Page 57 of Kiss Kiss Bang
Even though he needed to assess the situation, he couldn’t do it if the two of them were frightened out of their minds. He bent down on his knee. “Hey freckles, tell me more about iguanas.” He took her hand in his and then reached up, blindly searching for Olivia and taking her hand.
“Joey.” She was shaking so hard, it felt like she was going to lose it completely.
“Come here, baby.” He pulled Olivia down to the floor, holding Sophie close and tight on his right and Olivia on his left. He should have his weapon out and ready for battle, but instead he was waging a different war—comforting these two, who were coming to mean so much to him.
“I want to go home,” Sophie cried into his chest, and a fierce protective desire spread through his body as he pulled her in tighter.
“I know, freckles. I know. But you’re here with me and your mommy and there’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s just a little dark, is all.”
“It’s okay, Soph.” Olivia tried to soothe her too, attempting to be brave for her daughter, but the feel of her trembling against his side betrayed her.
“Have I told you guys how my siblings and I used to play hide and seek in the dark when we were growing up? It used to drive my mom crazy,” Joey said, holding them both against him. Though to them he probably sounded in control and relaxed, he was beyond anxious inside. If someone tried to hurt them right this very moment, how would he protect them? He wasn’t even holding his weapon. He tamped all that down and continued his distraction. “We used to wait until my mom went to bed and all the lights were off and all of us, except one, would hide. Not only did we do it in the dark, we had to be quiet so my mom wouldn’t hear and wake up.”
“Did she wake up?” Sophie asked.
“Always. Annie was always loud when she couldn’t find us. She’s a sore loser, that one.”
“Mommy, I want a sister.”
Joey laughed as Olivia stiffened.
“I want to play hide and seek with a sister while you and Joey are asleep.”
Joey laughed again, and this time so did Olivia. “Not the best time to discuss that, sweets.” Olivia said, and Joey kissed the top of Sophie’s head.
“How long do we have to wait?” Sophie asked.
He’d been so intent at calming the two of them he had forgotten all the things he should have done. He pulled out his phone and dialed. “Annie, we’re in Olivia’s office building stuck in the elevator between the ninth and tenth floor. All lights out. It’s been about seven minutes. I need eyes and info.”
“Gotcha. Headed out that way and will have the guys see what they can find from here.” With Jax gone, Annie had really stepped up to the plate. There’d been a time, not too long ago, when he wouldn’t have put Annie so close to the danger zone. After their father passed away, Joey had taken the role of father figure and protector over Annie, his only sister, and sometimes he got carried away. He loved her so much, and when she’d been in Iraq and had gone missing for two grueling days, he’d almost died from fear. But Annie had proven herself more than capable.
“Thanks, kid. There’s no one I trust more handling this than you.” He meant that from the bottom of his heart. It was his way of apologizing, which was long overdue.
“Wow, Joe. That really means a lot. Love looks good on you, brother. Really good.” She chuckled and hung up.
Olivia pulled out her phone next. “Mark, I’m stuck in the elevator at the office,” she said. “Yeah, wasn’t planning to, but came by. No, I’m with Sophie and Joey. Okay, bye.” She shut down her phone. “He’s across town but he’s going to call one of the interns to see what’s going on with the building.” A moment later a text dinged on her phone from Mark explaining that the rest of the staff had confirmed that the electricity of the entire building was down and that the electrical company, according to the building manager, had already been notified and were working on it.
At some point, around fifteen minutes into the ordeal, Sophie fell asleep with her head on Joey’s lap while he soothed her hair, which was now damp and sticky against her little head. “I need to get out of here, Joey,” Olivia said, standing up. He turned on the light app on his phone and watched her try to pry the door open with her hands. “Babe, stop. Come down here, and sit.”
“I can’t. I’m freaking out, Joey,” she said in a panicked tone, pressing the elevator’s buttons as if that would do something.
He reached forward, trying not to jostle the little girl, and pulled Olivia down to the floor. “You are Olivia Russo. Badass politician. You do not freak out in an elevator. Take a breath for me.” He placed his palms on her shoulders. “We’ll be out of here soon.” It was a guess. He knew it and so did she.
“What if it wasn’t Colin? What if the doors open and there’s a man waiting for me and Sophie right outside this door ready to kill us? I should have transferred the money. I shouldn’t have listened to you. Oh, God, what if—”
“Stop!” he said firmly. “Do you want to scare your daughter?”
It was a low blow, but he needed her to focus and breathe. “Breathe in and out. Come on. Do it.”
She did, slowly, and then she was sitting next to him, her chin on her knees and her arms wrapped tightly around her legs.
The truth was, these things were rarely just nothing, especially when you were getting threats. The hair on his neck stood up. The coincidences of all the threats, the arrest . . . everything . . . it didn’t feel as if this was just a fluke.
He’d been trained for many things, but compartmentalizing the way he felt about Sophie and Olivia to deal with whatever was possibly happening outside the confines of their small elevator was not something he’d learned in the military.
Luckily, he wasn’t a hothead. He was rational and calm and even if inside he was scared and trying to formulate a plan, he would show them nothing but calm.
“Shit,” Olivia said, “we didn’t ring the bell. How could we have forgotten? Or made a call. They probably don’t know we’re even here.” She began to move, but he pulled her back. “No. Don’t. I didn’t ring it on purpose. If—and I’m saying if because it’s probably just a run-of-the-mill power outage, but if this is directed at you, I don’t want to draw attention to where we’re at.”
