Not that Michael wasn’t a nice guy. He was sweet and attentive, and unfortunately, very interested in Kate. That much was obvious. Jillian’s words to the wise apparently hadn’t had any effect, so Kate was smiling her way through dessert, practicing how she would say goodbye, when a cluster of anxious people near the restaurant’s front door caught her eye.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” Jillian set down her napkin, never one to wonder for too long without asking. “I’ll find out.”
Five minutes later, she came back to the table, looking worried. “I don’t exactly know,” she told them with a frown. “Apparently there was some kind of explosion. The ambulances are on their way.”
“Explosion?” Kate exclaimed. “Where?”
Jillian shook her head. “Up the street a ways. Looks like it could be the West Bank Hotel…”
Chapter Fifteen
“This is fabulous!” April enthused, glancing around the gleaming paneling of the West Bank’s lobby. She looked this way and that, absorbing it all.
“It is,” Jake agreed. There were several sets of couches crowded around glass-topped tables which were scattered around the lobby floor. People were drinking and talking quietly, the earlier, after-work crowd having already departed.
“Your company restored this?” She ran her hand over the lustrous wood.
Jake nodded. “It’s the original.”
April walked across the lobby in the direction of the underground walkway that led beneath the street to a car park. He could picture her doing much the same thing, sweeping an arm to encompass the lush appointments of the hotel, while the camera whirred away. She would be an excellent spokesperson for Talbot.
He came up behind, pointing past her shoulder to the two-story high windows that faced the street. Her gaze followed the direction of his fingers. “I understand they plan to film you from several angles. A nighttime shot will be with your back to those windows.”
“Cool.”
Her high school vernacular made him smile. Jake’s back was to the underground walkway. He started to turn, to say something else. A loud, shrieking bang sounded. His ears rang. He glanced back. The door to the walkway was a surreal bullet, twisting toward him, blown off its hinges. Jake jerked around protectively. The door glanced off his shoulder, knocking him into April. They went down in a heap. Wood and Sheetrock and dust and fibers burst from deep inside the hotel, showering them, burying the lobby in rubble.
Glass shattered. People screamed. Jake’s ears ached. It was deafening! Instinctively he covered April’s body with his own. She quivered beneath him. He held her down. Something hit his leg. He felt no pain, but sudden warmth made him wonder if what he felt was blood. Choking dust filled his eyes and ears. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t think!
Time passed. Distantly he thought he heard a woman’s voice.
“Mr. Talbot? Mr. Talbot? Jake?”
“April,” he muttered, remembering that she was beneath him. With difficulty he shifted away; then darkness descended.
Kate raced past the gathering police officers into the destruction of the lobby. Someone yelled at her, and an officer tried to grab her arm. She shied away, her heart thundering with fear as she stepped over pieces of wood and glass and twisted metal.
“April!” she called. “Jake! Oh, God, where are you?”
“Mom!”
April’s voice nearly sent her to her knees. A wave of weakness passed over her. Fear, in its worst form. Her legs quivered, and suddenly she couldn’t move.
Out of the rubble and debris, April, her hair unnaturally whitened by the Sheetrock dust, her clothes torn and disheveled, practically ran through the mess to throw herself in her mother’s arms.
“Are you hurt? Are you hurt?” Kate babbled.
“No, no, I’m fine. But, but,” she choked on the words, tears filling her eyes.
“Oh, God,” Kate murmured. “Jake…”
“I think he’s okay. He’s with the paramedics over there.” She gestured to a cleared-out area of the lobby where the injured sat numbly in a cordoned-off grouping.
Kate’s gaze swept the collapsible gurneys as she hurried forward, April’s hand clasped firmly within her own. But Jake wasn’t one of the bodies being attended to.
“Mom,” April said, tugging on her frantic mother’s hand. “He’s right there.” She pointed.
To Kate’s relief and amazement he was actually standing, or leaning against the wall would be a more accurate description. He was in deep conversation with a man in a navy suit jacket and gray slacks who had “cop” written all over him.
Spying her, his face lost its grim concentration. He held out one hand, and with April still firmly in tow, Kate swept into the security of his embrace.
They stood that way for long moments, a family trio, if he had but known it. Jake buried his face in her hair for a tight instant, then turned back to the other man. “Detective Marsh, this is Kate Rose, April’s mother.”
“Were you here, too?” the detective asked with a frown.
“No, I was down the street. I just heard, and I knew Jake and April were here and I—” She drew a deep breath.
“Never mind,” Jake told her in an unsteady voice.
She realized then that his pant leg had been split open and his thigh had been wrapped. “Are you all right?”
“A minor piece of shrapnel. I’m okay. It’s the shoulder that’s going to hurt tomorrow.” He shrugged a bit stiffly.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Isn’t that the sixty-four thousand dollar question?” he retorted, throwing a glance at the detective.
“We’ll be done in a minute, ma’am,” he dismissed her, and though Kate was reluctant to do so, she tore her arms from Jake and let him resume his conversation.
Kate huddled in a corner of the hotel lobby, away from the scene of destruction. Jake, his foreman Gary, and several hotel employees were with the police. They stood in a tight group near the worst of the vandalism. A section of the paneling that just a few nights earlier Jake had been so proud of had been ripped apart, blown to bits. It was repairable, possibly, but it meant hours and hours of painstaking effort to try to match it to the original.
It was a crying shame. Now that she was assured that April and Jake were all right, Kate had grown angry. Why? Why? The crime appeared to be pure vandalism, and she had never understood vandalism for vandalism’s sake alone. A person who broke a window, or a door, or smashed a wall in order to burglarize a place was no less guilty, but Kate could at least understand the motivation. They were seeking gain.
But this…
From snippets of overheard conversation she learned that the explosion had taken place in the kitchen. A gas leak, the product of some criminal’s hand, had blasted out half of the working area. Luckily, its power had been limited to that one section, though the force of it had blown out the door and shattered parts of the walls and windows nearest to the blast. The huge two-story lobby windows remained intact, but smaller ones had shot splinters of glass nearly across the room. Glass cuts appeared to be the worst of the injuries, with Jake taking a major slice to the back of his left thigh.
All in all, though, the consensus was that everyone was lucky: guests, hotel staff and the owners of the hotel of which Talbot Industries was one. It could have been much worse.
The kitchen was a disaster, but the kitchen staff had been reduced at this hour, slowing down after the dinner rush. No one had been directly in the path of the destruction. So, too, had the lobby area been nearly empty. Jake and April had unluckily been the people closest to the blast.
No one had seen anything. The perpetrator had managed to slip in unnoticed, do his deed and split. It was not a random crime. The hotel had been targeted, and Jake’s refurbishing and remodeling had taken the brunt of the damage. So, what did that mean?
Jake detached himself from the group and came to check on her and April. “Looks like the
kitchen’s the worst of it. And the lobby will need work, of course.” He grimaced.
“Why, Jake? Why you?”
“I don’t know. It’s a lot like the strip mall,” he mused.
“It’s like someone’s trying to make a point,” Kate observed, then added, “You need to rest.”
“Did I thank you for saving me?” April asked in a small voice. “If not, thank you.”
“I’m just sorry you were here when this happened.”
“I’m okay,” April assured him. “And Mom’s right, you need to take care of yourself.”
“Shouldn’tyou go to an Emergency Room?” Kate asked. “I can drive your car.”
“Just take me home,” he said, gazing at her soberly. His intensity touched something deep inside her that responded to only him. “I’m glad I have you,” he said. “I don’t want anything to take you away from me.”
“It won’t,” Kate responded, meaning it.
“Let’s go,” he said, throwing an arm over her shoulder and April’s as they helped him out to the Bronco.
In the end, Kate drove April and Jake to the nearest hospital Emergency Room over both Jake’s and April’s protests. She sat in the waiting room and felt all her energy drain away. With an effort, she managed to ring through to Jillian and explain about her mad dash from the restaurant. She had been too upset to say anything at the time, but now she wearily related the events to Jillian, who asked too many questions, as far as Kate was concerned.
“I’ll tell you all about it later,” Kate finished. “They’re okay, and that’s what matters.”
“You take care of yourself, too,” Jillian warned her.
Kate sank into one of the faux-leather chairs which lined a small cubicle outside the Emergency Room. The arms were thin strips of chrome, not exactly conducive to comfort, but then Kate was anything but comfortable.
April appeared with a clean bill of health. She had suffered minor scrapes to her arms and legs. Jake took a bit longer, and when they pushed him out in a wheelchair, Kate caught his eye and hid a smile at his glower. Hospital policy had won this round, but as soon as they reached the sliding doors to the outside, he practically leaped out of the chair and into the heat of a late August night.
“I’m fine,” he assured her. “A cut to the thigh, and a major bruise to the shoulder, that’s all. They stitched me up and told me to rest. Good idea. I just want to fall into bed.”
He didn’t add, with you, but Kate got the message loud and clear.
“You can play nurse,” he said, laying his head against the cushions of the passenger seat and closing his eyes.
“Can we stay at your place tonight?” April suddenly asked.
“Absolutely.”
Kate was glad for April’s suggestion because she wanted to keep an eye on both of them. At Jake’s condo, she had to rouse him awake which worried her a bit. “You didn’t get hit on the head, did you? You could have a concussion.”
“I didn’t get hit on the head,” he assured her a bit testily.
“Just checking.”
April yawned and said, “They practically turned me inside out. Mr. Talbot, too.”
“I think you can call me Jake now, don’t you?” Jake told her as Kate and April helped him off the elevator and to his front door.
“Okay, Jake.” April grinned despite the soberness of their shared experience, and he grinned right back.
Inside the condo, April made appropriate noises about how lush and spacious it was, ripping off her shoes and burying her toes in the thick, cream carpet. Jake pointed to a short hallway across the room from, and opposite, the door to his master suite. “Make yourself at home in the guest room. Bedroom’s on the right; bathroom’s on the left.”
“G’night,” April called, lifting a hand at them as she departed to her space.
Kate helped Jake to his room, then said, “Just a minute. I want to check on her.”
“I’ll be waiting,” he murmured, gingerly lying down on his back.
April was asleep on her feet. She had stripped off her clothes, and Kate helped her wash up in the bathroom before she climbed into bed in her underwear.
“Save me a place,” she told her, and April just yawned again and nodded.
When she let Jake know she planned to sleep with her daughter, he hauled her down on the bed beside him. “I know, I know. I’m all over you,” he murmured, “but I don’t want to let you go.”
“I’m not leaving for a while,” she assured him, stroking his forehead.
“I need a shower.”
Kate slipped away and brought back a washcloth. He reached for it, but she did the honors herself, washing off the Sheetrock dust and grime.
“God, that feels good,” he murmured. Then a second later, “How was your date?”
“My date.” She half laughed. “Well, it was fine until I ran out of the restaurant in a panic. I had to call Jillian from the hospital and tell her what happened. ‘My date’ probably thinks I’m a hysteric.”
Jake’s lips curved, but his eyes didn’t open. “What did you do?” he asked, keeping it light, trying not to sound jealous. It was ridiculous, really, that even with everything else going on, he didn’t like thinking of Kate spending time with any other man.
“Oh, I don’t know. Ate dinner…talked…had an Irish coffee for dessert…”
“So, what did you think of him?”
“He was just a guy. A nice guy.” She hesitated, and Jake opened his eyes to see her face. “But all I could think about was—”
“Was?” he prodded.
“You. Us. I couldn’t wait to get to the hotel and be with you and April. Last night you mentioned marriage, for pete’s sake! It was on my mind all the while I was having dinner with Michael. I just wanted to be with you. Then when I heard about the explosion…” She shuddered.
“Come here.” Jake dragged her close. Kate tried to be careful, and that amused him. “I won’t break.”
“I just don’t want to hurt you.”
“I’ll let you know if it’s too painful,” he said dryly.
His hands tugged at the buttons of her blouse. Kate’s own hands followed suit, pulling at his clothes until his bare, hair-roughened chest lay atop her breasts, his legs entangled with hers.
“You’re sure this is all right,” she murmured.
“Perfect…”
Desire-drugged, Kate determined she would tell him about April and everything else much later. Now was not the time. Their relationship was still far too tenuous, and Jake had been through hell and back tonight.
Jake’s hot lips found the peak of one quivering breast. Kate arched, her lashes fluttering closed, her body taut with need. His hips fit perfectly against hers. She had grown used to him this past week, yet it was still a miracle how wonderful their love was.
“I love you,” he whispered.
Kate sighed, and her mouth curved in amusement. Before she could respond in kind, however, he had trapped her beneath the weight of his body.
“Your leg,” she protested.
“I’m not even feeling it right now,” he pointed out, his lips tugging on her ear. She marveled, as she had so many times this past week, how his mouth could feel so tender when the rest of him was so hard and fit.
“Now, forget about my injuries and pay attention to the parts that are working,” he advised.
Kate’s answer was, melodious laughter as she wrapped herself around the man she loved.
* * *
Blam! Blam! Blam! Kate opened one sleepy eye. Someone was pounding on Jake’s door, and they weren’t giving up. April stirred beside her at the noise but didn’t awaken. Wondering if Jake were still fast asleep, too, she hastily threw on her blouse and navy slacks and headed to the door, finger-combing her hair on the way. She heard the shower going through Jake’s door and understood how he had missed hearing the banging.
It was Phillip on the threshold. He didn’t bother commenting on the fact that it was Kate
who answered the door. “Where’s Jake?” he demanded. “Is he all right? I heard about the explosion, and someone said he was there.”
“He’s fine. He’s in the shower, I think.”
“You think?” He eyed her tousled hair and clean face. Clearly she had stayed over.
“I haven’t checked on him this morning,” she said ironically. “My daughter’s here, too. I slept with her last night.”
“Oh.” Phillip paced around the living room. “So, you were with him when it happened?”
“No, April was. She’s okay, too,” Kate hastily put in to Phillip’s tortured look. “They’re lucky. Everyone is.”
“What happened?” Phillip asked, collapsing into a chair.
He looked thoroughly undone. His hair was uncombed, and his clothes appeared as hastily thrown on as Kate’s were. He must have raced out of his place as soon as he had heard the news without bothering to pull himself together first.
Kate related what she knew about the accident, and Phillip seemed to shrink in upon himself. She realized that for all his sniping, Phillip really loved his brother.
“Detective Marsh was there?” Phillip murmured, shaking his head.
“There’s some conjecture that this was another attack on Talbot Industries,” Kate admitted, revealing what Jake had explained to her about the accident.
“It can’t be! Why? It’s coincidence.”
Kate didn’t respond. She only knew what Jake had told her, and like Jake, she tended to believe it was more than that. Clearly the detective felt so, too.
The door opened from Jake’s master suite, and he hobbled his way into the room. He wore shorts, since his thigh was still tightly wrapped, and no shirt. Spying Phillip, he said, “What’s going on?”
“Why don’t you tell me, little brother? I hear you almost got yourself killed!”
By Candlelight Page 24