Okay,” I reluctantly agree.
We both change out of our work clothes into something more comfortable and then I prepare dinner using our new dishes that were delivered earlier today. Over dinner we brainstorm about who could have broken into the apartment. Even though I’m sure these are conversations Garrett has with his bosses, I hate the idea of not knowing so it helps me to talk it out a little.
“Do you think it could have been Toni?” I suggest.
“I don’t know; she was pretty pissed off when Mr. Meyer let her go.” He shakes his head.
“Suzanna didn’t seem to take it as hard. She seemed too…inexperienced for what Mr. Meyer does,” I hate that I can talk so freely about my boss’s sex life over dinner. But as I sit here twirling a fork full of pasta, I realize that it doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it did when I first started working here.
“She was definitely too inexperienced for Mr. Meyer.” He takes a gulp from his beer. “I don’t know where he found her, but I have a feeling it wasn’t at his normal club.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask, but how do you know so much about his…about what he likes? You’ve never done that stuff with me so I assumed you weren’t into that. But…” I ask the question that has been on my mind since the first time Garrett explained safewords to me.
“No, I’m not,” he answers.
“Then, how did you know about scenes and safewords? That day when I freaked out because Mr. Meyer was beating Toni upstairs, you were calm about it all.”
“Sex clubs,” he blurts out and then laughs at my response. “Sorry that came out wrong.”
“Start again?” My mind is spinning at what he meant by that.
“Guys visited sex clubs often when we were deployed,” he explains as if it isn’t a big deal. “It was a way to relieve stress and forget for a little while everything we were seeing. Sometimes I went and sometimes I didn’t. One night, one of the guys invited some of us to a new place he found a little further away. What he didn’t warn us about was that it was a club that catered to different kinks. I learned for the first time more about my teammate than I ever wanted to know.”
“He was a…he was into what Mr. Meyer is?” I ask.
“He was a Dominant,” he explains. “He liked to control women, but never to the degree that Mr. Meyer does. He told me that it was almost like a high, having a woman submit to him and being the one solely responsible for her pleasure. Obviously, I don’t exactly see what Mr. Meyer does with his submissive, but I never saw Cole—”
“Wait, Cole? The guy who was here? He’s the one who was a Dominant?” my jaw has completely hit the floor. I never would have guessed…he seems so normal. But then again so did Mr. Meyer when I first met him.
“Still is, I believe. Cole isn’t like Mr. Meyer, not in the slightest.”
“Wow…I never would have guessed.”
“The way Cole explains it, he prefers the bondage and submission part of BDSM, whereas Mr. Meyer seems to prefer the S&M portion, meaning the delivery or receiving of pain.”
“Did you ever…” I ask.
“I tried once at the club with Cole.” His eyes dart away. “The way he described it, I couldn’t not try it. According to him, it’s the Submissive who has all the power in the arrangement, because at any time she can halt the scene. For him, he said he enjoys the control aspect of the scene, but more than that he enjoys bringing out the woman’s response. So I tried it, and learned almost immediately that it wasn’t for me. I knew that the moment I stepped into the room. It was nothing against Cole, it just wasn’t for me, and he accepted that.”
“How am I going to look at him tomorrow morning?” I feel my face heating up just knowing he’s going to be here all day with me tomorrow.
“It doesn’t change who he is, Hope,” Garrett chuckles. “Cole will be here to keep you safe for the next couple of weeks, that’s all that matters. You can trust him to keep you safe. And he would never try anything with you, if that’s what you’re worried—”
“No, I’m not,” I interrupt. “I know he won’t. It’ll just be different knowing…well, what I know now.”
“He’ll still keep you safe, I promise you that. He’s good at his job, one of the best.”
“I can’t wait until this is all behind us.” I sigh.
“Me either. I’m looking forward to having our own place.” He takes my hand and leads me into the bedroom, the plates on the kitchen table all but forgotten.
Chapter 32
Hope
The next morning just before eight, Cole arrives as scheduled and reviews the security system again with Garrett. Once Garrett and Mr. Meyer left, I asked Cole to join me for a cup of coffee in the kitchen before I cleaned up breakfast dishes so we could figure out how this was going to work. I really didn’t want someone following me around all day long while I cleaned Mr. Meyer’s apartment. He explained that as long as I didn’t leave the apartment, I probably wouldn’t even notice he was around.
He had arranged with Garrett to spend most of the day in the security office, trying to figure out who the men in the masks were. From there, he could see all entrances to the apartment so he would be able to monitor the security. He explained that he would periodically walk through the apartment, checking the bedrooms and bathrooms that are the areas where the cameras are not installed.
True to his word, since I did not leave the apartment it was easy to forget that Cole was even here with me. I barely noticed he was in the apartment but at the same time knowing that I wasn’t here alone made me feel safe. We fell into a routine pretty quickly and I have to admit it was nice to have lunch with someone during the week since usually I am here by myself. Just like Garrett does, Cole tried to tell me I didn’t need to make him lunch, but I always insisted.
Over the next couple of days, the increased security becomes part of my daily routine. I learned that he doesn’t like to talk about himself so even though we’ve spent so much time together, I know very little about him. Basically, I know he isn’t married, that he’s worked for Dark Water Security for nearly five years, and he enjoys what he does.
Just after we finish lunch, my phone goes off with a message from Garrett.
Garrett: Mr. Meyer’s brother and friend are coming for the weekend. They will be there by 2pm. He asks you to arrange the typical weekend guest room as well as another room for his brother to stay in.
Hope: No problem, I will have the rooms ready.
Garrett: I’m notifying Cole as well. He will bring them up from the lobby when they arrive.
Hope: Okay
Interesting…Mr. Meyer’s brother hasn’t visited him here at least as long
as I’ve been working here. I wonder if his decision to have his brother come here has something to do with the break-in. Maybe he’s afraid that they’ll come back if he leaves again? I can only assume Mr. Meyer’s brother and his friend are also into BDSM which means it will probably end up being a very loud weekend. Thankfully Garrett and I will at least be out of our apartment tomorrow night for Abby’s birthday celebration dinner.
I spend the next couple of hours preparing the guest bedrooms as requested and figuring out what I will serve for dinner. After looking through recipes on my iPad and comparing it to ingredients I have on hand, I decide on making a rosemary roasted chicken with red baby potatoes and mixed vegetables. I also find a recipe for a pastry dessert that I decide to try and make; I don’t usually make desserts but seeing that Mr. Meyer is having company I figure it would be a nice touch.
“Ms. Williams?” Cole walks into the kitchen just as I’m finishing getting the ingredients out of the pantry.
“Everything okay?” Even though I have asked him multiple times to call me Hope, he refuses, but insists that I call him Cole. The one time I called him Mr. Hart he glared harshly at me, making it clear I’m not to use that name again.
“Mr. Meyer, I mean the other Mr. Meyer and Ms. Smith have arrived. I am going to the lobby to bring them up,” he informs me.
“Okay, thanks for letting me know,” I say as he walks out of the room.
Hope: They’ve arrived.
Garrett: Mr. Meyer just informed me we will be leaving early, he is expecting to be there around 4. Asks that dinner is served at 6.
Hope: Okay.
The elevator dings a few minutes later indicating that Cole, Mr. Meyer’s brother and his guest have arrived. I dry my hands on the towel and meet them in the foyer just as the elevator doors close.
“Mr. Meyer, this is Ms. Williams, your brother’s housekeeper and personal cook,” Cole introduces. “Ms. Williams, this is Mr. Timothy Meyer and his guest Ms. Kimberly Smith.”
Garrett (Dark Water Security Book 2) Page 18
