When she looked up, Greer was standing at the door to her bedroom. Geez, he filled that doorframe, too.
“What happened?” he asked, frowning at her.
“Nothing.”
“You’re not packed.”
Packing. Right. Wait—was this a test? If she went with him, would the university make good on its threat to put her on leave without waiting out the two weeks?
“I’m not going with you.” She wasn’t going to give up on her work, but she couldn’t toss her job away either.
His eyes hardened. “I don’t recall giving you an option. You called me for help, remember?”
“I’m going to lose my job, Greer.”
“That’s unfortunate.” He looked around for a suitcase, looking in her closet, under her bed. Not finding one, he straightened. “But better that than your life. It doesn’t matter a whole helluva lot whether you come with me as you are, or if you pack a couple changes of clothes. Either way, you’re going to be out of this house in five minutes.”
She stood. “I don’t take orders from you.”
His mouth formed a thin line. “Have it your way.”
He bent and slung her over his shoulder. The room spun as he turned for the door. She pushed up from his back. His body felt like a carved totem pole beneath her hands.
“Set me down. Now.” She straightened in his arms. He held her with an arm around her legs, supported her with a hand at the small of her back as she glared down at him.
“You gonna pack?” he asked.
She studied his eyes. He slowly lowered her to her feet, slipping her body the long way down his. She stepped back, putting a foot of empty air between them. “What, exactly, is going to happen where we’re going?”
He locked his jaw. His nostrils flared. God, his eyes were hard. He looked at his watch. “Three minutes.”
She shook her head, then pivoted on her heel and headed for her bedroom. She opened a drawer and pulled out some underclothes, which she dumped on the bed. She went to her closet and selected some tops. From a shelf, she tossed out a couple pairs of jeans.
“Greer!” a man called out from downstairs.
Her eyes shot toward Greer, wondering who it was, if more trouble had just hit her doorstep.
“Up here,” Greer answered. He pointed to her growing pile of clothes. “Focus,” he ordered.
Two men came up the stairs, taking the steps three at a time. She couldn’t follow Greer’s edict once she set eyes on them. Both were about the same height as Greer. One was blond, the other with olive skin and dark hair. Both were dressed head to toe in black attire—black beanie, black tee, black cargo pants, black boots. With Greer, the three of them took up the entire upper landing area.
Weren’t they among those she’d seen last night at the village?
The blond one grinned as he looked at her, some kind of automatic weapon in his hands, angled downward. He grinned at her.
Greer moved to block the door. “Glad you’re here. They took out her front and back doors. The crew should be here shortly to get them fixed. Seal this place up before you leave.”
“Roger that.”
Remi realized she was standing on her tiptoes to peek over the side of Greer’s arm. The blond guy could have been a model. On steroids. The darker guy’s features were carved from granite. His rough shadow beard did nothing to soften his features. His eyes regarded her as if she were an enemy. If a warrior robot became human, he would be this man.
Greer glanced over his shoulder at her, then moved a quarter turn to include her in their conversation.
“Val, Angel, you remember Dr. Remington Chase.” She nodded at the men. “They’ll be securing your house until the doors are repaired.”
She looked from the men up to Greer, feeling a strange mix of relief and concern. Deciding to tamp her fear down, she nodded. “Thank you,” she said, in a way that included all of them. Then she stepped away from the door and continued gathering the things she’d need for an indefinite stay away from home.
“Owen wants you to take her to Mandy’s,” one of the men told Greer.
Who was Owen? Geez, were there more of them? She started to stuff her clothes into a suitcase she retrieved from a cabinet in her closet. The night at the village had been a blur of terror and panic when Greer and his friends caught up with her; she couldn’t quite remember how many men had been standing around her car.
She wheeled her large suitcase out into the hallway where Greer was waiting. “Got everything?” he asked.
“I guess so. It’s not like I can’t come back and get something if I forgot it.”
He didn’t respond to that, making her think her statement was more of a question than a possibility. He lifted her suitcase and went downstairs, then paused at the door. The dark one was there.
“Give your car keys to Angel,” Greer ordered her. “He’ll bring your vehicle up when they come back.”
Remi looked over at the half-moon table in the foyer where her keys lay. “Um. No. I’ll drive my car. I’ll follow you.”
“Negative. You’re with me.” Greer picked up the keys from the table and handed them to Angel. “Your car in the garage?”
Her gaze bounced between the two men. She nodded.
Greer pulled her dented front door open, letting the night air into the foyer. Its cool touch matched the cold panic knotting her insides. She was in way over her head. And she was just going along with it. She wanted to run. She wanted to fight. She’d long ago told herself she would never again be subject to the edicts of madmen, yet here she was, letting one make critical decisions on her behalf.