and we pull each other in for a hug and a back slap.
“What am I, chopped liver?” Bridger retorts.
“No one could ever accuse you of that, B,” Giana jokes with him.
“I’ll wait until Slade gets back with the lab results. You know, if your name is anywhere on those papers, your favorite lab technician will work on them double time. That girl was awestruck over Drake. He shut her down so many times, you would have thought she got the message.” He shakes his head.
“And no one really needed to know that, fuck you very much,” I tell him. Giana burrows closer into me, not saying a word, not having a care in the world that this crazy-ass stalker is basically targeting her. She’s happy and smiling over Bridger and his theatrics.
“Babe, I’m not worried,” Giana tells me, reaching up and kissing the corner of my lips. I don’t let that go. I want her lips on mine. At least that will tide me over until we get home tonight.
“I’ll be in my office. No one wants a show. You know?” He walks off, leaving my angel and me laughing as we watch Easton head towards the front door and Bridger going to his office. Who the fuck knows why he’s even here. He should be going home. There’s no use for all of us to be here all night when he could at least be at home with Kellie.
“Come on, you can at least get comfortable and call you parents with the latest news. I’m sure your dad will be sharpening his knives and cleaning his guns as soon as you get off the phone.” Giana’s dad may work at the local high school, but he means business when it comes to protecting his family. I think that’s probably why we hit it off so fast. Now, if I could get my parents to come home. They came back from one vacation and went on another, then my aunt needed help with something or other. So, they loaded up and left town again.
“No kidding. I may take a nap on the couch. I think everything is starting to hit me.” She raises her arms over her head, stretching.
“This sucks. Hopefully, Slade won’t take too much longer, then we’ll be home in our own bed. Come on, I’ll grab a pillow and blanket for you that I keep in the closet. We all spent many nights eating, sleeping, and breathing Nighthawk Security at one point.”
“Thank you for keeping me safe.” This time it’s me holding her hand as we make our way back to my office. She plops down on the sofa, steps out of her clogs. “You want me to call your dad while you relax?” I offer.
“God, yes. If I do it, you know Mom. She’ll want to talk for hours, and I’m just not feeling up to it.”
“I got it taken care of, angel,” I place the pillow on the couch, hand her the blanket, kiss her, then make the phone call to her folks and probably my own too.
Eighteen
Giana
I wake up to whispering, “No fucking way, her?” It's Bridger’s voice that is more shocked than anyone’s.
“Yeah, I stayed the entire time, had a new girl do the prints, and it had a hit. The only problem is, she ghosted. That’s why it took me so long to get here. I stopped by her last known address. The landlord said she skipped out. She even left all of her belongings. I figure we can go do a little search and discovery in the morning. Maybe she left a hint of her whereabouts,” Slade states.
“Another dead end. I can’t believe this happened.” Drake’s voice is full of defeat. I rub the sleep from my eyes, needing to know what’s going on.
“Hey, angel, you ready to head home?”
“I guess so. I heard most of the conversation. Does anyone know why this person would do this? This is baffling to me. Also, did you call my folks? Your folks?” I fire off a barrage of questions. He nods his head to my last two questions, leaving the first one up in the air because who really knows at this point in this so called game.
“No clue. Bridger and I are going to head on out. See you in the morning.” It’s then that I notice the time. “Thanks again, guys,” Drake tells them. They give him the one-finger salute, then take their leave.
“I can’t believe it’s almost two o’clock in