Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries #5)(39)

“We’ll be okay.”

Ball nodded. “The offer is always open. And . . . hopefully you’ll be seeing me a lot anyway.”

She smiled. He waited while she seated herself in the car, then closed the door behind her.

When they were on their way back to Me-Maw’s house, Everly asked, “Do you really think this was a trafficking thing?”

Ball was a little disappointed that their talk had turned back to business, but maybe it was for the best. “It’s likely. The FBI will be looking into it, as well as Ramirez and the other detectives. Hopefully they’ll be able to find something that’ll lead to taking down the rest of the ring.”

“I hope so.”

“Me too.”

The rest of the ride was quiet. Ball was as lost in his thoughts as Everly was. It had been a weird week. He’d had a lot of epiphanies that had changed everything about how he saw his future.

And try as he might, he couldn’t get that kiss out of his head.

As much as he’d been irritated at Rex for pushing Everly on him and involving her in the mission, he couldn’t deny that it had been the best thing for him.





Chapter Eight

Five days later, Ball wondered if he’d dreamed that intimate moment with Everly in LA. From the moment they’d arrived back at her me-maw’s house, she’d been all business. Elise sat between them on the flights back to Colorado Springs, and Everly had barely even remembered to say goodbye when he’d dropped them off at her apartment.

He’d called and talked to her a couple of times, but she’d seemed distant and somewhat irritated by his calls. He’d resorted to texting so he wouldn’t interrupt her, but her return texts were short and almost rude.

He got the message.

He’d thought they’d connected while in Los Angeles, but obviously he’d been mistaken. She’d been overwhelmed while her sister was missing, and now that she’d been found, Everly was overwhelmed in a different way.

Feeling let down and irritated, even as he understood her position, Ball did his best to pretend everything was fine when he was around his friends, but when he was at home, alone, he was grumpy, and the smallest things annoyed him.

So when his phone vibrated with a text in the late afternoon, he almost ignored it. He was putting the final touches on a website and didn’t want to be bothered by one of his friends trying to cheer him up. As much as he’d tried to hide his piss-poor mood from his teammates, they’d picked up on it anyway.

When the phone vibrated for the fourth time, Ball sighed and picked it up.

Elise: Are you there?

Elise: I thought I saw something, and I’m scared.

Elise: Ball?

Elise: I don’t know what to do!

Ball’s heart rate shot up, and he typed as he headed for the door.

Ball: On my way. Stay inside. Don’t open the door. Where’s Ev?

Elise: She got stuck at work. I didn’t want to bother her.

Ball shook his head in frustration. He didn’t even know Everly had gone back to work. He’d thought she still had a couple of days off before she started her shifts again.

Ball: Be there in 5 min. Hang on.

Elise: OK.

Ball drove his Mustang like a bat out of hell. Luckily, Everly’s apartment complex wasn’t too far from his place. He pulled into a parking space and headed for Everly’s apartment. He texted Elise as he went.

Ball: I’m here. Put your hand on the door so you can feel the vibrations of my knock. I’ll knock 2 times. Then pause. Then 2 more times so you’ll know it’s me.

Elise: OK.

He took the stairs two at a time and was in front of Everly’s door in seconds. He knocked twice, then two more times. The door opened immediately, and Elise flew into his arms.

Ball moved them into the apartment and closed the door behind him. He held on to Elise for a moment before taking her shoulders in his hands and backing her up so he could see her.

She had tear tracks on her face, but otherwise looked fine. “Are you okay?” he asked slowly, so she could read his lips.

She nodded.

Hating that he couldn’t talk to her, he pulled out his phone. Without Everly to translate for them, they had to resort to texting to communicate, but he had to hand it to the teenager: she could text just as fast as she could sign.

Ball: Tell me what happened.

Elise: I was doing my homework when I thought I saw something out the window from the corner of my eye. I looked out, and someone was running through the parking lot. He went behind a few trees, and I swear he stopped and was staring up at the window.

Ball: I’m going to go look around. You stay here.

Elise shook her head violently and grabbed his arm.

Ball gathered her into his embrace again, and when she stopped shaking, he released her and signed, You’re safe. Then he typed into his phone again.

Ball: I promise, I’m not leaving, and I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe. I need to look around and see if I can find anything. I’ll be right back.

Elise read the text, then reluctantly nodded.

Ball squeezed her shoulder and headed out. He walked the property all around the apartment and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Nothing that screamed danger. He had no idea if Elise had really seen something, or if she was experiencing a bit of PTSD. He wouldn’t be surprised if she was.