Terrance chuckled. “We set him up good. Everyone will think he did it, since our guy made sure witnesses saw the motorcycle. It’s the exact model Carter owns. It will be obvious he wanted you dead. A little planted evidence before we leave tonight, and Carter will go away for your murder as well. The Sharps will be decimated, and Caleb can swoop in and save the country when he takes power from the corrupted Sharp family.”
Footsteps creaked in the hallway outside the door, and Terrance glanced out at whoever stood on the landing.
It was now or never. Jenessa yanked open the drawer, grasping the gun inside.
Something long and hard connected with her skull, knocking her away from the drawer before she could get a good grip on the gun and causing bursts of starlight to prick her vision.
“No way, bitch.” Caleb stood over her, a baseball bat in his hand. “This isn’t a gun fight.” He slapped the bat against one hand. “It’s time for a ball game!”
Terrance chuckled, stepping around Caleb and grabbing the gun from the drawer. “Never know when an FBI issued firearm might come in handy.” He glanced at Jenessa. “It really is a pity about your brains.”
His footsteps retreated down the hallway, leaving her alone with a smiling killer.
“I’ve been waiting all week for this,” Caleb said. “Beating Stanley’s old lady until she nearly exploded was okay, but you’re the one I’ve had my eye on.”
He lifted the bat over his head, readying a devastating downward blow.
At the last moment possible, Jenessa rolled, feeling the wind as the bat hit the bed behind her. Stars continued crackling in her vision and waves of nausea roiled in her gut, but she had to get out of here. Her only chance was to fight back and hope she could get out of the house and somehow outrun him.
Chapter 21
Kole sped toward the house, an unexplainable fear urging him forward. They’d changed the security alarm. No one could get at Jenessa. Still, all the reassuring things he recited to himself didn’t make him feel any better. He tried her cell phone again, punching the steering wheel when the call went to voice mail for the third time.
“She’s just passed out from the headache,” he told himself, pressing the gas pedal down further.
When turning onto his street, Kole noticed a black town car parked outside the security gate to his driveway. When he pulled into the entry, the headlights on the car flared to life and the driver gunned the gas, tearing off into the night.
Eyes blinded from the lights, Kole couldn’t make out a license plate number. He wanted to chase the car down, but the certainty that Jenessa needed him spurred him on. He punched the code into the gate’s box and drove through, slamming the car into park and grabbing his gun from the glove box.
As quickly as he could, Kole leaped from the car and raced to the front door. Everything looked fine, the security alarm hadn’t been tripped, but Kole knew something was wrong.
Just as he reached the porch, an ear-piercing scream shredded through the night air, followed by a loud thud.
It was Jenessa, and someone was in there with her!
Jenessa raced down the stairs, screaming for all she was worth. It was probably pointless, as Kole’s neighbors weren’t close enough to hear, but she couldn’t fight the fear making her yell.
Caleb’s bat smacked into her from behind, sending Jenessa sprawling as she tumbled down the remaining stairs.
“You can’t outrun me.” Caleb was on her in seconds, and the bat struck Jenessa across the ribs, causing an explosion of pain.
She screamed again, trying to scramble away from him. “Stop,” she yelled. “Please, you don’t have to do this.”
He laughed, readying the bat again. “Of course, I don’t have to. I’ll be the most powerful man in the world soon with Paul’s help. The thing is, I want to.”
The bat swung down again, and Jenessa dug her heels into the floor to scoot away. The wood tagged her on the hip. The pain was so intense, Jenessa wondered if she’d be able to get back to her feet. She had to try. The door was within sight. Kole couldn’t find her dead on the floor. She had to get away.
Caleb raised the bat over his head once again. Jenessa needed to stop him. Wishing for the hundredth time she knew karate, she pulled her foot near her stomach, kicking it upward at Caleb’s crotch with as much power as she could put behind it.
She connected perfectly, and Caleb dropped to the floor, grabbing himself and cursing.
Jenessa didn’t have time to wait around. She pushed herself off the floor, climbing to her good leg and hopping toward the door. The hip that he’d connected with the bat screamed in pain, but she kept going. She would find help. She would get back to Kole!
The bat struck her between the shoulders, knocking all the air from her lungs. Jenessa dropped, unable to do more than whimper as she tried to suck in breath.
“It’s over,” Caleb growled. “This ends now.”
The front door swung open. “Make one move, and you’re dead!”
He came!
“Kole,” she yelled, “watch out for Terrance. He’s here somewhere.”
Kole’s gun stayed steady, pointing at Caleb. “He left. A car took off when I pulled in.”
Jenessa snuck a peek at Caleb, and his face had turned a pasty color.
“He left me?” the man asked, the fight seeming to flow from his body.
“Yes,” Kole confirmed. “You have no backup. I should just shoot you now and get it over with. Who cares if you have information on S.A.T.O.? Make a move toward Nessa so I can claim self-defense.”
The bat fell from Caleb’s grasp, clattering to the floor while he held his hands up in surrender.
“There are zip ties in the kitchen junk drawer,” Kole said. “Grab some and tie him up.”
Jenessa breathed in and out slowly, trying to control the pain raging through her body now that her adrenaline had started to fade. “Perhaps you should give me the gun,” she suggested. “I don’t think I can walk.”
Kole held Jenessa in his arms while the cops hauled Caleb out of the foyer area and into a waiting cop car. She continued moaning with pain and was terribly pale.
“Are you hanging in there?” he asked. “The ambulance should be here any second.”
“I’m okay. I’m just glad you made it in time. I did everything I could to get away, but he was about to...” She began shaking and tears glittered down her cheeks.
“Shhhh...” He kissed her tears away. “It’s okay. You’re safe now, and he’s going to prison. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“No, but Terrance got away.”
Kole could only count himself lucky that he’d resisted the urge to chase down that black car. He might have caught up to Terrance, but Jenessa wouldn’t have made it. The rest of the world be damned. Jenessa was the one he cared about. Catching Terrance could be next week’s problem. “They’ll have to lie low for a while,” he told her, trying to be reassuring. “We completely destroyed their plan to take over the White House. They have to come up with something new.”
She sniffled and wiped at her tears. “Paul has to give up at some point, doesn’t he? Nearly every family affiliated with the secret board has been punished, either by death or having a loved one who is going to prison.”
She meant Carter, but obviously hadn’t wanted to say it. Yes, Paul had effectively punished the board members who he felt had wronged him. Maybe his goal of dominating the country wouldn’t be realized for now, but the criminal mastermind had to be feeling better about having enacted revenge.
“I’m never going to let him hurt you again,” Kole promised. “I’ve got your back, forever.”
“It wasn’t Carter last night,” she said. “Terrance told me they set Carter up, wanting your family and the world to believe he tried to kill us. They were going to plant evidence after killing me to frame him for my death too.”
Kole shook with reaction, having a hard time facing how close he’d come to losing her forever toni
ght. What if he had returned home just five minutes later? He kissed her again, shaken at the close call.
Medics entered the house in the next few minutes, bustling around and taking control of Jenessa. They put her on a backboard and braced her neck, checked her vitals, then inserted an IV.
One of the medics glanced at Kole. “Are you her husband?”
“Yes, I’m—”
“He’s my boyfriend,” Jenessa answered.
The medic glanced at Jenessa and then gave Kole a hard stare, likely trying to determine if he might have been the person to hurt her. “You’ll have to meet us at the hospital, sir. Family only in the ambulance.”
Kole didn’t care what they thought. He simply nodded, grabbing Jenessa’s hand and walking with them as they wheeled her to the ambulance. “I’ll be right behind you, Nessa. You’re safe in the ambulance, okay? I’m right behind you.”
“Okay, Kole.” Her voice sounded weak, and he hoped they gave her something for the pain.
Several people hopped into the back with her, and one man stood outside preparing to close the doors.
“Hey, Kole?” The weakness had faded. She sounded a bit frantic.
“I’m here, Jenessa. I’m going to be right behind you. Don’t worry.”
“I’m not worried,” she replied as the doors started swinging shut. “I just wanted you to know I love you.”
Chapter 22
The New Year had brought a lot of changes in Jenessa’s life. She’d spent two weeks in the hospital, recovering from broken ribs, a concussion, and a deeply bruised hip bone.
Kole had been oddly quiet a lot of the time while she’d recovered. Something was different between them. He seemed brooding and uncomfortable when they were together. She had hoped it had to do with his brother’s arrest. However, today was her first day back to work at the FBI office, and she hadn’t heard from him at all.
Maybe the dream was over. They caught the bad guy, and Kole wanted to go back to his old life, putting back up the walls that had kept him safe. In a way, she could understand it. She very easily could have died that night. Maybe the thought of getting too attached and having his heart broken if the members of S.A.T.O. managed to kill her was just too much to take.
Her cell phone buzzed in her pocket, and Jenessa’s heart race with hope even though she told it not to. A view at the caller ID revealed it wasn’t him, but it was a call she’d been waiting for. “Shelley? Is the baby coming?”
“Hey, girlfriend.” Shelley sounded as upbeat as ever. “I’m not in labor, don’t worry. They’ve scheduled a C-section for next Friday though. They want to control the delivery, given my knee injury and other problems. I was hoping you’d come back to Sayle and be with me.”
“Be with you?” Jenessa was confused. “Don’t you have Carlie and Gavin there?”
Shelley chuckled. “What? You don’t want to come?”
“No, no. I’m not saying that. I was only surprised that you’d want me there.”
“Of course, I want you here. Not only do I have a very limited number of girls that I count as a friend, I can’t depend on Carlie or Gavin.”
“Sure you can. Carlie’s beside herself with happiness about the baby.”
“Exactly,” Shelley said, as though Jenessa had proven her point. “Carlie is going to be all about the baby. As far as Gavin, lord knows I love the man, but he’ll probably pass out on the delivery room floor. I need someone who will be here for me. Will you come?”
Warmth filled Jenessa’s heart. Perhaps she hadn’t been invited to Nick and Carlie’s wedding simply as an extra to fill out the bridal party.
“I need to check with work,” Jenessa said, “but when do you want me to fly in?”
“As soon as you can. We might not all belong to a secret agent club anymore since President Sharp split that up, but that doesn’t stop you from belonging with us.”
At least someone wanted her. “I’ll come as soon as I can. Heck, maybe I’ll look into transferring out to Seattle’s field office. I could make the thirty-minute commute from Sayle as easily as the one from Virginia to D.C. Then, I could be around to help you out more often.”
“I’d love that!” Shelley sucked in a loud breath. “But, wait, what about Kole? Would he move out here?”
The heaviness recaptured Jenessa’s heart. It didn’t matter how nice having a big group of friends was, they couldn’t replace Kole. She loved him so much. Moving on without him would be hard, but she wouldn’t force him into something he didn’t want.
“I don’t think Kole’s going to be an issue,” she replied. “Let me make some arrangements, and I’ll call you back. I’ll fly out as soon as I can. No going into labor before I get there. That baby boy has to wait for me.”
Kole stood outside the door to the FBI Headquarters, nerves getting the best of him as the roses in his hand trembled. It had taken a few weeks to get everything in order, but he’d closed his practice in Wisconsin and tied up all the loose ends. He was free to do whatever he wanted to.
What he wanted was to pick a new home out with Jenessa and love her until his very last breath.
The doors opened and people swarmed out. Kole nearly missed Jenessa, walking past him in her regular FBI garb and high-glossy shoes.
“Nessa,” he called, chasing after her. “Wait up?”
She turned around, a clear question on her face. “Kole?”
He pulled her to the side of the walkway, away from the FBI agents hurrying to their cars. “Shift change?”
She nodded. “Are those for me?”
“Of course, they are.” He held them out, moving in for a kiss.
She surprised him by accepting the flowers and then taking a step backward. “I thought we were breaking up.”
His breath arrested in his throat for a moment. Was that what she wanted? It couldn’t be! “We most certainly are not breaking up,” he said.
She continued walking along the pathway toward the parking garage. “You haven’t been around much the last week. I thought...”
“You thought I’d just duck out without saying anything?”
From the guilty look she flashed him, he could tell that was exactly what she’d thought.
“Nessa, I told you I had to take care of some things. You said you were fine and not to worry. I know I’ve been a bit secretive, but I wanted to surprise you.”
She finally stopped walking, turning to face him. “Fine, what’s the surprise?”
“First of all, I put my house up for sale.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“We aren’t going to live with the ghost of Clarissa or your attack always in our faces.”
“We aren’t going to live that way?”
He nodded. “That’s the other part of it. I’ve been in Wisconsin the past few days, shutting down my business and breaking the lease on the house I had rented there. Essentially, I’m homeless.” He cocked a grin at her, hoping she’d find it amusing.
Instead, her eyes narrowed. “But why?”
“Because I want to live with you. I never want to be apart from you longer than is absolutely necessary for work. You’re the only person I can imagine my life with, and I’m done hiding my heart and pretending I don’t need anyone. I need you. Say you’ll go house hunting with me and we can move in together.”
She looked at the flowers in her hands. “I put in for a transfer this afternoon.”
“What?” Now it was his turn to be surprised, and not in a good way.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have been as caught up in family business and loose ends as he’d been the last couple weeks. Jenessa had assured him she was fine. Kole had wanted to stand by his parents while they suffered the media storm that happened when news leaked out about Carter’s role in the recent murders. He’d also needed to repair the relationship with his mother, reassuring her that the Clarissa fiasco never made him love her any less. Jenessa had seemed to understand that—she told him she understood.
; His brother would spend the next ten to fifteen years behind bars, but it would be in a low security prison where he’d have plenty of protection. Thanks to the evidence that Jenessa and Kole had turned over to William and being supported by Jenessa’s statements about what happened to her that night, Carter was able to strike a deal in exchange for testimony against Caleb, Terrance, and eventually Paul.
After dealing with all that, Kole had raced to clear the way to be with Jenessa forever. He never suspected she thought he was dumping her.
Not able to handle the sadness in Jenessa’s eyes when she finally looked back up at him, Kole stepped into her and wrapped her in an embrace. He kissed her softly, feeling the way her body responded to him even if she didn’t want it to. “Wherever you’re transferring to, Nessa, take me with you.”
She let out a small sob and wrapped her arms around him. A thorn from the roses dug into his skin, but he didn’t care.
“I made a mistake,” he said. “Before I went off to plan our lives, I should have made sure you knew the most important thing.”
She still held him tightly, and rested her head on his shoulder. “What’s that?”
He released his grip on her, lifting her chin with a gentle finger beneath it. “That I love you more than I thought possible to love another person. You’re the one thing in my life going right, and I will do whatever it takes to keep you in it.”
“Oh, Kole!” She raised on her tiptoes, pressing her mouth into his, kissing at him with a hunger that matched his own. “I love you so much.”
The very last of his defenses crumbled and he lost himself in her sweet kisses. They were all wrong for each other yet, somehow, they were all right. Life was good, the future would be great.
After a timeless moment of sealing their love, Jenessa pulled away, grinning as a merriment sparkled in her beautiful eyes. “I’m glad you said you’ll do whatever it takes to keep me in your life, sweetheart, because I made a decision that will affect us both now.”
“What?” he asked, knowing he’d accept whatever she told him.
Love & Compromise (Agents in Love Book 3) Page 22