Testing The Boss(27)

Luke answered midway through the second ring. “Evelyn, you need to get out of your apartment.”

Well, at least he was alive. That was a good sign. “I’m fine,” she said over the sound of the faucet. “Are you out of there? Longineu is dangerous. You need to get somewhere safe. I’m coming to you.”

“I’m going to be at your place any minute. What happened? Longineu said he was sending guys over there. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just stay away from here and don’t go back to your apartment. I’m going to get some backup and we’ll reevaluate then.” And try to pick up the pieces of her investigation. Damn it.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Evelyn took another drink of the water that simultaneously burned and soothed. “Nothing’s wrong. My place has been compromised.”

“Well, my entire life has been compromised. I’m coming over.”

“Son of a— Don’t come over here!” But he’d already hung up. She spit out more curse words as she dialed 911, her boss, and then Gail, who didn’t answer.

By the time she put the phone down, someone was pounding on the door. From the intensity, she could tell it wasn’t the local police she was expecting. Which meant it was Luke. “Hold on!” She pulled some paper towels free and dabbed gently at her eyes. Before she could move, the door was pushed open and Luke was in the kitchen. Great, she’d forgotten to bolt or chain the door.

“Shit,” he muttered as he crossed to her. “What the hell did they do to you?”

She kept her eyes closed, which was probably a good thing so she didn’t have to come face-to-face with his look of pity. “It’s fine. Don’t touch anything. Police are on their way. They’re going to try to get some prints. There might be some blood by the window and I have his gun.”

“Come here.” He hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her out of the kitchen.

“What are you doing?”

She could tell from the number of steps that he was leading her to the small bathroom off the kitchen. “Was he in here?” asked Luke.

“I don’t think so. There was so little time...” Before she could finish, the shower was turned on and running.

“You need to flush your eyes,” he said. “This will work best.”

She frowned, but still didn’t open her eyes. “I know that. I’m too busy to shower.”

“Well, now you’re not.” With that, he started to push her into the warm stream of water.

Evelyn’s hands went up and gripped his biceps. “Hold on!” she shouted. He paused as she pulled off her jacket and shoulder holster. He took the jacket from her and gently set it on the sink as she kicked off her tennis shoes and set her gun on the windowsill. She still wore jeans and a white t-shirt, but she wasn’t going to wait any longer.

The police would be here any moment, so Luke was safe enough for now. She ducked under the water and threw her head back, letting the stream hit her closed eyes.

“You need to open them for this to work,” said Luke.

“You think I don’t know that?” she snapped. Just because it would make her feel better didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt.

He groaned and the next thing she knew, he was in the shower with her, tilting her head back.

“I’m going to kill you,” she muttered as she finally pried her eyes open.

“As long as you’re safe while you’re doing it,” he said softly as she moved to the other eye. After the quick flushing, she blinked a few times and looked down to give her eyes a break. Luke wasn’t standing in the stream of water, but he was getting splashed like crazy, and her floor was soaked from the water that bounced off the both of them.

“What are you doing in here? You’re getting soaked, you moron,” she said with a small laugh.

He stepped out and pulled her pink towel off the towel rack to wipe down his face. “Stay in there and keep rinsing,” he ordered.

“I’m trying.” She rubbed her eyes gently and gave another quick rinse in both her eyes. “What happened with Longineu?”

“Nothing. He knew we were on to him and didn’t start saying anything interesting until we were in a no-record zone. He said he had guys coming after you, and I got the hell over here as soon as possible. Obviously not soon enough. I was half convinced he was bluffing and I was going to lead them here.”

“Nope. They were well aware long before you got here.”

“How would they know that? Who knows your address? Was it on the fake HR paperwork you filled out?”

She shook her head. “That was a vacant place seized by the Bureau a few weeks ago.”