Chapter 12
1844 Words
Justin woke up to his cell ringing and grabbed it from the table.
“Hello?” he asked sleepily.
“Sir, are you alright? You missed your morning meeting this morning,” said his assistant.
He sighed, rubbed his face, and shook his head.
“Erica, calm down. Yes, I am fine. There has been a death in the family and I am taking a couple of days. Let the board know I will be in touch with them as soon as I get back into town.”
“Yes, sir, but who passed away? You don’t have any immediate family left.”
His eyebrows shot down in anger, and he frowned. It was none of her business.
“Erica, you’re fired,” he said flatly and hung up the phone.
He threw his phone on the floor, took a deep breath, and looked at Anna. She was still asleep on his chest, and he smiled as his irritation melted away. He brushed a strand of hair from her face, and she stirred and sniffed.
Anna looked up at him, and she realized he stayed with her all night. She searched his eyes and saw it didn’t bother him. She smiled shyly and stretched.
“Hmm. Thank you,” she said, groggily.
He looked at her in question and rubbed her back gently.
“For what, gorgeous?” he asked.
“For being my friend.”
He smiled and chuckled.
“Anytime, Anna. I was serious when I said I wanted to be friends,” he said, running his fingers through her hair.
She blew a breath, sat up, and glanced at the kitchen. They killed her father, took her mother, and took Paul’s brother and his girlfriend.
She shook her head and felt anger build. Justin looked at her as she spaced out, and sighed.
“Are you going to be okay?” he asked, and she looked at him.
When he was around, everything seemed to melt away. Her anger, her sadness, and turned it into something else. She wanted to explore these feelings further, but what she wanted would have to wait. She had to get her mom and her friends back.
Not only that, but she was planning to call the general, but she would have to wait till Justin left, and she didn’t want him to leave. However, there was no time to waste. Who knows what those kids and her mother were being put through?
Anna crawled beside him, took his hand, and traced the lines with her fingers gently. Her touch sent tingles down his spine, and he inhaled sharply. She pressed her face against his neck, gently kissed his soft skin, pulled back, and searched Justin’s eyes.
She hated herself for what she was about to say, but if he got upset then she knew he was only after one thing.
“It means a lot, Justin, that you stayed with me, even though I know you have a ton of stuff to take care of.”
He shrugged and rubbed her back.
“It’ll get done. I’m not worried about it.”
Anna bit her lower lip and traced his chest muscles.
“I have to go take care of some things, and I was wondering if you wanted to continue to see where this is going when I get back?”
Justin looked sad momentarily and then smiled. He grinned and gave her a thoughtful look.
“I would love that gorgeous,” he said, rubbing the back of her head.
He figured she needed some time to herself, and he wanted to go home and take care of his assistant problem. Not that he wouldn’t love to just spend another day with her, he didn’t want to push.
Anna looked at Justin and realized she had never seen that look before. A yearning yet guarded look. He had an urge to suddenly kiss her, put his palm to her face, and gently touched his lips to hers.
She didn’t fight him, she let him. He kissed her softly, and she kissed him back. Her hands went to his face, and his hand rested on her hip. She bit his bottom lip as he pulled back, and he groaned.
He licked his lips, opened his eyes, and smirked.
“Damn, Anna. Why do you have to do that before you leave on some secret trip?” he breathed, and she snickered.
Justin smirked, pulled back, lifted her shirt, and kissed her side. Anna inhaled deeply, running her fingers through his hair, and leaned back. He kissed her stomach, bit gently, and looked into her eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere gorgeous. So, when you get back,” he said, kissing her neck.
“We can finish this conversation.”
He bit her neck gently, and she inhaled. He smirked, kissed her lips, and climbed off the bed. She watched him pull his sweatshirt on and raised an eyebrow.
“What, you don’t want me to be the next Hardy girl?” she teased, resting on her elbows, and he snorted.
He climbed on top of her and held her wrists above her head.
“No, I don’t want you to be the next Hardy girl. I want you to be the girl that tames the wild beast.”
Anna snorted and shook her head.
“The wild beast? Well, I’m sorry Justin, I’m not taming no wild nothing,” she laughed, struggling, and he held her down.
“And now the wild beast will devour his helpless prey,” he teased and bit her side.
She squealed, and Justin laughed. There was a knock at the door, and Anna and Justin looked at each other. He put his finger to his lips, and she snorted and pushed him off her. She shook her head, grabbed her sweatshirt, and ran to the door.
She pulled it over her head and opened the door. It was Paul, and he looked at her and then Justin.
“Justin, you’re still here?” he asked, dryly.
Justin chuckled and walked toward Anna. He put his hand around her waist, gave it a little gentle squeeze, and quickly kissed her lips.
“Later gorgeous, give me a call?” he asked, looking into her eyes.
Paul looked at them in surprise and cleared his throat. Justin smirked, and Anna realized he was an instigator. She poked him in the chest, and he chuckled.
“I will.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
As he passed Paul he nodded and said his name. Anna watched him open his car door, look at her, and smile. She smiled back and she watched him leave. Paul grunted and gave her a thoughtful look.
“Thought you would have kicked him out by now.”
“Why?”
“Because he is an arrogant jerk.”
She laughed and shook her head.
“Do I detect a little hint of jealousy?”
He looked at her for a moment and then sighed.
“I’m not jealous, I am just protective of you.”
She laughed again and looked back at the kitchen. She had to clean that up, so she could focus, and find the kids and her mother. Did she know Daddy was dead?
“I was just coming by to check on you,” said Paul, jarring her from her thoughts.
“I have to get back to the station, but I wanted to stop.”
“Tell the sheriff, I will be in tomorrow. We need to find out everything we can about that facility.”
He looked at his best friend and sighed He knew that she was not going to stop and let herself mourn until she found her mother and the kids. Paul couldn’t stop her, no one could. She was angry, and that scared him.
Anna being angry equals her being reckless and dangerous.
“I will let the sheriff know,” he said, and she nodded.
“Okay, see you tomorrow.”
“Bye.”
He left, and she grabbed her phone and dialed the general. He was a little more excited than she expected he would be when she told him that she wanted to come out and train. He told her a convoy would be leaving in two days and to be ready by then.
She agreed, hung up the phone, and smiled. She pulled the file on Guatemala out of her bag and started looking for useful information.
******
Anna woke up, stretched, and decided to clean the house and get her things packed for her trip. She locked up the house and the barn, placed her duffle bags by the door, and headed to the station.
She, the sheriff, and Paul went over maps and notes and worked out a strategy plan. Anna found an undetected way to the facility while she was looking through the files she had stolen, and Paul drew her route on the map. The roads and surrounding areas of the facility were guarded, so she was going through the mountains and around the backside of the facility.
She didn’t mind and was looking forward to going out climbing in the hills of a foreign country. Paul didn’t like it one bit. He knew he couldn’t stop her, so he kept his mouth shut. The sheriff agreed with Anna, and while she was away, she and Paul would gather more evidence and information.
******
“Deanna, would you come in here for a moment?” called Leonard.
“Yes, sir?” asked his assistant, walking into the room.
“Where is the file on the Guatemala facility?”
“It was on your desk yesterday,” she said, and Leonard thought for a moment.
Why would that file be missing?
“Well, Deanna, the file has come up missing.”
He thought about the last couple of days and then thought of the ball. Could someone have taken it then?
“Deanna, bring me the security footage from the night of the ball.”
She nodded, walked to his computer, and clicked a few clicks, bringing up the security footage.
“There you go, sir.”
Leonard watched through the security footage and noticed that Anna had gone into the restroom, and was in there for quite some time. He watched as she came out of the bathroom, talked to the security guard, and then left. Not only that, but he thought it was odd when she returned ten minutes later with a different purse.
He watched it a second time and pulled the footage up from his office. There was no sign of a break-in, but he noticed a glitch in the feed and clicked on the current video feed.
It showed his office empty, and he slammed his fist on the table.
“That nosy cop!” he yelled.
He decided to bring this little evidence to his son and tell him that his little best friend is not who he thinks she is.
- Writer
