Nine Marines' Shared Property - Nicole Casey Page 0,52

floor. “Stop with this ‘it’s in the car’ shit!” He shook him and pinned him against the wall.

“No. Wait,” said Gwen. “He’s right. I remember. I lost it in the car when—” She stopped herself and exhaled deeply. “When he grabbed me and...”

She didn’t finish her sentence.

I touched her on the arm but she moved away from me.

“Where’s your car, Michael?” she asked.

Michael looked from her to Santiago, who had his collar balled up in his fist and his thick forearm pressed hard against his chest, then back to Gwen. He answered her question, in detail, and quickly.

21

Elijah

The kitchen in Michael’s apartment was too small: too small to hold nine hyper-vigilant Marines, a recently rescued victim and a blubbering aggressor. I had already kicked down one door, and I was about ready to start knocking down walls.

“The keys,” Santiago said. He stuck out his hand, cupped palm up.

Michael motioned with his head to Taylor then to Tristan.

Travis rattled the keys in his hand.

Santiago motioned with his head to the front door. “Go with Gwen. Go get her phone.” He looked back at Michael. “We’ll see what we’re going to do with this scum.”

“I’ll go with you,” I said to Travis. I didn’t know what Santiago had in mind, but I knew I didn’t want to be there to find out. Plus, I had to get out of that kitchen before I punched a hole in the wall.

We walked down the two flights of stairs without saying a word, Travis in the lead, Gwen trailing behind us.

The parking garage lit up automatically as soon as Travis entered. I held the door open for Gwen, but she stopped, frozen, at the threshold. She put one arm around her waist, her other arm crossed her chest and she clutched her shoulder. With wide eyes she scanned the garage.

“Are you ok?” I asked. That must have been the twentieth time in the last five minutes she’d been asked that question.

She didn’t answer right away. She blinked her eyes quickly and shook her head.

I reached out to touch her arm, but she stepped past me into the garage. She walked straight ahead almost like she was in a trance. Travis and I followed a few steps behind. She veered right and stopped in front of a dark-blue sedan. “This is it,” she said. “This is his car.”

Travis unlocked and opened the door for her. She picked her phone up off the floor then quickly headed back to the stairwell from which we’d come.

Travis and I started back up the stairs.

“I don’t want to go back there,” she said.

I nodded. “It’s OK. We don’t have to.”

“Do you want to go outside?” Travis asked.

“I need to call Holly.”

She stood at the bottom of the stairwell in the corner and dialed. Travis took a seat on the steps. I couldn’t stand still. I paced and turned in circles but out of sight of Gwen. I didn’t want her to see how anxious I was.

Gwen’s voice filled the stairwell. “Holly. I’m OK. I’m fine.” “I know. I was stupid. I just needed to get away.”

There was a long pause. I walked back to where Gwen was calling from. She sat cross-legged in the corner, her phone to her ear, listening. Occasionally she’d cut in with a “Yes” or “No” then “His sister. Oh, my.”

When she ended the call, she let her hand drop to her lap, and she rested her head back against the wall.

I took a seat beside Travis.

Nobody said anything. She surely had a lot to process. We gave her time; we gave her space.

Finally, she lifted her head off the wall and laughed lightly. “All this over a stupid misunderstanding.”

Travis took her cue and chuckled, too. “We need to do a better job communicating, don’t we?”

She chuckled again, smiled and reached out her hand. “Help me up, please.”

We walked back to Michael’s apartment.

“I don’t want to go back in there,” she said.

“Of course not,” said Travis. “You don’t have to. I’ll stay here with you.”

“I’m going inside,” I said.

I knocked, and Axel opened the door for me. “Is she OK?” he asked.

I nodded. He slipped out of the apartment to see for himself. I slipped back in.

Michael hadn’t moved from his curled up position on the floor. Taylor had a phone in his hand, and the guys were debating about what they would say to the police.

“You guys take the SUV,” he said. “Go park around the block and wait for me.”

“What?” said Nolan. “We’re not