10. Chapter 10

ten

Athena

I t was growing dark outside by the time we finally left the station. I was glad for it. The later it was the less time I’d have to spend with Lucas fucking Blake.

Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to have the same idea as I did. He didn’t just drop me off when we pulled up to my house. He put the car in park and shut off the engine. I paused with my hand on the handle, trying to convince myself that he was just going to walk me safely to my door. He wouldn’t expect to actually come inside my private residence after all the shit he kept putting me through. He wasn’t that clueless.

But he was reaching into the back seat for his briefcase. What kind of douche carried a briefcase in this day and age? Who carried enough physical briefs with them every day that they needed a briefcase? I was a lawyer and I didn’t even do that. My laptop bag was more than sufficient .

But he was pulling the briefcase to his lap and opening his car door. Did he think he was going to come inside and stay long enough to get some work done? He had another thing coming.

I let him walk me up to the sunroom, unlocking the heavy-duty screen that led into the enclosed porch. I had a brief tug of memory, remembering the smooth wood when I sat on the swing as a child, watching the early morning fog turn into afternoon drizzles while I played with my puzzles; safe from the weather, but still enjoying the fresh air and friendly neighborhood.

I snapped out of the memory when Blake shoved his way next to me, clearly assuming he was walking into my house with me. His fucking toe tapped against my mother’s welcome mat as he waited for me to unlock the front door.

Oh hell no.

“Excuse you,” I said, shouldering him away from me so I was directly in front of the door as I unlocked it.

“Excuse you ,” he returned. I turned around to face him, stepping inside the doorway and blocking the narrow opening with my body.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t remember inviting you inside my home. So if you’d please back up so I can securely close my door instead of standing out in the open like a free target…”

I was wearing the body armor still, but that wouldn’t protect me from everything.

“You agreed to my protection, so let me secure the house.”

“And camp out in my guest room or on my couch? No, you don’t need to bring a briefcase into my home just to check my windows and doors. I let you in here and you’ll never leave. ”

The way he avoided my eyes told me I was right. He was planning to stay all night. Doing what?

“You want to stake out my place, fine. Stay in your car.”

“You’re being unreasonable. I’ll be quick, I promise.”

I paused. It made sense for him to come inside.

“No. You can stay in the sunroom,” I compromised, gesturing to the swing encased in the porch. “But my front door stays locked. I’ll give you the Wi-Fi password to keep you entertained on your laptop.”

He glared when I smiled sweetly at him, the picture of benevolence and grace.

“I swear to god I’m going to piss in your rosebushes if you keep me out here all night!”

“You do what you gotta do,” I replied, cool as a cucumber. And then I closed the front door on his fuming anger, locking the shitty old deadbolt and securing the rusted chain behind me.

Making sure the blinds and curtains were closed all the way, I walked through my mom’s old-fashioned foyer and turned left into the living room.

I walked up to the large whiteboard smack in the middle of the room, the one where I kept a timeline of events starting from the moment my mom took that ill-fated contract. I wrote in today’s interview and schmoozing session with Carlo Morelli, then added Expected follow up call tomorrow at the bottom of the board.

On the righthand whiteboard, I added Mark Rosenberg as a LEO who was on the right side of things. He seemed trustworthy, even if he was friendly with my stalker. Luke, he called him. They must have been pretty close .

On the lefthand board, I stared at the pictures of my adversaries: Carlo Morelli, Angelo Morelli, Leo Lombardi, and the blank silhouette I labeled as Antonio . I had his last name now, so I could probably google a picture to put up with the others.

I added the last name Conti and let my fingers linger over the information on Leo Lombardi. Dishonorably discharged after a suspected assault on a female officer in his unit. No charges were ever filed, of course, which was why he was allowed to walk around, thinking he had the ability to overpower women like me who agreed to go on a date with him.

I didn’t want to think about what would have happened if I hadn’t been taking self-defense classes for half a decade.

With that thought in mind, I walked the first floor of the house, making sure all windows were locked and curtains drawn, the back door secured with both the hook-and-eye latch and shiny new deadbolt. I had wondered why Mom installed both of those new additions when I first came back into town, but now I knew: she didn’t feel safe in her own house. I found the pieces to a second locking mechanism on the porch swing when I arrived, but it looked like she never got around to installing that deadbolt. Was that how someone got inside?

I headed upstairs and checked all the windows up there as well, closing the floral curtains tight before I took a quick shower, careful not to wash out any of the hair dye before I climbed in bed. To hell with dinner, I was exhausted.

I put in my airpods and loaded up the next chapter in my audiobook, letting the soothing words help me drift off to sleep.

I awoke to someone knocking furiously on my front door.

I jumped out of bed, hurrying down the steps. Who could it possibly be? The sun was barely out.

I was a few steps away from the front door when I remembered the events of yesterday. Was it Blake or someone worse, having already taken out my bodyguard?

“Who is it?” I called, still several feet back from the door.

“Lucas Blake with the FBI!” he called through the door. “Please let me in.”

I cracked the door open, but kept the chain latched. “What the hell are you thinking making a racket like that so early?!” I hissed, trying to glance around his broad shoulders up and down the street.

“I have to go deal with something and I’m not leaving you alone, so you need to come with me. Nice hair.”

I straightened, hand going to my head. Although I didn’t try to get it wet in my shower last night, inevitably some water got into my hair. I caught a peek in the bathroom mirror before retreating to bed and knew I had a bunch of strands that would be starting to curl back up, the rest still mostly straight, but after getting up so suddenly my hair probably looked like a rat’s nest.

But it was a dick move to bring that up when he was the one who roused me from sleep so suddenly.

“I’m sorry, I thought you were following me around, not the other way around,” I said. “You go do your thing, and by the time you come back maybe I’ll feel human enough to face the world. ”

Plus I was expecting a call from the Morelli law offices in a few hours. I didn’t want Blake around to eavesdrop and hear more than he probably should.

Maybe my intentions were good, but I was definitely doing things that were in the realm of morally gray in my quest for justice. I wasn’t stupid. I knew that it was wrong to drug someone and snoop through their personal things. Martin, my inside guy and only acquaintance, was very clearly disturbed by what little he knew of my mission, and for good reason.

“You’re going to get yourself arrested, and probably me too. When you do, what’s gonna be the point of all this?” He was right, of course. But it was my mom. They killed her and covered it up. I had to do something.

But Lucas Blake clearly saw the world in black and white, and if he knew I was initiating my own investigation he’d cut me out of it and likely arrest me, just like Martin said.

“Athena. Please. I’m dealing with an emergency here. Can you make an exception and please help me out here? Just this once.”

I wanted to keep being petty, but his eyes were begging, and he looked agitated, almost close to panic. Something was seriously wrong.

I reached for my favorite leather jacket hanging behind the door along with my new bulletproof vest and grabbed my keys.

I wasn’t a monster. Whatever was going on, he was asking nicely, and looked like he was one minute away from getting down on his knees in front of me. If this man, usually so strong and anxious to be in control of every situation, was stooping low enough to beg me to help him, then I would help him.