Chapter 87
780 Words
Dallas pulled up in front of the large house, checking behind him for about the hundredth time. Nobody there. He exchanged glances with Griff, and the other man nodded.
He turned around to look at Olivia sitting in the back seat of the SUV. She had been quiet the whole ride over, and appeared nervous. She wasn’t worried for herself, he was sure: he’d lay money that she was fretting that the shelter would somehow be discovered because of her.
Leave it to Olivia to worry about someone else when she’s got some f*****g sicko hunting her.
“You OK?” he asked her.
“Yeah.” She tried to smile. “I just don’t want to tip anyone off about this place.”
“We weren’t followed, baby.” He checked the rear view mirror again, and saw Mark’s vehicle now. “There’s Mark and Selena. They were keeping an eye out for us, and them being behind us now means that all’s clear. You can go on in.”
“OK.”
She walked up to the house and Dallas watched her knock on the door. It opened a crack, swung wide. The woman hugged Olivia and she went in. The door closed and Dallas, Griff and Mark moved. Selena stayed with the car, keeping watch on the street, while the guys approached the house, getting eyes on the side and back doors. They stayed hidden, not wanting to be visible from the street or any of the windows. They pulled down their hats and pulled up their collars, and they waited in the cold and snow for Olivia to come back out.
****
Two hours later, Dallas got a text from Olivia that she was exiting the house in one minute. He spoke quietly into his headset microphone and heard the others respond to his orders. The guys returned to the vehicles, but Dallas stayed next to the house, waiting for Olivia to walk out. Only when she was safely in the SUV with Griff did Dallas leave the yard.
He slid into the front passenger seat and looked at Liv. “Everything OK?”
“Yes. Thanks so much for bringing me.”
“Sure, hon.” He saw that she looked better than she had in a week, since this whole f*****g thing had started. “Ready to go home?”
“Yes.”
They chatted easily on the drive home, Liv relaxed and happy. Visits to the women and kids always had this effect on her. She took joy in the abused women gaining confidence in themselves, in the kids starting to laugh and play without fear. The house was massive, and she’d had extensive renovations done on it so that families could live in rooms together. There was a play area for the kids, an art room, an office space with computers, a therapy room, and staff quarters. It was a home, an office, a community centre, a counselling resource, all under one roof.
They arrived at Olivia’s house, and Sully got out of his SUV.
“Everything OK here?” Dallas asked him.
“Yeah,” Sully said. “Did a few quick walks around the perimeter, checked for cars after you left. Quiet night tonight… nothing happening anywhere around here.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Dallas said. “OK, Mark and Sully, thanks for the extra hours. Be sure to mark ‘em on your time sheets. Selena and Griff, you want anything hot to drink before starting the night watch?”
“Yes, please,” Selena said. “Maybe a cup of coffee?”
“Come on in,” Liv said. “I’ll make you up a thermos, and maybe a few nibbles. What do you think?”
“Perfect,” Selena said. “Be right back, OK, Griff?”
He waved his huge hand. “Take your time. It looks like it’s all under control.”
Liv tapped in the front door code and they all walked inside. She kicked off her boots and took off her coat, headed up the stairs to her kitchen. Dallas followed her, started to help with the coffee.
“I’ll get that, hon,” he said. “Why don’t you go sit down?”
“Actually, I’ll change my top,” she said. “White shirts and making sandwiches with mayo and mustard don’t really go together, you know?”
He grinned and watched her walk down the hallway to her bedroom. He turned back to the coffee machine, adjusting the pot to make sure no liquid spilled out on the counter. That was when he heard Olivia scream.
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