Page 83 of Protecting Kelli
“It is.”
“Oh. Um, is he here?”
“No, he’s at work.” Kelli wasn’t going to tell this woman anything important until she found out who she was and why she was looking for Smiley. There was a chance she was working with Brant, a slim one, but a chance nonetheless.
For some reason, the woman looked…heartbroken? It made no sense. Kelli was pretty sure Smiley wasn’t seeing anyone, so she didn’t understand what was going on here.
Abruptly, the woman turned to leave.
Understanding hit then. The woman thought Kelli was dating Smiley. Shewasin his apartment, after all.
“I’m dating Flash. Smiley’s friend,” she blurted, beforethe woman got too far away. “Some things went down, and my boyfriend and I are staying here. Smiley let us swap apartments. He’s at Flash’s place.” Her words were rushed, and for some reason, Kelli really wanted the unknown woman to believe her. “I like Smiley but he’s kind of…intense for me. Not in a bad way, I just like my men to be a little friendlier. No—that makes him sound mean, but I didn’t mean it that way.”
“It’s okay, I understand,” the woman said.
“Do you want to come in?” Kelli asked. Flash was going to give her hell for inviting a stranger into the apartment, but everything was screaming at her that something was…maybe notwrong, but definitely off with the woman. There were those fading bruises, yes, but also, there was no gentle way around it…she stunk. As if she hadn’t had a shower in a long while. And her clothes were dirty.
Something within Kelli was screaming not to let her walk away.
“Um, no, that’s okay.”
“Please? Look, my name is Kelli. I’m bored out of my mind. I can’t leave the apartment because there’s a guy out there who’d love nothing more to get his hands on me for nefarious purposes. So I’m kind of hiding out until Flash and the others can find him. And I don’t want to put Remi or any of the other women at risk, so they really can’t come over and visit. I’m sick of watching TV and there are only so many of Smiley’s thriller books I can read. So you’d be doing me a huge favor if you came in and visited for a while.”
Kelli was laying it on a bit thick, but the more she thought about it, the more she thought this womanneededto come in. She obviously came here to talk to Smiley for some reason, and she hoped she could get her to relax enough to maybe tell her why.
The woman looked up and down the hall. Then slowly nodded.
Feeling as if she’d accomplished something miraculous, Kelli smiled and took a step back from the door, giving the woman some room. Making sure the door was locked and dead-bolted behind her mysterious guest, Kelli gestured toward the kitchen.
“Are you hungry? I was about to make some lunch. Don’t get too excited, it’s nothing super-fancy, just some ham and cheese sandwiches.”
“I don’t want to put you out,” the woman said.
“Oh, you aren’t. Seriously.” Kelli led the way, and it didn’t escape her notice how interested the woman seemed to be in checking out Smiley’s apartment. It was if as she was drinking in every little detail.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” Kelli said, knowing full well the woman had never said it.
“Oh…I’m Bree.”
It was all Kelli could do not to gasp and gawk at the woman.Thiswas Bree? The woman Smiley had been hunting all over Riverton? And the bruises had to be from when she’d helped save Ellory and Yana from the guy who’d sold them to someone overseas for their organs.
Her heart started beating fast. The woman was nothing like what Kelli had pictured in her head. For one, she felt sorry for her. Now that she was inside the well-lit apartment and not in the dingy hallway, Kelli could see that she lookedreallybad. Dark circles under her eyes, those faded bruises, the clothes were even dirtier thanshe’d thought…and there was that smell emanating from her.
As Kelli made the sandwiches, she babbled about nothing in particular. She simply wanted to fill the silence, as if that would prevent Bree from deciding to leave. She also wanted to text Flash and let him know who was there, right now, but she had a feeling that would make Bree bolt.
As they ate their sandwiches at the table, Bree asked, “So, Smiley is at Flash’s place and you guys are here?”
Kelli nodded. “Yeah. To make a very long story short…well, actually, I guess it’s notthatlong. I was in Jamaica for my cousin’s bachelorette party. We went tubing, Flash’s tube broke, we kind of got left behind on the river together, were the last ones off. On the way back to the resort, we got kidnapped, put in this bus that had been buried underground. Flash’s friends found us, and we came home. But the kidnapper had our IDs, and he came to the States. A week after we got back, he broke into my place. I hid so he couldn’t find me, but since it isn’t safe for me to stay there anymore, and since the bad guy has Flash’s address too, Smiley said we could stay here.”
“Is he in danger?”
Bree’s worry for Smiley was obvious; she wasn’t even trying to hide it.
“Honestly? I don’t think so. I had the same question, but the guys are SEALs…I think they’d probablylovefor the kidnapper to come after one of them.”
“Yeah,” Bree said, but her brows were still furrowed and she still looked worried.
Kelli didn’t know Smiley all that well, but she figured having someone worry about him the way this woman was couldn’t be a bad thing. He was kind of standoffish andgrumpy. Maybe having a friend like Bree would be good for him.
