Dark Abyss by Kaitlyn O'Connor (top fiction books of all time txt) 📗

she finally recognized the other man as Joshua.

She stared at them curiously as they exchanged hand signals and then Caleb turned back to her and gestured with his hand for her to follow.

Trying to decide whether she should be alarmed or not, she grabbed her nightgown and snatched it over her head, and then followed the two men. They left by way of her greenhouse, which did alarm her since it was clear that was the way they’d entered the house.

When they reached the edge of the yard, both men dove in. She was staring at the water when they surfaced again and Caleb motioned to her once more. She shook her head. She’d had enough of the mystery! No way was she getting in that cold water!

Caleb shot out of the water and caught her before she’d managed more than a few steps back toward the house. That time instead of simply diving in, he took her with him.

If she’d had time to scream, she would’ve. She only managed to suck in a sharp breath, however, before they hit the water and plunged beneath the surface and then she felt him pulling her with him as he moved deeper into the water away from her platform.

She struggled to break free but discovered very quickly that wasn’t an option. It took her five minutes of gasping to catch her breath when they finally surfaced. Shoving her hair out of her face, she turned to look at Caleb with murder in her eyes.

“The house is bugged—end to end. We couldn’t talk in there.”

The comment took the wind out of her. “What do you mean bugged?”

“I scanned the house while Caleb ….”

Anna felt her face redden when Joshua broke off, and a sinking sensation as it occurred to her to wonder if that had been a plan—to keep her occupied. “Scanned the house and found bugs?”

“Electronic transmitters, video and sound feed.”

Anna’s eyes widened. “Somebody’s been … Somebody …!”

“I doubt it was just somebody,” Caleb said tightly. “Did you notice any signs that anyone had been in the house when you came back?”

Anna stared at him blankly, still trying to digest the fact that someone had been watching her every move. Finally, she shook her head.

Joshua and Caleb exchanged a look. “We didn’t either, but then we aren’t familiar with the house. You’re sure everything seemed as you left it?”

Anna frowned, trying to think if she’d noticed anything at all that might have been moved or shifted. “I’m pretty sure,” she said finally.

“That means it’s been there a while. You leased the house yourself?”

“It belongs to the company,” Anna responded weakly, feeling ill.

“So … maybe they like to keep up with their researchers.”

“Or it could’ve been specifically for me. That’s what you’re saying, right?”

“Cavendish was gone when we finally got around to looking for him,” Caleb said pointedly.

Anna turned and looked back at her house. “Did you take them out?”

“That would alert them to the fact that we’d discovered them,” Joshua said.

She glanced at him. “And why don’t we want to do that?”

“It’s standard procedure. If we take them out or disable them, they know we’re on to them and then they … act.”

Anna shivered.

Caleb sent Joshua a hard look. “It’s possible they’ve been there since the previous occupant and it’s nothing more than the company keeping an eye on their investment.”

“But … he said they were everywhere! Are they in my bedroom? My bathroom?”

“I didn’t check.”

Anna pointed at the house. “Well go check, damn it!”

“Calm down, Anna,” Caleb said soothingly.

“I am perfectly calm!” she snapped. “I can’t stay in that house with some …pervert peeping at me!”

The two men exchanged a look. “We came to plant some of our own so we could keep an eye on you,” Caleb admitted.

She stared at him for a long moment before it finally sank in that it was the surveillance she’d asked for—begged for. And she didn’t like that any better!

“We can’t stay in the house and guard you,” Caleb said as if he’d read her thoughts. “The electronic surveillance is so that we’ll be alerted if there’s any threat so that we can come.”

She still didn’t like it! “You’ll be listening in and watching me? You two?

Nobody else?”

“Baby, we aren’t going to be much use to you if we don’t get some sleep sometime,” Caleb said reasonably. “Someone will have to spell us at some point.”

“Why can’t one of you sleep while the other watches and then change places?”

she asked plaintively.

“Because we’ll be stationed in the sub so we can be close and there’s no place to sleep.”

Anna hated to be completely unreasonable, but she liked the idea of one of them sleeping with her—between her and the door—a lot better. “How did you get in?” she asked abruptly.

“The same way we came out. The lock’s faulty.”

“Oh! That’s just wonderful! Is that the way you all came in before?”

They exchanged a look.

“I’ll never sleep a wink with the house wide open! Anybody could come in!”

“Except we’ll be watching,” Caleb pointed out, “and we’re less than five minutes from your place.”

That made her feel a little better, but not much! “So I’m just supposed to pretend I don’t know I’m being watched?”

“We don’t know that anyone’s on the other end,” Joshua said. “We’re going to try to track it and see what we can find out.”

Relieved, Anna smiled at him a little tentatively.