Wrapped around her slender wrist, Lena’s watch caught my attention. Slowing the Range Rover, I pulled to the side of the road, the gravel crunching under the weight of the tires.
“What?” she asked, her eyes wide. “Why did you stop?”
“Your watch.” I lifted my left arm. “If it’s the same as mine, you can be tracked.”
“Yes, but only by my security.”
“Lena, if you truly want to hide, we can’t be wearing these watches. We can turn off the tracking on our phones, but the watches are a completely different animal, even with the factory-installed Find Me feature turned off, with the right knowledge you can still be tracked.”
Indecision showed in her beautiful features, the worry lines near her eyes and the way her lips were pressed together.
I lifted Lena’s chin, bringing her gaze to mine. The chocolate orbs swirled with emotions. I’d told her earlier that she’d been afraid to have my number. That wasn’t true fear; it was her way of shielding herself. What churned before me was visible dread, a chilled-to-the-bone terror. “You reached out to me. You wouldn’t have done that if you didn’t trust me.”
“I trust you. I trust my security.”
“Who has access to that watch?”
“The entire team.”
“Adam and Kelsey?”
She shook her head. “No, many more. Adam and Kelsey travel with me the most, but there’s a team.”
“Who knew you were coming to Austin? Colton and I didn’t hear that Jeremy wasn’t alone until your plane landed.”
“Jeremy. I told him yesterday that I wanted to come. Adam was with me at the time. He knew. Jeremy said he’d call Kelsey. By the time we took off this morning, everyone on the team…” Her words faded as she fumbled with the band with shaking fingers.
“Let me,” I said, placing her wrist on my knee and unfastening the clasp. Once it was off, I did the same with mine, taking it off. “Where is your phone?”
Lena reached for her purse and opened a flap, revealing her phone.
“Turn off the tracking.”
She punched a four-digit code into her phone and went to settings. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I checked the tracking capability. It was off, the way I have always kept it.
“Done,” she said.
“May I see?”
“I know how to work my phone.”
“I’m sure you do. Are you confident someone hasn’t added another tracking app?”
Lena sighed and handed me her phone.
Swiping the screen, I entered her four-digit code.
“How do you know that?”
“You just did it.”
“And you remember?” she asked.
“I’m kind of weird about numbers.” I smiled. “Yes, I remembered.”
It took a minute to scan all her apps, but in the end, I found two additional programs that could pinpoint her phone’s location with significant accuracy. “Two was smart,” I said, giving her back her phone. “Most people would quit after finding one.”
“I’m sure it’s extra precaution.”
“Turning off the apps is our extra precaution.”
Looking around, I realized we were closer to Colton’s new home than I wanted anyone to know. The thing about Lake Travis was that it was a reservoir for the Colorado River with over two hundred and fifty miles of shoreline.
“We’re going to go on a bit of a wild goose chase, or maybe we’re the geese.”
“CJ, I want to trust my team.”
“This isn’t saying they’re not trustworthy. It’s to protect you.”
Lena nodded.
By the time we were miles beyond Colton’s home, I drove into Dink Pearson Park, parking along the well-packed dirt road. “Come with me?” I said, looking over at Lena.
She was stepping down from the Range Rover, her shapely legs visible below her skirt as I came around the vehicle. Without assistance, she landed her high heels on the dirt. Taking off her blazer, she tossed it back in the vehicle and stood in her skirt and white blouse.
Offering her my hand, Lena took it as we walked toward the shoreline of a small inlet.
Lena lifted her face to the summer evening breeze as she looked around. “It’s hot and flat.”
“You’re very observant.”
“No, I’m tired,” she said with a chuckle. “Missoula has mountains, snowcapped even in the summer. This heat is stifling, almost worse than Chicago.”
“Missoula is sounding more and more appealing.”
“We might be moving Architech there.”
Reaching into my shirt pocket, I handed Lena her watch. “I hope you’re not attached.”
“To a watch.” She shook her head.
As I unclasped my own watchband, I started to toss it into the water and stopped. “Damn thing is waterproof.”
“Mine too.”
Dropping mine to the ground, I used the heel of my shoe and smashed the face before picking it up and tossing it in the water. When I looked over, Lena handed me hers.
“You’re better at the smashing thing.”
“Are you one hundred percent certain you’re okay with me doing this?”
“Yes.”
The face cracked and went black before I handed it back. With one look my direction, she reeled back her arm and threw it into the water. As her watch sank below the surface, small ripples blended into the water’s texture.
Lena exhaled. “It’s freeing.”
Wrapping my arm around her, I pulled Lena to me until she lifted her chin. “You’ll be free, free of this lunatic, free of being watched.”
“No. It’s my life.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
She lowered her forehead to my chest and surrounded my torso with her arms. Just the two of us in Dink Pearson Park, Lena Montgomery’s persona faded, and the woman inside took the first step of freedom. When she looked up, her brown gaze glistened with moisture. “Thank you.”
“Thank you for trusting me.”
“It’s crazy, I know. We don’t really know one another.”
My grin grew. “We don’t, but I know I want to learn more, all the magical sides of Lena Montgomery.”
She lowered her forehead to my chest. Her words came out muffled. “I don’t know who to trust anymore.”
“Come on,” I said, keeping my arm around her and leading her to my vehicle.
Taking both paved and dirt roads, I drove in circles, in the hope that we weren’t being followed. As the sky darkened, I pulled into a small store, told Lena to wait, and went inside. When I returned, I had four bags of groceries and a twelve-pack of water.
When her gaze met mine, I grinned. “This is my first hideout, but I don’t think letting you starve would be a good start.”
Her smile faded as she lifted her phone screen my direction. “It’s blowing up with calls and texts from Adam, Kelsey, Jeremy, and now others on the security team.”
“Have you responded?”
She shook her head.
“Respond. Tell them you’re safe. If you don’t, Adam will have me on the top-ten wanted list before we get a chance to eat the packaged deli meat.”
As I started the car, Lena hit a number on her screen. After a moment, she spoke, “I’m safe, Jeremy.”
Interesting that she’d call him before Adam or Kelsey.
Her gaze came my way. “I do. I really do. Trust me on this.” There were pauses as Jeremy spoke. When Lena disconnected the call, she lowered the phone to her lap and sighed.
“I’m curious,” I said. “Why you called him and not Kelsey or Adam?”
“Jeremy started out working for me, years and years ago, before either Adam or Kelsey. Our relationship has changed, morphed into something beyond work.”
“Lovers?” I asked, unsure that it was any of my business but unable to stop the question.
Lena shrugged. “Nothing serious. We are better as cohorts.”
“He called you his boss at Architech today.”
“I’d say that Jeremy Wilde is more of an independent contractor. He gets me.”
The sky beyond the windshield had begun to darken. “I think I get you.”
Lena reached over and placed her hand on my thigh. “I think you do too.”
Fuck.
Seeing her slender fingers outstretched over my pant leg and feeling her touch, I was more determined than ever that Lena Montgomery would stay safe under my watch. I also had hope that she’d just given me the answer to her hard line.
Pulling up to a large gate with stone pillars on each side, I entered a code. The gate before us began to move.
“How?” she asked.
“Colton brought me here to show me the house a few weeks ago.”
Lena’s lips curled upward. “And you remember the code.”
I nodded. “Numbers, remember.”
“How are we getting in the house?”
“The realtor lockbox also works with a code.”
“I’m glad you’re good with numbers. I meant what I said earlier, CJ, your technology—what you and Colton created— is a world changer.”
Colton’s new home sat on over six acres of property, tucked high above the water’s edge. The five-bedroom home was mostly windows. As we approached, the security lights illuminated the grounds while the inside remained dark.
As I pulled onto the concrete and stone driveway separating the house and the garages, Lena gripped my forearm. “Are you sure it’s safe?”
I wanted to be certain.
“Yes, but I’d rather be absolutely sure.” Leaning over, I hit the button on my glove compartment. The small door opened, revealing a Glock 19 pistol.
“You have a gun?” she asked.
“It’s registered and yes.” I’d never shot more than targets, but I was more than competent at the shooting range.
Lena’s gaze met mine. “I’m glad.”
“Stay behind me.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Give me the reins, Lena. I promise I’ll give them back.”
The fear in her expression eased as she nodded.