Page 53 of In The Trenches (Owens Protective Services)

Dropping the blinds, I paced around the living room. Adam—Mr. Hayes— said to stop by today, and hanging around the apartment wasn’t doing me any good. Grabbing my purse, I decided it was now or never. I locked up and made the long walk back to work, practically running at times because I could feel eyes on me. I bumped into someone just as I was rounding the corner to the building, nearly falling over until someone grabbed my arm and steadied me.

“Hey—” I was ready to snap until I looked up into the eyes of my boss. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t see you.”

“It’s fine. I’m actually glad you came by today.”

“You are?” I asked in surprise.

“Yes, I was hoping you could describe the men you were with.”

For some reason, that made me uneasy…because of Seth. I didn’t want to give him away. It was so ridiculous. If he was there doing something wrong, then I should definitely tell Mr. Hayes what he looked like. On the other hand, he was really good to me, helping me out of my panicked mind when anyone else might have ignored me. And if I gave his description and he got in trouble, he would just be another one of my casualties.

“Beth?”

I was lost in my thoughts, not even paying attention to my boss. “Um…I’m not sure I got a good look at them. It was dark,” I said dumbly.

“Any description would help.”

He took me by the elbow, directing me around the corner to the entrance of the building. He nodded to the guard as we passed, noting there were now several more security guards than yesterday. “Did you have any luck finding out what they took?”

“I thought you said you didn’t know if they took anything,” he said, side-eyeing me as we headed for the stairwell. He opened the door for me, still gripping my elbow as we started to climb.

“Oh, well, I guess I don’t know. I just assumed if they were here and they weren’t supposed to be, then they took something.”

Feeling uncomfortable with how he was holding me, I gently pried myself from his grip, giving a tight smile as I moved further away from him. Except, when I stepped back, I forgot we were on stairs and I nearly fell backward. Adam’s hand shot out, grabbing me before I could take a deadly tumble. He pulled me close to his body, holding me tight as my heart pounded in my chest. Like yesterday, I felt something when I was with him. My skin felt flush when he touched me, and everything around me seemed to stand still for a moment.

His hand slid up my arm, brushing gently over the curve of my neck. There was an intimacy to the way he was holding me, like he needed to touch me. My eyes dropped to his lips, and for just a moment, I wondered what it would be like to have a man’s lips on mine. It had been so long, and I was tired of being alone. But Art’s death was a stark reminder that it wasn’t safe for anyone to be close to me.

Clearing my throat, I pulled back from him, pushing my hair behind my ear as I attempted to do something with my hands as a distraction. I could feel my face flush bright red, but thankfully, he didn’t say anything about it.

“We should head to my office.” His voice was a gruff rumble that made me wish for things I couldn’t have. Pulling myself together, I followed him upstairs and into his office. Thankfully, he took the seat behind his desk, putting some distance between us as I sat on the other side.

“So, what can you tell me about the men that were here?”

I shifted in my chair as Seth’s face flashed in my mind. “They wore trench coats.”

“Anything else?”

“Um…They were tall.” I could see the frustration building on his face. I didn’t want to disappoint him, but I felt like I was trapped in something I didn’t want any part of. I was supposed to be keeping a low profile, and here I was being dragged into a mystery.

I stood suddenly, feeling too uncomfortable with all of this. “You know, I think I should actually go.”

“But you said you were interested in working.”

“Yes, but the power’s still out. What would I even do?”

“Then at least let me take you home.”

I wasn’t sure if he wanted to grill me more about the men or if this was about our moment on the stairs. Either way, I needed to leave before this got out of hand.

“That’s really not necessary. I actually have to make a stop anyway.”

“Where?” he asked, almost an accusation, but then schooled his features. “Sorry, that was rude.”

I was so shocked by the outburst that I turned on my heel and walked out of the room. I thought I heard him following me, so I ran for the stairwell and hurried down the stairs. Things were getting stranger by the moment. I burst out onto the street and ran to the corner, slipping around the edge of the building. Once pressed against it, I let my heart calm before peeking around the edge. Adam stood on the sidewalk, looking in both directions. Another man walked up to him and they seemed to argue, then Adam pointed in my direction. I quickly pulled back, afraid I had been caught. After a moment, I looked around the corner again, only to find the man hurrying in my direction.

I took off down the sidewalk, racing through the crowd quickly building the further I got down the street. Glancing over my shoulder, fear skittered down my spine when I saw the man still following me. And when our eyes locked, he started running toward me. I didn’t even pay attention to my surroundings when I ran across the street, narrowly avoiding cars and trucks to get to safety on the other side.

Luckily, he didn’t have the ease of crossing the street, and ended up nearly crushed by a vehicle he ran in front of. I ducked inside an open door, running up the stairs and praying I could hide out for a while. I didn’t even bother to check out my surroundings as I found a dark corner to sit in. I stayed there for what felt like hours until finally my heart calmed. When no one came, I took a chance and exited my hiding spot.

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