“You’re smart, Cassandra,” Jack said. “I checked your stuff out—lots of free time in prison. I know you do your research. Even with my case, it wasn’t like you just jumped to the conclusion that I must have murdered Laura Granger. You looked at the evidence, the things you’d seen, and you talked to people… You took all the information that was available and came to the conclusion that it pointed to me being the killer.”
“But you’re insisting that you’re not,” Cassandra pointed out.
“That’s because I know I’m not the killer,” Jack explained. “If I were in your position, hell, I’d probably think I was lying. But you, you keep your mind open and examine shit. You base your opinions on facts, and you never assume anything of anybody. I figured that was a good trait to have in someone who I needed to help me.”
He paused for a moment and Cassandra wondered if that was all he intended to say.
“Other than the NYPD, Laura, and her killer, you’re the only one that knows so much about the case. And obviously, it’s not like I can go to the police; they decided a long time ago that it was me. The system doesn’t work once it’s already convicted you.”
“That makes sense,” Cassandra agreed.
She could see how it had to look for someone like Jack. He could try as hard as he could to get an appeal, but without new evidence no judge was going to grant it, and the police—even the best of them—were not interested in looking like they’d made a mistake and gotten the wrong guy. The whole system was stacked against people once they’d been convicted. Hell, even once they’re accused, Cassandra thought, remembering some of the other cases she had covered in her time at the newspaper. The law was supposed to assume that a person was innocent until proven guilty, but the police assumed that whoever they arrested was guilty of something, and if that happened to be the crime in front of them, so much the better.
“Of course,” Jack added, “it doesn’t hurt at all that you’re hot as a five-alarm fire.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Okay,” Cassandra said, glancing in the rearview mirror, “explain to me why we’re going back into Manhattan, where tons of cops are no doubt still looking for you?”
Good question, Jack thought. He had been considering the issue of the police ever since he’d given up on the idea of Riley being involved in framing him. He couldn’t think of any way around it, they were going to be taking a big risk.
“The next name on my list,” he said simply. “A guy named Lenny.”
“So if Riley’s supposed beef with you was that you destroyed his relationship, what’s the deal with this Lenny guy?”
Jack stretched against the seat cushions, remembering the man’s sallow, discontented face. It was easy to picture Lenny the way he’d seen him last: dirty and disheveled, bruised from a rough takedown, screaming obscenities as Jack led him into the police station.
“He’s one of my bounties,” Jack explained. “It’s been a little while now since I caught him, but he’d definitely want my guts for garters.”
“What was he arrested for?”
Jack combed his fingers through his hair, yawning as the car swayed on the road. “Drugs,” he said. “He was a big guy in…used to be coke, but by the end he’d graduated to meth. And a little pot, on the side, I think.” He shook his head. “He was arrested after being set up in a sting operation. He managed to make bail, but of course, idiot that he is, tried to dodge the trial.”
“In your case, they didn’t let you out on bail because they figured you’d run, and as a bounty hunter, you’d know better than the usual criminal how to evade the cops,” Cassandra said.
Jack shrugged. “It was a fair assessment. I wouldn’t have split, though.” He laughed bitterly. “That was still when I was convinced that the legal system worked the way it should, nine times out of ten at least. I figured there was no point running and implicating myself when I knew I was innocent. And surely my lawyer would be able to prove I didn’t do it, right?” He let out another laugh, shaking his head.
“So, why would Lenny—of all the people you’ve taken down—set you up? I mean, if you’re going with former bounties, there’s got to be at least a dozen more candidates, right?”
Jack shifted onto his side, tilting his head enough to catch a glimpse through the windows. They were still on the Interstate, but then they’d driven hours away from the city to get to Riley.
“He’s a scumbag,” Jack told her. “A real rat. I know Riley turned out to be a pretty decent guy...” Jack paused and considered for a moment. “But Lenny is a total bastard. He told me when I was bringing him in that he’d do whatever it took to get back at me.”
“But you’ve got to hear that all the time,” Cassandra insisted.
“You get it a lot of threats, in my line of work,” Jack agreed. “Nobody running away from the law wants to be caught, and they run for all kinds of reasons you wouldn’t want to hear about. But Lenny…he had a history of his enemies conveniently ending up either dead or having the dime dropped on them.
“After I handed him over, they took him in, but he was out again real quick. Fancy legal team or something—justice works if you can pay for it. But I heard through the grapevine that he’s fallen on hard times since then.” Jack shrugged, bringing his arm up to cushion his head. “Even if he could have walked out of that courtroom a free man, he’d want me dead, just for fucking up his escape. Now that he’s out, and not doing well, he probably blames me for screwing his life up, and wants to get even.”
Jack pressed his lips together, thinking back to hunting down Lenny; taking him down where he’d hidden—in a church, for crying out loud.
“Where did you hear about him being on hard times?”
Jack smiled bitterly. “Prison. Where else? A ton of his associates are in there. That bunch might not be the most reliable source, but they were the best one I had available to me.” Jack rubbed at the stubble on his cheeks and jaw. “They told me he’s holed up somewhere, doesn’t get out much nowadays. Like I said, he’s not smart. I can bet he’s lying low in the hole he was living in before his life went to shit. Finding him shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“Well, you’re in charge,” Cassandra said nervously.
Jack looked up into the driver’s seat and watched her in profile for a few moments. “I’d bet good money that Lenny was involved in this somehow,” he said. He snorted, remembering the payout he’d gotten for Lenny, back when he’d captured the scheming, thieving rat. “I don’t know if he was the one who actually killed Laura, but it’s good odds that he had something to do with framing me.”
“If he’s on the list, you do what you need to do, I guess…”
Jack smiled to himself, turning his face towards the seat cushions to hide the expression in case she decided to look into the back. She’s tougher than she seems, he thought. In a different situation… He let the thought break off, suppressing even the slightest hope that if they’d met in different circumstances, something could have happened between them…
Keep your head in the game, Jack. Focus on what you need to be doing here. She’s hot, she’s capable, and she knows the facts. She’s not your girlfriend.
Chapter Fourteen
Cassandra looked up at the enormous buildings that surrounded them, forming a canyon of concrete, steel and glass. The building Jack had guided her to was not at all the sort she would expect someone to be “holed up” in—it was one of the grandest high-rise residences in Manhattan.
As they walked toward the entry, Cassandra could see guards dotted around, at the door and stationed around the lobby. It definitely wasn’t a promising situation; she couldn’t imagine that there was any decrease in security in the rest of the building.
“What are we going to do?”
Jack smiled slightly, leading Cassandra passed the entrance, toward the next building down, before turning sharply down the adjoining alley.
“They always forget about the roof,” he said simply,
gesturing to the fire escape ladder system along the exterior of the neighboring building. The area near the dumpsters was deserted. Cassandra wrinkled her nose at the stench coming from the garbage nearby.
Jack reached up, jumping slightly to catch the bottom of the ladder to tug it down to the ground. Cassandra looked up at their route doubtfully; if she had been fleeing a fire, she was sure it would seem a lot safer than what was behind her, but from the stability of the street, it looked rickety and dangerous. Nonetheless, as Jack started climbing, Cassandra followed, telling herself that if nothing else, it would make for some excellent details in her article.
She lost track of the number of ladder rungs she climbed; a few of the levels had slightly rusty stairs instead of a ladder, which at first seemed more comforting until the wind came up as they got above the fifth floor, and the whole fire escape seemed to tremble.
She looked up ahead and caught sight of Jack’s muscular legs, his firm ass, several feet above her, and as her palms went slick with sweat she told herself to focus; it was not the time to let her mind wander. Falling from the tenth story to crash onto the street below was not the kind of headlines she wanted to make.
“You okay back there?”
“Yeah,” she called up, wondering when Hardy had started being concerned about her welfare.
Cassandra’s mind began to wander again. If Lenny was on Jack’s list, wouldn’t it be a natural thing for the police to stake out the building? Then there was the matter of the security force she had seen on the ground floor—what if they needed to get out in a hurry?
She lifted herself onto a landing and saw that they were nearing the top of the fire escape. Jack had come to a stop, and Cassandra peered up to see what the cause might be, noting that he didn’t seem to be the least bit fatigued by the exercise.
“The last part is going to be tricky,” Jack told her, looking slightly amused.
“What do you mean?”
Jack pointed upward, and Cassandra followed his gesture. Above the stairs, there was a gap, and then a final ladder leading to the roof of the building. Cassandra’s mouth fell open as she took in the size of the gap.
“That can’t be safe.” She glanced down at the corrugated metal beneath her feet and looked through the landing at the ground below.
“They don’t really plan on people being on the roof,” Jack pointed out. “Besides, if you’re going down it’s not nearly as dangerous as trying to get up.”
Cassandra took a slow, deep breath, biting her bottom lip.
“You’re sure this is the best way?” she asked.
Jack nodded. “You should go first,” he told her. “I can help you onto the ladder that way.”
Cassandra looked at him doubtfully for a moment longer, then shrugged. I’m already way too deep in this. It’s not like I can really back out now. She started up the steps, aware of Jack behind her. She thought fleetingly that she could feel his gaze on her back, feel it shifting down to take in her legs, and—for just a moment—her ass.
She put the thought aside. Her throat felt dry and tight, and her heart had begun beating faster in her chest. She turned around carefully, and saw Jack step onto the landing with her.
“Okay,” he said, looking at her intently for a moment. “I’m going to need you to trust me.”
“Oh? Only now? Because this has been such an easy situation so far,” Cassandra said, shivering as her mind played images of her missing the bottom rung and plummeting down countless floors.
“I haven’t killed you yet, have I? Trust me, Cass.”
Cassandra started to tell him not to call her by that nickname, and then decided that it wasn’t the moment for an argument. She was on the last landing before the roof; she might as well get it over with.
“Okay,” she said, exhaling in a gusty sigh. “How are we doing this?”
“You’re going to turn around, get close to the edge, and reach as far as you can. I’m going to boost you up and hold you there until you can get a good grip on the ladder.”
She glanced at Jack doubtfully.
“If you can’t manage it I’ll get you back down onto the landing and we’ll figure something out,” Jack told her firmly. “But this way is easiest.”
Shaking her head, Cassandra turned her back on him. She stepped cautiously towards the edge of the landing, right below the bottom of the ladder, with only a tiny margin of error preventing a long drop to the ground. She gathered up her courage and half-crouched, pushing up on the balls of her feet in a quick jump.
Cassandra’s heart skipped and stuttered in her chest as her feet lost contact with the metal landing. Before she could scream, Jack’s strong hands grabbed at her hip and thigh, holding her in the air. Cassandra forced herself to take a slow, steady breath, and reached up for the third rung on the ladder with both hands. Jack gave her another push, and Cassandra’s foot tapped the bottom rung of the ladder. She pulled her other leg up, reaching for the next rung as she maneuvered into the right position to continue climbing.
Clambering over the edge, Cassandra sank down to the gritty, sandy concrete of the roof, panting slightly. A nagging thought—What about Jack?—entered her mind, but in the very next moment she saw his head pop up above the ledge, saw him pull himself up and over, tumbling to the dirty surface next to her.
“Okay, so we’re up here,” Cassandra said, brushing her hands off on her pants. “How do we get next door?”
“We jump,” Jack said. He grinned as Cassandra stared at him, open mouthed.
“All this just to jump between two buildings and risk smashing ourselves to pieces?”
“I told you, they never think about the roof,” Jack said, lifting himself up onto his feet.
Cassandra looked across the gap between the buildings, her heart starting to beat faster in her chest.
Jack half-smiled, his brilliant eyes glittering with amusement. He reached out and touched her shoulder. The contact sent a little jolt of electric heat through Cassandra’s body that she tried and failed to suppress. She looked out over the edge, thinking she should have known that they would have to jump. Somehow, in the stress and fear of climbing the fire escape, she hadn’t considered it.
“It’s not that far,” Jack added.
“It’s far enough,” Cassandra countered, crossing her arms over her chest as a chill worked its way through her spine.
“I’ll go first,” Jack told her. “Watch how I do it. When you follow, I’ll catch you.”
Cassandra still felt the tingle at her shoulder where Jack had touched her a moment before. She took a deep breath, and finally nodded her acceptance.
Jack stepped away from her, moving back several feet from the edge. He frowned, then took a few more steps backward. Cassandra saw his chest rise and fall with a few deep breaths.
A moment later, Jack took off, running towards the edge of the roof. In seconds, he reached the edge and launched himself forward, arms outstretched. Cassandra’s throat tightened with fear as she watched him travel through the air; everything seeming to slow down. In the next instant, Jack was on the other side of the gap, tumbling a little as he landed.
He stood and brushed himself off, and Cassandra swallowed hard.
Don’t look down. You’ll choke if you do.
Cassandra walked to the spot that Jack had taken off from. Her palms were slick with sweat, her stomach in knots, and her heart pounding in her chest. She saw Jack waiting for her, watching her intently. Cassandra inhaled slowly, closing her eyes as she attempted to suppress the nervous panic welling up inside of her, images of plunging down toward the ground playing through her head.
It’s maybe four, five feet. You can jump that far.
Cassandra took another breath and forced herself forward, starting at a jog and speeding up to a run. She kept her gaze straight ahead, keeping track of the edge of the roof in the bottom of her field of vision.
Reaching the edge, she pushed off, propelling herself forward and biting bac
k the yelp of fear that rose up in her throat. Glancing down for a fraction of an instant, she saw the ground far below her. The next moment, she was nearing the opposite roof and Jack’s hands closed on her waist, his arms coiling tightly around her, swinging her the rest of the way onto the stable concrete. Her heart thundered in her chest, her blood roaring in her ears, as she took shaky breaths to try and clear the adrenaline out of her system.
“Holy shit,” she said finally, realizing she had made it over safely.
“See? You were made for this,” Jack said, giving her a quick smile.
“No. No I wasn’t,” Cassandra said, clenching and unclenching her hands to try and get the feeling back into them. “What happens now?”
“Now we break into the penthouse suite.”
Jack let go of her, and started towards a staircase that led from the roof to the top floor balcony. Cassandra took a moment to gather the tattered remnants of her nerves and followed him onto the stairs, hurrying down behind him.
Jack’s heavy shoes thudded onto the balcony and Cassandra reached the dubious ground a few moments after him, watching as the fugitive looked around for a way in.
“Door’s locked,” he murmured, and Cassandra wasn’t sure whether he was talking to her or to himself.
He stepped to the side and tried the window a few feet away, blocking it with his body so that she couldn’t quite see what he was doing. A moment later, the window opened with a squeal of protest, and Cassandra winced, looking around in the sudden fear that someone must have seen them, that they must have someone on their tail. She looked around, but there was no one on the roof opposite, no one coming down the stairs behind them.
“Here we are,” Jack said. “You go first, I’ll boost you through.”
Cassandra pressed her lips together. “I’ve gone from being a kidnap victim to an accomplice in less than twenty-four hours,” she said, shaking her head. She approached the window, seeing the sill was just below her underarms. “Let me try on my own first.”
Fake It For Me - A Fake Wife Billionaire Romance Page 32