Chapter 89
1119 Words
“How did he get in tonight?” Mark asked.
“I found an open window.”
“What?” Sully said, stunned. “Which one?”
“The one in the laundry room.”
“Dallas,” Sully said. “I swear to you, I never left the perimeter. If that window had been forced open, the alarm should have been triggered… no way that it was.” He shook his head. “I physically walked around the whole house and checked every entrance not even twenty minutes before you got home. That window was closed.”
“I know.” Dallas ran his hands through his dark hair. “I believe you, man. This fucker is disarming selective parts of the security systems. He somehow got into the house through the front door when Olivia had it all locked up tight, he disabled the cameras the night of the party. Now, he opened a window and crawled right into the house without detection between your rounds.” He shook his head. “What kind of blocking equipment can he have?”
“Normally, the whole system is knocked out, though,” Griff said slowly. “I mean, disabling the cameras should have also knocked out the door alarm system, right? What kind of technology only knocks out specific parts of larger, entire security systems? From outside?”
Dallas looked grim. “Only ones that are military- and national security-grade, that I know of.”
Liv shivered, and he tightened his arm around her.
“I want you to call Howard and Jill and have them wake up every single person on their team,” Dallas said to Mark. “Right now. Get them over to Olivia’s house, have them check what the hell is going on over there. They don’t leave until they have an answer that f*****g makes sense.”
Mark nodded. “I’ll stay with them.”
“The rest of you?” Dallas said. “Canvas the neighbors… ask if anyone saw anything at all tonight. A car, anyone on foot, someone walking a dog. I don’t care – anything at all that puts anyone within fifty feet of Olivia’s house.”
They all got to their feet and headed in their respective directions, pulling out phones and checking their guns as they went. Dallas caught Mark’s eye, and the other man nodded.
Dallas stood up. “I’ll be right back, baby. I forgot to tell Mark one thing to pass on to Jill and Howard. Alright?”
She nodded, still looking shocked. He felt the anger rise in him when he saw that the fear was back in her eyes; he’d hoped that he’d never have to see that again. It took a lot of effort for him to stamp down hard on his own rage – he knew that getting emotional wasn’t going to help her now, that she was counting on him to stay calm even as she fell apart.
He touched her hair gently, and she looked up at him.
“It’s going to be OK, Olivia,” he said softly. “I’ll make sure of it.”
She gazed up at Dallas, and he saw that she still trusted him completely. That faith in him staggered him: it was humbling, and somehow beautiful. Dallas loved knowing that when she looked at him, she saw him at his best… strong, tender, capable. He’d give anything to kiss her right now, to just take her to his bed and cover her body with his own, shield her from everything and everyone. Make her feel totally safe and fully loved.
She smiled now, and his heart jumped.
“I know you will, Dallas,” she said. “I believe you.”
He squeezed her hand, then walked to his office. Mark was waiting outside the locked door, looking serious. Neither man said a word until they were inside, and the door was closed. They stared at each other grimly, knowing that they were both thinking the exact same thing.
“Maybe this asshole is blocking the security systems from outside,” Mark said. “But there’s one more way that he can be doing all this.”
“Yeah, I know,” Dallas said. “If he were inside the house.”
Mark nodded. “It would explain how he knew about Liv’s dress… he was there the whole time, watching and listening. He’d be able to sneak into her bedroom and take pictures of her sleeping and drop things on the bed. He’d be able to casually open the front door or the window from inside, before scurrying back to wherever the hell he’s holed up. He’d know what she was doing and where she was going. He’d know all the codes, have full access to her schedule. Everything.”
Dallas pulled out the floor plans of Olivia’s house. “I agree. The thing is, there is literally nowhere for a full-grown human being to hide for hours – or f*****g days – on end without detection, man. I’ve been over every inch of that house on this plan and in person, but then again, I’m no architect or structural engineer. Any chance at all that there’s some hidden room?”
“Hard to believe,” Mark said. “Since even hidden space is always marked on building plans, for legal reasons.”
“Well, we need to check,” Dallas said. “We also need to find out where Abraham Castell has been for the past few hours.”
“I’m on it.” Mark hesitated.
“What?”
“I just – I don’t get it. If he’s had total access to her, and he could have hurt her or attacked her at any given moment, then what the f**k’s he doing? Just – just playing with her? Trying to scare her?”
“I don’t know. If we’re right, and he’s been in the house with her and us this whole f*****g time, then it means that he gets off on the control part of it all… the all-knowing observation of someone who has no idea they’re even being watched. But now that we’ve removed her, he may well escalate again.”
“Yeah.”
“So be careful what you say in that house, man. Do not mention where Olivia is – tell everyone she’s booked into a hotel, OK?”
“Roger that.”
Dallas sighed. “I’m going to take her to my place now, try to get her to rest.”
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Mark said. “If I were her? I’d probably never close my eyes again.”
- Writer
