Page 32 of Forged in Peril
“I know that I tend to sleep through alarms, so I did everything I could think of to make sure I’d be up in time this morning. I set three alarms, for three separate times.”
“Look, Bristol, this really isn’t the end of the world,” he said, regretting at once his attempt to prove to her that he wasn’t giving her any special treatment. “I promise you, no one is going to remember this in a week.”
To his surprise, her pretty green eyes flashed with anger.
“You said you’d listen. But maybe I shouldn’t have come. You’re right, it doesn’t matter. I have work to do, anyway.”
He heard the sound of her chair scraping across the floor as she shoved it back, attempting to get to her feet. To get away from him.
“Wait, wait, wait,” he said, lifting a hand. “You’re right. I’m listening.”
She hesitated a little, her expression filled with a sadness that made him feel sick to his stomach.
“I don’t know why I bother,” she said, sinking back into the chair, defeated. “It’s not like you’re going to believe me anyway. I’m getting used to that by now.”
He clamped his mouth shut, scared that nothing he could say would possibly come out right. Truth was, he had no idea what he’d said that had upset her so badly, but if she needed him to hear something out, he was willing to listen.
The silence seemed to fill the cluttered office.
Outside in the hall, he could hear happy chatter as several people passed his closed door on their way to lunch. His own stomach had been rumbling for a while already, but he could wait.
Finally, he heard Bristol letting out a long sigh.
“I’m sorry for snapping at you,” she said. “I’m just frustrated, I guess. It’s kind of difficult for me to expect you to believe me when I barely believe myself.”
“What do you mean?” he ventured.
“It’s going to sound crazy. I know it is, and I didn’t want to tell you, but I’ve turned it over again and again in my mind, and I can’t think of another explanation that makes sense.”
Cam felt his heart beating a little faster.
Was she going to tell him who it was that was threatening her? Had she finally decided he was worthy of her trust?
“I know I set those alarms, Cameron. I kept trying to tell myself that maybe I made a mistake, or I woke up and snoozed through them, but it’s not true. I’m certain of it. When I woke up to Jaclyn calling me this morning, they weren’t just turned off, they were deleted from the app. Someone had to have done it, and it wasn’t my mother or me. But nothing else was taken at the house. There was nothing to indicate a break in. It’s like I was sabotaged by a ghost.”
Once she had begun to speak, the words had poured out of her faster and faster, to the point where she sounded almost manic. And yet, she didn’t sound crazy or paranoid.
To Cameron, at least, the possibility of a break-in, however unlikely, warranted further investigation. But there was one question that he still had to ask.
“Bristol,” he started, trying to weigh his words carefully. She had opened up to him, true, but he knew he had to proceed with caution or she’d pull away again completely. “I believe you. Instinct is a powerful thing, especially in our line of work. Maybe you’d be a better security operative than you think.”
She cracked a small smile at that, and he pressed on.
“But it would be a whole lot easier to investigate this if we had any idea where to start.”
His words hung there, too late to take back, but this time, she didn’t get angry at his prying.
“I wasn’t entirely truthful before,” she admitted, pulling her arms more tightly around her chest. “I’m sorry. The truth is, I’ve been holding something back, just as everyone suspected.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but she shook her head, continuing.
“That’s the truth. But it’s also the truth that I’m still not ready to talk about it, for reasons that I’m not ready to talk about, either. I know that isn’t what you want to hear, but as for today, that’s what it is. Take it or leave it.”
Her final words had a bitter edge to them, and her eyes were filled with a deep sorrow that made his heart clench in his chest. She was defensive for a reason.
Someone had hurt her, and he was going to find that person, even if he had to go in blind.
Before he could talk himself out of it, he got out of his chair and strode over to hers, offering her his hand.
