Page 41 of Elliot

He stared down at her. “It’s true.”

She saw that intensity in his eyes. “They couldn’t keep you away from your team, could they? After what happened to them.”

“Not a chance.” His jaw tightened. “I held the widows and their kids as they cried. I watched as each of them were buried. I kept telling myself it would get better.”

She whispered, “Did it?”

“No, but it didn’t get worse.” His stare held her eyes.

“You’ve been through so much.” She toed up and kissed him gently before dropping back down and whispering, “This is so trivial compared to what you’ve endured.”

His finger tipped her chin up. “No, it isn’t. These incidents are bad and getting worse as time goes on. The elements of this situation are different, but it isn’t trivial. Are you ready?”

She nodded and dropped her arms from around his waist. He took her hand, and they walked down the hall together. Silas stepped to the side, and Elliot opened the door. Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh.” She took in the scene in front of her. Her clothes were torn to shreds and scattered around the room. “Die Bitch” was spray-painted on her bedroom wall. Her pillows had been ripped, and feathers were everywhere.

“We aren’t going any farther into the room. The investigators are parking and bringing their kits up.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to see anymore.”

He grabbed the doorknob and shut the door. “Care for a glass of brandy?”

She blinked and looked up at him. “A big one, please.”

“One large brandy, coming up.” He took her hand. His thumb rubbed the back of it as they walked back to the living room. She felt that touch to her bones. She’d grown addicted to it quickly, hadn’t she? Sitting down on the couch, she watched him walk over to the bar cart. Right then, she didn’t care. That man, the handsome, fierce protector with a smoking hot body, was kind, sexy, and exactly what she needed. After all, she was an adult, and so was he. Man, was he ever …

CHAPTER 14

Elliot walked over to the bar cart and glanced at its contents. He opened the doors on the bottom of the cart and withdrew a new bottle of brandy. After examining the seal for any indication of tampering, he opened it.

“Why are you opening a new bottle? There’s plenty left in the decanter,” Maya asked from the couch.

He turned around to drop the bomb he’d found out about while he was at Guardian headquarters. “We got the lab results back for the bottled water in your office. The ones that were opened. There was enough GHB in each bottle to knock out an elephant. An amount that could have killed you.”

“Killed me?” Maya’s hand flew to her chest, and she closed her eyes. Elliot made his way over to her and kneeled in front of her. When his hands touched hers, Maya’s eyes popped open. “Why?”

“I wish I knew. There were no prints on the bottles other than mine. I picked up each one to examine the seal.”

“GHB is a date rape drug, right?” Maya asked, and he nodded. She shivered a bit, and her eyes misted, but she lifted her chin. She drew a sharp breath and stated, “Well, screwwhoever is doing this. They won’t stop me from living my life and doing what I need to do.”

Elliot felt a small burst of pride at her bravado. “There you go. Don’t let this get you down. Just to be safe, we’ll empty anything that’s been opened, including food. We don’t know what the person who was here did or why, so we won’t take any chances.”

She nodded. “What can I do to help?”

“First, you can wash your brandy snifter, then take a good stiff drink. After that, you can help me pour all that alcohol down the drain.” He nodded toward the liquor cart. “Then we’ll clean out the kitchen and order dinner. By then, the investigators should have your room processed.”

“That’s good. A plan. I like that.” She nodded and stared at him. “I won’t let whoever is doing this to me win.”

“Nor will I. Together, we’ll get through this, and at some point, it’ll make sense.” He squeezed her hand and stood up.

She stood with him and walked over to the bar cart to retrieve a brandy snifter. She looked from the glass to him. “I’m going to hold you to that.” She went into the kitchen, and he loaded his arms with bottles, following her. He set the first load down and took the snifter from her after she’d washed it. He poured her a drink and waited for her to take a long sip. She coughed and tapped her chest near her throat. “Oh, smooth.”

Elliot laughed and grabbed all but two open bottles. “Get those, will you?”

“Sure,” she said and coughed again.

They poured all the liquor down the drain and then washed out the decanters with plenty of soap and hot water. He laughed at her when she played in the water, holding the decanters underwater as the bubbles gurgled to the surface. They moved from that project to cleaning out all the opened food in the fridge and cupboards. He doubted anyone had taken the time totamper with the food because all the rage seemed to be targeted at the bedroom. Silas and his partner, who she’d found out was named Rob, had thoroughly inspected all the other rooms, including his, and noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

Elliot kept Maya occupied while the investigators searched for the less noticeable trace evidence. Some rage incidents targeted at personal items such as clothing and a bed had a sexual element. They were using UV lighting in her room to determine whether there were any … samples left.

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