talk about her lack of a family? Did he know all about her past?
“Also, we’ll need a cover story for the hospital,” Ben said. “Perhaps you could tell them your grandfather has had a medical emergency and you need to go on a leave of absence. You don’t know when you’ll be back.”
With several items of clothing in her hands, she turned back to face them. “You have no idea how long I’ll be gone?”
Eli was the one who met her gaze. “We’ll try and resolve this matter as soon as we can, but we can’t give you a time frame. I’m sorry.”
“Can I have a few minutes alone?”
Eli motioned Ben out of the room. “Let’s give her some space.”
“I need to make some calls,” Julia said.
Eli nodded and closed the door behind him.
Julia neared the window that looked out over her backyard. She didn’t want this to be her life—to be forced to run when she finally found some measure of peace and purpose again. But hadn’t that been what she was doing psychologically by not attempting to fill in the pieces of those missing months? This was just the physical expression of what she’d done mentally for a long time. She had struggled to let the past be the past. Now it pursued her, and she wasn’t prepared to handle what could happen. And what piece of the puzzle did Eli hold? How did he fit?
She picked up the phone. “Papa?”
“Dear Julia. It’s early for you to be calling.”
Her grandfather’s voice calmed her nerves. “Papa, I don’t want you to worry, but I won’t be able to call for a while.”
“Why? What’s happened?”
“It’s not something I can talk about right now. Please, just know I’ll be in good hands.”
“Is everything all right? I don’t like how vague you’re being. It’s not like you to hide something from me.”
The tears fell freely. How her heart ached to not be able to disclose what was happening to the one man who’d given her everything. “It’s been a rough few days.”
“How so?”
“A child I took care of died. We couldn’t save him.”
“How did he die?”
“He drowned in a hotel swimming pool.”
“If only you could have been there to pull him out. You were a great lifeguard. No one died on your watch.”
What her grandfather said was true. If only every parent knew CPR. A child in these modern times shouldn’t die of something so preventable. There was a point of no return despite all the advances of modern medicine. Julia knew—she had almost been there. “It was just too late by the time he got to us.”
“I’m sorry. I know you take it personally when a child dies. Your heart is so big, Julia, but though you feel upset by this incident, that’s not what’s really going on.”
“I promise to tell you someday soon—just not right now.”
“I’ll expect a full explanation.” Her grandfather’s law enforcement background would let him be appeased.
“Yes, sir.”
“I love you, Julia. Don’t ever forget that.”
Her chest heaved. She bit her lip, and tears rushed down her cheeks. She hadn’t realized Eli had entered her room again until he sat on the bed next to her, and the movement tilted her body into his side.
He brought his arm up around her shoulder. “I’m going to get you through this, Julia. I promise. I’ll take care of your grandfather. Nothing will happen to him.”
And somehow she felt it wasn’t the first time he said those words.
* * *
It always surprised Eli how nondescript safe houses looked. This one was a town house in a middle class neighborhood. He parked in the driveway and got out. Julia didn’t immediately follow him.
Best to give her some time to absorb her surroundings.
He went around to the trunk and removed her two suitcases. As he rounded the car to the passenger side, she ventured out, edging her car door closed. He motioned her to follow him up the porch steps. At the door was a key code lock. He punched in a few numbers and entered, holding the door open for her.
“We change the code at the beginning of every week,” he said. “We feel it’s more secure than having a key floating around.” Directly ahead was a staircase. “The only thing down here is the garage entrance and the utility closet. Everything else is upstairs.”
Eli waited for her to climb the steps. Cautiously, she stepped as deliberately as a cub exploring beyond his mother’s boundaries. At the top, he motioned to the left. She took the lead and opened the door. He scooted in behind her and rested the suitcases at the bottom of the bed.
“There are cameras in every room but the bathroom.” He pointed out the one in the corner. “We’ll generally leave you alone, monitoring you through the cameras. I’m going to give you this.” He pulled a balled chain from his pocket that held a white square with a prominent red button.
“My grandfather wears one of these.”
He held it up, and she dutifully bent her head forward as he laid the chain over the turtleneck. A soft tendril of her hair slid over his fingers, stirring a warm memory. Eli forced himself to stay on task. This woman’s safety was the only priority. “It’s essentially the same thing. I’ll let you decide if you want to wear it under your shirt or not.”
She clasped her fingers around it. “I press it and you’re here at my whim?”
Her smile was timid but unexpected heat surged through his chest. “Within minutes, someone will be here. Preferably me.”
“How does this work?”
“You’ll be monitored twenty-four-seven by a team of agents. We don’t want to be obvious to the neighbors, but their response time is a couple of minutes if they see anything concerning or you feel like something is out of place.”
“I should unpack?”
“Do what feels comfortable to you. We don’t want you to feel like a prisoner.” He handed her a sheet of paper. “This is the phone number for the agents who are monitoring you when I’m not here. This number won’t change, so I suggest you memorize it. If you want to go anywhere, they’ll take you.”
She took the slip of paper from his hand. “You’re not staying today?”
Relief swept through him. Was it possible that she saw something in him she remembered? Or was it just merely that he’d been there to save her life this morning?
“I’m going to leave you with Ben tonight as I follow up on forensic items from the hit package, and I’m going
