Mitch by Kathi S. Barton Page A

was
only something that Steele could do for now.
    Nick was talented too, stronger than the rest
save Steele and his wife, but he was gaining more and more daily. Landon
was...he was harder to read than the rest. “Laid back” didn’t really describe
him so much as it was him. Drew was nice, but he was a loner. Hard working, but
didn’t hang out as much as the rest did in any kind of group setting. Hugh had
a chip on his shoulder was the only way she thought to describe him. Not
against them or even her, but people in suits. He simply hated them all. Vinnie
wondered if there was something there that no one knew about.
    As she made her way to the lower levels with Mitch
at her side, she thought about all the turns and twists she’d found when they’d
gone exploring the house last night. The doorway that had been in her study had
not been the only doorway, of course, but it had been the biggest find so far. She
paused outside her rooms when they reached them.
    “There is a direct route to here. You think
that’s what they were looking for?” Mitch asked her what they could do to her
once they made it this far. “Nothing if they can’t get in, but my father could,
couldn’t he?”
    “Yes. But I don’t think he can do much more
than...can you open the door from the inside? Or is there a combination nearby
that he can give to someone on this side?” She told him no, it was opened on
either side by fingerprints, hers. “I see. Then there might be a way for him to
make it work. This is...I’m only guessing here, but he could take your body for
a minute or two once he was in your room. It would drain him, but he could do
it, then take you to the door and open it by placing your hand over the reader.
Like I said, it would drain him, but he’d be in here with you. And if your mom
is in on this, and I have no doubt that she is, then she could enter, kill you,
and that would be the end of it. Why though?”
    “I have no idea.” And she didn’t either. Going
into the bedroom suite, she showed him around. There was as much floor space on
this level as there was on the one above her. And she used very little of it,
she just realized. But having Mitch there with her made her think that they
might from now on.
    There was a bedroom, as well as a huge
bathroom with a shower and tub. There were several walk-in closets, but only a
few of them had any actual clothing in them. A living room with a computer was set
up in one corner, as well as a landline phone that she could use if the service
to the house was blocked. She did have cell service down here, but if the power
was off for any length of time that would be useless as well.
    There were no windows to let the sunshine in,
only one more exit that didn’t use the door she showed him now, a large storage
of old books, and the vault she’d had put in when she bought the house. In it
was cash, a great deal of it, her jewelry she’d collected over the years, and
the things her grandmother had given her.
    “I’m going to show you how to get in, then
I’m going to put your prints on this reader. Once you put your hand on it,
you’re going to feel a small pinch. It’s taking a sample of your blood. It’ll
do that every time you use it. It’s a secondary safety that I’ve had put in.”
    He nodded. “Good idea.” As he put his hand
over the reader for her after she’d set it up for him to be added, he smiled at
her. “I won’t come in unless you say it’s okay. I mean, I know how much you’ll
need your—”
    “I want you to come in any time you want. I
want you to treat this house as your own. All the time. Because it is your home
now. As much as it is mine.” He nodded, but she could tell he wasn’t going to. “I
want you to be a part of my life, and that includes this house and the things
we now own together. Like the cars and the other things. There is...Mitch,
you’re my mate, which means that we’re together forever.”
    “Until I die.” She shook her