by Nora Roberts
“Where do you think you’re going? What sort of idiotic plan have you mapped out in that tiny, feeble brain of yours?”
“I’m going to take care of business,” he said grimly. “I’ll come back for you when I’m done.”
“Come back for me? What am I, a pet?” She jerked, but didn’t manage to free herself until she’d hammered her heel onto his instep. “You’re going back to the city, aren’t you? You’re going looking for trouble.”
His fury was such that he wondered only briefly how many bones in his foot she might have broken. “I know what I’m doing. It’s what I do. And what you’re going to do is give me the cap, then you’re going to wait.”
“The hell I am. We started this together, and we finish it together.”
“No.” He swung her around until her back was pressed into the car. “I’m not taking any chances with you.”
“Since when are you in charge? I take my own chances. Get your hands off me.”
“No.” He leaned in, cuffing her hands with his. “For once in your life, you’re going to do what you’re told. You’re going to stay here. I can move faster without you, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to be distracted worrying about you.”
“Nobody’s asking you to worry about me. Just what are you planning to do?”
“I’ve wasted enough time letting them chase me. It’s time to flush them out, on my turf, my terms.”
“You’re going after those two maniacs in the van?” Her heart lodged in her throat and was ruthlessly swallowed. “Fine. Good idea. I’m going with you.”
“You’re staying here. They haven’t found this place, and it doesn’t look like they’re going to. You’ll be safe.” He lifted her to her toes, shook her. “M.J., I can’t risk you. You’re everything that matters to me. I love you.”
“And I’m supposed to sit here, like some helpless female, and risk you?”
“Exactly.”
“You arrogant jerk. What am I supposed to do if you get yourself killed? In case you’ve forgotten, this is my problem, my deal. You’re the one who’s along for the ride, and you’re not going anywhere without me.”
“You’ll be in my way.”
“That’s bull. I’ve held my own through this thing. I’m going, Jack, and unless you want to ride your thumb back to D.C., that’s the deal.”
He jerked away, snarling. Then whirled to pace. He considered cuffing her inside the house. It would be an ugly struggle—he could almost have looked forward to that aspect of it—and he’d win. But if things went wrong, he couldn’t know how long it would be before someone found her.
No, he couldn’t leave her alone and handcuffed in some isolated house in the boondocks.
He could lie. Agree to her terms, then ditch her. She wouldn’t be easy to shake, but it was an option. Or he could try a different tack altogether.
He turned, smiled winningly. “Okay, sugar, I’ll come clean. I’ve had enough.”
“Have you?”
“It was fun. It was educational. But it’s getting tedious. Even the fifty thousand you promised me just isn’t worth risking my neck for. So I figured I’d cruise up north for a few weeks, wait for things to blow over.” He gave a careless shrug as she stared at him. “Things were getting a little heavy between you and me. That’s not my style. So I figured I’d take off, avoid the obligatory scene. If I were you, I’d call the cops, turn over the stone, and chalk it all up to one of your more interesting holiday weekends.”
“You’re dumping me,” she said, in a small voice that made him feel like sludge.
“Let’s say I’m just moving on. A guy’s got to look out for number one.”
“All the things you said to me…”
“Hey, sugar, we’re both free agents. We both know the score. Tell you what. I’ll drop you off at the nearest town, give you a few bucks for transpo.”
In answer, she staggered toward the porch, every step a slice through his heart. When she collapsed, buried her face in her hands, he wished himself in hell.
She’ll be safe, he reminded himself. All that mattered was that she’d be—
Laughing her guts out. He gaped as she threw back her head and roared with laughter. Her arms were clutched around her stomach, not in defense against heartbreak, but to keep herself from shaking apart with mirth.
“Oh, you idiot,” she managed. “Did you really think I was going to fall for that?” She could hardly get the words out between great gusts of laughter. The darker his expression, the wilder her glee. “Now, I guess, I’m supposed to tearfully hand over the distributor cap and let you leave me off somewhere to nurse my shattered heart.” She wiped her streaming eyes. “You’re so in love with me, Dakota, you can’t think straight.”
He was thinking straight enough, he deter mined. He wondered how she’d like it if he closed his hands over that throat of hers and gave it a nice, loving squeeze.
“I could get over it,” he muttered.
“No, you couldn’t. It’s hit you right between the eyes, and I know the feeling. We’re stuck with each other, Jack. There’s no getting past it for either of us.” She breathed deep, rubbed a hand over her aching ribs. “I ought to kick your butt for trying this, but it was too stupid. And too sweet.”
He jammed his hands in his pockets. It was the “sweet” that made him feel most foolish. Out-maneuvering her hadn’t worked, he considered. Temper and threats hadn’t made a dent, and lies had only amused her.
So he would try the truth, he decided. Simple, unvarnished. And he would plead with it.
“Okay, you got me.” He walked over, sat be side her, took her hand. “I’ve never told anyone I loved them before,” he began. “I never loved anyone. Not a woman, not family, not a friend.”
“Jack.” Swamped with emotion, she brushed the hair from his brow. “You just never had a chance to.”
“Doesn’t matter.” He said it fiercely, his fingers tightening on hers. “I meant what I said last night. There’s only you, M.J.”
He pressed the back of her hand to his lips, held it there a moment. “You wouldn’t understand that, not really. You’ve had other people in your life, important people.”
“Yes.” Touched, she leaned over, kissed his cheek. “There are people I love. Maybe there’s not only you, Jack. But there is you. And what I feel for you is different than anything I’ve felt before, for anyone.”
He stared down at their hands a moment. They fit so well, didn’t they? he noticed. Just slid together, as if they’d been waiting for the match. “I’ve done things my own way for a long time,” he continued. “I’ve avoided complications that I wasn’t interested in. It’s been easy to evade attachments. Until you.”
He looked into her eyes as he touched a hand to her cheek. “You cried yesterday, over those other people you love. It cut me off at the knees. And when I was holding you, and you were crying, I knew I’d do anything for you. Let me do this.”
“You planned to leave me here because I cried?”
“Because when you did I finally realized just what your friends mean to you, and how much you’d been holding it in. I need to help you. And them.”
She looked away from him for a moment. It wouldn’t do either of them any good if she wept again. And his words, and the quiet and deep emotion that flowed behind them, had touched her in a new part of her heart. “I already love you, Jack.” She let out a long sigh. “Now, I’m close to adoring you.”
“Then you’ll stay.”
“No.” She cupped his face as irritation raced over it. “But I’m not mad at you anymore.”
“Great.” He pushed off the steps to pace again. “Haven’t you heard anything I’ve said? I can’t risk you. I couldn’t handle it if anything happened to you.”
“But I’m supposed to handle it if something happens to you? It doesn’t work that way, Jack.” She rose and faced him. “Not for me. What you feel for me, I feel for you. We’re in this together. Equal ground.” She held up
a hand before he could speak. “And you’re not going to say something lame about you being a man and me being a woman.”
Actually, it had been very close to coming out of his mouth. “A lot of good it would do me.”
“Then it’s settled.” She angled her head. “And let me add something here, just in case you’ve got a bright idea about ditching me along the way. If you try it, I’ll go to the nearest phone and call the cops. I’ll tell them you kidnapped me, molested me. I’ll give them your description, a description of what you call a car, and your tag number. You’ll be trying to explain yourself to Sheriff Bubba and his team before you get twenty miles.”
His eyes kindled. “You would, wouldn’t you?”
“Damn straight. And I’ll make it good, so good they’ll probably mess up your pretty face before they toss you in a cell. Now, do we know where we stand?”
“Yeah.” He pushed impotently against the corner she’d boxed him into. “We know where we stand. You cover your angles, sugar.”
“You can count on that.” She walked toward him, laid her hands on his tensed shoulders. “And you can count on me, Jack. I’m sticking with you.” Expecting no response, she touched her lips to his. And got none. “I won’t walk out on you,” she murmured, and saw the flicker of understanding in his eyes. “And I won’t let you down.” She brushed her lips over his again. “I won’t go away and leave you.”
She saw too much, he realized. More, perhaps, than he’d seen himself. “This isn’t about me.”
“Yes, it is. No one’s stuck with you, but I will. No one loved you enough, but I do.” She skimmed her hands up his shoulders until they framed his face. “That makes all this about us. I’m going to be there for you, even when you try to play hero and shake me loose.”
He was losing, and knew it. “You could start being there tomorrow.”
“I’m already there. Now, are you going to kiss me, or not?”
“Maybe.”
Her lips curved as they met his. Then they softened, and opened, and gave. He felt himself slide into her—a homecoming that was both sweet and exciting. The kiss heated even before she slipped her hands under his shirt, ran them up his back, then down again with nails scraping lightly.
“I want you,” she murmured, moving sinuously against him. “Now, before we go—” she turned her head, nipped her teeth into his throat “—for luck.”
His head swam as she reached between their bodies and found him. “I can always use a little extra luck.”
She laughed, tugged him away from the car. They fell on the ground together and rolled over grass still damp with dew.
It was fast, and a little desperate. As the sun grew stronger, burning through the morning mist, they tugged at clothes, pawed each other.
“Let me…” He panted and dragged at denim. “I can’t—”
“Here.” Her hands fumbled with his, dragged material aside. “Hurry. God.”
She rolled again, reared up and raced her mouth over his bare chest. She wanted to feast on him, needed to feast of those flavors, those textures. Sate herself with them. She would have sworn she felt the ground tremble as he turned her, hooked his teeth into her shoulder, one hand taking her breast, and the other…
“What are you… How can you…” Her head fell back as he ripped her viciously over the edge. Breath sobbing, she reached up, locked her arms around his neck and let the animal free.
She was with him, beat for beat, her body strong and agile. Her need was as greedy and as primal as his. Perhaps his hands bruised her in his rush, but hers were no less bold, no less rough. She turned her head, took his mouth with a wild avidity that tasted of the dark and the secret.
It was she who twisted, who dragged him down to her. “Now,” she demanded, and her eyes gleamed like those of a cat on the hunt. “Right now.” And wrapping herself around him, took him in.
He drove hard, burying himself in her. She met each rough, wild stroke, those tilted cat’s eyes wide and focused on his. The heat of her fueled him, and through that edgy violence of need he felt his heart simply shatter with an emotion just as brutal.
“I love you.” His mouth clamped on hers, drank from it. “God, I love you.”
“I know.” And when he pressed his face into her hair, shuddering as he poured himself into her, she needed to know nothing else.
“Jack.” She stroked his hair. The sun was in her eyes, his weight was on her, and the grass was damp against her back. She thought it one of the finest moments of her life. “Jack,” she said again, and sighed.
He nearly had his wind back. “Maybe there’s something to country living after all.” With a little groan, he propped up on his elbows. And felt his stomach sink. “What are you crying for? Are you trying to kill me?”
“I’m not. The sun’s in my eyes.” Then, feeling foolish, she flicked the single tear away. “It’s not that kind of crying, anyway. Don’t worry, I’m not going to blubber.”
“Did I hurt you? Look, I’m sorry, I—”
“Jack.” She heaved another sigh. “It’s not that kind of crying, okay? And I’m done now, anyway.”
Wary, he studied those gleaming eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Then she smiled. “You coward.”
“Guilty.” And he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. He kissed her nose. “Now that we’ve got all this extra luck, we’d better get going.”
“You’re not going to try to pull a fast one, are you?”
He thought of the way she’d taken his face in her hands and told him she was sticking. There had never been anyone in his life who ever made him that one simple promise.
“No. I guess we’re a team.”
“Good guess.”
M.J. waited until they were back on the highway, heading toward civilization, before she asked. “Okay, Jack, what’s the plan?”
“Nothing fancy. Simplicity has fewer pitfalls. The way I see it, we’ve got to get to whoever’s pulling the strings. Our only link with him, or her, is the guys in the van and maybe the Salvinis.”
“So far, I’m with you.”
“I need to have a little chat with them. To do that, I have to lure them out, maintain the advantage and convince them it’s in their best interest to pass on some information.”
“Okay, there are two guys with guns, one of whom is the approximate size of the Washington Monument. And you’re going to convince them to chat with you.” She beamed at him. “I admire your optimism.”
“It’s all a matter of leverage,” he said, and explained how he planned to accomplish it.
Thunder was rumbling in a darkened sky when he pulled up in the lot at Salvini. It was a dignified building, separated from a strip mall by a large parking lot. And it was locked tight for the Monday holiday.
In the smaller, well-tended Salvini lot sat a lone Mercedes sedan.
“Know who owns that?”
“One of the creeps—Bailey’s stepbrothers. Thomas, I think. Bailey said they were closing down for an extended weekend. If he’s inside, I don’t know why.”
“Let’s poke around.” Jack got out, wandered to the sedan. It was locked tight, its security light blinking. He checked the front doors of the building first, scanned the darkened showroom, saw no signs of life.
“Offices upstairs?” he asked M.J.
“Yeah. Bailey’s, Thomas’s, Timothy’s.” Her heart began to race. “Maybe she’s in there, Jack. She rarely drives to work. We live so close.”
“Uh-huh.” And though it wasn’t part of his plan, the worry in her voice had him going with impulse and pressing the buzzer beside the door. “Let’s check the rear,” he said a moment later.
“They could be holding her inside. She could be hurt. I should have thought of it before.” Toward the west, lightning forked down like jagged blades. “She could be in there, hurt and—”
He turned. “Listen, if we’re going to get through this, you’ve got to hold it together. We don’t have time for a lot of han
d-wringing and speculation.”
Her head jerked back, then she squared her shoulders. “All right. Sorry.”
After a short study of her face, he nodded, then continued to the back, where he took a long look at the steel security door. “Someone’s been at the locks.”
“What do you mean, ‘at’?” She leaned over his shoulder as he crouched down. “Do you mean someone picked the locks?”
“Fairly recently, no rust, no dust in the scrapes. Wonder if he got in.” He rose, examined the sides, the jambs. “He didn’t try to jimmy it or hammer against it. I’d say he knew what he was doing. Under different circumstances, I’d say it was just your average break-in, but that’s stretching it.”
“Can you get in?”
That wasn’t part of the immediate plan, either, but he considered. “Probably. Do you know what kind of alarm system they’ve got?”
“There’s a box inside the door. It’s coded. I don’t know the code. You punch some numbers.” She caught herself before she could indeed wring her hands. “Jack.” She struggled to keep her voice calm. “She could be in there. She could be hurt. If we don’t check, and something goes wrong…”
“Okay. But if I can’t deal with the alarm, and fast, we’re going to get busted.” Still, he got his tools out of the trunk and went to work.
“Watch my back, will you?” he told her. “Make sure none of those holiday shoppers next door take an interest over here.”
She turned, scanned the lot and the strip mall beyond. People came and went, obviously too involved in the bargains they’d bagged or those they were hunting to take notice of a man crouched at a security door of a locked building.
Thunder walked closer, and rain, long awaited, began to flood out of the sky. She didn’t mind getting wet, considered the storm only a better cover. But she shuddered with relief when he gave her the all-clear.
“Once I open this, I’ve probably got a minute to ninety seconds before the alarm. If I can’t disengage it, we’ll have to go, and fast.”
“But—”
“No arguments here, M.J. If, by any chance, Bailey’s in there, the cops’ll be along in minutes, and they’ll find her. We’ll take our show on the road elsewhere. Agreed?”