by Juanita Kees
‘His game plan keeps changing,’ Mark warned. ‘I never thought he’d do anything to harm anyone in this town. Looks like he’s crazier than I gave him credit for.’
‘I’m not going anywhere until this is over.’
He’d let Peta down before. He’d been handed an opportunity to right his wrongs, one he wished wasn’t necessary. What would he have done had that bullet struck home and killed Peta? But if what Mark was saying was true, the bullet might have been meant for him. He shuddered at the thought. It was the least he could do to protect her from this maniac and if that meant helping put Paul Price away for life, he wasn’t walking until it was over.
Mark blew out a breath. ‘He’s taken this to the next level. Once we know for sure what we’re up against, I’ll fill you in. I think you should stay here tonight. It’ll be safest. I can’t risk him taking a third shot at you.’
‘He wouldn’t be the first to. But I get that he won’t try again here at the hotel. Too public, too risky.’
‘Exactly. Don’t let Peta anywhere near the doors or windows. You and Harold can take shifts to keep an eye on her. Once we have a lead on Price, we’ll know where we’re at. Meanwhile, I’ll pick up your gear and drop it off after I’ve made my report. For now, though, get some sleep. Harold will take the first shift.’
Harold returned to the room at the tail end of his words and scowled at Jaime. ‘I’ve organised another suite. Is it really necessary that pretty boy here stays?’
‘Since he has a target painted on his back … yes. Your only concern here tonight is ensuring Peta’s safety. The sooner we get this over with the better it is for everyone. We need all the help we can get. So play nice, boys.’
‘I don’t play nice with arseholes. I’ll start moving our stuff across the hall.’
As Harold turned on his heel and walked away, Mark smiled apologetically at Jaime. ‘Harold has a soft spot for Peta,’ he explained. ‘He was on the emergency response unit when Peta’s troubles first began. Before he turned to the hard stuff, Price used to get really drunk and get stuck into Peta. Harold was on duty a few times when he beat up on her, but she wouldn’t press charges. If he gets hold of Paul Price before I do, it’s highly likely the man won’t live to stand trial.’
‘I’m right behind him and it’s a race as to who gets there first.’ Jaime shook his head. ‘What about your parents? Why didn’t they do something about it?’
‘They didn’t know. Peta tried hard to keep it from them. Dad was sick with lung cancer. He didn’t have long to go. Mum had her hands full taking care of him.’ Mark sighed. ‘If he’d done a really bad number on her, she wouldn’t go home to visit until the bruises healed. Things got worse after Bella was born. He was extremely jealous of her.’
‘Why didn’t she leave him?’ Jaime asked.
‘That’s the thing most people don’t get. Victims caught up in the cycle of an abusive relationship seldom can leave. For many reasons. Price had some pretty scary buddies. He threatened to use his connections, and he has. I think she also had some misguided feeling that she owed it to him to stay. He rescued her at a pretty bad time in her life.’
‘Owed him for what?’ Jaime interrupted again.
Mark shrugged. ‘That’s not my business to tell. She finally decided to seek a divorce when he pulled a knife on her. Twenty stitches later, she decided that she was putting herself and her child at risk if she stayed. The violence was escalating. It took a lot of spunk to make the move. Peta thought she had her security, the evidence against him—until he got desperate. He needed that evidence so he kidnapped Bella, putting him back in control.’
Jaime buried his head in his hands, suddenly feeling very tired. ‘She has been through a nightmare, hasn’t she? If only I’d stuck by her, none of this would have happened. The military seemed like a good way to put distance between us, give her room to grow. A lifetime of hell for Peta and it’s my fault.’
Mark put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. ‘It’s not your fault, Jaime. This is your chance to build a new relationship. Don’t let it start on the ruins of an old one. Life doesn’t give many second chances, don’t blow it.’ He stood. ‘I have to get down to the station to put through the report of your run in with Paul and sort out what happened here tonight. Peta won’t be happy when she finds you here in the morning. I know she’ll kick up a stink when she finds out you’re part of the search party. I think I’ll leave you to handle that.’ He grinned as he strode towards the door. ‘Even I’m not that brave.’
Jaime shook his head. If only that was all they had to worry about. ‘Coward.’
‘Too right, mate. I’ve copped a few cuffs to the ear over the years I’m sure were meant for you.’ Mark walked out the door, locking it behind him.
Jaime shook his head and set off to make peace with Harold. He found him securing the covers around Peta. Harold looked up as Jaime approached the foot of the bed to study Peta as she slept.
‘I’ve moved most of the stuff across the hall. Suite 204. I’m about to move Peta.’ He held out a room key and loomed over Jaime, his bulk intimidating to anyone who didn’t know he had the heart of a teddy bear. ‘You hurt her again, Jaime Caruso, and I’ll rip your head off and shove it up your arse. This kid’s had more than her fair share of unhappiness and I plan to make sure it doesn’t happen again once this ordeal is over.’ The big man’s voice was a low growl. ‘Peta is like family to me. She’s been through enough. Don’t put her through any more. If you’re not planning to stick around for good, get out now.’
Jaime tucked the key into his pants pocket. ‘Relax, Harold. I know the score. If I stuff up again, you have my permission to bounce my arse right out of here.’
‘Don’t tempt me.’
Jaime looked at Peta, her hair splayed across the pillow. Even in sleep she was restless. A frown drew her brows together and dark circles shadowed the skin under her eyes. ‘I try not to make the same mistake twice.’ He’d spent too many years regretting making it once. ‘I’ll be careful. You want me to carry her?’
Harold’s filthy look said ‘no’ really clearly.
‘Fine. I’ll get the door for you.’
Jaime walked out of the room, stepped across the hall and opened the door to Suite 204. He had to prove himself first. He got that. Moving into the suite, he walked into the main bedroom and pulled back the covers, ready for Harold to put Peta to bed.
The big man strode past him and settled her down. She stirred before snuggling back down again without opening her eyes. Rest was the best thing for her. Jaime sighed and went in search of a place to sleep.
Thank God for Harold and Mark who’d been there for Peta when she’d needed them. It could have been a whole lot worse if they weren’t. What kind of a man raised his hand to a woman and beat her so badly she ended up in an emergency room? The same kind of man who’d steal a child and use her to get what he wanted. A man he’d like to see dead because jail time would be too easy on him.
He closed the door on the suite and locked it before making himself as comfortable as possible on the sofa. His feet hung over the edge and the cushions were old and soft with a slightly musty smell. Sleep wouldn’t come easily tonight and it wouldn’t only be from an uncomfortable, lumpy old sofa. Guilt ate into his mind like acid from a slow feed drip. If he’d had the balls to take what he wanted years ago, Peta’s life could have been very different.
Chapter 6
Jaime awoke three hours later to Peta screaming. He leaped up, wincing as his cramped muscles contracted. Ignoring the searing pain, he sprinted to Peta’s room. The sheets crumpled beneath her as she tossed about in her sleep, crying out. He put his arm under her neck to lift and cradle her against his shoulder.
‘It’s okay, baby, you’re dreaming. Wake up, Peta,’ he said, gently shaking her shoulder. ‘Peta, open your eyes.’
Harold burst through the door. ‘What the hell? What are you doing, Caruso?’
Jaime looked up at him. Harold had
one hand on his holster and a murderous look on his face. ‘Easy, tiger. She’s having a nightmare. I’m trying to wake her up.’
Harold let his hand drop and moved to the small bathroom. He returned with a glass of water. ‘Here.’
Jaime held the cool liquid against her lips and dribbled the water lightly through the narrow opening of her lips. ‘Where were you anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be on duty?’
‘What, a man can’t take a piss now? Who put you in charge?’
‘You could have woken me to take over. How hard would that have been?’
‘It wasn’t necessary. Don’t tell me how to do my job. Where were you for the last decade, arsehole?’
Jaime bit back a response as the barb hit home.
‘Stop it. Stop fighting,’ Peta whispered. ‘Please.’
Jaime hugged her closer, resting his cheek on her soft, silky head. ‘It’s okay, honey. We’re here. You’re safe.’
She looked up at him again, clutching his shirt, the sadness in her eyes so intense he felt his own eyes burn. ‘I’m so afraid. He has my little girl, Jaime. I know what he can do.’
‘We’ll find them, I promise. She’ll be fine.’ He hoped to God he was right.
‘What if we don’t?’
Jaime glanced at Harold as he eased her back down onto the pillows. ‘We won’t give up until we do. You’ve got the best team on it. Try and get some sleep, honey.’
‘Stay with me. Please. I just need you to hold me. Every time I close my eyes …’
Jaime looked at Harold again who shrugged. ‘A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.’ Then he walked out.
One point in his favour. He slipped under the covers and, taking her back into his arms, spooned her comfortably against his chest. It felt so good, he thought, so right. It felt like coming home.
Dawn broke through the blinds and Jaime stirred, reluctant to open his eyes in case last night had been another dream. He breathed deeply. Nope, not a dream. He would recognise Peta’s perfume anywhere. It still haunted him every night.
Opening his eyes, Jaime allowed his gaze to wander over Peta’s sleeping form. She’d turned to face him in the night—the longest night of their lives. Her hand rested at his waist. The cool cotton of her shirt caressed his heated skin. No, not her shirt, his shirt—the one she’d gone home in that last night they’d been together. Well worn—like she wore it often. Gently he rubbed his chin against her hair, picked up the silky strands and let them fall through his fingers. She still used the same shampoo. The smell was so familiar.
Jaime hugged her closer against him for a second before he levered his arm out from beneath her and laid her back against the pillow beside him. She mumbled in protest as her hand slipped from his waist and reached out to rest it on his chest instead. He propped himself up on his arm to look down at her, anchoring her hand against his heart. How badly he wanted to set things straight. But that couldn’t happen until her little girl was safe and her mind was at ease again. If he could give her anything in the world, he’d give her that.
A knock at the door and the welcome smell of coffee announced the arrival of Harold. He took in the intimacy of the scene as he held the mug out to Jaime. ‘Sedatives make her fuzzy. She hates having to take them. If I were you, I’d get out of here before she wakes up. She’s not likely to remember asking you to keep her company.’
The hostility was absent in his tone but the wariness remained in his narrowed gaze. Jaime met his look with a defiant one of his own and removed the tangled sheet from his waist. Thank God he’d kept his boxer shorts on or Harold might have cause to hurt him. His body clearly betrayed that Peta still had power over his hormones, and the danger they were in hadn’t diluted it.
Harold turned away, but not before Jaime caught the hint of a smile in his eyes. ‘Need a cold shower, arsehole?’ he asked.
‘A joke, Harold? Don’t tell me you’re lightening up. And what? Arsehole’s my name now? Just as well you make good coffee,’ he answered with a mock salute of the mug as he made his way out the door.
In the outer room of the suite, Jaime stretched his cramped muscles. He could hear the muffled conversation from the bedroom as Peta awoke. A knock at the door to the suite made him start and almost spill his coffee.
‘It’s me,’ Mark called out through the wood and Jaime crossed over to open the door. ‘Special delivery. Your shaving gear.’ Mark eyed the stubble on Jaime’s jaw. ‘And boy, do you need it. Some clean clothes and breakfast.’ He held up the gym bag first and then the brown paper bag.
Jaime shook his head. ‘Why the hell are you so chirpy so early in the morning?’ he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.
A dull thud beat behind his eyes and he could only blame it on lack of sleep and too much happening the night before. He wasn’t used to being stabbed, shot at or confronted by a past he’d worked so hard to bury. Either way he’d bleed. And holding Peta in his arms again. If only the circumstances could have been different.
Mark popped muffins from the paper bag into the microwave and set the timer. ‘Go and shower. You’ll feel better for it. Make it quick. Cold muffins taste shit.’
Jaime picked up his kit and headed in the direction of the shower. He soaped himself and washed his hair then allowed the warm water to rinse his body, enjoying the invigorating spray as it battered away the numbness of sleep. Turning the water off, he reached around the curtain for a towel and realised there wasn’t one.
‘Damn. Mark, bring me a towel please, mate?’ A few seconds later the door opened and he swept the curtain aside. But it wasn’t Mark who stood there.
The towel slipped from Peta’s hands as she stared at his damp nakedness. ‘Oh.’ Then surprise and the flicker of heat in her eyes faded to irritation. ‘Why are you still here? Didn’t I ask you to go?’
Clearly Mark and Harold had been right. She wasn’t pleased that he’d stayed. Apparently she didn’t remember him holding her close all night either. That shouldn’t hurt so much. ‘Yes, right before you asked me to stay. Your brother filled me in on a few details and I chose not to go after all.’
‘You had no problem leaving before.’
Now that he knew what put the edge on her words, he could let that one go to the keeper. ‘Not this time.’
‘Then you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.’ She picked up the towel she’d dropped and shoved it into his hands. ‘Mark and Harold went out to get some more milk. Here’s your towel.’
Quickly, he wrapped it around his waist because damn it, his body remembered hers even if she didn’t remember his. ‘Thanks.’ The bathroom suddenly seemed even smaller. He had no choice but to stand close in the tiny cubicle, absorbing her body heat. ‘You should go.’ Before he forgot all the reasons he shouldn’t take her in his arms and kiss her like he meant it.
Peta’s gaze roamed across the coarse curls plastered damply to his chest before she cleared her throat and looked away, blushing.
Jaime’s gaze dropped to her slim, shapely legs bare below the hemline of his shirt. His shirt. Damned if it didn’t make his heart sing that she still wore it, never mind kept it all these years. He swallowed as his gaze wandered up, taking in her sleep-tousled hair, her lovely flushed face. Closing his eyes, he inhaled her essence, his body responding as heat spread through him.
Jaime wanted to hold her so badly, to feel her warmth against him like he had during the night. He groaned inwardly at the mental images his thoughts provoked. His arms ached with restraint as his hands gripped the front of the towel which barely concealed his desire. The need to hold her, kiss her, won as his eyes opened to search her face. He reached out to ease her closer.
‘Jaime,’ she whispered, searching his face.
He read the uncertainty in her eyes. ‘One kiss. Only one. To see if you taste the same as I remember.’
Even as he promised it, he knew it wouldn’t be enough. He tugged her against him, his arms going around her to hold her closer, loose enough for her to
wiggle out of, yet tight enough to ask her to stay. On tiptoe, she reached for his lips. He met her halfway, his mouth soft on hers, the lightest touch a request for more.
When she whimpered and burrowed closer, the towel the only barrier between them, he gave her more. His mouth played on hers, his tongue teasing as his hand cupped her bottom and he held her closer. Oh Lord, he remembered how good her naked skin felt against his. Her fingers grazed down his side, leaving a trail of fire in their wake, found the towel and tugged to loosen it.
The slamming of the front door made them jump apart. Peta’s hand flew to her lips, her cheeks pink, her gaze hot on his.
‘Peta? Where are you?’
Jaime’s mind snapped to full alert as he heard Mark’s footsteps move closer. He grasped the top of the towel with one hand and patted her bottom with the other. ‘Your brother’s timing sucks as always.’
‘I’d say that’s not a bad thing.’
‘I won’t apologise.’
‘I didn’t ask you to.’ She dropped her hands to her side. ‘But it won’t happen again.’
Damned if she wasn’t right, but he didn’t need to like it. ‘I make no promises.’
Her eyes turned sad. ‘You never did.’
And that truth hit him square in the chest and made him feel two feet tall and every inch the arsehole Harold had chosen to identify him by. ‘I was an idiot.’
She turned towards the door and her silence said it all. She didn’t have to agree with him. When this madness was over, they’d talk it through, sort it out, maybe stand a second chance.
‘Hey, Peta?’
She stopped in the doorway. ‘Yeah?’
‘Shirt’s wet.’
She looked down at her chest imprinted with his shape. ‘Damn you, Jaime Caruso.’
There was no anger in her words as she made a dash for her bedroom. Jaime set about the task of shaving. At least now he knew she wasn’t immune. Under her cool facade, the flame was still very much alive.