Page 56 of Protector

“Not yet, but we’re almost to…”

“When Sam tased you?” Shay finishes.

“What the hell?” Jade says, and Shay and I both turn to look at her. “You got fucking tased, Brooks?” She comes over to stand next to Shay, who now looks apologetic.

“It’s not a big deal. It wasn’t the first time.”

“Really?” Shay says.

“Can we focus here?” I say, clicking theplaybutton again. “There he is.” The large figure, dressed all in black, crouched up to the porch from a side angle, completely missing the area to trigger the lights.

“Oh my God. It’s like he knew how to avoid the sensors.”

We all watch as he pulls something from the inside of his jacket and sets it down in front of the door.

“That motherfucker,” I say under my breath.

Shay leans in to watch the rest, where the guy disappears from view, tases me, our struggle and then him taking off—which triggered the sensor lights—and me going for the door just after the small explosion.

“Oh shit,” Jade says, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Thank God, you’re both all right.”

When Shay doesn’t say anything, I turn around in my seat to find her still staring at the screen. “Are you okay?” I take her hand, ignoring the look I’m sure Jade is sporting right now.

Shay shakes her head. “Yeah, it’s just seeing that… It could have been so much worse. I hate that I’ve put you in this danger.”

I can’t help but chuckle.

“Why is that funny?” Shay pulls her hand away.

“Yeah,” Jade says.

I shoot her a look, and she moves back toward the kitchen counter, taking a seat on one of the stools.

Then I stand and touch Shay’s face. “Baby, this is my job. Danger is literally why I have work.”

“I don’t care. I hate it.”

We stare at each other a few beats because I literally don’t know what to say right now. Thankfully, Shay turns back to the computer. “Play it again. I want to see him one more time.”

Doing as she asked, I lean over and play the clip just where we can see him shrouded in darkness. “You can’t see his face.”

“No, but there is something familiar about him.” We watch in silence for a bit before she speaks again. “He’s big, kind of stocky just like you thought.” She turns to me. “And like the waitress said at the hotel.”

“Do you think you know this guy?”

Shay reaches over and replays part of the video, staring intently at the screen. When she turns to me again, she says, “I don’t know… Something about him is familiar. I just can’t place it.”

The fear in her eyes kills me. I can’t take it away. The only thing I can do is protect her. And that means finding this guy. Somehow, some way, I’m going to do just that. As she plays the clip one more time, my gaze burns into the large dark figure, and I vow that monster won’t ever lay a finger on Shay. I’ll make damn sure of that.

CHAPTERTWENTY

Shay

Sitting on the wicker love seat on the porch, book in my lap, I gaze across to the trees that border the dirt road leading away from the property. Being in a peaceful place like this…seems like I shouldn’t be escaping into a book, rather enjoying the calm, the lack of hustle and bustle.

I hear Jade walk up from the side of the house and glance over to find her carrying some sort of long bag over one shoulder and what looks like a small trash bag in her other hand. I grin at the sight of her, though I don’t know what she’s up to. She’s so different from my friends, the people I work with, yet I find myself drawn in by her, intrigued to learn more about her and her life.

Being at the cabin these last few days has changed a lot of things for me. Even though I received another message from Stalker Sam the other day, I’m finally in a place of calm. A place where I can think clearly. My life is so fast-paced I typically don’t have much time to think about the bigger picture, my past, where I want to be in the future. I see now that’s exactly why I’ve always kept myself busy enough that those things had to wait—I simply didn’t want to acknowledge them. But it’s not like they’ll go away…at least not all of them. It won’t change the fact that my father left us and took my brother with him. It won’t change the fact that I left college out of fear or that I was attacked, leaving me feeling like my life was out of my control. Being busy because you love it is one thing; staying busy to hide from the things that make you feel bad is entirely different.

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