Page 91 of S.O.S. Billboard

“I’m not sure I—”

“Actually,we’llbe taking them. It’s in your best interest, Ma’am,” the dour agent interrupted.

“What if I don’t—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ms. Surly continued. “Whether you give me the combination or not, Mrs. Jakes, I’ll get those papers.”

Wow. Hard-core, Billboard marveled.

Anna didn’t argue any further, but looked a bit disconcerted.

Perkins was all grins.

Billboard smothered his amusement. Who knew? Their junior team-member clearly liked the tough-edged woman.

“How about this…” Del speculated, ending the sort-of standoff. He began outlining a plan that eventually—with a few tweaks from the fine minds in the room—they all agreed was the way to go.

When the last of the agents and team had finally left—afterthe forbidding female in black had the damning documents in hand, and post Mizzay directing two of her black-suits to keep an eye on the Jakes’ house from outside for the balance of the night—Billboard turned to O’Shea. “You want me to stay here, or do you want to come home with me?”

There was no way he was leaving her after the episode she’d had in the cell. He knew the way those things worked. If the past got its claws into you, the victim of those barbs was bound to have some difficult nights.

O’Shea didn’t question him.

“I… Maybe I’ll go with you. But just for tonight,” she stated hesitantly. “Anna? Will you be okay?”

“With those…” Anna waved a hand toward her front door. “…whatever kind of agents they are sitting outside? Especially that scary woman? Absolutely. I’ll probably feel safer than I have in a long time.”

“Okay,” O’Shea capitulated. “But I’ll be back first thing in the morning to settle in before you and Ethan leave for work and school.”

“You know that’s not necessary,” Anna stated, “but you also know how much I appreciate it.”

****

It didn’t take long for O’Shea to pack an overnight bag. If Billboard had his way, she wouldn’t ever do it again. After this whole thing with Barnie Jakes wrapped up and Anna was safe living by herself again, he planned on having O’Shea move in with him, permanently. But for that to happen…

Billboard spoke gruffly, the minute they were inside his vehicle and headed home. “I know it was tough for you to open up to me tonight and tell me about your past, but it makes me realize it’s time I gave you the same consideration.”

O’Shea reached over and laid her hand on his where it was dancing nervously on his thigh.

“This isn’t grade-school, Billboard. We don’t have to have a tit-for-tat. What happened with me tonight…” She glanced over at him and sighed. “…it was inevitable. I couldn’t have stopped it if I’d tried. I…have a fear of small spaces that are enclosed.”

“But you go in elevators,” he recalled, frowning but relieved over the momentary reprieve from his own worries.

“Right. Because I’ve made it a point to force myself to do normal stuff like that. But any kind of cage. With bars…”

Billboard snapped his fingers. “That’s why you were so particular about the kind of carrier we bought for Zoe and Cheeto. Why you didn’t go with the one that was hard-sided and had a metal door.”

“Yup. It had to be soft and see-through with mesh, or I would have freaked out about putting them in it,” she admitted. “I know it sounds crazy, but I want you to know that I’m pretty sane, other than that. And I’m getting better all the time. Tonight was the first freak-out I’ve had in over a year.”

Better than him, for sure.

“You had help working everything through?” Billboard asked.Hisshrink was his god-damned lifeline.

“Yeah. My brother, and a neighbor of ours back when we lived in that apartment building. Cedric dealt with my shit a lot when we first moved out, then there was Mishka Lavine. She’s a therapist, and she witnessed me freak out one day when one of the kids in the building accidentally got shut in the storage unit out back. After I broke down and told her why I’d gone nuts, she made time for me—at home and privately—to work on it.” O’Shea smiled. “I’m in touch every now and then when I need a refresher, but like I said, I’ve been, let’s say, ninety-percent better in the past few years.”

“I’m so glad you were able to make that kind of progress.” Billboardwashappy for her, but as for himself… “I’ve been seeing Doctor Edwina for several months now, compliments of Mizzay, and so far, it’s helped, but not ninety-percent worth,” he admitted.

His night-terrors had all but stopped, which had allowed him to have O’Shea sleep over, but certain triggers during the day still sent him into a downward spiral. It was why his team deemed him bad-tempered. When he felt an episode coming on, he set his jaw, stopped interacting, and took himself off somewhere quiet to work through things alone.

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