This was certainly a new dilemma for him. A woman wanting to leave wasn’t something he’d dealt with before. Usually he couldn’t get rid of them.
She’d enjoyed their lovemaking. No question she had. Why was she running away when things were just getting started between them? Good things, in his opinion. Feelings that had been missing from his life for a long time.
“Have you forgotten about the car bomb?” he asked, trying not to sound angry. He had no right to be angry.
“I haven’t forgotten,” she said, not meeting his gaze.
“You won’t be safe at your apartment.”
“I’m a cop, Trey. I’ll be fine.”
“If this is about last night—”
“It’s not,” she interrupted. She gulped wine, and then finally raised her brilliant blue eyes to meet his gaze. “Yeah, of course it is. Partly.”
He leaned across the bar and smoothed his index finger down her arm. She closed those beautiful eyes and shivered.
“I enjoyed last night,” he said. “And so did you. Admit it.”
She sighed. “Obviously.”
He smiled, relieved she could admit the truth. “So you’re running away.”
“Maybe. But it’s time.”
“Time for what?”
“For someone to face reality.”
Trey straightened up. “What reality are you talking about?”
“Stop glaring at me.”
“Sorry. But you’re making no sense, Kelly. I want you to stay. Yeah, the reasons are complicated, but we need time to figure it out.”
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything.
“Obviously Jason wants you to stay, too,” Trey added.
“He’s a confused kid who doesn’t know what’s good for him.”
“Do you know what’s good for you?”
“This isn’t about me.”
“It’s about all three of us.”
She shook her head. “You told me Carico thought I should go home.”
“And Dr. Carico had an agenda separate from my son’s mental health. That’s why I fired her.”
“But maybe she was right. Think about it, Trey. It can’t be healthy for Jason to pretend I’m his mother forever. And now he’s seen us in bed together.” Kelly threw up her arms in obvious disgust. “I can’t even imagine what the shrinks would say about that.”
“We’ll lock the door from now on.”
A faint flush crept into her cheeks. Kelly didn’t blush often, but when she did, the effect was stunning.
“We can’t,” she whispered.
“Why not?”
“The longer I stay here, the harder—”
“The harder what?”
She looked away again, biting her bottom lip, and now Trey could read her. She’d grown to care deeply about Jason, yes. That much was obvious. But his father’s gambit had worked. She wasn’t ready to admit it, maybe not even to herself, but Kelly was worried about her feelings for him, about getting hurt.
The last thing in this world he wanted was to hurt this courageous woman who had been through so much, but he couldn’t give up. Not when she was starting to care about him.
“It’s only been a week,” Trey said softly. “Give it some time.”
“How is Jason supposed to get better? He isn’t even seeing a head doctor right now.”
Trey nodded. She’d given him the perfect opening for his last good argument. “He’s got a new therapist, Dr. Edward Barth.”
“Yeah? When did that happen?”
“Yesterday, and that’s another reason you need to stay.”
“Why?”
“Dr. Barth wants to observe the interaction between you and Jason before arriving at an opinion about his future treatment.”
Trey watched Kelly nibble on her bottom lip as she processed that information.
“I’ll give you tomorrow,” she said. “I’ll say good-night to Jason tomorrow night and won’t come back here from work the next day.”
“But Dr. Barth had to go out of town. He can’t come tomorrow.”
Kelly’s gaze shifted toward the door just as a voice behind Trey said, “Mr. Wentworth.”
He whirled, furious at the interruption.
Jason’s on-duty bodyguard stood at the door, shifting from foot to foot, wearing a grave expression.
“I need a moment, sir.”
“What is it?” Trey demanded.
“There’s been an unauthorized docking at the marina. You and your family need to move into the panic room immediately.”
* * *
“AND THEY ALL lived happily ever after. The end.”
Kelly closed the book she’d just read to Jason and glanced down to the kid. Eyes closed, breathing regularly, he leaned against her shoulder where they sat on a sofa in a claustrophobic twelve-by-twelve room. She peered more closely at him trying to determine if he was asleep.
Trey stood at a bank of four monitors that showed different angles of his property watching people enter and exit the view. Tension flowed off him as if he were a wire strung too tightly.
Kelly itched to be out there with the security team on the hunt. She was a cop, for God’s sake. But oh, no. She was stuck with Trey and Jason, stashed in this vault-like room until his team gave the all-clear.
For her own protection? What a bunch of BS. This was not how it was supposed to go.
Jason made a noise and yawned huge. Not asleep, but close.
“Come on, Jase,” she whispered, and carried him to the crib in the corner. This room had been created when Jason was much younger, but he still fit in the old bed just fine.
Trey turned from the monitors.
“This is a baby bed,” Jason fussed as she placed him down.
“It’s just for fun tonight,” Kelly said.
Jason’s lower lip stuck out. “How long do we have to stay here?”
Trey moved next to her and said, “Just until the game ends, buddy.”
“Okay, Daddy,” he said on a deep sigh.
And then, just like that, he was out. He hadn’t even demanded the kiss ritual. Was it the change in routine or was he just too tired?
“I wish I could fall asleep that easily,” Kelly whispered, unsure if she was sorry or relieved about missing her good-night kiss. She’d been dreading her reaction to Trey’s lips on hers again.
Or was it anticipation?
When Trey didn’t reply, Kelly shot him a glance. He gazed down at this sleeping son with such obvious love that her heart lurched. Trey might not be a perfect parent, but he would do anything for Jason.
She moved quietly back to the sofa. Hell, and what was a perfect parent? She’d never had one, that was for sure. Her mother hadn’t protected her from Roy. She hadn’t encountered an ideal mom or dad since she’d been on the job, either, although she had to admit her police work might not provide a fair sampling. She was only called to situations where trouble already existed.
Trey sat beside her. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m antsy,” she said.
“You want to be out searching for the intruders, don’t you?”
“You got that right.”
He smiled. “It’d be a waste of your time. I’m certain this is a false alarm.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Visitors tie up at the marina and forget to ask for clearance all the time. Or, according to my security team, more often than it should. They’re usually guests of a resident, apologetic and embarrassed afterward. We don’t hustle into the safe room every time.”
“But because of Jason’s abduction, your team is taking no chances.”
Trey nodded, looking toward Jason’s crib. �
�And I agreed with them.”
Kelly surveyed the windowless room. Everything they would need for the short term was here, a small refrigerator stocked with water, sodas and frozen meals, a microwave. The sofa made into a bed, and there was even a toilet, although no shower. Thick walls and huge stainless steel doors made unauthorized entrance impossible.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this room?”
He shrugged and placed his arm behind her on the sofa. “I seldom think of the safe room except during hurricane season, but you’re right. I should have. I’m sorry.”
“I assume everyone on your staff knows about it.”
“Not everyone, but key people.”
“Including Maria?”
“Yes. Anyone who lives in knows it’s here and its purpose.”
Kelly nodded. “That’s a problem if they have access codes.”
“They don’t.”
“Good,” Kelly said.
“You still think someone on the staff was involved in the kidnapping?”
“I’m sure of it. And that makes this room all but useless. They’ll know exactly where you are.”
“But not how to get me out.”
“Maybe,” Kelly said.
“Have you seen anything concrete to make you suspicious?”
“Not concrete,” she said slowly. “Certainly nothing that would stand up in court.”
“Hans?”
Kelly shook her head. “No. Hans is in the clear, and so is Greta. But Maria hasn’t taken her polygraph yet. She keeps making excuses.”
Trey gaped at her. “You can’t think Maria would be involved in harming Jason. She adores my son.”
“Yes,” Kelly agreed. “She does. And I like Maria, but something is going on with her.”
“Like what?”
Kelly took a deep breath. She couldn’t prove her suspicions about Trey’s housekeeper, but she was a law enforcement officer. Her gut told her Maria had a secret.
“I’ve caught her on her phone several times. When she sees me, she immediately terminates the conversation and hurries away.”
“Maybe she didn’t want you to know who she was talking to.”
“Could be, but why? I’m not her boss. Her actions were, you know, secretive. Plus, she’s gone through my drawers.”
“I instructed her to do your laundry.”
“And I appreciate that, but she leaves the clean clothes on the bed and I put everything away in drawers. Believe me, I know when my stuff has been rearranged. I don’t have a whole lot here.”
“Why would she do that?”
“I think Maria is looking for something.”
“What?”
“My gun. I deliberately put the gun locker in a new place twice, and it’s been moved. Someone is trying to get at it. If not Maria, who?”
Trey shifted to face her more directly. “Maria has been with me for four years, since Jason was an infant. She’s totally loyal.”
Kelly chewed on her bottom lip. Maybe she was wrong about Maria. Maybe there was a good explanation for her behavior, but Trey needed to know her suspicions no matter how much he didn’t want to hear them.
Kelly looked away from the denial in Trey’s eyes, from the allure of his lips. She was trying to behave like a professional, explain her doubts about his most trusted staff member. He needed to know this information.
But he sat too close, which short-circuited her brain. She could feel his body heat, breathe in the subtle fragrance of his aftershave. It was hard for her to concentrate on the results of her investigation when she wondered what he would do if she licked his throat. Whether they could turn this sofa into a bed without waking up Jason.
She suppressed a groan. What was wrong with her? All she could think about was getting Trey naked again.
She needed to focus on something besides another foolish fling—no matter how enjoyable—with Trey Wentworth.
“You have a traitor somewhere, Trey. I’m trying to find out who it is.”
He crossed his arms across his chest.
“Maria’s been good to me since I’ve been here.” Kelly released a breath and looked away from his troubled face. “But I think she has a secret.”
“A secret?”
She raised her gaze to his. “I’ve seen signs of a substance abuse problem.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
TREY CAME TO his feet, but had nowhere to go. The room was too small to even pace. What else could go wrong?
He glanced back to Kelly. She avoided his gaze, her mouth tight.
“What signs?” he demanded.
Jason rolled over, and she shot a look toward his bed. “Keep your voice down.”
“Sorry.” He moved back to the sofa and sat beside her again. “Look, I pay Maria quite well, and she survived a background check when I hired her.”
“The FBI cleared her, too,” Kelly said. “She’s never been arrested. At least not under the name she gave you.”
“What makes you think she has an alias?”
“I don’t know that she does. I’m throwing out theories.”
“I don’t like your theories.”
“You didn’t like your son being kidnapped, either.” Kelly sat cross-legged on the sofa, facing him. “Collins Island is just your winter home, right?”
“Right. Usually we live the rest of the year in Manhattan.”
“Does Maria travel back and forth with you and Jason?”
“No,” Trey said. “Jason has another nanny in New York.”
“So what does Maria do the rest of the year?”
He stared at Kelly. “I don’t know.”
“Does she have another job?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you ever think to ask?”
“No. It’s her business.”
“The day we met, you told me that you and Jason stayed in Florida longer than usual so he could continue therapy with Dr. Carico.”
“Yes. Carico thought her continued treatment would improve Jason’s condition.” Remembering his disgust with Carico, Trey ran a hand through his hair. If he’d gone north, Jason wouldn’t have been abducted. He’d been blind to Carico’s ulterior motives.
Was Kelly onto something? Could he be blind about Maria, too? He had noted a change in her behavior lately—she’d somehow seemed more nervous. He’d attributed that to the horror of the kidnapping and being attacked.
“So Maria just miraculously became available when you remained?” Kelly asked.
Trey hesitated, trying to remember how that conversation had gone. “Well, I told her we were staying and asked her if she could continue on.”
“Is she married?”
“No.”
“Has she ever been married?”
“Not according to the background check.”
“Children?”
“How could she have kids and live in here with us?”
“Relatives. What about a boyfriend?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never heard her mention one.”
“Do you have a lot of personal conversations with your staff?”
“Are you interrogating me, Kelly?”
“I’m trying to find out how much you really know about Maria. It doesn’t seem like it’s a whole hell of a lot.”
Trey stared at Kelly.
“And yet you trust her with your son.”
His throat tightened at her accusation, and he swallowed to release the tension. But Maria harm Jason? No way. Kelly had to be wrong.
“What evidence have you seen of a drug problem?” he demanded “I’ve never seen her high. Have you?”
“No. Just jittery in the afternoon, but happy in the morning
. Once I saw her take a pill.”
“Maybe she’s on medication.”
“For what?”
“How would I know?” But maybe he should.
“Maybe you should,” Kelly said, echoing his own thought.
“Damn you, Kelly.”
She poked an accusing finger at him. “Don’t blame me, Trey. I’m trying to figure this mess out.”
He released a breath. Why was he lashing out at Kelly? She didn’t want anything from him, had refused all his offers of payment, had even turned down the watch. She was perhaps the only person in his life who didn’t tell him what she believed he wanted to hear.
The FBI took her concerns seriously. So should he.
“Sometimes I forget you’re a cop,” he said.
She nodded. “Don’t do that.”
“But I’m convinced Maria loves Jason,” Trey said.
“And I don’t disagree. The thing is, if she has an addiction, she can’t help herself. The capsule she took was out of an orange container, like from a pharmacy, but being hooked on prescription meds is a huge problem in this country.”
“I know all about that,” Trey said. “Darlene was treated by a quack who gave her whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it.”
“I’d like to use the FBI’s resources to dig a little deeper into Maria.”
“God, I hate this,” Trey said.
“I know. Okay. Before we get Agent Ballard involved, let me try to find some real proof.”
“How?”
“I want to search Maria’s room.”
“What do you think you’ll find?”
“I’ll know it when I see it.”
Trey nodded. The idea that Maria had facilitated Jason’s abduction didn’t ring true to him. He couldn’t be wrong about the genuine affection she had for his son. Kelly wouldn’t find anything in a search, but he dare not take that chance.
He’d been wrong about people before.
“I’ll need you to keep her occupied at some prearranged time tomorrow so I can get in there,” Kelly said. “I don’t want her to know we’re suspicious or she’ll start being more careful. Or disappear.”
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