Page 14 of Rattler
I felt a wry smile curve my lips.“You were expecting a pigsty or something?”
She looked sheepish.“I’m not really sure what I expected.”She glanced at the pictures on the wall.Most of them were of my time in the SEALs.“Is this your room?”
“Yeah.”I crossed to the desk and put her backpack down on the chair.“You can rest here for now.I’ll go settle things with Ace.We didn’t know you were coming so there isn’t anything prepared for you.There’s a couple of guest rooms, so don’t worry.Probably just need a quick clean.”
She looked down, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.
I frowned.“Problem?”
She looked up at me, hesitancy in every line of her body.“I’d rather stay here with you.”
I frowned.“There’s only one bed.”
“I can sleep on the floor if you don’t want to share.”
Fuck.The woman was killing me.Seriously!Like I’d let her sleep on the floor.Did she have a clue what she was asking?If she was in this room, she’d fucking well be in my bed.
“Like hell you’ll sleep on the floor.If it makes you feel better, I can stay with you, but you get the bed.I’ll have one of the prospects bring a cot up for me.I have to clear it with Ace first, though.”
“I’m sorry.I don’t want to be a problem, I’m just scared Tim is going to find me, and he swore he’d kill me if I ever left him.Having you close by makes me feel safer.”
“If Tim’s lucky, he’ll never find you.”I’d put Shadow on it as soon as I talked to Ace.I swear that guy could track down a single ghost in a graveyard.I wasn’t sure who this Tim asshole was, but anyone who raised a hand against a woman had better hope I didn’t find him.
“Make yourself at home.”I gestured at an open door to the left.“Bathroom’s through there.Not much in the way of girly shit but there’s soap and shampoo and lots of towels.We can work out the sleeping arrangement when I get back.”
That put a sparkle in her eyes.“Thanks, Rattler.”
Yeah, my name sounded good on her lips.
* * *
Ace was on the phone when I got down to his office.He gestured to me to take a seat.His gaze stayed locked on me as he finished up the conversation and disconnected the call.
“Tell me about the woman you brought back.Mom said she’s Jack Patterson’s sister.Did you verify that?”
I stared at the Prez for a long moment.This was going in an unexpected direction.“No.Why would she lie?And she obviously needed help, so even if she wasn’t related to anyone we knew, I’d still have brought her back.”
Ace shook his head.“Thought so.You’re too smitten to consider all the angles.”
Smitten?Was it that obvious?“Might be.She touched something deep down inside me.The thought of anyone daring to lay a hand on her was enough to make me want to kill them.Slowly.So they’d suffer for a long time.”
Ace slapped a piece of paper down on the desk in front of me.A picture of Lily stared up at me from a missing person’s poster.“Is this her?”
Yeah, that was her, minus the colorful bruising.I looked up and met his gaze.“She’s not missing.She doesn’t want to be found.”
He nodded.“I’m having Shadow look into it.A lot doesn’t add up here.Sheriff’s report says someone broke in, attacked this Timothy fellow and possibly kidnapped her.There’s an APB out across the four states for her.”
“She said he was beating her.And not for the first time.She knocked him out cold with a pot and ran.She knew better than to call the cops.She’d tried that once before, and they’d sided with him.Asked her to consider what she’d done to piss him off and told her to make sure she didn’t do it again.She’s got bruises all over to back her story up.”
Ace let out a deep sigh and steepled his fingers.“I believe it.Chances are, this asshole has the local cops in his back pocket.Joker have a look at her yet?”
“No.Didn’t think he needed to.”
“Make it happen.Just in case she needs someone with medical qualifications to verify she’s been beaten, and the timing.Get some photos of the bruises.It’s likely that this asshole will try to say it happened after she supposedly disappeared.”
I nodded.“Will do.”
“He can do a DNA match to Jack while he’s at it.Just to cover our bases.He has DNA profiles on all of us in his files.”
