Page 3 of The Outpost (Jamison Valley 4)
Those eyes were a beautiful distraction from the mess that was my life.
He took another step, his mass looming closer, and I flinched. The trauma from this morning’s attack was too fresh to stop my knee-jerk reaction. Beau’s dark lashes narrowed and his stern look hardened to a scowl as I snapped out of my trance.
Forcing my eyes away from his, I took in the rest of his face and enormous body. He had dark-brown hair, messy and a little too long on top. His angular jaw was covered in a thick beard. He had a straight nose that sat dead center between his high cheekbones. How tall is he? I was five seven and he looked to be almost a foot taller.
Beau’s features reminded me of a Spartan warrior. Long, long legs with beefy thighs. Broad shoulders and bulging arms made of muscles layered upon muscles. I’d bet my life’s savings that underneath his faded jeans and simple black thermal he resembled King Leonidas himself.
Scowl and all, Beau Holt was gorgeous.
The flame in my face burned hotter and I swallowed hard, pulling myself out of momentary lust to find my voice. “Nice to meet you.” His face didn’t soften and he didn’t respond so I assumed my own scowl. “I get why the cop and the nurse are here but what’s your role in all of this, Goliath?”
“Sabrina,” Felicity hissed.
“What?” I pretended I didn’t know how much my tendency to nickname everyone embarrassed my friend.
She opened her mouth, likely to scold me, but Silas interrupted. “Beau’s here to help figure out where we can stash you for a while.”
“Stash me? I thought I could just hide out at Felicity’s place for a while.”
Jess and Beau declared “No” at the same time Silas scoffed “Not happening.”
Before I could ask why not, Felicity pulled me further into the kitchen and slid out a stool from underneath the granite island. “Come sit down. Maisy can get to work on you while we all brainstorm what to do.”
I wasn’t sure why we needed to
brainstorm. What was so complicated about me camping out in front of her television for the foreseeable future?
“How about we get the full story first?” Jess asked. “I’d like to hear this from the beginning.”
I took my seat, glad to have the weight off my ankle. I’d already given Silas and Felicity the whole story but Jess’s tone was firm. I’d be telling my tale again. So I filled my lungs as best I could with aching ribs and wasted no time summing up the mess I’d made of my life.
“I’m an investigative reporter for The Seattle Times. Last fall, I took an assignment to dig into a well-off family suspected of smuggling weapons into the U.S. through their shipping company for the Russian mafia.”
“You’re messed up with the Russian mob?” Jess asked.
I nodded and waited for his inevitable mutter of “Fuck me.” I’d gotten that a lot tonight.
At the time I’d taken the Federov story, it had seemed like such a brilliant idea. I’d thought it would be my one big chance to make a difference. To make the world safer by uncoupling a link in a chain of organized crime. I’d have the chance to keep guns out of the hands of innocent children.
For months, I’d never once regretted my decision or my actions. Today, I’d learned that old adage was true: What a difference a day makes. Now that I’d been beaten and forced to run away from my home, regret was settling in my stomach like day-old Chinese food.
“Keep talking,” Beau rumbled in his rich baritone.
I took another semi-deep breath, flinching when my ribs stung. “Long story short, I went undercover and started dating a man named Anton Federov. His family owns the shipping company I was investigating. His father, Viktor, is the CEO. Anton and his brother, Ivan, run all of the operations. I had seen Anton casually a few times before I started on the story, so I decided to use my connection in hopes of getting inside information.”
Grumbles from the men filled the air.
“Does this hurt?” Maisy asked, pausing my story. She was palpating my ribs but even her slight touch caused me to wince.
I sucked in a sharp breath and nodded.
“And this?” she asked, moving further up toward my breasts.
I nodded again.
“I think you may have a cracked rib or two. Since you can’t exactly go to the hospital, let’s wrap them up and see if they heal. We just want to make sure you can still take deep breaths. But I’ll warn you, ribs take a long time to heal on their own. Sometimes a month or longer.”
I sighed. “Okay.”
