Chapter Six

Kellum grabbed the gun from the built-in high shelf next to the apartment door when a knock sounded.

He stayed silent. Dylan and Aaron were both sleeping. Kellum’s mind raced, how would they get out of the apartment if they had to? Maybe the fourth floor hadn’t been such a good idea.

Perhaps it was Jenny?

The knock came again, this time a bit more firmly, but not too loud as to wake the kids.

Kellum pressed his ear to the wood.

Screw it.

“Who is it?” he hissed.

“It’s me.”

Creed? He’d recognize that deep, growling voice anywhere. What the hell was he doing there? How had he found him?

None of this made any sense.

Kellum was dumbstruck by the sound of that deep baritone and he opened the door a crack, leaving the security chain hooked. Sure enough, Creed stood on the other side, his coat wet, his dark hair dripping rainwater, with that piercing gaze looking him over. Sometimes, Creed’s eyes looked gray and other times, they were so blue it was startling.

Focus, Kel, for god’s sake.

Kellum held up a finger for Creed to give him a moment and placed the gun back onto the shelf before he slipped the chain off the latch. When Creed went to step forward, Kellum blocked the move by stepping out into the hallway and pulling the door closed behind him.

Leaning back against the door, he looked a long way up into Creed’s face. The man had to be close to six feet five inches and probably weighed a hundred pounds more than him.

Creed backed up and leaned casually against the hallway’s faded wallpaper.

“What are you doing here?” Kellum knew his voice sounded bewildered, but he was.

“Checking on you.”

“How did you find me?”

Creed studied him for so long, Kellum got nervous. Did Creed know what went down last night?

“It’s what I do. I find people.”

Kellum pulled at his bottom lip and watched Creed. He really didn’t know what Creed had done for work before Pegasus. Well, other than what the guys had said, but sometimes that was embellished.

Creed Michaelson was a former Army Special Forces and had trained in something else he couldn’t remember, but Kellum thought it had been search and rescue.

“Here.” Creed pulled something from his pocket and when he held it out, Kellum realized it was his work phone. He stared at it longingly. It sucked not having a phone, and Pegasus had all their cells encrypted since the snafu when one of their phones had been hacked. Maybe, just maybe, he could take a chance.

He took the phone from Creed and put it away. “Thanks.”

“When I call that number, you either text me or answer.”

“And if I don’t?” Kellum’s hackles raised at the commanding tone of voice.

“I’ll come through that door and find you.”

“You can’t do that!” Kellum tossed a hasty look at the flimsy door and pictured Creed putting a boot through it.

“I can and I will. I’m not messing around, Kellum.”

“Fine,” he snapped.

“Hello, little one.” The sudden tenderness in Creed’s voice had Kellum doing a double take, but then it registered that the big operative was looking at the apartment door.

Sure enough, when Kellum glanced over, Dylan stood in the doorway wearing a t-shirt and one of the diapers Kellum had purchased.

With a jerking movement, he lifted Dylan into his arms and stalked inside before he slammed the door shut. Placing Dylan down, Kellum locked the four deadbolts, struggling with the last one, and all the while muttering about arrogant know-it-alls who thought they were walking gods.

Creed’s deep chuckle came through the wood and Kellum realized the man had heard his every word.

Damn it.

All went quiet inside of the apartment and Creed lost his smile. He gazed one way down the hall and then the other. It was fairly lit in there, so he’d be able to see any threat coming. He moved to situate himself in front of Kellum’s apartment door and leaned back against the flimsy wood. The hallway smelled musky and somewhere someone had cooked up Italian food.

He still couldn’t wrap his brain around Kellum and the young ones inside living in this fucking place. All he wanted to do was break down the door, pack them up, and take them to his home.

Had they had enough to eat tonight? Were they hungry, cold? One thing was for sure, they had to be scared to death. Did Kellum stock up on supplies or would he need to go out? Creed reached into his leather jacket, pulled his gun from his holster, and checked the clip. More out of habit than anything else because his weapon was always ready.

Placing his nine-millimeter on the stained carpet within easy reach next to his leg, he pulled out his cell phone and sent Owen a text.

“Found Kellum.”

“Is he okay?”

“Yes, he is, I’ll shoot you a photo when I can.”

That ought to keep Pegasus happy until he could figure out what the fuck was going on. Right then, it was all about getting Kellum to trust him and the last thing Creed wanted was for their team to come in with guns blazing. The man was skittish as it was and Creed suspected Kellum would disappear in a heartbeat if he needed.

“That sounds good. Where are you?”

Creed rolled his neck until it cracked, and then responded.

“Camped outside of his door.”

“LOL.”

“Yeah, laugh it up, asshole.” He grimaced and shifted his ass on the hard floor.

“TTYL,” Owen responded with a laughing emoji.

Creed flipped through his phone until he found the running text of Stone’s messages.

“Can you stop by Laura’s place and borrow one of her spare car seats?”

Hell, Creed’s sister had four kids under the age of ten and a minivan with multiple car seats, she would have a spare one for sure.

Three dots started across the screen letting him know that Stone was responding.

“Yeah. Why?”

“I need you to come to this address and put it in my truck for me.”

The thought of the tiny boy standing in the doorway with big, dark eyes had Creed’s chest tightening and he ran a hand over the growth starting on his face.

“Why?”

“Because I need one.”

“Be there within an hour,” Stone replied.

“Thanks, man.”

Creed scrolled through until he found Kellum’s work number and sent a text.

“Sweet dreams.”

Three little dots rolled across the screen, stopped, resumed, and then nothing. Creed smiled stupidly, he could just picture Kellum typing and deleting repeatedly.

“Evade me all you want, I will have my answers,” he whispered to the phone.