Reid - Maddie Wade Page 0,22

“She will be. But her dog is missing. He has a chip. Is there any way you can get a lock on it?”

“What is his registered name?”

“Hang on.” He took the phone away and covered the mic. “What’s Bono registered under, sunshine?”

“Bono’s Pride.”

He smiled at that, realising the name was a homage to U2. The woman also had excellent taste in bands. Another thing to add the ever-growing list of reasons he liked her.

He conveyed the name to Will who said he’d do what he could and call them back as soon as he could.

Liam looked in the rear view mirror as they crossed the bridge towards Hammersmith Hospital. “You have a plan?”

“We need to head somewhere Callie is safe and we can regroup.”

“Got it, know just the place.”

Reid nodded trusting his friend and teammate to take them somewhere this sick prick couldn’t find her. He needed to up his game and catch this fucker but so far they’d found diddly to give them any clue who it might be.

He again looked at the quiet woman in his arms and marvelled at the way she was holding it together. He knew the stalker had been on her mind and hated that she was now looking at people with suspicion. Hated even more that he was going to have to dig more information out of her.

This simple protection and security review for a friend had ended very differently than he’d expected. It was now a full-on hunt for a killer. With that in mind he knew he needed to bring Jack up to date. Technically, they were all on Eidolon’s dime and he couldn’t expect Jack to let the others work this for free. He had no intention of going anywhere but he had to be fair.

Liam pulled onto the private drive leading to a house in the suburbs of West Ealing. It was a white, detached, period property with bay windows.

He shut off the engine and turned around to face them. “This my cousins place, he’s on his second deployment in Somalia. We can crash here until we decide how to move forward.”

“Thank you,” Callie said as she pulled out of Reid’s arms, instantly making him want to pull her back into them.

With regret Reid moved from the car and held the door for Callie. Liam ran ahead and opened the front door with his key. Shielding her body from anyone watching the house he followed her inside.

The house was pleasantly well presented and modern inside. The walls were mainly off white, with pale grey painted doors and dark wood floors. Directly off the entrance way was a living room with a large sectional couch in dark purple and a massive flat screen TV. The kitchen was further down the hallway and was done in pale cream gloss cabinets with the same dark wood flooring.

“Let me show you where you can sleep,” Liam said, pointing towards the stairs.

He and Callie followed, and she slipped her hand into his. He looked down but she was watching Liam. The gesture was unconscious, she was looking for comfort. The stairs weren’t wide enough for them to go side by side, so he moved behind her, and she still didn’t loosen her grip.

Liam showed them into a room with a double bed and a double wardrobe. The window faced over the back garden which was overgrown with weeds and needed to be mowed.

“You can sleep here.” Liam looked down at Callie with a look of concern he felt himself. She was pale and almost dead on her feet she was so tired. “Get some sleep and as soon as we know anything, we can wake you, flower.”

“Thanks, Liam,” she said offering his friend a small smile which for some odd reason made his jaw twitch. He wanted to be the one she smiled at.

Liam must have caught the tell-tale sign of his frustration and smiled. “My pleasure, gorgeous,” he said and dropped a kiss on her head, which made Reid growl in his chest.

“I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

Liam merely nodded and left, closing the door behind him.

Callie sat heavily on the bed and looked around the room. It was a quarter the size of her own bedroom and yet she looked lost.

Reid crouched down in front of her, laying his hands on either side of her knees. “How are you doing, sunshine?”

She cocked her head. “Been better, but I can hardly complain when the poor woman at my place…” She stopped her