Page 8 of Those Who Are Bound

At the door, she waited for Lucy to catch up, taking the opportunity to look back across the structure to the man waiting at the bar, her heart thudding. He was now watching her with a hint of concern, the amusement gone.

Striving to calm herself, Elliott looked outside. She was imagining things. She must be—certainly, he hadn’t asked the question with any sexual innuendo, because he was looking at her now like she might have a screw loose. Could she blame him? The carnal thoughts were all her own. Besides, his girlfriend was standing right next to her.

Lucy approached, and Elliott pushed the door open, saying, “There are breaks in the trees to get to the office and storage sheds.” Without missing a beat as she walked along the back patio, she continued, “Office key is the black-coated one. It’s a shared office, but I usually only go in when no one else is around. It’s a room inside one of the units, but it’s climate-controlled. The rest of the space… not so much.”

Elliott led her off the patio, across the manicured lawn, and into a small door-shaped cut in the large evergreens. On the other side of the trees, they came to the line of storage buildings and sheds—two—and her home.

Lucy indicated the house. “Did your brother build that house?”

Elliott glanced at it. “He had it built, yeah.”

“Unique.”

Elliott tapped her hat, indicating the Air Force base referenced there. “He spent some time in the south. He liked the style.”

“Is that your car?”

Elliott glanced from Lucy to the car, wondering about the twenty questions. Okay, two. “His. Was his.” Now hers. She approached the office door and opened it.“After you.”

Lucy admired the car for a second longer, then stepped into the small office. It was typical, nothing fancy: it had a desk, a computer, three monitors, two chairs, filing cabinets, and a few framed photographs on the wall. There was only one small window. A second door led into the storage space itself.

Lucy stepped up to the photographs on the wall. Elliott watched her as she paused in front of one of herself and Gage. In it, she wore a T-shirt and shorts, sitting in the raised blade of a white Bobcat, sunburned and happy, her black hair draped across her shoulders. Gage stood next to her, a bald man of decent height with a thick black beard, eyes as stormy gray as his sister’s, arms folded over a massive, naked, bronzed chest. His smile was almost identical, although reserved. Beyond the smile, though, was a hint of sadness, trouble; he’dbeentroubled. Both arms were decorated in sleeve tattoos. He wore cut-off fatigues as shorts and combat boots. Gage had been a large man, built like a bull.

“Who’s Iron Man?” Lucy asked breathlessly.

Elliott looked from the picture to Lucy, wondering at the need for the question. His resemblance to Elliott was obvious. “That’s Gage.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow. “He’s like… wow. I don’t mean to be drooling, but… wow. I’m having a hot flash just looking at him.”

Elliott managed to hide the twinge of pain. She diverted, “Paperwork. I need you to fill out these forms.”

“Oh right!” Giving another warm look at the photograph, Lucy moved to the desk. She picked up a pen and the first piece of paper. “Well, it becomes official.”

“Be sure it’s what you want.”

Lucy looked back at it. “It totally is.”

Elliott took a deep breath and nodded. “That’s the salary. If offered, tips are yours to do with as you wish. I get no part of them. Report them on your taxes, though.”

Lucy looked at the offer letter, which was on top. With a barely contained squeak, she sat down and attacked the papers. Elliott pulled up the other chair and turned on the computer. For the next twenty minutes, other than questions Lucy had about the employment documentation or a clarifying question from Elliott as she entered the information into the system, it was quiet.

Then Elliott frowned and held up a paper. “You have a degree in marketing.”

Lucy looked back at her. “Yeah.”

Elliott pointed out, “You might have wanted to start with that yesterday.”

Lucy frowned. “Didn’t I?”

Elliott chuckled low and shook her head, returning to entering the information.

As the silence drew on, Lucy quietly muttered, “Jonah’s going to think we deserted him.”

Elliott paused. The mention of his name gave her a little buzz, and it was so wrong. But she couldn’t help herself. She reached past Lucy on the desk and turned on the monitor farthest away. “Let’s see what he’s up to.” She knew this was for her benefit, not for Lucy’s.

As the screen came on, twelve boxes appeared, live feed images from the various camera locations on the property: entrance, parking lot, storage areas, across the lawn, toward the center from the woods, and one into the woods from the space, and several within the structure itself. All angles were covered inside the building and its immediate perimeter.

“Wow,” Lucy said.

---