The Enigma Series Boxed Set

by Tierney James

  Robert nodded. “Actually, I love economics.”

  “Really?” She blinked her eyes as if surprised and pleased. Suddenly, her attention switched to someone behind him. “And you must be Sean Patrick.”

  With a half pivot he saw his son staring at Dr. Cordova, his mouth agape. He moved zombie-like up next to his father who used his finger to close Sean’s mouth. “Say hello to Dr. Cordova, Mom’s friend from the university.”

  “Wow. You don’t look like any teacher I ever had.” Sean grinned.

  Samantha walked up to him, ran a finger down the side of the boy’s face, and smiled. “And you are a very sweet young man to notice. Your mom talks about you all the time. I understand you’d like to go to West Point someday.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he managed to say.

  Daniel joined them, leading Heather by the hand. His reaction to Samantha wasn’t much different than his brother and father. Heather showed her displeasure by crossing her arms across her chest then shifting weight to one hip.

  “Where’s my mommy?” she demanded.

  Robert patted his daughter on the cheek in hopes of silencing her. “She’ll be here a little later.” He tugged her behind him and glanced back at the woman who shifted her eyes too quickly to him. It struck a chord of familiarity. Maybe they’d met before. But surely, he would remember such an exquisite creature. “So, what’s the plan, Dr. Cordova?” he asked, putting his hands on his hips, which made him feel like a superhero.

  “Call me Sam.” She strolled around to the coffee pot and poured Robert a cup of brew then brought it to him. “First, drink up. I brewed it myself. Tessa told me you like it really strong.” What was she hinting at? “Then you go to work. I’ll stay with the kids.”

  A cheer rose from the boys, but Heather stomped out.

  “You can call Dean Clark to verify I am who I say I am. Oh. Tessa.” She clicked her tongue. “We are going to have to get together. Maybe we can meet for lunch—or something, the next time you have time. Tessa says you work in Sacramento.”

  “I do. I do.” Too eager, he thought. He took a sip of the coffee. “This is perfect. Tess gets it a little weak for me. Guess you’ll have to come over every morning to make coffee.” Both of them laughed, and the boys joined in.

  “Aren’t you in a hurry to leave? I don’t want to make you late,” she cooed.

  “Nonsense. I don’t really have to be there until after lunch. Tessa has a propensity for being late or getting her nose buried in her little geography projects. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time.”

  “Smart.”

  He noticed she seemed to speak through gritted teeth. While he tossed her words around in his head, Robert gulped down the rest of the coffee.

  “Are those donuts from Mr. Chubbs?” Sean Patrick said, running to the counter and opening up a box full of a variety of donuts. “They are,” he informed his brother Daniel, who quickly joined him to grab his favorite.

  “Surprise,” she said handing them both a napkin. “There’s a crème filled for you, Sean Patrick, with chocolate sprinkles. Your mom said it was your favorite.”

  “Sure is. Thanks.” He bit into the long pastry and made smacking sounds of delight.

  “How about you, Robert? Tessa says you like the cake donuts with powdered sugar.”

  Robert wanted to speak then felt his stomach roll. “I’m not feeling so well.”

  “Oh. Sorry.”

  Robert backed out of the kitchen and ran to the downstairs bathroom. Diarrhea? Of all the times to get sick. He flipped on the ceiling fan, but it didn’t work. Luckily, he spotted the air freshener only to find it empty. Why hadn’t Tessa replaced it? Then he remembered she’d asked him to pick up some when he went to fill the car with gas two weeks ago. He exited the powder room and felt another pain coming on. This time, he ran upstairs and barely reached his bathroom in time. Was he going to throw up, too? He felt like it.

  ~~~

  “So, you work with Mom, Sam?” Sean Patrick grabbed his third donut as Daniel poured them both a glass of milk. Heather had wandered back in and was seduced by the pink donut with sprinkles.

  “Yes. She and I are best buddies. I have been in charge of her”—she paused for a few seconds to find the right word— “integration into our tight little group.”

  Daniel wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as Sam passed him a paper towel. “Mom likes her job. But she doesn’t talk much about the people she works with. I thought maybe she didn’t have any friends. When she worked in Grass Valley, we heard about people all the time.”

  Sam washed out Robert’s coffee cup. She didn’t want the kids to accidently take a sip out of it and suffer like their father would for the next few hours. She even found a little cleaner with bleach under the sink to ensure no residue would survive her attempt at revenge in spite of finding Robert Scott a rather attractive man. He wore the Ivy League image perfectly. Maybe another time and place she’d see what convinced Tessa to stay with a man like him instead of taking advantage of Captain Chase Hunter’s interest in her. Then there was the tribesman from Northern Afghanistan who clearly could have kept a woman happy in his bed for an eternity. Yet she stayed with this character.

  Robert entered the kitchen again, pale and dressed in sweatpants and a tee shirt. His smile was a little less flirty, and he propped a hip against the counter. “Thanks, Sam, for stopping by. Oh, how did you get in this morning?”

  “Tessa told me where you hid the spare key.” She shifted her eyes to a spot near him. “I laid it there. Are you okay?” She tilted her head.

  “Oh. Sure. Forgot about the spare key.” He seemed to make an effort to straighten up. “I called work and told them I was taking some comp time since I didn’t have any clients today and I can work from home if anything comes up.”

  “Then, I’ll be on my way.” She smiled as she moved toward him. “Unless there is anything else I can do for you.”

  His eyes widened. Stepping in closer, she gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek. “Let’s get together real soon, Robert. Bye, kids. Enjoy the donuts,” she called, leaving the kitchen.

  She closed the front door behind her and chuckled all the way to her car.

  Chapter 22

  T he waters swallowed up the Scout quicker than Chase thought possible. He stripped off his padded jacket and sweatshirt. He decided there wasn’t enough time to remove his boots and dove in after Tessa. The water felt like someone hit him with a sledgehammer as he pumped his legs against the floating chunks of ice. He could still hear her call his name when the top of the car disappeared beneath the surface. Although, along the shore, the water probably was only about nine feet deep, with freezing temperatures, his body could only do so much to reach her in time.

  Before plunging beneath the surface of the water, he took a gulp of air, held it, expelled, and repeated several times then took one large deep intake of air. He could see her trying to escape through the back window when she spotted him. With puffed-out cheeks, he hoped she could hold on a little longer. When he reached her, he saw her motions become sluggish and her eyes widen. She reached for him and almost smiled then shook her head then pointed for him to leave. A white plastic bag, tied around her arm, floated like wavy seaweed in the deep. A snow shovel had wedged her inside. He grabbed hold of the back of the Scout window frame and swung his feet in to knock the shovel loose.

  His lungs burned with a pain he’d never known before when he reached in and grabbed Tessa by the hair and snatched her out. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he kicked harder than he thought possible, but it wasn’t enough. Even though the surface seemed to be inches away, his strength faded, but then something latched onto him, jerking him upward. Tessa was pried from his grip as he was dragged out of the water then across some pebbles, to shore.

  Chase found his footing soon enough and discovered Handsome had saved them. The guy’s pant legs were wet up to his thighs. He bent over Tessa’s limp body and shook his head. Chase
dropped down and began CPR. She responded immediately, vomiting up her share of Lake Tahoe, followed by coughing. Chase rolled her to her back then moved her matted hair from her face.

  “We’ve got—to get—her warm.” Chase tried to lift her, but weight of so much wet clothing complicated his ability to rush her to safety.

  Handsome lifted her like a limp rag doll into his arms. “Go. You both need to get warm. She is in bad shape. If you need help, grab the winch to pull yourself along.” He moved upward without waiting to see if Chase followed. “The cabin should still be warm.”

  Although his body plummeted toward the death spiral of hypothermia, he forced himself to keep up with Handsome. Tessa wasn’t moving, but she’d survived the first danger. He needed to get her warm before it was too late.

  Handsome staggered up the steps. Chase reasoned his strength must be waning. He managed to catch up and relieve him of her body, freeing the man to open the door.

  Tessa squirmed enough to give Chase hope she wasn’t going to die in his arms. He tightened his hold when he felt her feet touch the floor. Her legs wobbled so she fell against him and buried her face against his chest.

  Chase caught a glimpse of Handsome lumbering in and quickly removed his wet gloves, boots then pants. “Get out of those clothes,” he ordered. “I’ll stoke the fire.”

  Chase nodded and led Tessa through the open bathroom door. Her steps reminded him of a zombie. He leaned her against the stacked washer-dryer combo.

  “I’m sorry about this, babe.” He yelled out to Handsome who kneeled by the fire, which was once again roaring. “Get us something warm to wrap up in then heat some water.”

  Chase stripped off his shirt and pants, but left his boxers. He’d wait on those. Handsome handed in a couple of extra-large flannel shirts.

  “Brought them up a couple of weeks ago,” he volunteered then closed the door.

  “Okay, Tess. I’m going to get you out of those wet clothes,” he said unzipping her coat. She stared down at his hands without saying anything then up into his face.

  “No,” she said simply. With some effort, she tried to move away, which enabled him to get her free of the coat.

  He manhandled her out of her blue sweater. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as he maneuvered her down on the closed toilet to remove her boots and socks.

  “Stand up so I can get those pants off you,” he said in a calm voice so not to alarm her. “I’ve got to get you warmed up, Tess. I’m not taking advantage…” She shook her head no again so he pulled her up and quickly jerked down her pants. “Sit down so I can get them over your feet.”

  “No,” she whispered.

  “Fine.” He shoved her down again and finished the job.

  “Not cold. I’m sleepy.”

  He slipped one of the flannel shirts over her head. It fell down almost to her knees. “You can slap me for this later,” he said, reaching under the shirt and unsnapped her bra. It wasn’t hard to remove since she hadn’t inserted her arms into the sleeves. Then off came her panties before he managed to slip her arms into the sleeves.

  “No. Stop.”

  Chase donned the other flannel shirt and then removed his boxers. He jerked open the bathroom door, and grabbed her forearm, and tugged. When she barely moved, Chase swung her up in his arms and headed for the bed.

  “Turn down those covers, Handsome.”

  He did straightaway.

  Carrying Tessa to the side of the bed, he laid her down then tucked covers around her shivering body. Hurrying around to the other side, Chase climbed in next to her. He shook as he moved closer to the woman who insisted on complicating his life, hoping together, they wouldn’t die of this ridiculous event. All he wanted to do was sleep, but his body ached too much for that to happen at first.

  Tessa moved her head toward him and untucked the covers separating them. “Thank you,” she whispered then rolled to face him as she pressed her body against his. “I’ll save you some day,” she breathed as her eyelids fluttered then closed.

  Chase kissed her forehead, wrapped his arm around her back, and held on tight. “You already have.”

  ~~~

  By the time Chase rousted up from the bed, a late afternoon storm had set in. Handsome sat by the fire in the wingback chair. He wanted to chuckle at the sight of such a big body crammed into a once-refined piece of furniture. Swinging his feet to the floor, he discovered his clothes neatly folded at the foot of the bed. It took only a minute to dress and join him at the fireside.

  “What time is it?” Chase asked.

  “Three. Feeling better?”

  He nodded and glanced around the cabin, taking mental inventory to be prepared for whatever lay ahead. The ingrained habit of being suspicious and cautious had saved his life on more than one occasion. The smell of cooked food distracted him until he decided to see what simmered in the iron Dutch oven on the hot plate.

  “Help yourself, Captain Hunter. There’s soup I threw together. I got Tessa to drink some hot tea a couple of hours ago. She’d warmed up enough to manage on her own, but I wouldn’t let her get out of the bed.”

  That explained why she’d remained pressed up against his back when he awoke. He didn’t remember her stirring or slipping from his embrace. The anger inside him surfaced as he moved back to stand in front of Handsome.

  “What the hell were you thinking, bringing her up here against her will? Kidnapping is a serious offense.” Chase watched the black man rise from his chair to loom menacingly over him. He stared down at him with a calm that unsettled his resolve.

  “Who says I kidnapped her?”

  “She has been to hell and back in the last six months. No way would she follow you up here,” Chase snapped, jabbing a finger in an iron-like chest. He watched Handsome stare down at the finger on his chest and slowly removed it. “What lies did you tell her?”

  Handsome’s bottom lip drooped down, making it appear thicker. His expression remained calm, almost trance-like when he spoke. “Like the rest of your criminal entourage, she is an opportunist. I dangled a carrot in front of her nose, and she couldn’t resist.”

  “What kind of a carrot?” Chase snarled.

  “One that will make a difference. Unlike you, this woman believes good may change the future. She wanted to be in the thick of it, willing to gamble with her life.” Handsome glanced at a doll lying on the fireplace hearth and stepped away from Chase to pick it up. “This is what she went back into the car to get.”

  “A doll?” Chase growled in contempt. “Give me a break.”

  “A doll.” He walked over to the bed and laid it on the pillow next to Tessa’s face.

  “How can a doll change the world?”

  Handsome shoved Chase aside like a pesky fly, to walk into the kitchen. He ladled up

  two bowls of soup and brought them back to the table before sitting down. “If I had wanted you to know, or trusted you, then I might have invited you along.” Scooping a large spoon of soup into his mouth, he kicked the chair out for Chase. “But I wanted her alone.” He cut his eyes over to Tessa then back to Chase and smirked. “It didn’t work out exactly as I planned.”

  Rage threatened to spill over into the conversation. A brutal fight was brewing. Chase wasn’t sure he could win against a man the size and power of Handsome. Chances were the man had wanted him to lose control and used Tessa as the bait.

  “Shut your mouth.”

  Handsome pointed his spoon at Tessa, who had begun to stir. “I don’t hurt women and children, especially people like her. You need to remember this. I see how you look at her.” He slurped up two more spoonsfuls before continuing. “She is with me, like it or not. In spirit, at least. If you prevent her from helping me I will—”

  “What? Punish me?”

  Lifting the bowl, he drank the rest of the liquid then wiped his mouth with a crumpled paper towel. “No. I will punish her and her children.”

  “I should kill you right here and now.”

&nbs
p; “Yes. You should because I am taking Tessa away from you one way or another. And she will do as I say.”

  “Over my dead body.”

  Handsome stood and took his plate to the sink. “That sounds pretty good to me. As to killing me, I removed your weapon, ammo, and anything else I thought you might use to disable me. I know all about your Ranger-Delta Force days.”

  “Then you know I don’t need a gun to eliminate you.” Chase glanced over at Tessa as she pushed covers away. He lowered his voice. “She isn’t like us at all, Handsome. Tessa is a pie-in-the-sky kind of girl. Whatever garbage you’ve been filling her head to get her involved in your illegal business stops here.”

  “What are you talking about? What’s wrong,” Tessa yawned. “You sound angry, Chase.”

  He walked over to her and sat on the edge of the bed. The temptation to smooth her hair away from her face gave way to patting her cheek. “Nothing’s wrong. Talking about when we can get out of here.”

  “Oh. My. Gosh.” Tessa groaned. “My kids. Robert. I’ve got to get home.”

  “Taken care of,” he promised. “How do you feel?”

  “Like I need a bath.”

  Before Chase could offer to help her out of bed, Handsome brought over a cotton robe like something a great-grandmother would wear. “Found it hanging in the closet. Washed it, so don’t worry.”

  “Thank you, Handsome.” She smiled up at him, revealing her trust and admiration. “I know you carried me up the embankment. Chase and I are so appreciative.”

  Chase frowned.

  “Right?” she asked, jabbing a finger in his side.

  “Yeah. Good thing I had ahold of you or he might have left me there to be a floater in the lake.”

  “Don’t be silly. Handsome is one of the good guys.” She continued to beam at the large black man towering over them both. Pulling on the robe, she pushed the covers aside. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a hot shower to take.”

  When the bathroom door closed, Handsome chuckled and gave a friendly shove to Chase’s shoulder. “Yeah. I’m one of the good guys.”