by Janice Sims
Jeremy didn’t say a thing. His jaw worked as he ground his teeth, a habit he had when he was furious. After a good ten seconds, he tried another tack. He reached into his shirt pocket and retrieved a photograph. He violently thrust it in her face.
“Who the hell is this, Lana?”
Lana didn’t try to hide her surprise. The photo was of her and Ten kissing on the dance floor of the bar and grill last Saturday night. “That’s someone I’m seeing,” she said softly.
Jeremy’s blue eyes narrowed. “I’m dead, and you’re dating seven months later. Who is he?”
“It’s been eight months, and we both know you’re not really dead. It’s none of your business who he is. Anyway, I divorced you.”
“You did what?” Jeremy shouted.
“My lawyer suggested it,” said Lana, beginning to enjoy their conversation. She could see by the veins in his neck that he was angry.
“Grant Robinson?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“He’s always wanted you!” He’d had the good sense to lower his voice again.
“Has he really?” Lana said calmly. “Well, that’s beside the point. He convinced me that it was the only way I could reclaim my life after being abandoned by you, and he was right. I’m getting along fine without you.”
Jeremy took in a deep breath, and said, “Okay, so you were within your rights to divorce me.”
“Damn right I was!”
“Okay, okay, calm down,” he cajoled. “I can see that you’re angry with me for what I did to you. I can apologize, but I don’t think you’d believe me. So, what if we make a deal? You should be compensated for the trouble I’ve put you through. A no-fault divorce is definitely not going to allow you to live in the manner you’ve become accustomed to. But if you give me the locket, I’ll make sure you’ll never have to work again for the rest of your life.”
Lana smiled thoughtfully. “Who needs you? I’ve got the locket. I’m smart, I can figure out why you want it so badly.”
“You don’t have to figure out anything, darling,” Jeremy told her. “Inside of the locket is a safe-deposit-box key. However, it could be the key to any safe-deposit box in the world. Only I know the location. You need me.”
“No, you need me,” Lana said stubbornly. “I can wait you out. Your runaway cash can’t last much longer. Then you’ll be living on the street, if you already aren’t.”
Jeremy gave a resigned sigh. “All right, Lana, I do need you.” He looked deeply in her eyes. “Have you contacted the FBI since you’ve been here?”
“Oh, do you mean have I told them I found your Rolex on the beach?” Lana said with a smirk.
“You found it,” he said, sounding almost defeated.
“Yes, and the answer is no, I haven’t phoned the FBI, yet.”
“What can I do to insure you never bring them into this?” he asked, giving her his signature pleading look. That look usually got her to acquiesce. But she was a different woman today.
“You can give me the location of the safe-deposit box. We’ll meet at the bank, get whatever’s inside and split it right there. No more games. We part, you disappear forever, and I retain the lifestyle I’d enjoyed while we were married.”
Jeremy actually looked pleased with her stipulations. “My, how you’ve changed. You used to be so sweet and innocent.”
“Being accused of being a liar and a cheat even though I didn’t do anything must have had a bad effect on me,” she said icily.
“Let’s go then,” Jeremy said.
Eyes wide, Lana asked, “You mean right now?”
“The bank’s here in Kitty Hawk,” Jeremy told her. “I put the package in the safe-deposit box nearly two years ago. Of course, you weren’t with me on that trip. I lied and said I had to go out of town on business.”
“I have to give it to you, it was clever of you to put the key in the locket,” Lana said, remembering the night he’d given her the piece of jewelry and said she should always keep it close to her heart. When in reality what was inside was close to his heart.
“You were always thinking ahead. You were counting on my coming home,” Lana said in awe. “But I kept you waiting. Ironic, isn’t it? Because of your behavior I was being torn apart in the media, and because I stubbornly refused to allow them to get the best of me, I dug my heels in and wouldn’t leave San Francisco.”
“I’m curious,” said Jeremy, his gaze admiring her body in that cute little sundress she had on. “Why did you finally show up?”
“My dad got sick.”
“I’m sorry.” His eyes took on a sympathetic look.
Lana hated him more at that instance. He was so adept at feigning emotions.
“Save it, I don’t believe a word out of your mouth anymore,” she hissed. “I suffered because of you. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I cried my eyes out for months thinking you were dead. I’d like to slug you!”
In spite of trying to keep their voices down, the vehemence with which they were carrying on their conversation was starting to draw curious glances from other shoppers.
“I should go,” said Lana, willing herself to calm down.
“What about the bank?” he asked.
“I can’t do it today,” said Lana. “I really did take the locket to be cleaned. I’ll pick it up tomorrow morning and meet you at the bank.”
“That won’t work,” said Jeremy. “The compartment was soldered shut. I’d need time to use a torch on it to open it again without damaging the key inside.”
“Where do you plan to find one of those?”
“Any reputable hardware store,” he told her. “Tell you what, I’ll meet you anywhere you would like tomorrow. We’ll go back to my motel, and I’ll open the locket. Then we’ll go to the bank together.”
Lana laughed shortly. “You must take me for a fool. If you can work a torch, so can I. I’ll open the locket and get the key and we’ll meet at the bank tomorrow where there will be security guards with guns on the premises. That way they’ll be handy if you try any funny business.”
Jeremy placed a hand over his heart. “You cut me with your suspicion, darling. I would never harm a hair on your lovely head.”
“Tell it to someone who gives a crap,” Lana said, and began pushing her cart toward the front of the store where the cashiers were located.
Jeremy laughed. “You really have changed. But you know, I like the new you. We could have a lot of fun together.”
“We’ve already had all the fun we’re ever going to have. Just tell me the name of the bank and what time you want to meet.”
After he gave her all the information she needed, they parted ways.
Chapter 9
When Lana got back to the house, her dad was in the kitchen preparing lunch. He looked up when she entered, and smiled. “Hey, I see you went to the store. Did you remember to get milk?”
“Sure,” Lana replied tiredly. The shock of seeing Jeremy so unexpectedly had caught up with her. She felt drained.
“What’s the matter?” Aaron asked, putting down the knife he’d been using to slice tomatoes.
Lana met his eyes. “Jeremy accosted me in the supermarket,” she told him as tears suddenly flooded her eyes.
Aaron pulled her into his arms. “Where the hell was the FBI?”
“Ten had to go to Norfolk, and his team was supposed to be watching me,” she said as she wept. “I was fine until I got in the car and started driving home. Then everything came crashing down. He’s really alive, Daddy.”
Aaron hugged her tightly. “Oh, sweetie, didn’t you know that all along?”
“Yes, I knew it rationally, but to be confronted by the truth was shattering. He used me all those years. I was nothing but a tool, something to help him look trustworthy
and respectable.”
“I’m sure it was more than that for Jeremy,” her father said. “I’m not defending him, but I do believe he loved you in his own way, to the best of his ability. But when it came down to self-preservation or love, love had to lose. Frankly, I’m surprised he ran his con as long as he did. Most con artists move from one con game to the next, never staying too long because that increases the chance of slipping up and getting caught. Maybe he stayed because of you.”
Lana wiped her face. “I know you’re just trying to make me feel better, but thanks.”
Aaron smiled down at her. “No, I really believe that.”
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” said Lana, sniffling.
Aaron watched as she stood up straighter, and took a deep breath before going to answer the door. She’d been through so much. But she was handling it. His girl was strong.
“Who’s there?” Lana called through the door. She’d had one surprise today and wasn’t going to let anyone else get the jump on her. She stood in front of the huge oak door with the stained-glass inlay.
“It’s Ten,” came the familiar voice.
She couldn’t get the door open fast enough.
She flew into his arms. “Where were your agents? Jeremy just walked up to me in the produce aisle and I had to wing it!”
She searched his eyes. Ten’s were filled with regret.
“Have you been crying?”
“A little,” Lana admitted, “but I’m fine. It was weird seeing Jeremy, that’s all.”
Ten held her tighter. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there. The other agents were keeping an eye on who entered and left the store while you were there but they didn’t see anyone fitting Corday’s description. They thought you were safe. They only learned about your encounter when you told your dad about it a few minutes ago. I told them to get over here, we need to talk.”
He released her and Lana shut and locked the door. Then they walked back to the kitchen.
“It’s not surprising that your team didn’t recognize him. I almost didn’t recognize him myself. He’s dark-haired now and for some reason that makes all the difference.”
“I see,” said Ten. But from the tightness of his voice she knew he really didn’t. She sensed he was angry that his team had dropped the ball.
“Seriously, don’t be too hard on them. It was an honest mistake,” she assured him.
“No, they should have been there for you,” Ten asserted. “I leave town for a couple of hours and they fall asleep on the job.”
“What did you find out about the locket?” Lana asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to change the subject.
“Oh, yeah,” said Ten, reaching into his windbreaker pocket, and retrieving the locket.
“There was something inside of it...a safe-deposit-box key.”
They walked into the kitchen and Aaron and Ten exchanged hellos, after which Ten and Lana sat down on tall stools at the nearby granite-topped island. Ten gave Lana the locket. “I had the jeweler restore it to its original form after he’d removed the key. I thought it might have sentimental value.”
“It used to,” Lana said, grasping the once-cherished treasure in her hand and looking down at it a bit sadly. She set it on the countertop.
“Can I see it?”
He handed her the key. Like Jeremy had earlier said, there was nothing distinctive about it. There was a number stamped on the small gold-colored metal key but that was all. She met his eyes. “Do you want to hear about my reunion with my dead husband now or wait until your team gets here?”
“Tell me now,” said Ten. “I’ll give them the gist of it later on.”
Lana handed him back the key and cleared her throat. “I was standing in the produce aisle, looking down at something, I don’t remember what now, when I noticed someone had stopped right beside me. Actually, he was standing too close...”
When she was finished relating what had happened, Aaron said, “He’s got balls, I’ll give him that.”
Ten had listened carefully for pertinent information. Jeremy had seemingly given Lana a lot of facts, facts that might lead the Bureau to the missing funds. That was what made him leery. Jeremy had been too generous with the facts. He’d told Lana which bank the safe-deposit box was located in. He’d volunteered that the locket held the key. He’d even suggested a means by which to get the key out of the locket. There had to be a catch.
Suddenly it dawned on him. “Did he say which alias he’d used when he rented the safe-deposit box?”
Lana shook her head in the negative. “No, and I didn’t even think to ask him,” she said. “Probably because we planned to be together when the box was opened.”
“He didn’t trust you,” Ten told her. “With that information we would have been able to go straight to the box and find out what he’s got stashed there. By not telling you the name the box is under he made sure you’re going to show up tomorrow.”
“What do you think he has in it?” Lana said, curious, “bearer bonds?”
“No,” Ten said confidently, “definitely not bearer bonds. The government outlawed the exchange of bearer bonds in the eighties because they were a magnet to any crook who wanted to hide money. They were too easy to transfer from owner to owner, hence their name, bearer bonds.
“I think Jeremy is more than likely dealing in diamonds. Nowadays, they’re the going thing with high-level cons like him.”
“Diamonds,” Lana repeated thoughtfully.
Ten smiled and grasped her hand in his. “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. I must say, you were brilliant making him believe you were on the take.”
Lana sighed and said, “He seemed to warm to the wicked side of me.”
Ten didn’t like the sound of that, but now was not the time to let the green-eyed monster take hold. If they worked this right, Jeremy would be in custody by tomorrow. “You’ll wear a wire,” he told her. “And all four of us will be nearby.”
“Lunch is ready,” Aaron announced.
They ate the salads on the back deck where they could look at the ocean while they enjoyed their meal. The field agents arrived while they were in the middle of the meal and Ten and Lana regrettably left Aaron alone on the deck to go speak with them about plans for tomorrow.
This was the first time Lana had met any of them. She greeted them warmly and welcomed them to sit down in the living room. All three agents strode in bearing black cases, which Lana assumed held surveillance equipment and their laptops.
She watched as Pete set up his laptop on the coffee table. He booted it up and quickly typed commands. Turning the screen around so that Lana and Ten could see it, he said, “Here is the footage we shot of the thirty or so minutes you were in the supermarket.”
Lana peered closely. The screen showed customers going in and coming out of the busy market. She spotted Jeremy right away because it had been only an hour or so since he’d been standing right in front of her. “That’s him,” she said, pointing.
Carrie said, “That’s the guy I said reminded me of Hugh Jackman. We even joked about it.”
Lana squinted at the image that Pete had frozen on the screen. “I suppose he does look a little like Hugh Jackman.”
“We apologize for not being more vigilant.” Pete spoke for all three of them. Carrie and Eduardo’s facial expressions mirrored Pete’s sentiments. They were embarrassed by their slipup.
“Like I told Ten,” Lana said, letting them off the hook, “I almost didn’t recognize him in that disguise myself.” Actually she was kind of glad they hadn’t heard what she’d said to Jeremy. Some of her comments had been entirely too personal for strangers’ ears. She was sure she’d sounded vulnerable and hurt and close to committing a violent act.
“Okay, we’ve gotten that out of the
way,” Ten said, eager to get down to business. “Let’s talk about how we’re going to provide backup for Lana tomorrow.”
The technical terms went straight over Lana’s head as the agents talked about putting a wire on her, and which of them would be inside the bank posing as customers and who would remain in the van.
More than an hour later Lana was escorting the three field agents to the door. When they were gone, she turned to Ten and smiled up at him. “Does this mean the case is coming to a close?”
“If we’re lucky,” Ten said, and winked his eye.
She and Ten made it a point of not being too demonstrative with each other in the house, which they knew to be bugged. She wouldn’t be surprised to learn the team was not averse to eavesdropping on personal conversations if they were entertaining. Surveillance work was boring, and they probably welcomed anything that broke up the tedium.
Lana risked it anyway by tiptoeing and kissing Ten. “I hope so,” she whispered.
Ten bent and deepened the kiss, pressing her close to him.
His mouth devoured Lana’s. He heard that sexy sound she made whenever they kissed, a cross between an exhalation and a moan. His urgency to get this case over with was mounting in tandem with his passion for her.
Aaron walked into the living room and saw them wrapped in each other’s arms. He turned around and went upstairs. He would make himself scarce. Smiling, he decided to phone Ellen and see if she wouldn’t mind an overnight guest. There was a bond developing between Lana and Ten. He felt a lot better about Tennison Isles than he’d ever felt about Jeremy Corday or any other guy Lana dated for that matter. He’d made the mistake of not thoroughly checking Jeremy out when Lana had first brought him home years ago. He wouldn’t make that mistake twice. Like the thorough, butting in, father he was, he’d had Ten investigated. He was not without friends in high places. One such friend was a United States senator, and he’d assured him that Ten was everything he’d said he was and more. The senator had spoken glowingly of Ten’s background, and of his family’s dedication to law enforcement both in the military and the private sector.