Page 65 of Isabelle’s Forbidden Love

“Is she okay? Did something happen to her?” True concern colored Benjamin’s voice.

“Lydia’s all right.”

“Then why—”

“Isabelle’s got her car.”

“I’m on it.”

Cooper heard him typing on a keyboard. “Are you at Scanguards right now?”

“No, I’m still at home.” A moment later, he added, “Here it is. Your sister’s BMW is parked at Grayson’s loft.”

“Ok. I’ll meet you there. Wait for me. Don’t go in on your own, but if you get there before me, make sure nobody leaves the place. Block the garage with your car.”

“On my way.”

33

Isabelle was awake all of a sudden, and she was alone in bed. A glance at the clock next to the bed told her that she’d slept for almost three hours since she and Orlando had gotten back to the condo below Grayson’s. After returning from Ines Taylor’s home in Oakland, whom they’d left with the dozen or so boxes Isabelle had brought back from the storage unit, they’d decided to rest for a little while so they would be fresh once Ines send them a photo of Dennis LaRuson.

But it wasn’t easy to simply rest and sleep with a man like Orlando so close to her. They’d made love, before they’d both finally fallen asleep.

Isabelle listened to the sounds in the loft, and heard the water running in the shower. She smiled. Joining Orlando in the shower was exactly what she needed now. She sat up and got out of bed, ready to walk out of the bedroom, when she heard a faint noise coming from outside.

She quickly went to the window and peeked through the blinds. Outside in front of the garage were two cars blocking the entrance, two cars she knew all too well. Fuck! What were they doing here? Still naked, she rummaged through her travel bag and put on a fresh pair of pants and a T-shirt, then left the bedroom and walked into the hallway. The door to the bathroom was closed, and the shower was still running, which meant that Orlando couldn’t have heard the cars stopping outside the building, since there was no window in the bathroom.

Without making a sound, she hurried to the entrance door and spied through the peephole—just in time to see Cooper enter her field of vision. She held her breath, expecting him to walk past the door and go upstairs to Grayson’s flat. But he stopped right in front of the door to this flat instead.

He lifted his gaze to the peephole, then leaned in. “I know you’re there, Isa,” he said in a normal volume as if the door wasn’t between them.

Her heart stopped. She didn’t move. How the hell had Cooper figured out where she was hiding?

“Damn it, Isa, open the door. This is important. If you don’t, I’ll open the door myself.”

She knew he wasn’t bluffing. Every Scanguards bodyguard’s training included learning how to pick a lock. Any lock. Grudgingly, she opened the door. She clicked the lock so she couldn’t lock herself out and stepped out into the hallway.

Cooper ran his eyes over her. “Thank God you’re all right. I was worried.”

“How did you find me?”

“The car.”

Fuck! “I made her promise me—”

Cooper lifted his hand. “Lydia kept her word, but I noticed that her car key wasn’t where it normally is. So I figured you’d taken it.”

Relieved that her best friend hadn’t ratted her out, Isabelle nodded. “Sometimes I wish you weren’t that smart. What do you want?”

“There is something you need to know about Orlando. We found—”

“Stop right there! Orlando is being framed. He didn’t kill Hong and he didn’t kill Jessica. I was with him when Jessica was murdered. And—”

“I know that already. And I checked his alibi for the night of Hong’s murder. It’s solid. He didn’t do it.”

Surprised, she let out a breath. “Does that mean you found Dennis LaRuson?”

“Who?”