14. Isla

14

ISLA

I smiled at Rae as she waved and closed the door behind her. Everything was gone—all the security that helped me feel safe had been stripped from the house. And on top of all that, Kavanaugh lost his job. I felt like it was all my fault. He didn’t take the senator’s offer because of me, because he didn’t want to see me in danger. I knew it deep in my gut, even if he wouldn’t admit it to me.

“Well,” Riley sighed, standing beside me as we watched them pull away from the curb. “I guess that’s that.”

“Yep.”

She leaned in slightly. “Not like we really needed them. I mean, seriously, alarms go off and that’s supposed to save our lives? I could make a lot of noise if someone broke in. Tell me how that would save my life.”

“Well, obviously, I would hear you running around the house making noises and would instantly know there was no way to save you. I would climb out the window from my bedroom and shimmy down the drainpipe, abandoning you to your fate.”

“As any good sister would do,” she nodded.

“And then—when I was a good mile from the house and completely out of range of whatever psychopath broke in—I would finally stop and raise the alarm for help.”

“After running a mile, you would need water first.”

“Of course.”

“And probably a good five minutes to work the stitch out of your side. You know how you get when you run.”

“True,” I agreed. “I’d probably call the ambulance for myself first. Who knows if I would make it?”

She turned to me, her eyebrows raised slightly. “So, we’re agreed. If someone breaks in, whoever sees the intruder first will run around screaming, alerting the other sister so she can get away.”

“Agreed. Although, if Kavanaugh and Bowie are with us, that definitely changes how we would respond,” I said thoughtfully.

“Totally. If anything, I would sound the alarm and then run to Kavanaugh where he could defend me. Not sure if Bowie would do the same for you after you got him hit by a car.”

“That’s true,” she sighed. “I guess I’ll be fucked either way.”

“Then again, if he’s not going to defend you, what good is he? Maybe you should just throw him out.”

She snorted. “Don’t be silly. I’ll just tell the intruders to take him first. Gotta have bait.”

“It’s nice to know I threw myself in front of a car for you, and you’re going to toss me to intruders,” Bowie said from behind us, hobbling into the room.

We both turned and watched Bowie use his crutches to wobble over to the couch. Even after all these weeks, he hadn’t quite figured out how to use them properly, and it was quite funny to watch. He fell onto the couch, sighing when he was finally comfortable.

“You know, come to think of it, you don’t need bait,” I told her. “It’s not like he’ll move fast enough to get away, anyway.”

“I hate the both of you,” he grumbled.

“Maybe me,” I shrugged, “but if the sounds coming from your bedroom are any indication, you’re in love with Riley.”

She smacked me, giving me the stink eye, but Bowie just shrugged. “Maybe.”

The look of shock on Riley’s face was enough to make me choke on my laughter. Chuckling, I walked away, heading into the kitchen for a much-needed reprieve from the chaos of the past few hours. Leaning against the counter, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I would be fine. Plenty of people didn’t have security systems. And Shawn was still recovering from his accident.

I hated to admit it, but now that the system was gone, I was more grateful than I wanted to admit that IKE had done what he had to Shawn. Whether I agreed or not with his actions, it gave me a little bit of peace, knowing he couldn’t come after me.

The screen door on the front of the house slammed shut and I straightened, grabbing a glass to distract myself from Kavanaugh. I knew he was coming for me, to reassure me he would keep me safe. I didn’t want to be seen as weak. I’d never been that way in all my life, and I wasn’t about to be now. The last few weeks had really shaken me up, and I had to find a way to drag my head above the surface and thrive.

And that had to start now.

Smiling, I turned to Kavanaugh as he walked straight into my arms and wrapped them around me, burying his face in my neck. His breath fogged over my skin as he released what felt like the weight of the world.

I slid my fingers through his hair, hoping to calm him. Yes, I was scared, but Kavanaugh just lost everything, and he’d given it up for me. “Are you okay?”

“I will be.”

“I know you will. So, what now?” I asked as he pulled back from my arms.

“Now…I need to find another job.” He looked uneasy as he stepped further away, running his hand over the back of his neck. “What would you think about moving to Pennsylvania?”

His words threw me for a loop. I hadn’t been expecting him to ask me to leave this place with him. “Um…”

He huffed out a laugh, looking even more uncomfortable by the second. “Too much?”

“I’m thinking. Processing,” I said, my voice stilted.

“Forget it,” he said, turning to walk away.

I grabbed him by the arm, forcing him to stay and talk with me about this. “You can’t say something like that and then walk away.”

“Sure I can. I dropped the bomb. Now it’s time for me to slink off and pretend this never happened,” he grinned. I’d never seen him look so vulnerable. Then again, Kavanaugh had taken quite the hit today. “Especially after you thought I was going to propose to you.”

“I don’t want you to pretend it never happened, but…are you sure about this? I mean, my divorce still hasn’t gone through and you just lost your job. This hardly seems like the time to make life-altering decisions.”

“That’s why I’m asking,” he sighed. “Because I’m pretty sure Reed Security would take me, but they’re in Pennsylvania.”

“And Reed Security is…”

“Another firm like OPS. We’ve worked with them before and they’re good guys. It would be a good move.”

“You’d be leaving your team behind,” I pointed out.

“Well…it’s not like I have much choice at this point. It is what it is.”

That couldn’t be it. Maybe Cash would come around. I didn’t know the man, but I remembered him telling me Cash was like family. How could anyone be that close and let someone like Kavanaugh go? It wasn’t like he was a bad employee. He’d sacrificed so much.

“Maybe if you stick around for a while, things will change.”

He was already shaking his head before I finished. “There’s no way to make this work.”

I pursed my lips, not sure what to do. “Well, there’s only one solution.”

“And that would be?”

“Join the cast of Annie . Fox was telling me there were auditions coming up.”

“I think that’s a hard pass.”

I grinned at him. “I think you would make a great Annie. I mean, you’d have to dye your hair and you might be too tall…”

“And my voice is just a tad masculine.”

“But other than that, you could totally pull it off.”

“There’s no pay in community theater.”

“You could be paid in smiles.”

“I’d rather have money,” he grumbled, pulling me closer to him.

“Then I guess you’d better find a job.” I looked up at him, a grin quirking my lips. “You know, mechanics are sexy.”

“Fucking hell. Not you too.”