Midnight Promises (9 page)

“Because I’d lost a lot of blood. Yeah.”

Lauren nodded, swallowed again. “I was so scared. But Metal and Jacko were amazing. All that blood didn’t faze them at all. Metal moved fast and of course he knew exactly what he was doing. And, Jacko assures me you are safe in every way here, with him. Otherwise I wouldn’t leave you here.”

“I know.”

“Jacko says—”

“Food. Jacko says food. Right now.” Jacko kissed Lauren’s cheek as he sat down. Metal put a large steaming pot on a trivet and slid a big platter of that whole wheat bread and some cheeses on the table. Whatever was in the pot, it smelled delicious.

Felicity watched him moving easily in his kitchen. She didn’t know much about medicine but he must have done incredibly intense physical therapy to recover from the wounds Lauren had described.

He was incredibly brave.

And he
cooked
.

Metal ladled some soup into her bowl and she leaned forward and sniffed. Mushroom soup. Heavenly. Her nose loved it but…her stomach simply closed up. She was hungry. She could feel that, feel hunger behind the rising nausea. Her stomach was knotted up in cramps. It was horrible, to want to eat but not be able to eat.

She was breathing deeply, trying to keep the nausea down, trying to hide the fact that she was nauseous. It didn’t work. Everyone suddenly stopped eating and looked at her.

She picked up her spoon with a trembling hand, started to take it to her mouth when a hard hand took the spoon from her, placed it back in the soup.

Metal curved his shoulders inward as he turned to her and she realized he was creating a little wall of privacy for them. He held her hand with one of his, the other was against her back, smack between her shoulder blades, right where the muscles were frozen and tense. He started rubbing lightly with that huge hand, so large it covered a good portion of her back along the spine.

He bent his mouth to her ear. “It’s okay. You’re still a little shocked and we gave you a massive infusion of antibiotics, which messes with your stomach. Kills the intestinal flora and can cause stomachache and cramping. The pain is like having an ulcer but you don’t have an ulcer. It’s just a reaction to the antibiotics. Once you get some warm food in your stomach you’ll be fine. Just take a few spoonfuls.”

Felicity turned her head and he was so close. So close she could see gold flecks in his light brown eyes, could see the white stripes of crow’s-feet in his tanned face. See the light gold stubble starting to show on his cheeks.

He was watching her carefully. “Take a little food for me. I promise you’ll feel better.”

He was mesmerizing. Felicity had no idea how he could fascinate her so much. It was a plain face—broad cheekbones, flat features, a broken nose, nothing special. Not handsome in any way. But there it was—she couldn’t tear her eyes away from him.

He nodded at the soup and she dipped her spoon in and swallowed a spoonful. It was delicious and it went down. She ate because she knew she needed food but also because he had a natural authority to him, a doctor’s authority though he wasn’t a doctor.

“Better?” His eyes watched her so intently she wouldn’t be surprised if he said he could follow the soup down to her stomach and observe what happened to it there.

She nodded. Her stomach still hurt, but now that she knew why it didn’t scare her. She was rarely sick and never had stomachaches. For a panicky moment she’d wondered if the attack had affected her internal organs.

“Good girl.” That hard harsh face slipped into a smile and her stomach swooped. It wasn’t the antibiotics that made it swoop, though. No. It was him. “More.”

It was a voice made to command. She dipped her spoon again and swallowed. “Another.” By the third spoonful of soup the ache had lessened and her hunger roared into life. It was only when he was satisfied that she was eating that Metal turned and dug in himself.

“Great stuff,” Jacko said, eating fast but neatly. “I don’t want to know what it is because it looks like crap. Literally.”

“Moron,” Metal said affectionately. “Cream of mushroom soup and it does
not
look like crap.”

“Does too,” Jacko insisted. “Looks like what came out when I got bin Laden’s Revenge in the ‘Stan and—” He stopped when Lauren drove an elbow into his side. “Sorry.” He looked at Felicity sheepishly.

She didn’t care what it looked like. More to the point, her stomach didn’t care either. She was famished and it was absolutely delicious. She held out her bowl. “More please.”

“Attagirl,” Metal said. He ladled another bowlful. “Here you go, honey.”

At the term, Felicity turned bright
bright
red. She had very fair skin and it telegraphed every single emotion she felt.

There was a reason she avoided people.

But crazily, no one commented on her sudden and totally embarassing stoplight-red face. Jacko and Metal were discussing something that had to do with vectors and lines of sight and Lauren was handing her a chunk of a yellowish cheese and another slice of bread. “Try this, it’s a local cheese. Tillamook, delicious.”

It was. The men were drinking a local beer but Metal had made tea for her and Lauren. The combination of hot soup, bread and cheese, and tea made her feel warm and sated.

“So, Felicity.” Jacko planted his elbows on the table, shoving away the bowl and plate, and clasped his big hands, looking down at them for a moment then lifting his head to stare at her. “How did you come to show up on Lauren’s doorstep sliced and bleeding?”

Lauren gasped and Metal growled. There was no other term for it. Instinctively, Felicity laid her hand on his forearm. “That’s okay. He has a right to ask.”

Metal glanced at her without moving his head. His jaw muscles tightened so much she wondered if he’d crack a tooth.

Jacko made a fist and banged it lightly on the table. “Damn right I do. I like you, Felicity, and I know Lauren cares for you and that goes a long way with me. But there’s no denying that you brought trouble to Lauren’s door. Metal and I are on it and we can keep you safe, but we need to know what we’re up against. And I need you to know that my first priority is Lauren’s safety.”

Lauren was practically quivering with outrage, but Felicity shook her head.

“I’m really glad Lauren has you on her side,” Felicity answered and she meant every word. It was a dangerous world out there and Lauren had had some dangerous men after her. Jacko had saved her life and clearly was in that life to stay. Lucky Lauren. “And I would love to answer you, but truly, I have no idea who that man was and why he was after me. I’d feel better if I did, believe me.”

“I do believe you. And I also know that Lauren is alive thanks to you, thanks to your help.” He unclasped his hands and pointed a thick finger at her. “I know you provided her with the fake ID that helped her disappear. So could it be someone you provided a new identity for who wants to eliminate you?”

Jacko had every right to interrogate her, to dig in to why someone was after her. Felicity didn’t begrudge him in any way. He was doing it because he wanted to keep Lauren safe. But the warmth that had been created by the food and eating in company was starting to dissipate. She felt a chill run through her and jumped when Metal took her hand, holding it openly. His hand was so strong and so very warm, it chased away the sudden chill.

“We need to do this, but take your time,” Metal rumbled. “No one is rushing you.”

She shrugged. “It feels so unreal. If I didn’t have a bandage and pain I’d think I dreamed it. No one knew I was coming to Portland, not even Lauren. It was sort of a last-minute decision. I’m self-employed and can work on the road. I don’t report in to anyone. And I lead a fairly secluded life anyway.”

“Why didn’t you let me know you were arriving?” Lauren asked. “I would have come to the airport to pick you up.”

Jacko’s dark eyes widened and Felicity could see the whites of his eyes. He was imagining Lauren with her when the man attacked her.

Felicity was really grateful she hadn’t called Lauren ahead of time. Lauren could have been there at the airport. If something had happened to her she’d never have forgiven herself. “I—I wasn’t sure of my welcome. I was thinking I’d stay in a hotel, call you up, say I was in Portland for business, could we meet. I thought—”

“Did you book?” Metal asked.

“I’m sorry?”

“Did you book a room?”

Felicity gasped. Oh my God, she had! It had totally slipped her mind. “I did.”

“Which hotel?” Metal asked.

“The Regency.” She’d picked it and booked it on the internet.

Metal had been checking something on his cell. He got up from the table, punching in a number and walked into the living room. All Felicity heard was the deep rumble of his voice without making out the words.

She missed his body heat, missed having him sitting beside her. Which was weird because she always ate alone. Sitting beside someone at the table was an exception, not the rule, so why was she missing him?

He walked back into the kitchen and sat down. He moved quickly and very quietly for such a large man, with an easy athletic grace. He was huge with muscle and she assumed men as muscle-bound as he was would be a little stiff, but no. He was graceful even packing all those muscles.

Metal nodded at Jacko but addressed her. “You were booked into room 724. I spoke with the head of security at the Regency and he looked at the tapes of the seventh floor. I had him run through the tapes. At 9:15 p.m. the night you arrived, someone jammed the security cameras on the entire floor for fifteen minutes, which is more or less the time it would take to get into your room and see that it was unoccupied. How long did you book for?”

“Three days,” Felicity answered. Figuring if Lauren was happy to see her, they could hang out for a few days and if not, she could visit Portland. It was her first visit to the West Coast.

“Don’t cancel,” he warned.

“No, of course not. Let him wonder where I am.”

Metal nodded, looked at Jacko again. Some unspoken signal passed between them, which was odd. Felicity thought only women could do that. But what did she know? She rarely communicated with anyone.

“The head of security is sending me footage from the lobby security cameras half an hour before and after the blackout to see if you can recognize the guy. He probably took the stairs up but he had to cross the lobby. The back entrance was locked all day. And later today we’ll be talking with a friend from Portland PD, purely informally. He’s a homicide cop and this isn’t homicide but I know you want to keep a very low profile. This is a way to get some law enforcement on our side without stirring up the waters. And when we catch the sick fuck he won’t know what hit him. Throw him in a cage.”

“Perfect,” Felicity breathed. “Thank you so much.”

She was smart and fast but was completely out of her depth here. She’d barely begun to think it through and he was already on the attack.

He covered her hand with his. And there it was again—some kind of electrical circuit that warmed her up and made her a different kind of hot at the same time. Like throwing a switch.

“We’ve got you, honey. You’re safe now and we’re going to get this guy. You have Jacko and me and we work for a company that has a lot of resources. And Bud, our cop friend, is a really smart guy too. We’re going to figure out who this fuck is, why he attacked you, and we’re going to stop him. I promise.” Those light brown eyes were intent as he watched her eyes. “You’re safe.”

To her horror, tears welled in her eyes.
Whoa.
Felicity didn’t do tears, ever. She never cried, never got emotional and here she was—a big ball of emotions she couldn’t begin to analyze filling her chest, moving up her throat, coming out her eyes in the shape of water.

Safe
must be her trigger word.

“Safe doesn’t exist,” she said sharply, instinctively. “There’s no such thing as safe.”

Both Jacko and Metal narrowed their eyes. What was up with that? Of all people, two former soldiers should know that safety is an illusion.

There was utter silence, which she was thankful for. She couldn’t argue while all these sharp emotions were rolling around in her chest and her eyes burned. Her voice would crack and maybe other things would crack and come spilling out.

Finally, Lauren broke the silence, leaning forward, tucking a curl of dark hair behind her ear. She glanced quickly at both Jacko and Metal as if seeking their permission. “We’ll keep you safe, Felicity. Jacko and Metal are really good at that. It’s what they do.”

“You were kidnapped and Jacko was shot. How safe were you then?” Her head was bent and she spoke to the table.

Something perverse in Felicity made her say the words, just pushed them out of her mouth. She regretted them the instant she said them. These three people were doing their very best for her, though they’d never met her before. And she’d only known Lauren online. She’d stumbled, wounded, into Lauren’s house and they’d done nothing but look after her and care for her.

She lifted her head, forced herself to meet their eyes, one at a time. Lauren. Jacko. Metal. “I’m so sorry,” she said miserably. “That was uncalled for—”

“But true.” Metal sighed. “No offense taken. We thought the danger was over and it wasn’t. We don’t make mistakes like that twice, though, believe me. So no one is going to be catching us unawares until this whole thing is resolved. You have my word.”

Oh
,
Metal
, Felicity thought sadly.
Some things are never resolved
,
not even over a lifetime.

Her father’s issues had never been resolved and he’d been frightened, looking over his shoulder, for as long as she could remember.

Of course her father had been a physicist, not a warrior. But still.

“Let’s go over the known facts,” Metal said. “What’s our basic intel?”

She nearly smiled to hear him speak soldier-speak. Al, an FBI agent his entire life, would have called it intelligence.

“I understand from Lauren that you help people disappear.” Metal directed his even gaze at her.

“No,” she said. “It’s more complicated than that, and that’s not my main job. My main job is as an IT consultant. This is more of a…a sideline. I create background identities and social media profiles for the…the government on a freelance basis. But I do that rarely. Mainly, as I said, I work in computer security.”