Page 58 of Her Silver Fox Firefighters
It takes a while and a hell of a lot more chamomile tea for Chloe to open up and tell Carlos the full story, adding a hell of a lot more details than when she originally told us. When she’s finished, I can see the concern etched deeply into his handsome features.
Just as I can see the curious glances he keeps stealing at my best friend. I don’t think he even realizes he’s doing it. Chloe certainly isn’t aware. She’s too busy staring at her tea, likely wondering if she’s going to be able to survive this entire ordeal.
“I think the first thing we need to do is keep Chloe out of sight for a while,” Carlos concludes after a long minute of processing, “somewhere safe and quiet that can’t be traced back to her or Olivia.”
“What about Olivia?” Dax asks with a deep frown. “She’s a victim in this, too.”
“I don’t want to live my life in hiding,” I cut in. “We made it this far, right?”
“The circumstances have changed, I’m sure we can all agree on that,” Leo says. I know what he’s talking about, and it does make sense, but I don’t want to hide under a rock, not anymore.
“After what he put me through, after what he put Chloe through, don’t even think about locking me away somewhere for my own safety,” I shoot back, raising my chin in defiance. “Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean?—”
“Wait, what?” Chloe gasps.
Carlos’s eyebrows pop up in surprise. “Whoa.”
“Ugh,” I groan and rub my face with my hands, wishing it weren’t such a big deal. But it is. And Chloe is my best friend. This isn’t how I wanted her to find out about it. “I’m sorry, Chloe, I… it just happened.”
“Who’s the father?” she asks, looking around the room.
When Carlos notices my hesitation, as well as Dax, Leo, and Beck’s heavy silence, he bursts into a dry chuckle. “She doesn’t know yet. They’ll need DNA when the baby’s born,” he says.
“Oh, my days,” Chloe laughs. “You were not kidding about the sharing thing. Holy smokes! This is all so weird and wonderful at the same time. I don’t even know how to react!”
“We’ll throw a baby shower when this nightmare is over,” I reply, then give my men another hard look. “Until then, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Olivia…” Dax tries to convince me, but I won’t budge.
“You told me I’d be safe with you, did you not?”
“Shit,” Beck curses under his breath.
Carlos chuckles again. “The girl’s sharp. Gotta give credit where it’s due.”
“Besides, I think we have to consider a different approach,” I say. “As far as Devon PD knows, I’m not here. Chloe showing up in public might raise a red flag. She’s still Mrs. Jackson’s granddaughter; people might recognize her. So it makes sense that she needs to hide somewhere else until this blows over.”
“And you stay here like a sitting duck while I cower in some safe house?” Chloe snaps. “No way. We’re in this together, Olivia, all the way through.”
“You barely survived what Marcus threw at you the last time,” Leo kindly reminds her. “It’s a miracle you made it all the way across the damn country, Chloe. It’s time for you to sit back and let us do what we need to do in order to keep you and Olivia safe. That being said, as much as I hate to admit it, Olivia might be more useful to our cause right here in town.”
“You’ll need a place to stay,” Carlos tells Chloe. “My uncle has a cabin a few miles outside of town, on the other side of the ridge. Nobody knows where it is, and it has all the amenities you’ll need. I’ll drive you up there. We’ll grab some food and stuff on the way. Put my cell number on speed dial and call me if anything so much as feels wrong.”
“I am safe here,” I add, looking at my best friend. “Dax, Leo, Beck… they’re with me almost all the time. I stick to my job and our places. I keep a low profile. If push comes to shove, I could always join you at the cabin. Until then, I can do more from here,” I say, shifting my focus back to Carlos. “Get me a high-powered laptop and a network masking device, and I could work some magic to assist you.”
“How?” Carlos’s interest is piqued.
“For starters, if Marcus gets curious about Ember Ridge, and if he picked up Chloe’s face from a CCTV camera somewhere along the way, I could easily work my way through the town’s entire camera system and alter the footage to keep my face and Chloe’s out of it. It’s tedious work, but I could do it.”
“It’s also illegal,” he mutters, “even if I approve it.”
Dax shakes his head. “Given what we’re dealing with, I think we can bend the law here just a little bit.”
“I’m telling you guys, nobody can crack a system like Olivia,” Chloe adds. “That’s why Marcus was so desperate to keep her under his thumb. It’s not just about all the stuff that she knows about him, it’s about how useful she is to him. Without her, Marcus is exposed in certain areas of his shady business dealings in Devon. It’s only a matter of time before somebody picks up on that stuff.”
Beck scratches his beard, settling into the armchair by the window.
“Let me get this straight,” he says. “Carlos takes Chloe to his uncle’s cabin, where she’ll be safe and out of sight. He’ll then bring his IA buddies into the conversation while Olivia gets online and starts tampering with security footage all over town to make sure her presence here, as well as Chloe’s, remains hidden.”
