Mitch, who already had her keys, opened the door. As she went to follow him inside, Reid held her back. “Let him check it out.”
She sighed, feeling suddenly irritable with everything.
“Reid, get her out of here,” Mitch called.
The warning and cadence had the hair on her neck standing on end. She didn’t have time to process it though because before she knew what was happening, she was being ushered down the hall between Liam and Reid, their big bodies hiding her from anyone watching.
In seconds they were in the car with Reid pushing her head down onto the back seat as Liam drove like a bat out of hell away from her home.
Chapter Seven
“Talk to me, Mitch,” Reid demanded as Liam drove them out of Kensington and north towards Shepherd’s Bush.
“We have a single white female dead on Callie’s bed. Looks like her throat has been slit. I’ve called it in and will wait for the police.”
Reid felt his blood run cold. “Do we have an ID?”
“Possibly the housekeeper but the scene is pretty gruesome so I can’t be sure. My guess is we missed this guy by minutes because the body is warm.”
Reid looked down at Callie who was tucked under his arm now they were safe, her eyes looking worried and unsure. “Copy that. Call me as soon as you know more.”
“Will do.”
“Oh, Mitch, what about Bono?” He kept his eyes on Callie as he spoke.
“No sign of him but no sign he’s dead either. As soon as I can, I’ll have a look around.”
“Thanks.”
Reid hung up and Liam caught his eye in the mirror, having picked up on a lot of what wasn’t said.
“Reid.”
He glanced at the pale and scared woman and wanted nothing more than to tear apart the fucker that was terrorising her. Having spent the last two weeks protecting her and getting to know her, he was finding it increasingly difficult to hold back the feelings she evoked in him.
She was sweet and kind and looked out for the younger models on the circuit. She worked fucking harder than most people he knew and never complained about it, the long hours, or the restrictions on her life, and always made time to thank the hair, make-up, and catering crews.
Everyone loved her and he could see why. She was one of a kind and everything in him told him to stay away and yet he’d been about to kiss her when Liam interrupted earlier. Nothing had seemed to matter except the feel of her soft lips on his, her warm body against his. The way her hair felt when it tickled his cheek, not even his oldest friendship with Clay had mattered in that moment.
He had wanted to kill Liam but half of him had been glad of the interrupted kiss. It would end badly, probably with her hurt and his friendship in tatters. Reid couldn’t give her what she needed. He would never promise her the world when he didn’t know if he had it in him to give it.
Deep down he’d always wondered if he was more like his father than he wanted to be. He had left his mom and sisters just as his father had, chasing his own dreams and happiness before putting them first. Reid was selfish, but he respected and liked Callie far too much to offer her the world and she deserved nothing less.
“Reid?”
He shook his head and looked at her as she touched his chest, holding on to his shirt in her hands as if it were a lifeline. He had no clue how to explain what had happened when he didn’t know the full story but as she looked at him with an open expression of complete trust, he knew he couldn’t lie either.
He took her face in his one hand and kept the other arm anchored around her shoulders so she wouldn’t freak out. “Someone has been in your apartment and a woman was found dead on your bed.” He watched the blood drain from her face, but she kept her composure.
“Who?”
“Mitch couldn’t tell. He’s called the police and is waiting for them at the scene. As soon as he knows anything, he’ll call us.”
“Bono?”
“No sign of him.” He wasn’t about to lie and give her false hope.
He watched her swallow and blink back the tears in her eyes and wanted to kiss every single one of them away.
“Does he have a chip, sunshine?”
Her eyes moved back to his face and he didn’t like the pallor of her skin one bit. He tightened his hold and she leaned against him, allowing him to give her comfort, just not the kind he wanted to give her.
“Yes, he does.”
Reid took out his phone and dialled. “Will, yeah I need a favour.”
“Sure, what is it?” his friend and in some ways boss asked.
Will was the co-owner of Eidolon but was just the money side of things. Operationally it was all Jack. The brothers stayed out of each other’s way. Their relationship had been strained at best for years, but it was now working out with the help of Will’s woman, Aubrey.
“We just got back from Europe and found a dead body in Callie’s apartment.”
“Fuck, is Callie okay?”
Reid looked down at her as she worried her hands in her lap. “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.