Hunting Lila (12 page)

And everything suddenly became clear. The men in the black cars weren’t guarding the house, they were guarding me. Otherwise why would they be here at Alex’s place too? Everything fell into place and I laughed under my breath. Alex wasn’t babysitting me. He was protecting me.

I thought about it some more: Jack wanting to pack me off home as soon as possible; Alex suggesting I run at the base; the two of them obsessing over alarms and security; Alex’s secret service style take on babysitting. I felt such huge relief that it wasn’t me, after all – that it wasn’t because he saw me as a child.

Then I realised, with a bone-numbing sense of disquiet, that if they were protecting me, it had to be from something. Something so bad I required round-the-clock security from a team of highly trained men.

Suki? I laughed again and shook my head. Why would a team of men be needed to keep Suki away? Even I could probably manage to protect myself from her. It wasn’t as if she could run very fast in those platform heels. I wouldn’t even need to use my ability.

The shower turned off as I sat there reaching back over the last day or so and trying to remember any other suspicious moments.

A few minutes later, Alex wandered through in a clean pair of shorts and bare feet, water still trickling down his neck from his bristling hair. My stomach did a one-eighty flip as I caught sight of the ridges of muscle running down his torso. Then he pulled on a T-shirt and I sighed audibly.

‘Give me your hands,’ Alex said, sitting down next to me.

‘What?’

‘Give me your hands,’ he said again.

I offered them to him tentatively, my palms facing down, and he took them in one of his. My heart started galloping at his touch. He flipped my hands over and started to dab some antiseptic cream onto the scrapes I’d forgotten all about. I flinched at the sting.

‘So, are you going to tell me why you ran off like that?’ he said.

I stared at my palms and his fingers rubbing in the cream and, after about ten seconds of trying to get my thoughts in order, I lifted my face to meet his eyes.

‘Are you going to tell me why you followed me?’

‘Because I was worried about you.’ He frowned ever so slightly, as though that should have been obvious. He let go of my hands and they fell into my lap.

‘What did Rachel mean when she said “enjoy your babysitting”?’ I asked coolly, observing his reaction.

‘What do you think she meant?’ he asked. He looked like he was laughing at me and his tone suggested that I was being deliberately obtuse.

‘Listen, Lila, I’m not babysitting you. For one, you don’t need a babysitter, and two, I actually like spending time with you and Jack’s not paying me, so it doesn’t qualify.’

I punched him lightly on the arm and he deflected it with a laugh.

‘I believe you,’ I said. ‘I don’t think you’re babysitting me.’

Alex gave me a relieved smile, his defences relaxing.

‘I think you’re guarding me.’

‘What?’ he said, the smile vanishing, but then he threw back his head and laughed.

I had seen the change in his eyes, though – the way they had frozen and a shield had come down.

I persevered. ‘You’re not a babysitter, you’re a bodyguard.’

He stopped laughing. ‘You’re right.’

Now it was my turn to be surprised. He’d caved in so easily.

‘Of course we’re guarding you. The guys in the Unit would be all over you like lice if we gave them half a chance. Jack would kill them if he knew the way half of them were looking at you this afternoon.’

I’d been right after all. He was trying to cover it up. I didn’t feel happy to be right though. Instead, I felt a slow, creeping fear. ‘No, that’s not what I meant.’ I said, trying to stay cool. ‘You’re protecting me from something.’

‘Like I said, the only thing we’re protecting you from is the less than noble intentions of a whole lot of testosterone-charged men.’

I shook my head at him, frustrated. ‘No. I’m not blind, Alex, I can figure things out. The car isn’t guarding the house, it’s guarding me. That’s why it’s outside right now.’ I saw surprise flare in his eyes then disappear. ‘You didn’t want me to go for a run on the street, you insisted I come to the base. Neither of you will leave me alone for a minute. Jack’s acting weird about me staying and you’re sticking to me like glue.’

As I said this, I wished the reality was quite as literal as that. But Alex was shaking his head at me, so I continued. ‘I will find out, Alex. Even if it means sneaking off on my own again.’

This last bit was a bluff. There was no way I was letting him or Jack out of my sight again until whatever was going on was not going on anymore. But it got the reaction I was hoping for. His face darkened and his eyes, vivid ice blue now, cut into me. He leaned forward across the sofa and took hold of my wrist, holding it tight, his thumbs pressing into my pulse points.

‘You cannot sneak off. You can’t leave my sight.’

This was good. Great, in fact. I had been right. I wasn’t sure about what exactly, though it clearly involved something quite dangerous, with me as the possible target. But there was no panic at the news, only a surge of excitement at the thought of not leaving Alex’s side and relief that he wasn’t thinking of it as babysitting – not exactly.

‘Lila. Do you hear me?’ He was shaking me now and I focused back on him. His face was torn, the familiar frown line back in place. I wanted to reach out and smudge it away with my index finger.

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Yes, I hear you.’ The seriousness in his voice pierced my buzz. Clearly some part of my brain that wasn’t overtaken by Alex’s presence was trying to have its say; maybe it was the survival part.

Alex let go of me then and stood up. ‘Look I need to call Jack and tell him where we are and’ – he looked irritated – ‘I need to tell him what I’m about to do.’ When he walked out into the hallway, I felt something pulling inside my chest, like a stretching elastic band.

About five minutes later, he came back into the living room. His expression was so serious, I flinched slightly at what might be coming. He crossed to the sofa and sat down on the edge, leaning forward and staring out of the window. He put his phone down on the table and then turned to face me.

‘OK,’ he said. ‘I’ve told Jack what I’m about to tell you.’ He paused as though replaying the conversation in his head. A little frown rippled over his forehead then disappeared.

I was still hugging my knees. The pain in my chest had eased from the minute Alex sat back down near to me, but I was still rigid with tension.

‘He wasn’t too happy but I convinced him it was our only option if we wanted to keep you . . .’

I thought he was going to say ‘safe’, but he said, ‘out of trouble’, and he looked up at me through his lashes. He wasn’t going to let me forget about running out on him.

I remained still, my eyes locked onto his.

‘You know we caught someone the other day? That first night you were here? Well, Jack’s team did.’

I nodded.

‘So it seems we’ve stirred up a hornets’ nest. We hadn’t thought anything of it until you told us about Suki sniffing around the house. Then we wondered what they were up to, whether they might be looking to retaliate.’

Retaliate. I let that sink in but it still didn’t make much sense to me.

‘But who? Who did you catch? Who are they? And what’s it got to do with me?’

‘It didn’t have anything to do with you at all,’ Alex said, shifting slightly, ‘until you told Suki that you were Jack’s sister.’

‘But why does that matter?’

‘Tit for tat. It’s a possibility. We took one of theirs, they might be looking for a way to get back at us. In which case you could be – well – an option.’

‘An option? What, there’s a menu?’ My voice was rising. ‘Why me? Why not someone else – someone in the Unit or, I don’t know, surely there’re other people?

You can’t be keeping tabs on every family member of every person in the Unit!’

‘They won’t take any of the men from the Unit, it’s too risky for them and, more importantly, it wouldn’t be worth their while.’

‘Why?’

‘They know we wouldn’t negotiate if one of us was taken hostage.’

‘What? They wouldn’t negotiate if you or Jack got caught?’

‘No.’ He shook his head at me. I was stunned.

‘But why me?’ I whispered. ‘What about the others and their families?’

‘Lila, remember what I told you about us not being allowed girlfriends?’

I nodded my head again.

‘This is why. It’s always a possibility that they find a way to get to us. It’s safer if none of us have family living nearby. No one is married or has children.’

I stared at him dumbfounded. Then I remembered something. ‘Sara – is she safe?’

‘She’s safe on the base. Jack’s staying with her now, though, until they find out what triggered the alarm.’

Another piece of the puzzle fell into place. ‘Is that why Jack doesn’t seem to want me here, either now, or when I talk about coming back for college?’

‘Yes.’

Despite what Alex was telling me about me being a possible option on the hostage menu, his confirmation of my suspicions made me feel deliriously happy. It wasn’t anything personal, they still liked me. Then I remembered that my whole approach to convincing Jack about coming back for college rested on my proving to him I didn’t need protecting. That was going to be a little bit tricky now. Hope was dying in me today on so many levels.

I looked back at Alex. ‘You still haven’t told me who these people are.’

Alex didn’t say anything, he was staring out the window frowning again. The possibilities were stacking up and I flicked through them in my head. I’d ruled out the drugs connection earlier, which left vice or the mafia or – I had run out of ideas. Then a sudden thought blindsided me – maybe they were my mother’s killers. I dropped my head onto my knees.

‘The people who killed my mother. Is it them? Are they the ones who are looking for me?’

‘No,’ he said.

I scanned his face for any trace of a lie. Alex held my gaze, his eyes blazing blue.

‘And Lila,’ he said, squeezing my collarbone, ‘we honestly don’t know if they are looking for you. It’s pure conjecture on our part. For all we know, they’ve given up and are halfway to Alaska by now. If I were them, I would be.’

I considered this for a moment.

‘You won’t ever tell me anything about these people, or Suki, or about my mother’s murderers, will you?’

Alex took another deep breath and looked at me, his expression torn. ‘I can’t, Lila. But I’ll tell you when we find them and it’s over. I’m so sorry that you’re in the middle of all this.’

My face must have been registering the terror I was now feeling – and the irony. I had wanted so much to be in the middle again. Because he shifted towards me and put his arm around my shoulders.

‘Hey,’ he said. ‘It’s going to be fine.’

I let my head rest against him, feeling the calm descend.

‘You’re with me,’ he murmured, ‘and I won’t let anything happen to you, ever.’

A loud buzzing noise shocked me awake, sending vibrations through my body. I felt a hand lift off my back and Alex move off the sofa where he’d been sitting next to me.

As he got up to answer the door, he looked back and said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s just Jack and Sara.’

I uncurled my aching body, kicking the blanket off me and pushing my hair out of my face. The dying sunset threw a few last notes of colour into the room. I wondered what the time was and how long I’d been asleep.

I got up, my heart leaping as I heard Jack’s voice in the corridor.

He came through into the living room, Alex and Sara following. Jack came right over to me and held me tight for a minute or two.

‘You OK?’ he whispered into my hair.

I just nodded my head against his shoulder.

‘So, what did you find out?’ Alex had crossed to the windows and pulled down the blinds. He flicked a switch and a sidelight came on, casting a warm orange glow around the room. Sara sat down next to me on the sofa, Jack perched on the arm.

‘It’s all good. It was a false alarm,’ he said. ‘We’re still not sure what triggered it, but it must have been an electrical fault because there was no security breach. We checked all the surveillance films and there was no sign of anything out of the ordinary.’

‘Least we know it works,’ Alex said with a little shrug.

‘Yeah, I guess so,’ Jack said. He looked at me now. ‘And you don’t need to worry about anything, Lila, you’re not in any danger. We’ve managed to pick up their trail. They’ve crossed the border into Mexico.’

I glanced at Alex. Did that mean he was free to let me out of his sight again?

‘If you know where they are, why don’t you arrest them?’ I asked.

‘It isn’t as easy as that,’ Alex said.

Man, how hard could it be? A whole unit of trained Marines hadn’t been able to catch my mum’s killers, and now they were telling me they couldn’t stop these guys, either. I was starting to wonder how good Marine training actually was.

‘Listen, can Lila stay here tonight?’ Jack said, diverting the conversation. ‘I have to get the window fixed in her room.’

I glanced sheepishly at Jack. He was giving me a look.

‘How did you manage that one?’

‘Um, well, I . . .’

‘It’s cool,’ Alex cut in, saving me. ‘Of course Lila can stay. I’ll drop her back tomorrow morning.’

I peeked at him through my lashes, grateful for the save. Maybe he realised I didn’t want to explain to my brother that I broke a window because I was pissed with him and his boss.

Jack stood up and motioned to Alex and the two of them wandered off into the hallway. I looked at Sara and she smiled at me.

‘Jack told me you were just outside when the alarm went off, that must have been a bit of a surprise.’

I thought back to the crush of Alex’s weight as I lay on the pavement and my first ride on a motorbike. ‘Yeah. It was pretty exciting.’

‘It’s never happened before. You should have seen the reaction inside the building.’

‘Really?’ I asked. ‘I didn’t see anyone coming out to check what was going on.’