CaughtInTheTrap by Unknown Page B

and you won’t tell me anything.”
    “It’s complicated, Carla.  Until your cousins are located, your life is in danger.”
    “But why?” she asked.  “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
    Zach came in the living room and sat in the chair across from her. “I know you haven’t.  Your cousins are dangerous men, Carla.  The FBI doesn’t pick random people to target.  Once we get involved in a case, it’s because the local police have jurisdictional lines they have to abide by or don’t have the manpower to handle a case of this magnitude.”
    She nodded. “Okay, I understand that.  Except, you’re not with the local FBI, and you said the ATF is also involved. So, whatever Ty and Phil have done is spanning further than Cleveland.  Am I right?”
    He nodded. “Yup.”
    “Those men had foreign accents, Zach.”
    He crossed his leg over his knee. “Let’s talk about that for a minute.  First I’m not some rookie that’s stuck watching you.  I’m an experienced agent.”
    “I never thought you weren’t experienced.  I knew that when I opened my eyes and saw you were the only man left alive in the bus shelter.”
    “You aren’t bothered by what happened?”
    Carla faded under his slanted stare.  Looking for a diversion and finding none, she ran her fingers through her wild hair that had come unraveled from the braided ponytail. “Yes.  I see it every time I close my eyes! I don’t live the kind of life that witnesses violent crimes.  You’ll find this hard to believe but I’ve never touched a gun until yesterday.”
    “That’s not hard to believe.  A lot of people won’t touch a firearm.”
    She shook her head. “No, I’m not into violence period. I hardly see anything violent outside of an argument between couples.  Zach, I didn’t do anything to be in this position. I’m a good citizen. I pay my taxes, go to work and hang out with my best friend for fun. I’m not a criminal.  Whatever my cousins have done, I honestly don’t know what it is or where they are.”
    Carla fixated on the scruff on his jawline that grew thicker with each passing day they were stuck together. They mixed like oil and water, but she found him incredibly handsome in a rugged sort of way.  His masculinity was as enormous as his ego and rough exterior.  Although, she didn’t know him, she couldn’t imagine him any other way.
    Zach flexed his arms as he laced his fingers together causing the tattoos to spread wider across his massive biceps.  A G-Man with exposed tattoos seemed out of place.  Another expectation that she had of FBI agents, that they were to be clean-cut with no visible markings on their bodies.
    He cleared his throat getting her attention. “When you close your eyes what do you see and hear?”
    She closed her eyes to play the movie that wouldn’t stop playing in her head.  Maybe talking about it would put a stop to it finally. “Darkness, fast movement then loud shouts.  I hear my own voice ringing in my ears.  Then, I open my eyes, and I’m sweating with an urge to run away but I have nowhere to go. I’m caged like an animal.”
    Zach curled his lip at one end. “That’s a little dramatic don’t you think?  You’re not behind bars.”
    She opened her eyes and looked at him. “I might as well be. I can’t go outside for fresh air or to feel the sun on my skin.  I’m a people person; I have to have contact with other people.  I like to laugh and enjoy myself; not sit locked in a cabin with a man that can’t stand the sight of me.”
    “There you go with your perceptions of me.  How do you know I don’t enjoy doing those things?”
    She twisted the tiny gold earring in her ear. “For one, you never smile.  And, two you seem mad all the time.  I know Feds have a certain air about them but damn, life can’t be that bad for you.”
    “I have a pretty decent life. But, this isn’t about me.”
    Carla scooted off the couch and stretched the stiffness from her