Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries, #5)(70)

The IP address on the stuff they did have led to a public library in Las Vegas, of all places. It was assumed the person had been rerouting and manipulating the IP addresses somehow, since the girls were all found in Los Angeles. Just to be safe, the authorities in Vegas had been notified, but after a few days of surveillance on the library, they hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary.

One thing was certain, though—Ball hadn’t lied when he’d told Elise that he’d do whatever it took for her to feel safe. Over the last two months, he’d come to care about her almost as much as he cared about her sister.

She was funny and talented, and he knew without a doubt that she’d do something amazing with her life. Being kidnapped wouldn’t define her, it would only make her stronger.

Ball shot off an email to Meat, letting him know that he needed him to look into Elise’s new phone tomorrow, and he killed more time by checking out how the latest websites he’d designed looked on his mobile phone.

It wasn’t long before he heard someone at the door. Looking up, he saw Everly standing there.

She looked like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and he breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Feel better?” he asked.



She came toward him and crawled onto the bed, her knees resting on the mattress at his hips and her arms around his shoulders. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Whatever. You’re like the teenager whisperer.”

He chuckled. “Just wait until you see what I have in store for you tonight after she goes to bed.”

As he hoped, Everly smiled. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Your side’s okay?”

“You know it is. You examined it in great detail this morning, if I recall. Right before you blew my mind . . . along with other things.”

She smiled sexily, and Ball felt himself starting to get hard.

“I didn’t hear you complaining.”

“Fuck no. Why would I?”

“Come on, you. Elise is waiting in the other room for us to watch an episode of Stranger Things. Said she didn’t want to burn her retinas by seeing us ‘canoodling’ . . . her word, not mine.”

“Is there a sign for canoodle?” Ball asked, as he helped Everly stand.

“I doubt it. She spelled it out.”

“I need to google that. Pick on her a bit,” Ball said.

Everly pulled him to a stop and gazed at him with a serious look on her face.

“What?” he asked, concerned.

“Thank you for being so great,” she said softly. “I know it’s a lot, taking on a new girlfriend and her teenage sister.”

Kissing her on the forehead, Ball said, “It’s not a hardship. Especially not when both of you are so awesome. Come on . . . Stranger Things awaits.”

She reached over and grabbed the plate with the half-eaten quesadilla and hooked her arm with his.

Later that night, as Ball lay replete and satisfied in Everly’s bed and held her as she slept, he thanked his lucky stars that he and Everly hadn’t gone through the shit his buddies and their women had. Yeah, they’d met because her sister had disappeared, but he was happy that their courtship had been relatively drama-free.

He fell asleep, content in the knowledge that the woman he was beginning to love and her sister were safe.

Tylor Tuttle sat in his work van across the street from the apartment his Elise was in. He watched as the light in her room went out, and he couldn’t resist unzipping his pants and stroking himself while he thought about what their life together would be like . . . soon.

Out of all the girls he’d taken to test out, she was his favorite. He’d ultimately picked her. But he’d been stupid. Lax. And one of the second-string girls had gotten everyone rescued.

It didn’t matter. He’d made sure not to leave any trace of himself in the house. He’d always worn gloves—and a condom, of course. The fact that the cops hadn’t found him, or his house in Las Vegas, in the weeks since helped him relax a bit.

He’d been biding his time, watching his chosen bride for more than a month now. Memorizing her routines. Taking pictures of Elise and admiring how beautiful she was. Soon, she’d be his. His wife. His everything. She’d come to love him, just like the woman who was currently in the basement of his house in Las Vegas. But that one was old now. Used up. Had no spark left in her. He’d had her for fifteen years, and he needed someone newer. Younger.

He needed Elise.

The fact that she was deaf made her perfect.

She couldn’t talk and annoy him.

She couldn’t hear if anyone was in his house to call out for help.

He would be the center of her world.

She’d look to him for everything.

Food. Showers. Sex.

Unlike the woman in his basement, he’d let her bear his children. Lots of children.

They’d be a family. Forever.

Putting his head back, Tylor rubbed himself harder and faster and grunted when he came, thinking of Elise. Grabbing a tissue, he cleaned himself off and smiled.

Soon.

He picked up his phone and sent his Elise another message through their secret app. He’d been sending them to her for weeks. He knew she was reading them, she was just too shy to respond. That was okay. He liked that she was a good girl.