“Yes. Unlock the door. Let me take you out of here.”
The moment the latch clicked, he pushed the door open to find his woman huddled on the floor. Her body shook as she pulled her knees closer to her chest. When her tear-soaked cheeks peered up, he stalked into the narrow stall and picked her up, cradling her fragile body in his arms. “Jesus, baby, you scared me.” All he could do was hold her close as she dropped the phone and he carried her out of the bathroom.
After settling her onto the passenger seat and buckling her in, he jumped into the driver’s side and started the truck. She sank in the seat and laid her head on his lap. He had no clue what had scared the shit out of her, but he sure as fuck wasn’t going to let anything hurt her. He pulled out his cell and dialed the office. Hopefully, Ron would be there.
“Sean! Where are you?”
“What in the fuck happened?”
“Thank God, have you heard from Abigail?”
He looked down at his lap, where she’d unlatched the seat belt so she could curl up closer to him. “Yes. What the fuck’s going on?”
“I don’t know. A new guy came in to interview this morning, and she freaked out on the delivery guy. He’s been delivering here for couple of weeks now and said his name was Mike, but she called him Justin and ran out. She left her cell, so I couldn’t call her. She wasn’t answering the door at the apartment, and it was locked. I didn’t know where she went. Is she all right?”
Sean wanted to get off the damn phone so he could touch her, reassure her everything was going to be okay. “She’s with me,” he said. “I’m going to keep her with me tonight. Is that guy still there?”
“No. He left right after she did. It’s weird. The guy seemed so calm while Abs freaked out. He just stood there, like her reaction was no big deal. What’s going on, Sean? Will she talk? I kept trying to call your cell, but it went straight to voice mail. Is she all right?”
Sean turned off the highway onto the road leading to his apartment. “Not yet. She’s too upset. I’ll call you later after I get her settled in.”
A soft whisper came from his lap. “Penelope,” she sobbed. “Penelope.”
“I’m going to drop her off at Eric’s, then swing by her place and get her dog.” He turned the truck down another side street to backtrack toward Eric’s subdivision. “I’m not leaving her alone tonight.”
“I’m going to close up early here. Take care of her, Sean.”
“You don’t even have to ask.”
Sean pressed the button to end the call and tossed the phone on the dashboard. He sank his fingers in the soft cascade of her hair and petted her as she sobbed against his shorts.
“Penelope,” she whispered again.
“Shh, I’m going to pick her up. She can stay with us. Do you need anything else from your place?”
Her shoulders shook as she sniffled and cried. “Penelope.”
“Shh,” he soothed as he continued to massage her scalp in an effort to calm her down. “We’re going to get her.”
He pulled up into Eric’s driveway and left a crying Abigail in his care.
By the time he pulled into the warehouse parking lot, it was empty except for Ron’s car. He had already closed up for the day. Sean opened the door and jogged to the warehouse entrance.
“Where’s the dog?” he asked Ron as he let himself into Abigail’s office.
Ron’s voice barely registered as Sean rushed by to grab the bright yellow purse from Abigail’s desk. “I put her in the apartment. I didn’t know what else to do with her.”
Sean rushed up the stairs three at a time and let himself into her apartment. Tiny claws clicked on the hardwood floor. When he looked down, Penelope was standing below him with the squirrel in her mouth.
“Come on, girl.” He snatched the leash by the door and hooked her collar. “You’re going to stay with me.” The dog lopped her tongue out, dropping the squirrel. “We’ll play later. Let’s grab your food and head out. Come on.”
The dog picked the squirrel back up and squeak-squeaked behind him as they made their way into the kitchen, where Sean grabbed the bag of gourmet dog food from the cabinet. Penelope scratched at the cabinet door where Abigail kept her treats. Sean opened that door too and grabbed the box of dog biscuits. “Let’s go, girl.”
ABIGAIL STOOD IN front of the large picture window at Eric’s house. It seemed like hours since Sean had dropped her off to go get Penelope. She sipped on the mug of hot tea and sighed. The sound of an engine roared into the driveway, and she looked up.