The XOXO New Adult Collection: 16 Full Length New Adult Stories (233 page)

His features were strong and masculine, his jet-black hair shiny, like raven’s feathers. I noticed how his Fire-Department issued white t-shirt stretched tight across his sculpted chest and shoulders while hanging loosely around his waist. Below the short sleeves of the shirt bulged his biceps, and thick veins ran through his arms and hands. He wore the bulky firefighter pants and heavy boots, but even those couldn’t disguise his lean body.

He caught me gaping at him and smiled a little, as if trying to say that it’s okay, that I’m in good hands. Or so I wanted desperately to believe.

Chris, the paramedic came to check on me. “How are you doing, Miss? Are you still dizzy?” She was about my build and height. Her blond hair was very short, almost completely shaved. A large tattoo of a snake curled over her left arm and wrist. Another snake tattoo ran from the top of her head, behind her ear, and wrapped itself around her neck, with its head disappearing under her shirt.

“I’m better. Thank you.” I pulled the oxygen mask from my nose and mouth.

“You might want to keep this on for a bit longer, Miss,” she advised.

I didn’t want to have it on my face. Strangely, I felt self-conscious. What a weird thing to feel in this situation. This was so bizarre. “I’m fine. I don’t need this anymore.” I shook my head.

“Will be right back.” Ethan abruptly stood up and left.

Chris took my pulse again. “All your vitals are good except for your pulse, which is understandable. You’re under a lot of stress.”

“Where did Ethan go? Is he coming back?”

She looked somberly at me. “Do you know him? I mean, have you known him before?”

“No,” I said, sounding suspicious. Why would she ask me that?

She sighed. “You should to go to the hospital, even though everything seems to check out fine.”

Changing the subject, right?

“No hospital.” That I knew for sure—I wasn’t going anywhere the gang could get me. They could easily find me in a hospital. Even if the feds had their agents there on watch. There was no way I would continue relying on the FBI’s protection. But how could I get out of testifying against the guys who raped and murdered Helen? I pressed my hands to my face, cupping them over my eyes, shutting out the outside world.

She asked quietly, “Are you okay? You can talk to me. My name is Christina. Chris for short.”

I caught a glimpse of her concerned face from between my fingers. She must have thought I was behaving like a child. But the truth was, I was scared again; my heart was racing, and I felt like screaming from the top of my lungs. Scared, scared, scared!

Ethan climbed in. In two long strides he was beside me. Christina stepped aside. He clapped her on the back and then kneeled by me.

“Hey,” he said, gently pulling my hands away from my face. “It’s okay.” His hands felt warm and strong. “My Chief talked with the feds. The Bureau is already investigating the explosion. They’re taking you to some new, undisclosed location.”

I only shook my head, unable to speak. He kept my hands in his, and I couldn’t think of anything else but the warmth that seeped from his skin to mine. It was like a drug, and I didn’t care that I knew nothing about this man. I needed a distraction from all the horrors I’ve been through. But there were more horrors in my future. I was sure of that. Could I face them alone? Did I have to face them alone? Yes, the unfortunate truth was this: I had nobody I could turn to for help. I was on my own.

Chris stepped out of the vehicle. “I need to find the Chief. Will be back in a sec.”

The other paramedic had gone a few minutes before. I was alone with Ethan.

“Gloria, listen to me. You have options, but you need to think this through. Do you have a lawyer? And anyone you trust to take you in? A family member or a good friend?”

“I have a lawyer.” I nodded. “But I can’t go to any of my friends. I don’t want to put anyone in danger.”

“Family then?”

I hesitated. I’ve never known my biological father. He, most likely, had no idea he had a daughter. I learned that from my mom’s journal, which was given to me, even though at the time of her death I was only three years old. All of my grandparents were long dead. I was raised in foster homes until my amazing guardian professor Tolinski adopted me. But he was gone now too. According to Mom’s journal, I had a great aunt somewhere in Denmark, but I’ve never tried to contact her. She was probably dead as well. “No family.”

Ethan’s eyebrows knitted together. A deep crease formed between them. He looked away for a moment, as if sinking intensely in thought. “There must be somewhere you can stay. If not, you’re better off with the FBI. They can protect you, take you to another safe house—”

“No way,” I interrupted. “I can’t rely on them. I...” the tears prickled my eyes, and I felt a sob building up in my chest. Crap, last thing I would let myself do was to cry in front of this guy. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath, getting myself under control. “Look, I can handle this.” I had no idea how, but the words of confidence were more for my own benefit than his.

Ethan ran his hand through his hair, disheveling it even more than it was before. He stood up, laced his fingers at the back of his neck with his elbows out, and walked around the rig, clenching his jaw. Finally he stopped and looked at the entrance. “Where the fuck is Chris? Wait here.”

Before I even opened my mouth to say something, he disappeared outside. Chris came back a moment after Ethan stepped out. I suspected she left to give us room to talk.

“Here, drink this.” She gave me a plastic bottle of water. I thanked her and drank half of it in just a few gulps. I didn’t even realize how thirsty I was.

“Doing better?” she asked.

“I guess.” I was becoming numb, which I welcomed with relief. The last few hours killed me—if not physically then mentally for sure. My situation was serious. I had no options. There was no way this attack was random. Someone knew exactly where I was hidden, and such information could be obtained only from one source—the FBI. There was a snitch, and I wasn’t stupid to hope otherwise.

Chris made a motion to check my pulse, but I waived her off. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

She nodded. “Can I get you anything? We don’t have any real food in here, but if you’re hungry I can scramble a power bar or two.”

“Thanks, Chris. That’s very thoughtful of you, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to eat anything.”

“I understand.”

I took another sip of water.

Ethan came back. He didn’t look happy. He said something quietly to Chris, and she responded in low whisper. I couldn’t make out the words, but I had a feeling they were talking about me. Chris gave me a fleeting glance and quickly looked away, nodding to whatever Ethan was murmuring to her. That was unbearable. What the hell?

“Hey,” I said. “Am I interrupting something?”

They both turned to look at me. I was pissed, and I didn’t make any effort to hide it. What would be the point? Everyone was freaking inconvenienced by my existence. But I was a fighter. I wasn’t done living, regardless of the crap raining down on me. I decided years ago that I’m never going to be a helpless mess, no matter what life throws at me. Although, everything that was happening to me now could break even the strongest. Nevertheless, I pushed that thought aside.

Wordlessly, Chris left the rig. Ethan crossed his strong arms over his chest. His biceps bulged, and his t-shirt tightened even more around his pectorals. The guy was gorgeous. I couldn’t deny it.

“So? What’s the story?” I asked. My voice sounded steely and pissed, and that was exactly how I felt.

“There is someone outside who wants to talk with you,” Ethan informed me.

He was calm, and I wished I could feel as unruffled. But then again, Ethan wasn’t on a powerful gang’s hit list.
I was.

“Who is it this time? The FBI?”

“Not the FBI, but they want you to talk with him.” Ethan walked to the entrance, stuck his head out, and motioned to someone to enter before leaving the rig.

Great. What now? I bet they had some asshat here to convince me to stay in the FBI witness protection plan.

A middle-aged, overweight man with thin wire glasses set on the bridge of a big nose entered the rig. His hair was sparse and tied into a long, skinny ponytail at the nape of his neck.

“Doctor Marc Jones.” He extended his hand to me, and I shook it. “I would like to have a word with you, Miss Glass.”

No shit. Just as I was afraid. “Doctor Jones, I haven’t had a chance to talk with my lawyer. I’ll listen to what you have to say, but I won’t make any promises and I won’t agree to anything. Are we clear?”

“Absolutely.” He nodded and smiled. He had a nice, easy smile. A shrink for sure—that smile was well practiced to put people at ease right from the start.

As I suspected, Doctor Jones went on to analyze the psychological state I was in, ready to work with me on any trauma resulting from today’s events. Sure I was scared and unsure of where I had to go next, but I wasn’t buying into his attempt of convincing me to stay in the witness protection program.

About ten minutes later, I had had enough of this conversation. “I think we are done here, Doctor Jones,” I said with finality. I got up and walked to the entrance of the rig. Ethan stood outside, quietly talking with his Chief and four FBI agents.

The good doctor tried to persuade me to talk some more, but I put my hand out, cutting him off. I had no intention of continuing this nonsense, even if it seemed rude of me to act the way I did. Screw that. Pleasantries were the last thing on my mind now.

Reluctantly, the doctor slid past me and out of the vehicle. I put my hood back on and went to the door. Ethan watched me, his eyes holding mine spellbound. What was going on? I had such a hard time looking away from him. Finally, I motioned to Special Agents Drasco and Cornell to get closer. As soon as they did, I told them that I was going to call Jessica Leothon, my lawyer’ to discuss my situation.

“I’ll let you know as soon as I’m done talking with her.” I took my cell phone out and dialed. I should’ve done that immediately after I climbed out of the panic room, but I kept hesitating. I was afraid she would try to convince me to stay in the program and offer no other choices. So what was the point in dialing her? Nevertheless it was a necessary and responsible thing to do.

She picked up on the second ring. “Lis... Gloria. Is everything okay?” Gloria Glass was my under-cover name the FBI assigned to me while in the program. But Jessica knew me by my real name—
Lisbeth Anderson
.

She asked if everything was okay, so she didn’t know a thing about today’s events. Nobody contacted her on my behalf just yet. She was based in Tampa. I didn’t know if anyone except myself or the FBI agents who were assigned to my immediate protection and who died in the explosion this morning would call her right away. The thought about Special Agents Vera and Kolaski caused a stab of pain and sorrow in my chest. In those two weeks, since my transfer to Portland from Florida, they became like sisters to me.

“Jessica,” I tried very hard to keep my voice steady. I didn’t want to cry or to appear weak and scared. No matter how scared and unsure of my future I was right now, I had to stay strong for my own sake. That was my only hope to survive.

I had to remain focused and press forward—just the way I learned to be while tossed from one foster home to another. “Listen, there was an explosion. Special Agents Vera and Kolaski are dead. I slept in the safe room so—”

“What?” she yelled. “What explosion? Where... what happened? Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. The building was completely leveled.” I proceeded to explain all I knew.

She listened, and when I said that I don’t feel safe in the FBI witness protection plan, Jessica remained quiet for a long moment. Finally she said, “As your lawyer I can’t advise you to withdraw from the protection program. We don’t know for sure that someone else wasn’t behind the attack. In fact, we don’t know
you
were the target. I’m dialing the FBI as soon as I hang up with you.”

I sighed. “Seriously, who else would be the target?”

––––––––

T
he feds were furious with Gloria. They didn’t want her to pull out from the program. They were convinced she wouldn’t make it another day on her own. She, most likely, wouldn’t. Chief Holton pleaded with me to make her cooperate, but I wasn’t going to manipulate Gloria. She had to make her own mind. If she stayed under the FBI’s protection, it needed to be her own choice, although I wasn’t about to voice my opinion and get accused of swaying the witness. Yeah, like convincing her to actually
stay
in the program wouldn’t fall under that very category. I learned to keep my mouth shut long ago, and that wasn’t about to change.

Gloria made it clear that she didn’t want to see any of the agents right now. Thankfully, they left her alone for a while. But time was running out, and they wanted to take her. So they brought some shrink dude to talk with her—so much for letting her calm down on her own.

He climbed into the rig. I stayed behind and went to check on my team instead. They were out of the structure already. Fortunately, the fire didn’t spread too much inside the adjacent building, and so they were done fairly quickly. Jack briefed me about the progress: the team went in, secured the area, and checked all the parts of the structure for explosives and more fire. They found none.

The units were loading their equipment onto the rigs. I knew there would be loads of paperwork to take care of—even more than normal since the FBI was involved.

Jack took his fireproof coat off. “It’s getting fucking hot. I’m gonna find water, bro. You want some?”

“I’m good, thanks. Had some already.”

Jack went to our truck. I walked back to the paramedics’ rig. Chief Holton and four agents talked quietly right outside the entrance. I heard Gloria’s angry voice coming from the inside, “I think we are done here, Doctor Jones.”

A few moments later, the shrink left the rig, passing us on his way out. Gloria stuck her hooded head out. Her eyes found mine. She didn’t look away for a long while. Finally, she glanced at the two of the FBI suits and motioned to them to come closer.