Page 12 of Frosted Hearts

"I know, little miss princess wanted to try to sleep some of her hangover away this morning. She was delivered safely to the other women, who I left with strict orders to keep her in one piece and not upset her. She should be good." At least I hope she will be.

"Good," he retorts, before throwing a folder at me. Thankfully, nothing falls out as I catch it, flipping it open to look at. "What's this?"

"That is what we have so far. Basically nothing. Care to explain what happened and how we got into this mess?" Knox questions sternly.

"How much time do you have?" I joke, trying to lighten the mood. I can tell it’s useless as he continues to stare me down, waiting on my actual answer. Well, okay then. "Classes have been going fine, but I know Illeana has been hating having me follow her around basically everywhere she goes. Last weekend she hid in her room, but this weekend her best friend, Morgan, convinced her to go out and party. I tried to argue against it, but it was clear Illeana's mind was made up and I could either get on board or be left behind," I start to explain before Trevor cuts me off.

"How could you not handle her? She's a twenty-one-year-old young woman. You're thirty-two, a Marine, and are in better shape than most people I know. How could you not control her and keep her in her dorm room?" He seems utterly surprised that I couldn't stop her.

"Wait until you meet her, and then you try to control her. She has fought me during every step in this process. I'm lucky she hasn't run off on me yet. So if she wants to go out and dance and enjoy herself for a night, then I'm going to let her so I can stay on her good side. She was in my sights all night. Those pictures that were taken, I have no idea who took them, but they had to have been from someone close to her. There are only a couple of shots from further away. If I remember the layout correctly, those far-away shots are from an area that you can't access as a guest of the establishment. Staff only, so we should probably look through the staff and see if that gives us any leads." I hate that I hadn't thought of this until just now. It was hard to make up, but maybe it was a glass wall in the direction of the angle of those pictures. It's the only thing I can think of that would make sense. I still don't remember seeing a single person who had their phone out while on the dance floor but it's possible I missed it when I was watching Illeana.

"The staff? Are you sure?" Knox questions, before he types on his computer. Knowing him, he is already digging online to find the list of staff for the establishment. Sky may be our computer genius, but Knox has almost just as many skills as her. The two of them could make a killer team in hacking if they ever wanted to test their skills.

"Positive. But I still can't figure out who on the floor was close enough to take some of those other pictures. I don't remember seeing anyone with their phone out in their vicinity. Not even Illeana's best friend Morgan, who was with her all night." Ever since those pictures dropped it has been driving me insane. I wish I had more answers to give everyone. If I knew who I saw, then we could question them and find out why they leaked the photos. Whoever took them had to have known who Illeana was. It wasn't just someone posting pictures online from a fun night out. No, this was deliberate.

"Where were you when she was dancing? Whoever took those pictures was good at keeping you out of almost all of them. I think the one that does show you was on purpose due to the expression on your face. This could be problematic, Steel. We need to figure out who keeps threatening her," Knox sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

I know he has been busy trying to keep up with so many cases of ours, but I think there's more to it. I told him I had this case handled despite not wanting it in the first place, and now it blew up on me two weeks in. I hate letting my friends down. "Sorry, Knox. I really was doing my best. If I had seen a phone, I would have handled it then and there. I didn't see a single one. Whoever took them was sneaky. Even the ones that didn't get leaked to the press were well done. I think we should question Morgan, her best friend. I know we did a background check on her already but maybe we missed something?"

"It's possible something was missed, but there wasn't anything that looked too concerning about her. While we do that, we need to figure out what to do with Illeana. Her identity is out there now and everyone at school is going to know who she is. If we let her go back, then she is going to need a whole team on her at all times and not just you. Do you think she will accept that?" Knox inquires, as he starts jotting down a to-do list.

"Fat chance. I think hell will freeze over before she’ll accept having a whole team. Illeana loves her independence. She is good at checking her surroundings and making sure if someone bothers her, she avoids them. But this is a whole different ball game. She doesn't have the resources to handle this alone. I hate to say it, and I know she won't be happy about it, but going back to school is a bad idea." I really do hate saying it. I know how hard Illeana works every day to maintain her GPA and graduate on time with two degrees. What I'm suggesting puts her at risk of being a semester behind, which isn't fair to her at all, but I'drather she be behind than injured or, worse, kidnapped. Which is exactly what some of these threatening notes have suggested.

"Well, if she isn't going to accept a security team, then what ideas do you have?" Knox questions, looking between Trevor and me. That right there is the question. I'm not sure what is the best solution to this problem, if there even is one.

"Can she do classes online?" Trevor inquires, turning to look at me.

"The Dean said that she can do classes online for a week. Maybe under the circumstances, we can get that extended, but I'm not sure for how long. All we can do is ask. Why? What are you thinking?" I'm curious and need to know what his plan is before I go about asking the Dean to change the rules for Illeana.

"What about if we take her somewhere off the grid? Somewhere that only we know about. Then, she would be safe and out of the public eye. Whoever keeps threatening her won't be able to reach her and should turn their focus onto someone else, hopefully." Trevor's suggestion is a good one; I'll give him that. Getting Illeana out of the public eye and somewhere that we only know about would protect her.

"But where can we keep her so that no one would know where to find her? We can't do the office here; that's too public, and I don't want her at any of our houses. That would put more people at risk," Knox begins, contemplating out loud. "Winter is here, which makes this even harder. I could ask Shadow if the Chaos Brotherhood could watch her, but we've already brought them in to help us once before. I'm not sure if we should bring them in on this, especially considering this is about Senator Granger. If the press got word that a motorcycle club was helping to protect his daughter, that would ruin his image."

"What about the cabin that I took Emma to?" Trevor suggests quickly like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "It's secluded and in the mountains. Sure, you'll get snowed in upthere, but it's a small town. No one would question who Illeana is if you're with her. Everyone in that town knows who we are and what we do. They will help keep her safe. The roads will also be hard to pass, so you'd have warning if someone was coming your way."

"Are you suggesting I take her there? You really want me to be stuck with her for who knows how long until this situation is handled?" I sigh, not liking this idea at all. "I already had her while she was at school, and now look at the mess we're in. She hates me and is going to fight me the whole way if I suggest this to her."

"Then don't suggest this to her. Suggest it as a solution to her father tonight. Make it sound like this is the only and best option to keep her safe. If it comes from him, then she will blame her father, and it will help keep the peace for yourself. We don't have any other options, Steel. This is the best one," Knox explains. I can tell he has already made up his mind and that I don't stand a chance trying to change it.

"What the hell am I supposed to do stuck with Illeana in a cabin for who knows how long? She's a princess and isn't going to be any sort of fun," I groan, already knowing that this is going to happen no matter what I say.

"I'm sure you can come up with an idea. Just keep her entertained and tell her she can't let anyone know where she is. It's not that hard. I mean, you're a big kid at heart anyway. Just play games," Trevor laughs as he rises from his chair. "We done here? I'd like to get my woman home and have some time with her before we need to pick up Alexis from school."

"Yeah, I think we're done here. Make sure to give Steel the keys to the cabin. I'll call ahead to the town and let the mayor know you'll be driving through and to be extra cautious of visitors while you're there." Knox rises from his seat as well and walks around the desk, coming to a stop in front of me. "You'll befine with Illeana, Steel. Don't overthink things. I'll call Senator Granger as well and let him know our plans so he doesn't give you too much hell."

"Thanks, Knox," I answer, rising from my seat. "Guess I should go get the Princess from the women and get back on the road. I'm sure the Senator isn't going to like that we stopped here first instead of going directly there." Turning around, I head out of the office, following Trevor down the hall. Time to get on the road and get this next conversation over with. Senator Granger is a hard man to speak to, and I know this conversation won't be any different.

Iwas nervous when Steel told me he was leaving me with the women. I was worried they were going to hate me, but when Emma pulled me into the room right past Steel, I didn't feel out of place at all. She was warm and welcoming. They all were. Emma had me sit next to her as she introduced me to Valentina and Sky, who were sitting across from us. It was obvious from the start who was the outgoing of the trio. Emma didn't stop talking, and even Sky seemed to open up more over time when Emma would ask her questions. It was nice just having a normal conversation and watching the three of them talk about anything and everything.

"So, Illeana, can we ask you some questions? I promise not to pry too much, but I'm curious," Emma drawls as she angles her body toward me.

"Sure, I'll answer as best as I can," I shrug, curious as to what she wants to know. So much of my life has been public knowledge. If it's something easy, I can answer the same way I have a million times before. She said she wouldn't pry too much and I'm hoping that's true.

"We know who your dad is, and well, I know how much it sucks to live your life in the public eye, so I'm not going to bring that up. However, I am curious about your sister. I know you have one, but we don't see much of her. I won't ask personal questions, but is she as cute in person as she is in the few pictures we've seen posted?" Emma asks as she rubs her hand over her protruding stomach. It was obvious when I met her that she is far along in her pregnancy. I didn't realize that her due date was in just a few weeks! Valentina asked her when she was going to pop when I first walked in.

Answering questions about my sister is something I can do. Smiling, I turn so I can look at her better but still see the others as well. "My sister is absolutely adorable. She is bubbly and outgoing, the complete opposite of me. I've tried hard to make sure she has a childhood every kid deserves and to not grow up in the spotlight the same way I have. I want her to have a normal life, and I think so far, I've done that. Grace loves everything Disney, and she has no issues speaking her mind. I can't tell you how many times I'm left blown away or in tears by the questions she asks me. I miss her while I'm at school, but I know every time I come home she is there to cheer me up after a hard test or a long day."

"Aww, that is so cute," Emma gushes. "She sounds like the cutest kid. How old is she?"

---