Following Her (Unexpected Heroes #2.5)(22)

“But you said you had more than one date,” Reese pointed out.

“Yeah, he was only gone three days, but then every time things begin to heat up something happens and either he is called away, or I get paged into the office only to find out it’s nothing, or the freaking house alarm went off last time just as my shirt had come off,” she said, blowing out her breath.

“Do you think that could be on purpose?” Maycie asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Your alarm going off, you getting calls that lead to nothing, Axel getting called away. You have people threatening you, and there are strange things happening. Doesn’t it make either of you the least bit suspicious?” Reese said.

Ella was silent as she tried to remember the last incident. They’d been getting ready to make love and the alarm had gone off, and Axel had shot from the room, not even bothering to put his shirt back on. Then he’d come back in, kissed her good night, and left. She’d been frustrated, but hadn’t thought to question him about why he was leaving. Was something going on that he was keeping from her? She was sure as hell going to find out.

“When do you see him next?”

“Tomorrow,” she said with determination. She was getting some answers. “I honestly don’t know if we’re going to last as a couple, but now that you’ve brought this up, I want answers about why so many strange things are happening.”

“Ugh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to start anything,” Reese said, clearly upset.

“You didn’t. You just know I hate being lied to. If he’s lying to me, then he’d better fess up.”

“What if it’s nothing, and you’re going to go in there with guns blazing only to find out that there really were emergencies,” Maycie said.

Again, Ella paused. “Something has to be going on,” she said, but not with as much certainty. Then, she was horrified. “What if it’s just that he doesn’t like the sex? I’ve thought it was pretty great, but he has experience and I don’t, so what if it sucks for him?” That had never occurred to her.

“Did he act like he enjoyed it?” Maycie asked.

“I think any man enjoys it during, but what if afterward he compared it to others and realized it really wasn’t that great?”

“Oh, there’s no way that happened. You’re too hot to ever forget,” Reese said.

“But is it just sex, or is there something else about the man putting that gleam in your eyes?” Maycie wanted to know.

“I do like this guy,” Ella admitted.

“How much do you like him?” Reese asked.

“Enough that I can’t go a single hour without him popping into my head. He makes me laugh and feel safe, he infuriates and intrigues me. At first I just passed him off as another guy with too many muscles and not enough brain cells. Now I can’t quit thinking about him.”

“Well then, what’re you doing hanging out with us?” Reese asked with a smile.

“You girls always come first. You know that.”

“But a nice strong pair of arms to hold you. That’s pretty dang good,” Reese admitted.

“Yeah, that’s pretty great . . .” Ella said.

“Ah, you are a bit smitten,” Maycie added.

“I shouldn’t be because really, we haven’t had a lot of time together, and when the job is done, he’ll ride off into the sunset,” Ella reminded them.


“You know him enough to have butterflies,” Reese said, once again picking up her knife.

“I don’t know. I’m confused, and a little scared.”

“If we always live in fear, then what good is it to live? Just enjoy this and stop stressing about it so much. It’s not as if you have to get married tomorrow,” Maycie said.

Hearing the word married sent panic through Ella. She was too young, too focused on her career to even think about falling in love, much less getting married.

Still, she was beginning to think a life without one sexy FBI agent around wouldn’t be nearly as fulfilling. She was in trouble. Big trouble.

Before she could voice her next objection, the doorbell rang. “Who in the world could that be? The important people are all here,” Reese said as the three women looked toward the door.

“I guess we’ll find out,” Ella said as she got up. Reese and Maycie were right on her heels.

“It’s a delivery guy,” Maycie said as she looked out the window.

“Oooh, I think Axel sent you flowers,” Reese said with a little jump of excitement.

Ella opened the door, then signed a paper, and accepted the long skinny box. She walked into the kitchen and set it down, looking at it suspiciously.

“I swear if you don’t open that up right now, I’m going to,” Maycie said as she grabbed her knife and brushed off the pumpkin guts.

“Fine,” Ella said as she slit the bindings and opened the box. At the exact same time, all three girls jumped back with a screech.

“Is this somebody’s idea of a joke?” Reese said, a shudder passing through her.

“If it is, it’s not at all funny,” Maycie said.

“I think it’s another message,” Ella said with disgust.

Sitting in the box were a dozen dead roses with maggots crawling all over them, and written on the lid of the box was the message “Everything Dies!”