OOOOHH... things are getting interesting! Please review! If I get enough reviews I may just post the next chapter tomorrow!
Since Zia was due back today, I went to grab the office keys for her. Starring at the spot they were supposed to be, they were gone.
I peeked out of the room and found Maisie packing her backpack for school. "Maisie, have you seen the keys for Zia?"
She looked up and shook her head. "No, what keys?"
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. "The keys to the office."
She shrugged. "Nope."
"Finish getting ready and I'll meet you in the car." I tossed her my car keys and ducked out the van's door.
"Owen!" I called out as I climbed the steps to the front porch of the cabin.
I could hear him singing to himself as he worked on putting up the drywall in the master bedroom.
"Owen," I said again, following the sound of his voice.
"Yeah?" He asked then continued his singing.
"Have you seen the keys to the office that were for Zia? I had them on the shelf near where you keep your wallet."
He poked his head around the corner so I could see him shaking it. "No, I thought maybe you moved them. They haven't been there for a few days."
"Why would I move them?"
"You tell me…"
"I didn't touch them!" I didn't mean to sound as panicked as I felt.
Owen pushed away from the wall he was leaning on and walked around the corner to stand in front of me.
"Ok… I'm sure they're in the van somewhere." His gaze focused on my face, cautious at my reaction.
I was careful to keep my voice calm when I spoke again. "Maisie has my car keys. Can you bring her to school please. I need to find them so I can give them to Zia."
His eyes narrowed. He was only half buying my story.
I held up a hand to stop him from prying. "Please. She's going to be late."
He wiped his hands on his jeans, unhooked his tool belt and reached for his shirt. His eyes never left mine.
I stepped aside to allow him space to move by me, dropping my eyes to the floor.
He stood for a moment and I could feel him trying to read my thoughts. When he understood I was not going to look him in the eye he dropped his tool belt at my feet and walked towards the front door.
"Thank you!" I called after him.
"I'll be right back." He said over his shoulder.
I heard him talking to Maisie, asking her for my keys. She insisted that she could walk to school, but since Annie only walked home in the afternoon, that was when we allowed Maisie to walk. The car started and they drove away.
I ran back to the van, falling to my knees in front of the shelf embedded in the wall on Owen's side of the bed. I felt around on the floor for the keys hoping they may have fallen when Owen reached for his wallet one morning.
They weren't on the floor and I moved to look under the bed. The legs were nailed into the floor, so there was no way to push it out of the way to search under it. Shrugging out of my blazer, I laid on my stomach to search the cluttered space. Since Maisie didn't have a dresser, most of her clothes were in bins under the bed. I shoved them out and felt around the dark space hoping my fingers would come in contact with the keys.
"What are you doing?"
Owen's voice made me jump, and being cramped in the small space, I smacked the back of my head against the bed above me.
"Oh," Owen mumbled when he heard my head come in contact with the metal frame. "Didn't mean to scare you. You ok?"
"I'm fine." I said, rubbing the back of my head. "I'm trying to find the key for Zia."
"Did you find them?"
"No, can you check the bins of Maisie's clothes? Maybe they fell in when she was looking for an outfit."
I felt him sit by my legs and shuffle through her clothes.
Both of us sat on the floor in the middle of the small room. Every piece of our van torn apart.
"You must have brought them to the office with you." Owen suggested, tossing an empty bin in the pile of items we searched through.
"I didn't."
"They'll show up." He patted my shoulder before getting to his feet.
I followed his motions as we began to clean up the mess we made.
My phone dinged informing me of an incoming text.
Digging through the pile of clothes, I retrieved my phone from the bottom.
You must be looking for these because you're late for work. The picture below the words were of the keys sitting in the exact spot I knew I left them.
"No," I gasped, turning and slumping down on the bed. Whoever has been sending threats to me was in here. They took the key and got into the office to deliver the flowers and the note.
"Who is it?" Owen asked, his words slow and cautious.
I looked up at him, meeting his gaze and this time I didn't hide the panic that was there. "I don't know." I whispered.
He took a step towards me, that's all it took for him to be standing over me. "What do you mean?"
I kept my eyes locked on his and slowly handed him my phone so he could look through the past tests. "I mean I don't know."
His finger swept through the messages twice before tossing the phone across the room.
I jumped when I heard it clatter against the wall somewhere behind me.
"Someone's threatening you and you didn't tell me?" His voice so loud the van's walls shook.
I stood up so I was face to face with him. "I didn't think it was this serious."
"Serious? Someone was in our home!" He yelled "Someone threatened you!"
"We have the office under surveillance." I knew that wasn't going to make him feel better, but I had to let him know I was at least attempting to handle the situation.
"Let's go." He held his arm out, motioning towards the door.
"Where?"
"I sure as hell know you're not going to listen to me if I tell you you're staying here."
I nodded in agreement. That was the whole reason I didn't want to tell him in the first place.
"So I follow you."
"The cabin?"
He shook his head and fished my car keys out of his pocket. "Not important at the moment."
"Yes it is! I'm not living out of this van forever Owen. We need our own space. This kid isn't going to wait just because something came up and you can't finish the cabin."
He reached up and pressed his palms to his temples. "What good would the cabin be if something happened to you?" He reached for my hips and looked down at my stomach. "To both of you."
"I told you, the office is secure."
"Yeah, a key in the hands of whoever is threatening you? I don't see that as secure."
I crossed my arms against my chest and stared hard into his eyes. This was always my way of letting him know I was standing my ground.
He seemed to remember because he followed my motion and raised an eyebrow, challenging me. "I don't leave your side, or you don't leave this van."
I gave a slight laugh. This made him narrow his eyes. "The moment you finish that cabin I will marry you." I countered.
He rolled his eyes and my mouth fell open with a pop. "Tempting, but my offer still stands."
"I don't need you to protect me!"
"Fine!" His voice boomed. "Then I'm protecting our kid."
"I think I have that covered."
"Claire," He moaned, bringing his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.
My phone rang from the far corner of the van. I stood glued to my spot, not wanting to back down from our battle. The ringing stopped and it was another minute before it rang again. Owen glanced down when my fingers twitched with need to answer it.
With a growl he walked passed me to hunt for my phone.
"What?" he barked into the speaker answering the phone on the third call. He was silent as he listened to whoever was on the other end. "We'll be there."
He crossed the tight space and handed me my phone. "Looks like you have a hit on Wu's whereabouts."
I held my hand out. "Give me my keys."
He turned to walk out the door. "I will, as soon as I get in the car."
"Owen!" I called after him.
"Don't worry, you can drive." He turned and tossed the keys at me when he knew he had enough of a head start.
Catching the keys, I turned to lock the van, knowing this was a first. We were out in the middle of nowhere, the road leading to the cabin was a dirt road, not many people knew we existed back here. There was never a need to lock the van.