Seeing Love: Saints Protection & Investigations Read online

  Stepping into the kitchen, Smee made his obligatory figure-eights between her legs. “Hey sweetie,” she cooed, putting the canned food in his dish. He immediately left her legs for the food and she grinned. “I know. You only love me because I feed you,” she teased. Fixing some toast and hot tea, she sat on the sofa, turning on her laptop.

  Bills to pay, emails to check, and some online Christmas shopping to do. What to do first? Swallowing her last bite of toast, she paid her few bills first, determined to get that chore out of the way. Checking her bank statement, she winced. She would never take money from Ivan for helping, but she sighed deeply when seeing her balance. I hate to wish for crime, but I need the police department to ask me to do some witness drawings!

  As she thought of Christmas, she grimaced at both the thought that she had little money for Christmas presents and the realization that she had almost no one to buy for. There were only two teachers at school that she had become friends with and the dispatcher at the police station. Her mind rolled to Bart and she wondered if they were friends enough to exchange Christmas presents. God, girl. Get over yourself! All he’d want for Christmas he can find in any bar on any night. Sighing heavily, she checked her emails, deleting most of them.

  Standing, she washed her few dishes and glanced down at the mail on her kitchen counter. Spending the last few days with Bart running around the state and then one day at school, she had not taken the time to go through her mail, all gathered in a pile. Credit card offers, newspapers, sales advertisements, general solicitations…all went into the trash.

  A plain piece of paper fell off the stack and floated to the floor. Bending, she scooped it up and unfolded the missive.

  Stop what you are doing.

  What is this? Confused, she flipped the message over to the back, but it was blank. Her name was nowhere on the note, so she wondered if it had been meant for her. She heard a commotion outside in the alley behind her building. Walking over to the window, she saw two of her elderly neighbors yelling at each other. Cracking the window slightly, she could hear one accusing the other of putting their garbage in his can. The two men fussed and cussed for several minutes before moving back inside.

  Grinning at their antics, she tossed the note onto the kitchen counter. I guess this got mixed up in my newspapers by mistake. Seems like Mr. Carlotti is pissed once more at Mr. Gevani and his note came to me by accident. Downing the last of her tea, she headed to her room to get dressed. Wanting to hit the grocery store before the Saturday crowds set in was next on her list.

  *

  The Saints were piled up in Jack’s living room, filling up the comfortable sofas and chairs around the fireplace. Bethany, Miriam, and Sabrina were getting ready to dish out the dessert. The men had ordered pizzas and the group had devoured several boxes. Each man, still frustrated by the lack of progress in Erik’s case, had left their morning meeting, grimly accepting that there was little else they could do with the FBI in charge. Monty gave an update from Mitch, and all Bart’s interview tapes had been forwarded so there was nothing left for the Saints to do. Jack had distributed new assignments for everyone and the group dismissed to move upstairs to share lunch.

  Luke stretched his long legs toward the fire, mulling over the facts. His methodical mind constantly worked on the puzzle of the case. Closing his tired eyes, he let the fire’s warmth ease his mind, as his caffeine buzz slowly abated. Blaise came in from the deck, his dog bounding into the room ahead of him. Tired from his run, the dog flopped down in front of the fire, his owner not far behind.

  Chad pulled out his phone and texted madly for a few minutes then slipped the phone into his back pocket before grabbing his dessert dish. Marc stared out of the window, the Blue Ridge Mountains in the vista. He had a new assignment and was going to be flying his plane the next day for a security escort. So far, the weather had been mild and he hoped it continued that way. He loved the idea of being up in the air again looking down on the mountains.

  Bethany moved to sit in the chair with Jack as Miriam snuggled up to Cam. Bart’s cousin, Sabrina, sat on a cushion on the floor between Jude’s knees as his hand rested on her shoulder. The conversation rolled back to the kidnapping, and Bethany shook her head sadly. “I can’t imagine how that mother must feel. To have your child snatched away from you and to not know anything.” Jack pulled her in tightly, kissing the top of her head as it rested on his chest.

  Bart glanced over at the three couples among the Saints. He had been glad for Jack when he found Bethany, seeing it bring warmth to Jack’s life that had been all business. Sliding his gaze to his best friend, Cam, and Miriam, he was happy for them also. Both from large, in-your-business families, they thrived on their new relationship and wedding planning. Sabrina was also planning her wedding to the newest Saint, Jude.

  He thought of Faith, honestly admitting to himself that she was never far from his thoughts. She sees me…the real me. She doesn’t take any shit and lays the truth out. He thought about the way they parted last night. He wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her again. The idea of the simple feel of her lips on his invaded his every thought. Why didn’t I? She had seemed to hesitate before walking into her apartment and he let her. Was I crazy? I’ve never let a woman get away. He knew she was attracted to him, but their last conversation stayed with him. What does she really think of me? He acknowledged that, for the first time, he actually cared what a woman thought of him. And the realization that he came up lacking bothered him.

  *

  Coming back in from the store, Faith balanced her grocery sacks on her arm while fishing for the keys from her purse. Tipping one of the bags slightly, an orange rolled out of the top and landed on her welcome mat. Damn it! Finally setting the bags down, she managed to open her door and set the bags on the kitchen counter. Walking back to the door, she bent to pick up the errant orange when she saw the corner of a white piece of paper sticking out from under the mat. Pulling it out, she noted that it was folded in half, like the note from this morning.

  Seer, stop meddling. You are not the only one who can see. You are being watched.

  This time, she stood with shaking hands still holding the note. Oh, my God, it was meant for me! Her gaze jerked back and forth outside her apartment, but she saw no one. Backing into her apartment, she slammed the door shut and quickly bolted the locks. Heart pounding, she pushed her hair back from her face as her eyes darted around as though the person threatening her would suddenly appear. Sucking in a deep breath, she knew she needed to let someone know. FBI? Mitch? Or Bart? Without hesitation, she ran to her purse on the kitchen counter and dumped its contents trying to locate her phone.

  Searching her contacts, she pressed the number.

  Bart answered, his greeting warm, but she did not give him a chance to say anything else. “Someone’s sent me a threat!” she blurted.

  “Where are you?” he instantly demanded.

  She was vaguely aware of hearing people’s voices in the background as she told him she was at home.

  “Stay there, stay locked in, do not go to the door for any reason unless you know it’s me,” he ordered.

  “Okay,” she breathed, heart still pounding. Moving away from the door, she walked over to her old sofa and perched on the edge. Her eyes darted to the side where her window blinds were always raised to let in as much natural light as possible. She jumped up, rushing over to pull the cord, lowering the blinds. The idea that perhaps someone was in the building across from her slid a shiver down her spine.

  Time crawled until she finally heard the pounding of heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. She stood, but did not go near the door until loud knocking was followed by Bart’s voice calling her name. Running over, she threw back the deadbolt and barely stepped out of the way before he came slamming through.

  Putting his hands on her shoulders, he leaned down to peer into her eyes. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, but had no time to answer before he pulled her into his
broad chest, cradling her body against his. She was vaguely aware of someone else in her apartment and pushed her way back so that she could see.

  Three other large men invaded her small space and she jerked her gaze back to Bart for an explanation.

  He looked down and saw her confusion. “Faith, these are my friends and fellow Saints. This is Monty, Chad, and Marc.”

  The three men smiled at her before quickly dispersing throughout her apartment. As small as it was, it did not take them long to check the area.

  Leaning back so that she could look up at Bart, she asked, “What are they looking for?”

  “They each have various expert training and want to do a quick preliminary. Monty will take a look at the threats and call Mitch. Chad has explosive training—”

  “Explosives?” she yelped.

  Pulling her in once more, he said, “Babe, let me explain how this is going to work. I want to secure your safety and the only way I can do that is to have you with me. My friends are going to check out your place, contact the FBI, and then we’ll plan what we need to do.”

  Monty saw the notes on the kitchen counter and, with gloved hands, bagged them to give to Mitch. Chad came back and said, “Preliminary sweep is negative.” Marc swept for bugs, but also found none. The four men made eye contact, nodded, and then Bart turned his attention back to Faith.

  “Faith, I need you to pack a bag so that we can get out of here. This place isn’t secure and I’ll take you somewhere that is.”

  “I can’t leave Smee!” she exclaimed, looking up, her dark eyes wide.

  “Gather his stuff, too,” Bart easily agreed.

  Faith seemed stuck, so with his large hands on her shoulders, he turned her before giving her a gentle push toward her minuscule bedroom. Jolted out of her stupor, she grabbed her suitcase from under the bed and quickly began shoving in clothes before running to the bathroom to grab her toiletries.

  Keeping their voices low, the four men conferred as they looked at the two printed threats. “Any ideas?” Bart bit out.

  “If someone’s watching her, there are no bugs inside this place,” Marc said. He glanced toward the window, seeing the blinds slightly askew. Walking over to them, he saw the brick building right across the alley and shook his head at her crappy view. “If she kept her blinds open, it wouldn’t be difficult for someone across the way to monitor her.”

  Monty’s eyes were on the two notes, now securely in plastic evidence bags. “This isn’t a very sophisticated method of threat, but very effective. FBI will try to pull prints, but chances are there won’t be any except Faith’s.”

  Chad looked at the group before settling his gaze on Bart. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

  The others looked at him as he answered his own question. “It means Ivan may have been on the right trail and it’s made someone nervous. Someone who’s been around Faith.”

  A small gasp came from the door of the bedroom and the men turned in unison, seeing the terrified expression on her face. Bart stalked over, his large body vibrating with anger. “Babe, we got this. You’re coming with me right now. They’re gonna secure your place and install monitoring equipment in case someone comes here.”

  He peered at her face, seeing shock. Pulling her into his body for a moment, he willed his heat to seep into her. Stroking her back, attempting to massage her stiffness, he murmured soft sounds into her hair. As her shaking subsided he leaned back. “Better?”

  She nodded and left his embrace. Anger was beginning to replace shock. “I’m so pissed that someone would do this to me. I’m nobody!” Bending down, she scooped Smee into his carrier and moved to the closet to get out a large tote bag. She stuffed the litter box and some extra litter and cat food in the tote before turning back around, hesitating.

  “What is it?” Bart asked.

  “I hate leaving my tree.” She looked at the caring faces staring back. “I know it doesn’t look like much, but those are my grandmother’s antique Christmas ornaments.”

  Bart nodded to Monty before saying, “It’ll be safe here, Faith. I can return to pack them up, if necessary.”

  “Okay,” she said, resignation filling her voice.

  Chad grabbed the tote and the suitcase, while Marc picked up her art portfolio that contained her pads and charcoals, and headed out of the door. Monty stayed inside as Bart took the cat carrier from Faith’s hand and led her down to his truck. Once she was buckled in safely, he turned to the others.

  “Thanks, guys.”

  “No problem,” Chad assured.

  “Take her stuff to your place and then bring her directly to Jack’s. He’s still got everyone there and we’ll meet as soon as you arrive,” Marc reported. “We’ll finish here and then head over.”

  “Will do,” Bart agreed, wanting to get her to safety as soon as possible. Hopping into the driver’s seat, the truck fired to life. Glancing to the side, he tried to joke, “We need to stop meeting like this. I’m beginning to think that something’s wrong if you’re not in the passenger side of my truck.”

  She gave a wan smile, her fingers still clutching Smee’s carrier. He let out a long meow, and she tapped the side to distract him.

  Bart wanted to ask about the notes, but hated for her to have to repeat the story too many times. It can wait until we get to Jack’s.

  She stared out of the window, reality slowly sinking in as the miles rolled by. They turned into an older neighborhood on the outskirts of Charlestown. Mature trees dotted the large lawns, and she noticed that each house was different. So unlike the modern neighborhoods where all the houses look like box images of each other. When he finally pulled into a driveway at the end of a cul-de-sac, she was stunned at the home coming into view.

  An old, large, two-story home, with the full front porch complete with columns, stood in front of her. The white porch, door, and shutters were in sharp contrast to the blue siding.

  “This is…um…wow,” she said, leaning down to look at it all.

  “It’s home,” he shrugged, wondering what she thought of it.

  “It’s not what I expected you to have,” she confessed. “I thought you’d be in one of those more modern apartment buildings, complete with a gym and a coffee shop.”

  Chuckling, he looked over at her face, eyes with dark circles underneath but shining nonetheless. “I lived in one for about six months when I first came into town, but found that I kinda like my privacy. So I bought a house that needed just a little TLC in an established neighborhood and have spent some time doing the small fix-it jobs that needed to be done.”

  Hopping out of the truck, he rounded the hood and opened her door. Taking the tote and suitcase from the back, he escorted her to the front. Once inside, he set her things down and said, “Let’s get Smee settled.”

  She started to set the carrier down on the floor when a noise from the hall startled her. A large dog bounded toward them, tail wagging and tongue lolling. She stifled a scream as the huge animal jumped up as Bart knelt, rubbing its head.

  “What’s that?” she squeaked.

  “Faith, meet Apollo,” Bart introduced.

  “Bart,” she protested. “I can’t leave Smee here with that…that…”

  “Apollo is all heart, I assure you. He’s completely harmless.” He ruffled the dog’s fur again, saying affectionately, “Aren’t you, boy?” Looking at Faith, seeing her dubious expression, he said gently, “Come on, pet him.”

  She gingerly held out her hand allowing the dog to sniff her fingers before licking them. She smiled up at Bart. “He’s a sweetheart, but there’s no way Smee is going to get along with him.”

  He thought for a second, then said, “Let me crate Apollo until we come back from Jack’s place.”

  The reminder of what she faced hit her and she grimaced as she thought of the poor dog locked up for hours. “No, let’s not do that.” Seeing Bart about to protest, she added, “Honestly, Smee is going to be freaked being in a new area. If you ha
ve a small room, I can get his litter box set up and he can easily be confined for a little while and will be perfectly happy.”

  He thought for a second and said, “Let’s use the laundry room.” Showing her the way, they placed the litter box, food, and water in there before she opened the carrier after Bart had left the room and closed the door. Petting Smee, she assured him she would return, before slipping out of the room.

  Bart was standing at the kitchen bar when she came out. She glanced around in curiosity at the large, comfortable rooms. The living room, dining room, and kitchen appeared to have an old quality to them and yet were furnished beautifully. Definitely masculine, beautiful, but…empty.

  “Something wrong?” he asked, watching the myriad of expressions cross her face.

  “No…uh, well…you don’t have a Christmas tree?” she asked in curiosity.

  “It didn’t seem to make any sense to decorate a house that just has me in it,” he confessed.

  He watched her gaze move around the rooms, and explained, “My cousin Sabrina helped me furnish the place. She’s an interior designer.”

  “It’s lovely, Bart. I admit that I never pictured you in a place like this.”

  “So…” he smirked, “you have been thinking about me?”

  Swatting his hard arm, she shook her head. “Yep, just as cocky as always.”

  He inwardly groaned, If only she knew what my cock thought about her being in my house! As soon as he had that thought, it brought back to mind why they were there and he became all business once more. “We’ll get you settled in later but, for now, we need to head to Jack’s.”

  “Maybe by the time we finish I’ll be able to go back home tonight.”

  “We’ll see,” he said noncommittally, knowing there was no way he was letting her go back unprotected tonight. The idea of her staying at his house had him thinking, And I’ll work to make sure my house is where you want to be!