Eye of the Storm (The Storm Series) (8 page)

“If Jeremy wasn’t in the picture?”

“Well he is, so we don’t have to think about it.”

“Hmmm…”

“Hmmm what?”

“Nothing. How long do you think you’ll be gone and who is going to stay with me?”

“I’m not sure. We’ve got an open-ended return ticket. Depending on what we find, we might have to travel somewhere else. We could be gone a couple of weeks. I’m really not sure. As to who is going to stay with you, I came up with the perfect solution.”

“Is he young and hot and willing to give me sponge-baths?”

Evie chuckled. “Well, he is young, some people think he’s hot and just ew gross.” At her grandmother’s confused look, she continued. “It’s Jackson. I managed to guilt him into stop roaming around the world to come here.”

“Well, shit. He’s not going to let me have any fun.”

“You got that right. I should’ve made him come here earlier.”

“Really Evie, I thought you loved me.” Evelyne tried to look wounded.

“You can’t fool me, old lady. You’ll just have to devise new ways to cause trouble with him around. I’m sure you’re up to the task.”

“That I am, that I am.”

~*~

“Lock your daughters up, Jackson is back in town!” A voice boomed from the front of the house.

Evie ran to him and jumped in his arms. “How’s the best brother in the whole wide world? It’s so good to see you! I’ve missed you.”

He spun her around, making her giggle, before putting her down. “I’m great. Wondering what I’m going to do for the next few weeks, but I’m sure something will come up. Now tell me what’s going on.”

They sat around together while the ladies filled him in. There were some raised voices as they fought about what Evie was going to do, but finally he calmed down and said he was going to talk to Anthony, alone.

Evie bit her lip in worry and watched out the kitchen window to the cottage. She wished she could hear what they were talking about. Finally her brother came out and walked back into the house.

“Well.”

“Well what?”

“What did you guys talk about?”

“You.”

“What about me?”

“Stuff.”

“Gee Jack, could you stop talking so much? I can’t get a word in edgewise.”

He put her in a headlock and dragged her to the couch where they both sat down. “We just talked man to man. Made sure we understood where the other stands.”

“And where do you stand?”

“We both want this bastard caught, that’s all you need to worry your pretty, little head about.” He reached over and messed up her hair.

“Come on. Quit being such an ass. Details, I need details.”

“Why is what we talked about so important to you?” He squinted at her.

Hoping she hadn’t given anything away about her attraction to Anthony, she tried to shrug it off. “Well, we’re going to be working together a lot. In close quarters. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t a huge jerk that might make that uncomfortable.”

He looked at her for a long time. Trying not to squirm under his scrutiny, she held his gaze.

Patting her on the head he stood up. “That had better be it. He’s had a rough time. I’d hate to have to kick his ass.”

After he walked out of the room Evie let the breath she had been holding out. She was glad they were going to be leaving on their trip soon. Hiding her feelings from her brother had never been something she’d been able to do.

~*~

Evie knocked on the cottage door after receiving an urgent text from Anthony. She didn’t know why he didn’t just come over to the house but she felt it had something to do with her brother.

“Come in.”

Entering the cottage, she stopped at the sight of him in the bedroom. He had a towel on and there were drops of water falling down his skin. She had felt his muscles, she knew he had them, but seeing them was something different. Taking a step towards him before she could stop herself, she almost gave in to running her hands all over him and licking him dry.

Turning towards her he smiled. “I didn’t think you’d be here so quick. Sorry, let me get dressed. I’ll be right out.”

Don’t hurry on my account.
Glad he didn’t close the door, she sat down and watched out of the corner of her eye as his towel dropped and she was treated to one of the finest asses she’d ever seen.
I bet I could bounce a quarter on that. Shit, I’m getting as bad as my grandmother.

All too quickly he was dressed and in the living room sitting down next to her on the couch. “I’ve got some news about Jay Ellison.”

“Really? That was quick. What have you got?”

“We’ve found two properties that have the owners as Jay Ellison. One, we think, is the home he grew up in. The other is a condo in New York that was purchased by a Jay Ellison ten years ago.”

“That can’t be much, I’m sure there are thousands of Jay Ellison’s in the country.”

“True, but this one happens to have been left vacant and a property management company had been hired to oversee things for the past six years.”

“Ok, well, that could be a coincidence.”

“True, but then there’s this.” He showed her his phone. On it there was a directory of owners along with pictures.

“Well, hot damn. When do we leave?”

“How fast can you be packed?”

“Give me half an hour.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Evie ran out of the cottage and up to her room. Since they were going to be leaving in two days from Boston to London she decided to pack enough clothes for a week in case they weren’t able to make it back here before their flight left.

Sitting down on the bed she took a look around her room that she’d stayed in since she was a child, somehow knowing that when she returned, things would be different.

On the sidewalk outside of Jeremy’s building Evie turned to Anthony. “Let me do the talking. I think it will work better if I take point on this one.”

“Is it even worth my energy to argue?”

“Nope, come on. Let’s see what we can find out.” She turned to make sure he was following her when she opened the door.

They crossed to the desk. Evie was thankful it was a middle aged man. She gave him a huge smile while she checked out his nametag. “Hi Cal, I was hoping you’d be able to help us.”

“Sure, what can I do for you?” He stood up a little straighter.

She could tell by the way he looked at her and Anthony that he was confused and recognized him. She wanted to draw his attention back to her and not have it focused on Anthony too long.

“I’m Mr. Ellison’s nurse. I’m not sure if you are aware of it, but he was in an accident and he is having a bit of a problem with his memory.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I was under the impression when you were here last week that you’d be around more. I was wondering what happened.”

Evie’s gut clutched as she thought of how close they were to finding him. Maybe he would even come home while they were there. “Lucky for him the accident wasn’t too bad except for the nasty bump on the head that has messed with his memory.”

“What can I help you with?”

“Well, it’s like this, he’s lost his keys and wallet, the only way we knew who he was or where he lived was from the registration on his car. So you see, he has no way to get into his condo. Is there any way you could let us in?” She thought about batting her eyelashes but decided that might be a bit overboard.

Cal rubbed his hand along the back of his neck. “Well, it’s kind of against company policy. I mean I do recognize him, so I guess it would be ok, right?” He looked at them with a hopeful expression like he was looking for validation in his thinking.

Evie rubbed the back of his hand that was resting on the desk. “Of course it would, and you would be helping him. We’re hoping that having him spend some time around his things will help trigger his memory.”

“Ok, but can we just keep this between us? I really need this job.”

She felt a pang of guilt at lying to this nice man, but lives were at stake. They had to find Jeremy. “Not a problem.”

Cal sighed in relief and gave them a key. “We always have spares around for the owners. Here you go.”

“Thanks Cal, you’re a real sweetheart.” She turned and grabbed Anthony by the elbow and steered him towards the elevator. She could tell that she was squeezing too hard when he reached up and pried her fingers from him. “Sorry,” she whispered.

They didn’t say a word to each other as they rode the elevator up. They had talked about the fact this building could have cameras all around. The only place they would be free to talk would be in the enemy’s lair.

~*~

Anthony shook his head as he watched Evie stride boldly into Jeremy’s condo and dance around. Casually he wiped the doorknob clean with the sleeve of his jacket and pulled a couple of gloves out of his pocket and put them on.

“Did you see that? Did you fucking see that? Easier than taking candy from a baby. Damn I’m good.” She smacked her ass and spun around.

“If you’re done, maybe we could search the place?”

“Party-pooper. Fine, have it your way. Why is it so cold in here? It’s like a morgue.” She stopped and stared at him her eyes going wide. “No.”

“It seems with Jeremy you never know. Maybe you should stay here while I look around.”

“No way, we stick together.”

“Think about it before you become the Queen of Stubborn. We don’t know what we will find. If you search out here, I’ll look around and make sure there aren’t any surprises hiding. We kill two birds with one stone and get out of here quicker.”

“Oh, no way. Haven’t you seen any horror movies? When you split up is when someone gets killed. Nope, we do this together.”

“Is that the only way I can get you to shut up?”

“Yep.”

“Fine. I think you’re worse than your grandmother.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Now, let’s move it.”

They walked down a short hallway opening up doors to a closet and bathroom. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He wanted to laugh at how she gripped his arm and held her breath with every door they opened. When they got to the last door, they looked at each other.

“You can always go back.”

“No, no I can’t.”

“Here goes.”

Slowly opening the door, his breath whooshed out of his lungs. He shook his head hoping that the image that he saw really wasn’t there. Vaguely he could hear Evie’s breathing beside him become rapid. There, spread out naked on the bed, was the body of a dead woman. Her torso had been cut open and her entrails were pulled out and forks jammed through them attaching them to other parts of her body. Some reached her eyes where forks were buried in each of them. Blood soaked into the white sheets and down the side leaving a dried puddle on the floor.

Her fingers were bent back at odd angles and her jaw was pried open and her mouth was stuffed with summer sausage. Above her, on the wall, was a message written in blood:

Who’s next?

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. Anthony, we’ve got to get out of here.” Her voice raised in pitch with every word she said.

Anthony grabbed her and hauled her out of the room closing the door behind him. She kept saying the same thing over and over. He knew that he had to calm her down before she started screaming. He did the first thing that came to his mind and kissed her hard wrapping his arms around her. Feeling her that close to him was his undoing. He moved one hand up to grasp the back of her head and tangle his fingers in her hair. His fingers dug into her waist wanting more. He felt her melt against him for a moment before coming back to her senses and pushing him away.

“What in the hell are you doing? There’s a dead woman in the next room.”

“I had to do something to get you to calm down before you started screaming so loud the whole building would be breaking down the door.”

“So the only reason you kissed me was to calm me down? Thanks, buddy.”

“Now you’re pissed because I kissed you to calm you down? A second ago it was because I kissed you in the first place. Which one is it?”

“Fuck, I don’t know. I can’t think. What should we do?” She spun around in circles her eyes looking everywhere.

“Get out of here. This could be another set up; the cops could be on their way.”

“But we haven’t searched the rest of the place. There could be something important here.” She stopped and gripped his hands.

He was trying to block out the image that was in his mind, but he knew it would be there for a long time. He wanted to get as far away from the horror in the other room. Wanting to get both of them out of there, but knowing she had a point, he had to go back in that room. In his mind, if Jeremy had left anything it would have been in there, knowing that either Anthony would leave without finding it or if he did go back in there, it would torture him even more.

“Fine, but be quick. You search out here, I’ll go back in.”

Her eyes became wide. “You… you mean to go back in there?”

“I have no choice.” He turned and strode away from her and back into hell.

~*~

As an alarm sounded on his computer, a sick smile spread across Jeremy’s face. They’d found his place in New York. Picking up the phone, he made a phone call then sat back to watch the chaos unfold.

~*~

Taking a moment to get herself under control she could do nothing but stare blindly out the window. If she didn’t get it under control, she would break everything she could get her hands on. Shaking her head to clear it, she turned around to face the room to decide where to start.

There wasn’t much to search out here, so it didn’t take her long to find the letter on the kitchen counter with Anthony’s name on it. She chewed on her lower lip wondering if she should interrupt him or just let him finish. They really needed all the information they could get. With the letter in her hands her fingers itched to open it, she stood in the middle of living room staring at the closed bedroom door willing it to open. When it finally did, the air whooshed out of her lungs.

It looked like his skin was stretched tight across his face and his eyes held a haunted look she wasn’t sure would ever go away. Walking to him she held her arms open and he collapsed into them. She could feel the shivers run through his body.