HiT 149: Anna Brookes First Chapter Read online

  I’m fully aware of every sight, sound and smell in this house. I can smell cinnamon which I always identify as Ben’s aroma. I can hear the birds flying overhead outside and I look to see if I can spot anything that’s been moved in the house. After thoroughly searching his home, I climb up to the attic and there’s nothing up there either.

  I go outside and give Ben the go ahead to come inside while I take my duffle and the loose part of my rifle out of the car. It’s mid-morning and even though I know there’s danger coming for us, I’m also dead tired and hungry. Maybe I shouldn’t say dead tired and just say tired.

  “Ben your home alarm, is it monitored? And do you have any cameras set up?”

  “My alarm’s back to base monitoring.” As he’s talking I open my laptop and start working. “And I have one camera out the back but it’s only monitored through my computer.”

  “I really hope you don’t mind but I’m hacking into your alarm and diverting it to my laptop plus I’m hacking into your computer so I can monitor the camera out back. Can you please go up to your attic and install this and one pointing out the front window.” I hand him two small coin size cylinders. Ben looks at them and then back to me. “They’re cameras. I use them when I need eyes and ears for surveillance. They go between night vision and normal with a click on my laptop. Now can you please go set them up in prime positions so you can get your ass back here and make me something to eat?”

  “This is…amazing, yet frightening. You’re like a female version of James Bond.”

  I start laughing. “I’m nothing like James Bond. I’m not a spy, and I’m certainly not a good person. I kill for profit.” I find this entire situation amusing but Ben’s shoulders are tense and his brow furrows as he considers my statement.

  “Yes about that, I think…”

  “No Ben, don’t think. You can’t think about this whole scenario. This is a job now. I need to keep you alive and safe, and you need to not overthink anything.”

  Ben nods his head and starts for the attic to install the camera. Once he’s back downstairs, he positions the one at front windows. I get all the cameras up on the laptop and see that he’s placed them both in the perfect areas for optimal viewing.

  “Anna, why did I put a camera in the attic? Nothing’s up there.”

  “Because if this assassin’s half as good as I am, then I can tell you they’ll come into your house in a way we won’t be expecting. It won’t be through the front or back doors. But we’ll keep those covered just in case.”

  “What do you want to eat?” Ben doesn’t question me anymore. It’s possible his brain’s just trying to make sense of everything. Maybe he’s accepted me, or maybe he’s just shut down.

  “Surprise me.”

  As he’s making our sandwiches, the conversation’s fairly light. There’s still so much more I need to talk to him about, but we’re both exhausted and hungry and our emotions are still pretty raw. After brunch I’m really tired and I can see Ben stifling a yawn.

  “We can sleep in shifts, Ben. It’ll be the safest way for us.”

  “Well, not exactly. You see I had a safe room put in when I built the house. It’s a bit like your steel box but bigger and without the artillery.”

  Now it’s my turn to be totally speechless and surprised.

  Who the hell builds a safe room in their house?

  Chapter 28

  “Why on earth have you got a safe room? They’re usually for shady people like me or if you’re trying to protect something precious.” I keep periodically checking my laptop to make sure everything’s okay, while Ben and I have this bizarre conversation. But then this entire situation is odd.

  “Because I was waiting for the day I’d marry and have children. And seeing as I’m in charge of the Police Department, there may come a day where I’d need to use it for my family, a bit like the situation I’m in now.” Ben lets out another huge yawn. That explanation seems plausible. Doesn’t it?

  “Well, you have me now, and there’s no way I’m going to let anything happen to you. Anyway, we’re both exhausted, so show me to your safe room and let’s get a few hours of shut-eye, because this is far from over.”

  Ben takes my hand and the duffle bag and I take my laptop, but need to come back for the rest of my sniper’s rifle. I follow him down the hall and he turns into the laundry room. “Really, Ben? Your safe room is a laundry? What do you expect us to do in here? Separate whites?” I’m containing a laugh and Ben gives me a smug stare.

  “Step back, hot shot.” Now he’s the one making fun of me. I step out of the laundry room and Ben pushes aside the washing powder to uncover a concealed panel and enters the code 9785. The panel looks much like the ones I have for my steel boxes. When he puts in his code, the center floor section dips down a little bit and slides back. He was comparing me to James Bond, should I compare him to Harry Houdini being able to disappear and reappear? We descend ten steps into a huge room. I stand and take in my surroundings, there’s a queen bed a small kitchen area stocked with a lot of canned food and bottles of water to the side and a door to the left. “The door to the left’s the bathroom. There’s enough food and water to last twelve days down here,” Ben says, looking proud of himself.

  “Where are your guns, Ben?”

  Ben looks at me like I’m an alien; he’s been doing that a lot lately. “I only have my service weapon.” I have to remember he’s a man of the law and not an outlaw like me. He makes his way back up stairs and gets the rest of my rifle and comes back down, placing it near my bag, my duffle, and the laptop.

  “Well, lock it up so we can get some rest. I need a shower. Have you got something I can wear tonight?” Before I finish the sentence Ben’s locked us in his safe room. He walks over to a small chest of drawers and hands me a pair of his boxers and a t-shirt. I head over to the bathroom and find that it’s fairly complete. There’s everything I need in there. I turn the shower on so its scalding hot and I strip out of my clothes. I drag myself into the shower and let the last thirty hours just wash down the drain.

  I stand with my forearms leaning against the wall in front of me, tilt my head down, and just let the water stream down my back. I try not to think of what Ethan did to me and how much pain I’m still in. I look down and see that the bleeding’s stopped but I’m still incredibly sore, and know that the scarring will take a while to heal. My eyes are closed and my breathing’s deep as I’m allowing every breath to cleanse me emotionally, just as the water’s pounding over my body to wash away the hardest few days I’ve had to deal with in a long time.

  I don’t hear him; I just sense him.

  He steps in the shower behind me and starts rubbing my back. He doesn’t say anything. I turn and look into his beautiful face, and the strong arms that only a few hours ago held one of my weapons to defend me from a potential risk. I let his arms envelop me. There’s nothing sexual about this encounter. This goes beyond attraction; this is much more than that. This is two people just holding each other and understanding our needs. He doesn’t move in an inappropriate way. He simply holds me and doesn’t let me go.

  Our breathing becomes synched, our individual bodies meld together into one, and we’re so close it’s impossible to see where one person ends and the other person begins. We’re in this tangled mess of arms and legs and nearness for an unknown amount of time. All that I know is that the water’s beginning to cool. Ben pulls away quietly and steps out of the shower, pulling a towel around his waist; I turn the faucets off and put one towel around my body and wrap my hair in another. I step out into the bathroom and see Ben’s already lying down on the bed.

  “What you did in the shower, Ben…” He interrupts me straight away.

  “I owe you much more than that.” He sits up in bed with his legs over the side, he can tell by the look on my face that I’m about to question him. “Before you say anything else, I owe you my life. I’d be dead if it wasn’t for you, and what I did in the shower, I did it for both of u
s because I needed that as much as you did.”

  I smile and nod once telling him he’s right – he would be dead without me here and it was imperative to us both that that exchange happened.

  I grab a hair tie from my bag, make my way over to the bed to sit next to him as I towel dry my hair. Once I’m done I put it up in a ponytail. I stand and move a few steps away from the bed to dry my body when I hear a gasp come from Ben.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I didn’t see how bad your bruises were in the shower but your thighs are covered. Is that what he did?” The anger on his face is undeniable. There’s pure rage in his eyes. His fists are balled up, and his body’s shaking so hard I’m afraid he’s about to start convulsing.

  “Ben, you need to settle down. This isn’t helping anyone, and besides, you know I took care of Ethan. I have my closure.” I slip into his t-shirt and boxers and stand in front of Ben. I push his legs apart to stand between them where he’s sitting on the bed. He lightly lays his head on my stomach and his arms come around my.

  My hands are alternating between rubbing his shoulders and running into his hair, scratching his scalp and tugging. Ben lets out a very low moan and his entire body just relaxes into me.

  “Is it okay if we lay down together?” He breathes one very deep breath and lets me go so he can move over to give me room next to him. “Let me just get the laptop and set it up so we can still monitor what’s happening.” I go and grab the laptop and set it up on the nightstand on my side of the bed. I know I’ll be waking up through the night to check on it, and it’s set to alert me if we have any breaches.

  “I just want to hold you while we’re in bed. I don’t want us to be Ben the Target or 15 the Assassin. I just want to be a man and a woman, nothing more than we are this very moment.”

  “I’d like that too.” I crawl into bed and straight into Ben’s protective arms, face to face. He’s lazily running his hands up and down my back stopping every now and then to place gentle kisses on my forehead. His breathing deepens and he slowly starts drifting off to sleep but all the while his arms are still moving lightly up and down my back.

  What will tomorrow bring?

  My mind descends into blackness.

  Chapter 29

  I open my eyes and find that Ben and I are still wrapped up in one another. My legs entwined with his, his arms forming a protective cage around me, my face in the nook of his neck, our torsos fully pressed against one another. Our combined body heat provides all the warmth we need in the safe room. I lay there in his bed just letting my imagination go where it’s never been before – a happily ever after.

  I shut my eyes and play a movie of Ben and me in ten years’ time. Waking up exactly as we are today. Ben giving me kisses that start gently and turn heated, but we have to stop because our daughter runs in and jumps on our bed. She’s excited that it’s Christmas day. Our daughter, she’s just beautiful. Her eyes are deep blue, like her father’s, and her beautiful straight mane is mine. She’s also like her father in the way she’s so passionate and emotional; Ben looks at her and shakes his head because he knows that in a few years we’ll both be in trouble with boys knocking on our door.

  This is the only time I’ve ever thought of a future, and I know that I can’t let it happen again. One lonely tear falls from my eye. Lonely, what an appropriate word, because that’ll be me once all the dangers have been cleared. I chose this life and now I can’t get out of it. How would a relationship with a police officer, especially a police officer who knows what I do – work? It can’t, can it? Or can it?

  Once my body’s settled and I’ve suppressed my dream of a future with Ben, I start moving away from him. I manage to slip under his arms and sit on the edge of the bed. I bring the laptop over to my knees and see that it’s six in the morning. We must have needed that; we slept for over fourteen hours and I didn’t even wake up to check the laptop. I have a feeling Ben didn’t move either.

  There seem to be no security breaches or other problems. So far, so good. I stretch my back and go to stand when two strong hands grab my waist and pull me back into bed. I’m lying flat on my back and Ben moves so his body’s hovering over mine. His legs are between mine and his arms are on either side of my head.

  “Good morning, baby. I know that the circumstances aren’t ideal, but I love having you in my bed.” Ben’s words are slow, sweet and sultry. He’s sprinkling sweet, modest kisses down my jaw and throat. I try to stop a husky, fevered moan from erupting, but I simply can’t. I tilt my head to the side to give Ben better access and he’s still faintly running his tongue over my earlobe as he sucks it into his wet mouth. But he stops abruptly. I feel the connection break immediately. My eyes open and I see his beautiful, deep blue orbs just inches away from me.

  “Why did you stop?”

  “Because that monster hurt you yesterday and I don’t want to reopen any wounds you have. I’m sorry I even let myself go that far with you, Anna. I just needed to touch you and I want you to know that I love you and I’ll never hurt you.”

  “I know Ben.” My hand comes up to his face and I gently cup his cheek as he leans into my touch and closes his eyes.

  He takes a deep breath in and moves his body away from mine. I remain there with my eyes closed for another moment, calming my body down, when I feel the bed move. Ben gets up and goes to the bathroom, leaving me on the bed to calm my own desires and lustful thoughts down. Ben re-emerges a few moments later brushing his teeth and running his hands through his hair. “What are the plans for today?”

  “First, we need to stay inside today and keep all the blinds and curtains closed while I work out who this assassin is and where I can find him. But most importantly, I’m hungry and you need to feed me.” I smile at that last part and Ben erupts in a huge grin.

  “Well, that’s the least I can do.”

  “Damn right.”

  Ben goes back into the bathroom to put his tooth brush away and makes his way to the ten steps that can get us out of this room. I get up and go to the bathroom. Ben has laid out a new toothbrush in its packaging on the vanity unit; he really is a gracious host. After dressing in my jeans but leaving Ben’s t-shirt on, I go upstairs and find my unbelievably sexy specimen of a man whisking something in a bowl. He really would be the perfect partner for me. What the hell am I thinking?

  “What are you making?” I try and shake the images and thoughts of a future with him and our daughter out of my head.

  “I’m making pancakes with maple syrup. Not that shit pretend crappy maple syrup but real maple syrup. And I’ve just put the coffee on, it should be ready soon.” Yep he’s perfect for me. Damn it.

  “Sounds delicious.”

  I take my seat at the island stool and wait until the coffee machine clicks off. Once it’s done, I pour a coffee for myself and one for Ben. Mine with milk and two sugars, and Ben’s is black. I have enough bitterness in my life, which is why I like my coffee sweet. I hand Ben his coffee and give him a quick kiss on his lips as he hovers over a griddle flipping our pancakes.

  “I suppose I should fill you in on everything else so you know where you stand in this situation,” I say.

  “I suppose you should.” He doesn’t even turn around to face me; he continues making our breakfast.

  “You know all the basics. You know that you stood in the way of Mancini’s cocaine processing operation and you’re a clean cop, which is why the hit’s on you. What you don’t know is where his factory is. The cocaine’s being transported out of St. Cloud by milk trucks and that the production is done at the old dairy farm down in the woods.”

  “How long did you know Ethan wasn’t who he said he was?” He always manages to throw me with his totally off subject questions.

  “I’ve just given you possibly the biggest drug bust of your career and you ask me how long I’ve known about Ethan? That’s a bit strange don’t you think?” Ben brings over two plates with huge stacks of pancakes on them. He places one in fr
ont of me and puts the other down on the other side of the island. He walks over to the cupboard and grabs the maple syrup and then goes to the fridge and gets a bowl of delicious, plump-looking strawberries. On his way back, he grabs his coffee. He sits in front of me and pours the maple syrup on his pancakes.

  “I’ve been thinking for a few days that you have been hiding something, and I think I actually told you that it’s like you wear a mask. I want to know how long you’ve known Ethan wasn’t who he said he was.”

  “There’s this thing with me Ben. When I touch someone, if they aren’t a good person or are lying I get this feeling. It’s a bit difficult to describe, but the best way I can describe it, is it’s like a serpent bite. I feel a cold sensation travel up my arm and it goes straight to my stomach. I knew the moment I shook Ethan’s hand at Mamma’s, and I also knew that Simon the Cable guy wasn’t who he said he was either. The day of the shoot-out at Mamma’s I wasn’t ducking for cover. I was reaching to grab my Glock. But you took him out before I got a chance to.”

  “How many people?”

  Again, let’s ask Anna another inappropriate question.

  “You don’t want to know, Ben.” He wants to know how many I’ve killed.

  “Yes I do.”

  ‘Ben, you don’t want to know.”

  “Yes. I. Do.”

  “What difference does it make? Agent knows I have certain criteria and a certain pay rate. He disregards anything that doesn’t meet my criteria.” I’m trying to throw him off his ridiculous question.

  “You haven’t answered my question, Anna.” Damn, he won’t quit asking.

  “I’m not going to tell you, Ben; it’s not important.”

  “You’re a legend in both the law enforcement world and the underground world. I watched you take out five men yesterday and you didn’t bat an eye. I was looking at you and watched you go into your own zone. You don’t show anything at all when you’re so focused on the job at hand. I’ve never met anyone who has that much control over not only their body but their emotions and their mind. As much as I should arrest you, watching you work was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Your precision is infallible, perfect. I was just amazed.” A weird compliment from an officer of the law, but I’ll take it.