Page 42 of You Found Me

He looked as if he were chewing on rocks. She could see words building up, but she could also see that he had no intention of saying them.

“For crying out loud, just spit it out.” She made a rolling gesture with her hand. “What’s the worst that could happen? You’ve already been fired.”

He waited so long to say something that she thought he was going to just ignore her, but finally he took a slow breath and spoke in the low, even tones of suppressed anger. “Your job is what you do. Not who you are.Everyoneis much more than what they do. Even you.” He looked away. “And even if you never sang again, your family would very much care if something happened to you.”

She didn’t miss the hitch in his voice when he said the word family. There was pain buried underneath the lecture. She studied the side of his face. The tension had spread from his jaw down to his shoulders, and there was something strained around his eyes.

“Look, maybe…”

Ward suddenly leaned forward to stare out the windshield as the driver pulled up to the guard house at Piper’s gate.

One of Piper’s former security team, a beefy guy named Todd who usually had a ready smile, poked his head out the window and gave a nod. “Just a sec. Power to the gate shorted out. Have to move it by hand.”

The driver looked over his shoulder at Ward. “Should I get out and help?”

“No. Stay with her.” Ward shot her a warning look as he got out of the car. “Stay here. Lock the doors.”

He slammed the door and strode over to Todd with a grim look on his face.

He acted like they were about to be attacked by a swarm of rabid tourists or something. It was silly. That kind of thing never happened in this neighborhood. It was just a malfunctioning gate.

What if’s danced through her head. A chill ran through her.

Della reached over and clicked the door lock.

Greg’s SUV pulled up behind them, blocking the drive from the street. Greg got out and jogged over to Ward and Todd.

The three men huddled in the glow of the headlights.

Todd flicked a wave at the guard house. Ward shook his head and pointed at the pole near the gate. She could pick out Ward’s clipped, intense tones through the closed car windows, but she couldn’t make out the words.

Going by the look on his face, he was angry. No. Frustrated, maybe.

He probably thought the broken gate meant an invasion and he probably blamed Todd for it. It was his job to think in worst-case scenarios, but damn it was exhausting to always be on high alert.

Ward pulled out his phone and typed something, then he and Greg helped Todd push the gate open. He gestured for the driver to keep going while he helped close the gate again after they passed through.

Della watched the gate through the back window as her driver pulled through and headed for the house. “Josh…what was that all about?”

“It’s hinkey.” Josh glanced in the rearview mirror, then sped up a little. “We checked the gate this afternoon and it was fine, and it’s got battery backup, so it shouldn’t matter if the power goes out. I’m sure they’ll look into the why and when of it.”

“It just glitched. No big deal.” She shook her head as if to deny the growing sense of something’s wrong that lurched its way from her stomach to her chest.

“Maybe.” He dropped her off at the door and waited for her to go inside before pulling away.

Just inside the door, the tell-tale scent of pepperoni and cheese beckoned. She found some of the night shift security team standing around three large open boxes of pizza. Della’s mouth watered. “Oh my God, give me a slice. I’m starving.”

“Hey, Della,” one said. She didn’t know his name, but she liked the dimple in his chin and the sparkle in his eyes. He was shorter than the rest, and a little wider, and she bet he’d be a lot of fun when he wasn’t trying to look good for her warden.

Another, a blonde muscled guy she thought went by Brent, or maybe Bob, saluted her with a slice. “Thanks for this, Della. It really made our night.”

“Uh, you’re welcome?” Strange. She hadn’t sent the pizza. Maybe the stage manager had. Or Ward.

No. He’d never do something that nice.

Except that one time he had Annie and Spencer bring you ice cream, a little voice in the back of her head taunted.

The man was full of contradictions. One minute, he was thoughtful and almost kind, the next he was Rambo or that guy fromDie Hardand the world was about to end.