Cage

by Madison Stevens

  “I say we do a little casing of the parts shop,” Trent said and shoveled in a mouthful of eggs.

  Cage looked away and swallowed.

  “Isn’t Reed on that?” he asked.

  “He is, but mostly at night,” Trent said. “I have a feeling this situation is different.”

  Cage shrugged and nodded. “Makes sense.”

  Trent set down his plate, and Cage looked over at him.

  “After,” Trent said, scrubbing a hand over his face, “I’ve made a call to my buddy.”

  Cage frowned. “The dog guy?”

  Trent held up a hand. “Just hear me out.”

  Cage set down the toast and struggled to stand from the couch.

  “No,” he grunted as all his weight shifted to his leg. “I don’t want that. I don’t need that.”

  “Don’t be a dumbass.” Trent stood and offered a hand.

  Cage glared at him and worked his way through the pain as he stood.

  “I don’t need help,” he said and tried to back away.

  “You do,” Trent said and stepped right up to him. “Either way, I’m going to meet with Mark. If you choose to not talk to him, that’s on you.”

  Cage glared at him and turned away. He was so fucking sick of having this same talk. Maybe if he just met the guy, everyone would back off.

  “Fine,” he said and made his way to the table. “But let’s go, so I don’t have to smell your shitty eggs anymore.”

  Trent frowned. “What’s wrong with my eggs? I even added chives.”

  * * *

  Whitney scrubbed the floor hard around the cages and grunted in frustration at the stain that just wouldn’t seem to come up. Actually, she’d been frustrated since last night by the man that was to never be named in her presence again.

  She moved her arms even faster against the stain and ignored the burn. Maybe she’d be able to work out her irritation by scrubbing the floor instead of finding the smooth-talking man and kicking him square between the legs, which is what she’d been fantasizing about and not other things that had to do with that area that she had clearly felt last night.

  No. Nothing like that.

  Leaning back, she gave her arms a break for a moment. She couldn’t believe she fell for his game.

  Part of her wondered if she should be thanking Cage. Without his playboy ways, there would be no way she’d have the energy to get all this cleaning done. As it stood now, she was looking at finishing ahead of time. Lemons and lemonades and all that.

  Hank barked beside her and wagged his little tail. He’d been feeling much better, and she’d decided to let the little guy spend some time with her. She loved his resilience and was going to have a hard time giving him up when they found his owners. They were probably out there, looking for him at that very moment.

  She scratched behind his ear and smiled.

  “So uncomplicated,” she whispered to the little dog. That was one of the reasons she loved animals so much.

  The dog’s head jerked to the door as something rustled outside.

  Whitney looked at the door and thanked God that she’d thought to lock it. It wasn’t like she was in the best neighborhood. Some junkie might think he could score something fun.

  She slowly moved across the room and peeked out the window shade. The bright sun hung high in the sky, but she still shivered. It wasn’t often that she was alone in the clinic like that without at least someone there with her.

  There was only one way to make sure. She needed to open the door.

  Whitney never really thought of herself as brave. Actually, truth be told, she was likely about as far from brave as a person could get. But this was stupid. She’d let herself fall prey to silly thoughts. People did not try and break into places in the middle of the morning in broad daylight. It’d make far more sense to break in when no one was there if they wanted to steal any drugs.

  She slowly opened the door, her hand ready on the phone.

  She swung the door wide and looked around.

  Nothing.

  Little Hank sat beside her, staring down the alley as if he were seeing something she wasn’t. The feeling unnerved her, but still, there was nothing there. Even the best criminals needed to be there to actually steal anything.

  “Let’s finish up, boy,” she said a little louder than she needed to. “Lisa will be here soon.”

  Whitney shut the door and locked it quickly.

  She leaned against the door and took in deep breaths. The whole thing was silly. No one was there. If someone had been there, she would have seen them. She wondered if she was still just a bit off from the previous night’s drinking. It was the heaviest partying she’d done in a while.

  The phone in her pocket buzzed, and she pulled it out.

  Be there in 10.

  Whitney shook her head and smiled.

  “Come on, Hank,” she said to the little dog. “We better hurry.”

  * * *

  Cage was beyond tired of sitting in his cramped little car. Never in his life did he think he’d feel that way, but that was all before his knee. Now it just felt like torture. His legs were too long, and he had to keep his knee bent for far too long.

  “Not much action,” Trent said and looked over at him.

  Cage wasn’t really sure what the other man was hoping to see, but the place was dead.

  “How many men in the gang?” Trent asked.

  Cage stared across the way through the brush they were parked behind.

  “Maybe thirty or forty guys.” He shrugged.

  Trent continued to watch the shop across the way. “That many and it’s this quiet?” he said, almost to himself.

  Cage perked up a little. He hadn’t really thought of it that way. With that many guys, they should have seen at least a little movement.

  “What are you thinking?” Cage asked the ex-SEAL.

  Trent looked back over to him. “I’m thinking there’s something going on for sure now. No way this place is going to be this quiet with that many men.”

  A young boy, barely a teenager if that, walked alongside they road, and they watched as he entered the shop from the side.

  “Who’s that?” Trent asked.

  Cage remembered the kid. The boy had taken his and Ryder’s guns when they visited Carlos before the mountain fires and shoot-outs.

  “He’s harmless,” Cage said, slightly uncomfortable remembering the man who had given his life to save a man he hardly knew. “He’s Carlos’s grandson.”

  Trent narrowed his eyes. “He work there?”

  Cage shrugged. “Did the last time I saw him.”

  Trent ran a hand along the back of his neck. “Might be able to get some information from him.”

  Cage shook his head. The idea of talking to the grandson of the man who died for him was way beyond his comfort zone. He wasn’t sure.

  “He didn’t know shit last time,” Cage said. “I doubt things have changed. He’s just a kid. Not like they are going to key him in on anything important, especially after what Carlos did.”

  Trent nodded. “Well, maybe we should pay Charlie a visit,” he said. “See if he knows where they might be going.”

  Cage shrugged. Wasn’t like he had much else to do, especially since Reed had forced him out.

  Trent pulled out his phone and started the car.

  “Now, let’s get you to that appointment,” Trent said with a smile.

  Something churned in Cage as he felt his resolve slip.

  Chapter Six

  Lunch was a little less busy in the cafeteria than it normally was on the weekend, which was when she mainly volunteered to help with the dogs and other therapy animals they trained in the building.

  Normally that wouldn’t have been a big deal for Whitney, but today was the day Ted had decided to ambush her with something she wasn’t ready for. Well, ambush was a bit unfair. It’s not like she hadn’t seen this coming.

  “I think we can be something special,” Ted sai
d with a soft smile. “We’ve been hanging out, but I’d like to take it to the next level. Start dating, not just having coffee.”

  She looked across the table to the man sitting there and sighed. It wasn’t that he wasn’t good-looking. Ted was neat and wore button-up shirts. He was the kind of guy that parents hoped their daughter would date. Ted had a great job at his well-established vet office, and people loved him.

  Whitney glanced back down at her salad when she realized she’d been staring too long.

  Really, the only problem with Ted was that there was nothing there. She didn’t want to quote her mother, but there just wasn’t any spark. Nothing burned. Nothing even hinted at burning.

  She stiffened a little at the thought. Maybe the spark was just her subconscious trying to protect her. After all, people who gave off that spark were people she couldn’t trust. People who went home with boob-zillas and acted all innocent and like they just wanted to be with one person when they were still secretly players. No. That wasn’t what she wanted. She needed something else, someone else.

  Still, she glanced up to Ted again. Lisa had been right. Ted was a nice guy, and jerking him around wasn’t what she wanted to do either. Couldn’t she just learn to have that spark for him?

  Deep down she knew that wasn’t going to happen. It was unfair to both of them to continue to drag this thing out.

  “Whitney?” Ted said, staring at her, waiting for an answer that she wouldn’t be able to give.

  She shook her auburn hair.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, giving him a small smile. “I’m just not ready for that.”

  His face fell, and she knew that wasn’t the answer he was expecting.

  “Listen, Ted,” she said, leaning forward. “I just don’t know if I’ll ever be ready.”

  He frowned a little.

  She knew it sounded silly, a bit too much like, ‘It’s not you, it’s me,’ but she really didn’t have a better answer. Her feelings for him weren’t likely to ever be more than platonic, and the person who she did feel something for would likely break her heart. A rock and a nice, soft place. It was ironic that after all this time, she’d still end up like her mother. She’d ended up in love with love and chasing the wrong sort of man. Well, not if she could help it.

  “I’ll wait,” he said suddenly, pulling her from her dark thoughts.

  Whitney blanched at the statement.

  “Wait?” she asked, hoping that maybe she had misunderstood.

  Ted nodded. His perfect brown hair bobbed a little but still managed to keep its shape.

  “If you need time, I can give you that.” He smiled warmly at her and took her hand. “I understand this sort of thing can be intense.”

  This wasn’t going like she planned at all.

  “We could be good for each other,” he said quietly. “If you just gave us a chance.”

  She didn’t really know what to say, but it wasn’t really the kind of confession that most girls wanted to hear. Even someone like her wanted more.

  Whitney pulled her hand back and shook her head.

  “I think you’re a great guy, Ted, but I can’t let you wait for me,” she said and looked down at the salmon sitting on top of her salad. It didn’t look like she’d get the chance to eat it now.

  Ted sat up suddenly, knocking the table as he did so and dragging her attention back to him.

  “I’ll wait,” he said firmly. He nodded, more to himself than anything.

  Whitney swallowed. There was no convincing him now. It was odd how the thing she had most admired in him, his determination, was now coming to bite her in the ass.

  “Ted, I really don’t think it will make a differ—”

  She stopped at the sight of Lisa rounding the corner.

  “There you are,” her friend said, grinning at her. “You won’t believe who I just saw.”

  Whitney frowned a little, both at the interruption and the giddy expression on her friend’s face.

  “Who?” She raised a brow.

  Lisa grinned and sat in the chair next to her.

  “Cage.”

  * * *

  So the trip to the dog therapy place hadn’t been as bad as he’d expected. The people that worked at the therapy place were nice, and no one acted like he couldn’t do things for himself. Actually, they had gone out of their way to say that the dogs were just there to make things easier. It seemed like they got him, understood he wasn’t done just because his knee had been shot.

  Cage still wasn’t convinced, but it wasn’t a bad option, especially if his knee disability was going to be long-term. His stomach twisted at the thought, but it wasn’t impossible. The last time he’d seen the doctor, he had said it would be a miracle if Cage regained full mobility. Though he’d also said that his recovery had been pretty amazing, and that gave Cage hope. Maybe it shouldn’t have, but it did.

  “So what do you think?” Mark asked.

  He liked the carefree ex-military man who had taken the time to show them around. Trent had been right. Mark was easygoing and never once pushed anything on him. It was like talking to one of the guys at work, except with less random busting his balls bullshit.

  Cage rubbed the back of his neck.

  “I’m going to be honest,” he said. “I’m just not sure I’d need a dog long-term.”

  Mark frowned a little. “But your doctor was willing to write a script for a therapy dog? Your doctor knows your long-term medical needs.”

  Mark and Trent exchanged looks, and Cage knew what that meant. They thought he was in denial.

  “Look, I’m just not sure where things are going,” he said and moved slowly down the hall to the front door. It had been a nice visit, but he was ready to be done. He didn’t want any pressure to start coming. “I’d just like to think on it a bit more. It’s a big decision.”

  Mark nodded and smiled. “I understand,” he said, stopping at the front desk. “It is a big step, but just keep thinking on it. This isn’t something you have to do right now. We’ll be here.”

  Cage took his hand and nodded. It might not be a step he was ready to take, but that didn’t mean that it wouldn’t happen someday. He couldn’t say for sure what the future would hold.

  “While I have you,” Mark said, glancing nervously to Trent and then back to him, “have you considered what a dog might do to help your PTSD?”

  Cage clenched his fist and glared at Trent.

  “I haven’t been diagnosed with PTSD,” he said through gritted teeth.

  Trent looked away.

  Mark gave a weak smile. “We see a lot of guys like you, and dogs are always good companions.”

  Cage grunted. They acted like he was going to crack any second. Besides, it wasn’t like he’d been through war and suffered like Trent. He could hardly qualify for something so serious.

  “Thanks for the tour,” Cage said tightly and moved to the door. “I’ll keep what you said in mind.”

  He pushed through hard, ignoring Trent behind him.

  “I’ll get the car,” Trent said quietly.

  Cage grunted. Everything in him wanted to deny the option to pick him up, but there was no way he could make it to the car now. After being cramped in one position too long and then walking around so much, his knee was throbbing.

  “You just don’t know when to quit, do you?” a woman said.

  Her voice cut through the air, and he knew instantly she was talking to him.

  Whitney placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

  “Whitney?” Ted said from behind her.

  Ted and Lisa stared at her as if she had lost her mind, and maybe she had, but this was going too far. Cage’s fragile ego could go fly away for all she cared. He didn’t get to follow her around just because she saw through his playboy act and blew him off.

  “I’m fine,” she said to them. “I’ll be inside in a second. I just need to have a chat with a certain someone.”

  Lisa quickly made her way in, but Ted lin
gered, looking almost uncertain if he should leave her. The two men stared at one another, and she wondered if maybe she was starting something. She certainly didn’t want to see Ted hurt.

  “Let me know if you need any help,” Ted said to her and then turned back to glare at Cage.

  Cage snorted. “I’m sure she will.”

  First, her clinic, then the club and now here. The nerve of that man. Like she needed to answer to him. He didn’t own her just because he wanted her.

  She watched Ted go inside before continuing.

  “You think you can just show up and what?” She waved a hand at him. “I’m supposed to fall all over you? You must just not be used to women saying no to you, huh?”

  Cage stared back at her, his mouth open in shock at her anger. It was a first to see him surprised like that, and she liked that she was able to get the drop on him this time, that she could regain some control.

  She stepped a little closer.

  “Have fun last night?” she asked with a little more venom than she intended. It only proved to her how much it had stung to see that other woman wrapped around him. She’d let Cage get under her skin in both a good and bad way.

  He looked away as if he had something to hide. “It’s not what you think,” Cage said and moved closer to her.

  She stepped back. There was no way she was letting her guard down around him. The last time she had, his tongue had found its way into her mouth.

  “I’m sure,” she said and crossed her arms. “Well, it doesn’t matter anyways what you did with boob-zilla. You could have done it all night for all I care.”

  She turned and walked to the doors.

  “Stay away from me and my clinic. I have no interest in you or anything you think you have to offer,” she said.

  Her words stung. She could see it in his face, and something in her felt the pain she was dealing. But she had already gone too far. It was too late to turn back.

  “Whitney,” he said quietly. “Let me explain. You don’t understand.”