“Besides, y’all are the ones who were talking about butt plugs.” I heard Cooper say when my brain started functioning again.
“No one was talking about butt plugs,” Gabe said.
“Well, how the hell else is your butthole threatened if a butt plug isn’t involved.”
Oh my God.
I can’t…
I couldn’t.
I tried my hardest to contain the laughter that was bubbling up but I lost it. Totally and completely. Belly-aching, gut-busting, deep-from-your-soul laughter spilled out of me until tears rolled down my cheeks. And even then, I couldn’t stop it. I fanned my face and pinched my lips in an effort to stop but that made it worse and it sounded like I was making some sort of weird mouth-flatulent noise that only made me laugh harder.
Throughout this, I was oblivious to what the guys were doing. All I could see were two watery figures. And I couldn’t hear anything over my own hilarity.
“It wasn’t a butt plug,” I sputtered and tried to gain some sort of control. “It was Ex-lax.”
“Ex-lax is no joking matter,” Gabe deadpanned.
I choked on another laugh. I did it so hard this time my arms went around my stomach and I bent forward. I felt a hand curl around the back of my neck and squeeze.
I pulled myself together, thinking about how shitty my luck was. How much I loved Gabe teasing me. How much I enjoyed the banter between Gabe and his friends. How Owen, Cooper, Gabe, Garrett, and the others reminded me of Phantom and his friends. Close as brothers. They laughed a lot and poked fun at each other.
How much I wanted this for myself and I’d never have it.
“Sorry, I’m good,” I said.
“Yeah, you are,” Gabe said under his breath.
I focused on the paper in my hand and scanned the police report instead of the way my heart flipped over and my belly tightened.
Why couldn’t this be real?
It took an enormous amount of concentration but I pulled myself together and started reading. Nothing stood out as important. I picked up the autopsy report and again nothing. Then I read Delilah’s email to Garrett. When I was done I read it again.
Please keep her safe.
Why would Delilah Watts want me safe?
Garrett’s response was also included and I noted the reply was sent before Gabe and I had gone into the office. Zane hadn’t needed me to reach out to Delilah, he’d already instructed Garrett to do it. And according to the return email, Zane was offering Delilah protection.
“Zane has a cabin outside of Riverton?” I asked.
“No. Abe does,” Gabe told me.
“Abe? Does he work for Z Corps, too?”
“No. Abe is a retired SEAL. Sometimes if we’ve got something going on that requires more manpower Zane will call Abe and his team to help.”
“That’s nice of Abe to loan Zane his cabin.”
Gabe’s lips twitched and one side of his mouth tipped up in a lopsided smile.
“Yeah, well, Zane did pay a fortune to remodel the place after the last time Zane used it. Alabama—that’s Abe’s wife—was pretty pleased with the upgrades.”
“Zane remodeled Abe’s cabin as payment?”
“No, honey. He remodeled it because while Leo was hiding Olivia there the bad guys found them and half the house was taken out by an RPG.”
My eyes widened in shock. Bad guys? RPG?
“I see you wanna sink your teeth into that story, too. How about we get you through your drama first then I’ll fill you in on everyone else’s.”
Drama.
That was one way to describe what I was in the middle of. It actually sounded better than calling it what it was—attempted murder all because I couldn’t mind my own business.
“So, Zane thinks she’s on our side.”
“No. I already told you this; no one thinks anything. We’ll do what we have to do to protect you.”
“Zane’s not offering protection, he’s setting a trap.”
I didn’t like that. And it was a good thing Zane didn’t need me to reach out to her because I wouldn’t help him detain her. It might’ve taken me getting safe to understand that Delilah was helping me and at the same time warning me to be careful, but now that I did, I wouldn’t allow Zane and the others to treat her like an enemy combatant.
“It’s not a trap in the sense that harm will come to her. We need to question her and to do that we have to find her. Delilah’s on the run, she doesn’t want to be found, she’s been vigilant, she’s been cautious. So