Chapter 6 – Nighttime Security
Kelsey was exhausted when Alex finally pulled to a stop in front of her house. Her eyes scanned the streets for any suspicious vehicles. The adrenaline was still running strong in her system, but a pestering thought wouldn’t escape her mind.
They’d tried to kill her.
Kelsey didn’t have any enemies. Nobody hated her enough to get her killed. She barely associated with anyone. That meant one thing and Kelsey didn’t like it at all.
Whoever attacked Kelsey didn’t know they were attacking Kelsey. They thought they were attacking Kara. Kelsey didn’t like the idea of anyone attacking Kara, either. If it weren’t for Alex, Kelsey would probably be dead right now.
“Thank you.” Kelsey said, after a few minutes. She could feel the tears threatening to escape and she wanted to get away as soon as possible.
“Kelsey, wait.” Alex said as soon as she opened the door. She turned to Alex with a guarded expression. Her heart was racing and she felt horrible. “Are you okay?” He asked, concerned.
Kelsey nodded, not trusting herself enough to say something.
“You’re not in any danger, okay?” Alex tried assuring her. “I’m going to wait outside your house tonight, okay? If anything goes wrong, I’ll be here.”
“That’s not needed.” Kelsey said. “They weren’t trying to kill me.”
“They were trying to kill Kara.” Alex spoke. His eyes were still watchful. Kelsey knew it was the truth, but hearing it come from someone else’s mouth just made it more difficult to cope with. “They tried to kill you because they thought you were Kara. If they follow you here, thinking that you’re Kara…” His voice trailed off, as if he couldn’t think about finishing that sentence. “You’re my responsibility, Kelsey. I got you into this mess.”
“Nobody got me into anything.” Kelsey spoke up. “Don’t you get it, Alex? Kara’s my sister. If I’m suddenly involved, it’s because I want to be. In fact, I’ll be grateful to you for getting me involved and for saving my life today.”
“Okay.” Alex’s voice was calm. Serene. “Just remember. I’ll be here.”
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The first thing Kelsey did upon returning to her room was change back into Kelsey. She put on her sweats and tied her hair up before removing her contacts and then, working on scrubbing her make-up off. Once she was satisfied, she slipped on her glasses.
The way Alex had looked at her when he saw her today was still in her mind. He looked at her like she was an angel and that bothered her. Today, he wasn’t looking at Kelsey, he was looking at Kara and Kelsey knew he liked what he saw.
Kelsey had told herself she wasn’t going to allow herself to get involved with him any further when he’d touched her back, not because she didn’t like it. In fact, it was the opposite. Kelsey relished the way his fingers had felt on her skin. She liked it, and she didn’t want to like it. There was no denying it, now. Kelsey was attracted to Alex. He’d saved her life.
Now, he was waiting outside her house.
Kelsey made her way to her living room and piled a bunch of papers on the coffee table. She grabbed a color pen and started going through the first paper. Before she was even halfway done, she was already in front of the window, peeking through the blinds.
Sure enough, Alex’s car was parked in front of the house across the street from her house. Kelsey felt a smile forming on her face. She remembered the way Alex had yanked her out of harm’s way, hiding her behind him, ready to shoot whoever had attacked her.
The warmth of his body radiated off of him and the passion and fury in his eyes almost had scared Kelsey, too.
But now, he was on the other side of the street, watching her so he could keep her safe and that brought a smile onto Kelsey’s face.
She pulled her attention away from Alex and focused it on her students’ papers. They demanded it. Kelsey had become very irresponsible over the past few days in grading her students’ papers. She had a reputation of being quick.
Still, she was having a hard time focusing because a ton of other things were running through her mind, apart from the agent outside her house. The main thing was Kara. A ton of other possibilities ran through her mind.
What if it actually had been Kara instead of Kelsey? What if they’d gotten a chance to shoot at her? What would have happened if Kelsey didn’t have Alex with her when she’d gone to the store? Would she have died today?
Kelsey groaned. She had no idea what Kara had managed to get herself involved in, but the truth was, she didn’t like it one bit. She always knew that Kara had always been on the impulsive side. She liked living on the edge. She was into extreme sports, but this was a whole different dangerous.
After making it about halfway through her papers, Kelsey glanced at the clock. It was nearing midnight. She fell back on her couch feeling exhaustion and guilt come over her. What kind of host was she?
The man had saved her life and she was making him spend the night in his car outside her house? That didn’t make her a good host. The least she could do was offer him her couch.
No, Kelsey shook her head. She didn’t just go around and invite men into her house in the middle of the night no matter how attractive they were. Kara might do that. Even Gwen, but not Kelsey. She was more like her dad when it came to that matter: always responsible. No stupid decisions.
In fact, Kelsey could just imagine the expression on Thomas Winters’s if he ever found out what had happened tonight. He would probably freak out if he found out that there was a man waiting outside of Kelsey’s house, overnight. Kelsey didn’t know what had gotten into her. But Alex did save her life. She was sure of it. If he hadn’t been with her, she might be dead right now. It was his job to protect people. But was it really necessary to spend the night outside of her house? Was that a part of his job, too? Kelsey didn’t think so.
Kelsey glanced at the clock again and saw that another half hour had passed. She sighed, knowing that she wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight. Her mind kept swinging between Alex waiting outside and her being attacked while she was dressed like Kara.
Kelsey was completely exhausted and had no desire to sleep. To think that a day ago, Kelsey had been complaining about not getting enough sleep because of work. Now, it seemed as if work was the last thing on her mind. It seemed like sleep was also the last thing on her mind. She felt like she’d simply lost the ability to sleep. Kelsey gathered her papers and piled them on her coffee table, slipping it into a folder and then into her bag. She liked to pack all her stuff up at night, so she was ready in the morning. Kelsey sighed, unable to believe she was actually going to do this.
She transferred all of her belongings into the sanctuary of her bedroom and pulled out her cell phone. She’d entered and stored Alex’s number in it as soon as she’d gotten home from the university today. She didn’t know if she’d need his number but figured it was a good idea to have it.
The phone rang a couple times before Alex answered. “Diaz.”
Kelsey cleared her throat. “Um, it’s Kelsey.” She spoke into the speaker.
There was a silence on the other side of the line. “Is something wrong?” Alex finally asked. “Why are you still awake?”
Kelsey didn’t really have an answer to that. “I have a lot of things on my mind.” She finally admitted the truth without giving too much away. “And I feel bad. You saved my life. You’re protecting me. I’m offering you my couch.” There. She said it.
“What?”
“You don’t have to spend the night in the car. You can sleep on my couch.” Kelsey clarified, getting off of the couch.
“That’s not necessary. My job is from my car.” Alex said.
“Look, Alex, you saved my life. You can sleep on my couch. Don’t worry. You’re a man of law. I’m not worried that you’ll assault me.” If anything, Kelsey suspected that given the opportunity she might assault Alex.
She knew that Alex wasn’t the best-looking guy in the world. He wasn’t want you called gorgeous, but he was fit. He was strong. He knew how to use a gun. It was that last part that Kelsey liked more than anything. Perhaps Kelsey and Kara had something in common after all, apart from their faces. “It’s fine, Kelsey. I’ll sleep out here.”
“Do you want me to beg, Alex? Just sleep on my couch. No excuses. I’m opening the door for you. If you don’t come, I’ll come out there and drag you out of your car, okay? It’s taken me two hours to decide this, okay? Don’t change my mind.” Kelsey told him, adamantly. She couldn’t believe it. A second ago, it had only been a request. Now, she was downright begging the man to come into her house.
Alex didn’t respond and when Kelsey glanced down at her phone, she saw that he’d hung up. She groaned. She’d challenged him. She had to stay true to her word. She’d told him that she’d come and get him herself if he didn’t come willingly. Even Kelsey knew how wrong that sounded.
Grumbling at herself for saying what she did, Kelsey marched into her room and put on a coat. She stepped into the hall and put on her boots before she took a deep breath and marched to the door. She stared at the door for a moment before she took a deep breath and flung it open.
She jumped a little at the sight of the man on the other side that she hadn’t been anticipating and she jumped back a little.
“Going somewhere?” Alex asked with the hint of a smile on his face. He looked exhausted and suddenly Kelsey was glad that she’d given him her couch.
“Not anymore.” She told him. “Come inside.” She stepped to the side while Alex came inside and shut the door behind him. “The couch is yours.” She introduced Alex to the couch before kicking her boots off and heading towards the bedroom.
Then, halfway through, she turned around and went to Alex, giving him a hug. Instinctively, Alex’s arms came up and held her against him. “Thank you for saving my life.”
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Alex barely got a wink of sleep before it was morning. Coming here was a mistake. He should have just spent the night in his car. And it wasn’t because he was uncomfortable. It was obviously better in Kelsey’s house than it would have been in the car. That wasn’t the problem.
The problem had been Kelsey’s way of saying goodnight.
The way she felt when her body had been pressed up against his had been on his mind ever since she’d vanished into her bedroom. Alex really tried to not let it affect him, and it was costing him whatever sleep he might have got if she hadn’t hugged him.
But she did hug him and now Alex was hung up on it, even though he knew he shouldn’t be. Even if she wasn’t the sister of a fugitive and possibly associated to Caleb Rocha, he couldn’t look past the fact that he could never be in a good relationship with anyone because of his job. Girls liked guys who had time to give them. Alex didn’t have that kind of luxury.
Alex just wanted his ever logical brain to shut up. There wasn’t anything to be with Kelsey. She was a nice girl and one day she would find a guy who would treat her right. As optimistic as that thought was, Alex had a strong urge to put a bullet through anyone who would be with Kelsey.
He decided to try a different approach. Kelsey wouldn’t want him. She was pretty, like a little mouse. She didn’t deserve someone like Alex, who had plenty of problems of him own. She didn’t need to deal with them. Besides, he wasn’t even that handsome. Sure, Shay was convinced that she wanted Alex, but Alex was sure it was only for his body. It wasn’t a secret that Alex was fit. Anyone could see it.
He had a roughness about him. His mother called him manly. He considered himself to be a beast. He already acknowledged the fact that Kelsey was pretty, especially when she wasn’t trying to be Kara. There was something about Kara that Alex just didn’t like, even though he’d never met the girl. He didn’t understand why Kelsey was so determined to help her sister.
Coming from a Mexican household, Alex knew family. He’d just never been…involved. He understood that Kelsey cared for her sister, but Kara was in a mess. She knew she was in a mess and she’d willingly gotten into that mess. Trying to save someone who didn’t want to be saved always got people into trouble. Alex had seen it happen with other people and he didn’t want to see it happen with Kelsey.
If Kelsey turned out to be wrong, and Alex was sure she was, about Kara, then Kara would definitely try to manipulate Kelsey to help her and Kelsey wouldn’t contact Alex about it.
This was becoming hard for Alex. He couldn’t deny that he was somehow attracted to Kelsey, but he couldn’t stay away either. Alex knew that Kara would try to contact her sister at some point. Kara would assume that Kelsey didn’t know anything about her, other than maybe she’d run away. Whenever that happened, Alex needed to be around. He needed to stay close to Kelsey. He needed to stay close to both sisters, because he didn’t know which one was really involved with Rocha. His gut told him it wasn’t Kelsey, but his mind told him not to be misled by a girl.
He needed to stay close, but not too close. He needed to watch her. Getting involved was not an option. This wasn’t a decision. It was a mission, and Alex never failed a mission.
He heard the sound of a door opening from inside the corridor. He’d been lounging on the couch, but got up at the sound of Kelsey’s footsteps. Kelsey emerged from the corridor, freezing when she saw Alex on her couch. Her eyes briefly widened, before a smile bloomed on her face.
“Hey.” She breathed out, and Alex was a goner. All those months of training to handle any situation couldn’t have prepared this for this. Alex could take down anyone in hand-to-hand combat. He was great with a gun. His team respected him. Criminals knew him by name and feared him.
But when Kelsey emerged from her bedroom dressed in the adorable Mickey Mouse pajamas, Alex was breathless, speechless, and clueless. Kelsey was wearing pants long enough to cover her feet and a button-down shirt that was long-sleeved and Alex thought it was the cutest and hottest thing he’d ever seen.
And he’d seen a lot.
He’d been with countless women more voluptuous that Kelsey. He’d been with prettier women, more experienced woman. Alex was not a player by any means. He was just a man and he had needs that needed to be met.
Kelsey cleared her throat and Alex looked at her face, realizing she was blushing. She glanced down at her pajamas and Alex slowly realized that she was embarrassed.
“Good morning.” Alex said, hoping that Kelsey didn’t realize he was ogling.
“I forgot you were here.” She said, hesitantly stepping into her kitchen, maintaining a good distance from Alex, much to his relief.
Kelsey wouldn’t ever make the first move.
“Yeah…” Alex got off of the couch and realized that he’d slipped off his shirt last night and slept in a wife-beater. His exposed body had seemed to catch Kelsey’s attention. He quickly grabbed his shirt from the coffee table and put it on. “I should head out, now. Clearly you’re okay.”
“Wait.” Kelsey said, stopping him. “I’m making coffee. Do you want coffee?”
“Uh, sure.” Alex was grateful for the offer. Coffee would make him feel better and he hadn’t gotten any sleep last night. He needed something that would take him up.
Kelsey went into the kitchen and started making coffee. She took some bread and slipped it into her toaster. She then took a seat on her dining table and motioned for Alex to do the same. He did. “Were you comfortable last night?” She asked, innocently.
Alex nodded. “Yeah, it was more comfortable than sleeping in my car.” That was completely irrelevant to the fact that despite it was more comfortable, he still didn’t get any sleep all because of a hug.
“That’s good.” She said. “I have some classes today. Did you already tell someone to keep watch on that store?” She asked.
Alex suddenly realized that he had yet to report the incident. He shook his head. “I’ll do it when I go to the bureau today.” He assured her. Internally, he was angry with himself for forgetting to give Shay a call. All he had to do was call her.
Kelsey nodded, looking thoughtful. “Alex, do you think…” She suddenly stopped, shaking her head a bit, igniting Alex’s curiosity. “Do you think that they shot at me because they thought I was Kara?”
“It’s a possibility.” Alex answered, knowing that it was better to be honest with Kelsey. He couldn’t tell her everything, but he could certainly share these little things with her. The sooner she understood that her sister was involved with the wrong people, the more likely she was to help Alex instead of her sister when the time came.
Kelsey sighed. “I don’t know why Kara would do this. She’s not so irresponsible.”
“Love makes a person do wild things.” Alex said, not even realizing what he’d said until he’d said it. “So I heard.”
“Kara doesn’t fall in love.” Kelsey protested. “Guys fall for her, not the other way around.”
“There’s a first time for everything.” Alex said. Then, for Kelsey’s benefit, he added, “Besides, I heard that Rocha can be very charming.”
“Kara doesn’t fall for anyone’s shit.” Kelsey said, taking Alex by surprise. He didn’t think she was the type of person who would cuss. That was more of Alex’s forte and he’d been careful not to say anything bad around Kelsey.
“Kelsey,” Alex said, slowly. “I know this is hard on the family, but I’ve seen things like this happen a lot in my career. I know you want to think Kara is innocent in all of this, and she may be, but if she’s involved and knows what’s going on, I will have to take action against her. Rocha’s probably brainwashed her by now. Trusting her would be a mistake. She could come to us and take advantage of your innocence.”
Kelsey didn’t say anything, but seemed deep in thoughts.
“You do understand, don’t you?” Alex pressed. “If she comes to you, you’ll tell me, won't you? Promise me you’ll tell me, won't you?” Alex had no idea where the desperation in his voice came from, but seeing the reluctance in Kelsey’s eyes pushed him for assurance.
“She’s my sister.” Kelsey finally said. “If she comes to me for help, I have to help her.”
“Just promise me that you’ll call me and let me know.” Alex tried again. He knew promises were made to be broken, but even that small commitment would assure him.
“Okay.” Kelsey said. “I’ll call you.”
But it wasn’t for Alex’s sake. He could sense that in her voice. If Kelsey did call him, she would do it for Kara and not for Alex.
It was right. Kelsey shouldn’t do anything for Alex’s sake. She wasn’t here for Alex. It had been about her sister right from the start.
So why did Alex feel so bad about it?
I know Kelsey may start to annoy you a bit at this point but you have to remember Alex is someone she recently met, even though he's a cop and Kara is her sister, who she's supposed to trust.
Even though they're not close.
Will Kelsey do the right thing and call Alex? Or will she help her sister and possibly get into more trouble?