by Tara Nina
Jack loved the way she secretly squirmed in her seat. Not enough for anyone else to notice and just enough to turn him on. He knew the reason her breathing increased in minute increments. Each time she crossed and uncrossed her legs spoke volumes about her edgy condition. The moment he switched it off, the demanding plea in her gaze thrilled him to the core. He commanded her orgasm. Sending her a sly smile, he settled back into his seat.
This second day of court promised to hold a grand adventure even if the proceedings dragged. Evidence was presented, witnesses called, but nothing helped the DA’s case. The defense made a mockery of everything provided against his client. From the looks of the jury, Jack doubted a conviction would be won. He repositioned, trying to ease the discomfort of his semi-erection caused by the knowledge of where those balls were located. The only saving grace for his time spent within these walls was Shelley. By lunch, she seemed poised and ready for anything from the sin-soaked looks she passed his way.
Every flick of the switch caused a reaction from her that only he noticed. Knowing those shiny balls caressed her pussy kept him hard and ready for action. She’d made his morning more bearable by granting his wish. In the final moments before court recessed for lunch, Jack tormented her with short bursts of high-speed vibrations. On, off, on, off, he flipped the toy’s switch from nothing to rapid rotation in a series of quick flicks of his finger. His balls tensed at the sight of Shelley’s eyes closed and her lips thinned. Her cheeks flushed a faint red hue and he sensed she’d experienced a silent orgasm.
The glazed look she shot him cemented that idea in his head. He’d succeeded in pleasing her, which brought a thrill to his soul. Giving Shelley orgasms pleased him more than anything else ever had in his history of sexual experiences. She had him hot and hungry for more. He’d never fucked a woman with balls in her pussy. Would she let him? God, he hoped so.
When court adjourned for lunch, Jack met Shelley’s gaze across the crowd of people exiting the room. Each nodded at the other. He took it as a sign to meet outside. She had to exit through the posterior of the courtroom through the employee doorway and he had to follow the throng of people out the front.
“Well, we’ve got two hours before we have to be back here,” David interrupted Jack’s thoughts. “Want to grab lunch?”
“Uhm.” Jack cleared his throat. He had plans he didn’t wish to share with David. Shelley was his secret for now and no one needed to know about their relationship at the moment. If it truly was a relationship and not just a sexual adventure. Jack took a breath. “I have to skip out on you, partner. I’ve got something I need to take care of during the break.”
“Anything you need help with?”
The image of sharing Shelley in a three-way popped in his head for a split second, but he doubted she’d go for it. Hell, he doubted he’d like sharing his woman with another man. Where’d that come from? Jack swallowed hard as he ran a hand through his hair. She wasn’t his woman. They were a pair of adults enjoying each other’s company. If it went any further than that, then it did, if it didn’t, then it didn’t.
“No,” Jack shook his head as he answered. “I think I can handle it. See you later.”
* * * * *
“Excuse me, miss.”
The man’s voice startled Shelley, causing her to spin on her heels to face him. At first sight, she thought him to be simply one of the backwoods folk who’d come in to town for the trial. He wore denim coveralls, work boots, a tattered cap and it appeared as if he were in need of a bath. Unkempt gray hair stuck at odd ends from under a tattered cap. About two days’ worth of gray whiskers covered his jaw and dark rings gave his deep hazel eyes a sunken appearance in their sockets. A haunted gaze met hers, setting her gut instincts on alert.
She didn’t recognize him as a court employee. He must have gotten lost and wandered in the wrong door. No one other than employees belonged in the posterior hallways, which ran behind the courtroom. She glanced from side to side and saw no one else stood in the deserted area. Being alone with him added to her sense of unease, but she did her best not to show it in her tone when she asked.
“Can I help you?”
“Yes ma’am,” he spoke on a hushed breath, closing the short distance between them. An object she hadn’t noticed appeared, pointed straight at her. Her eyes widened as recognition of a pistol flooded her senses. “I’d be a might obliged if’n you’d come along with me ‘n make no fuss about it. I’d hate to have to shoot a hole clean through you.”
Fear barreled through her, yet she refused to panic or show this man that he scared her. Shelley didn’t know what to do. Run flashed through her brain, but common sense held her in place. Outrunning a bullet didn’t fit her athletic ability. If she screamed, would he shoot her before anyone came to her rescue? Assessing her dilemma, she planned to attempt to control the situation until another option presented itself—like help.
Hell, she worked in a courthouse and there wasn’t a cop in sight. Then again, most were busy out front handling the unusual crowd of protestors for this case. Jack. He’d be looking for her. They had a date, sort of. At least she hoped she hadn’t misunderstood the look he gave her as court adjourned for lunch. Either way, she decided the best way to buy time was to keep this strange man talking. She gathered her courage, straightened her spine and leveled an authoritative stare directly on him and prayed it gave her an edge as she pushed words past the lump in her throat.
“What do you want with me? Why should I go with you?”
“Ain’t you I’m after, missy. It’s your boyfriend.” His lips parted, showing her a gap-toothed smile.
“My boyfriend,” she managed to stutter and tried to feign an innocent expression. Did he mean Jack? How’d he know? They’d only been on one date. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“Don’t even try to lie. I saws you with him las’ night at that fancy place. Knew if’n I followed him I’d find a weakness.” He waved the gun at her as he continued. “An’ you’re it. I seen him leave your house this morning. Now let’s go out the back afore anyone finds us.”
He grabbed her arm, forced her to spin around in front of him and poked the gun in the small of her back. His chin came level with her shoulder, making him a tad bit shorter than her. The uncanny strength of his grip bruised her arm as she struggled to jerk free of his clutch. He shoved her up against the wall face first with a force so hard it knocked the air from her lungs. Shelley’s eyes closed as she gasped. On reflex, her internal muscles tightened and her thighs squeezed tight against the need of her knees to crumble.
On a silent prayer, she hoped for the strength to remain calm and levelheaded. If she’d learned anything in her years as court stenographer, it was that the victims who didn’t panic usually survived. Pressed taut against her back, he twisted her arm up between them and snarled in her ear.
“Don’t even try it. I’ll kill you on the spot. The only chance you’ve got is to go with me and hope your boyfriend likes you ‘nough to trade. You for my nephew.”
Every ounce of her went rigid at his last sentence. Oh God! This couldn’t be. No one had seen him for years. Rumor was he’d been locked up in a “special” place for medical reasons. If he was who she thought him to be, then she was screwed. Shelley gathered as much saliva as she could and forced the question to pass her lips.
“You’re Leon Baldwin?”
“That’d be me. Now if’n I was you, I’d do as I said.”
Sheer panic gripped her soul, but she wrestled it for control. It wouldn’t do to scream. It wouldn’t do to fight. Leon was crazy. The whole town knew it. And now he had her as his prisoner.
* * * * *
Jack lingered outside the courthouse waiting for Shelley to exit. Ten minutes ticked past and no Shelley. Had he missed her? Was she waiting at her car? Deciding to locate her, he walked toward the employee parking lot. Halfway across the lot, he spotted her car in the farthest corner possible away from the courthouse, but no Shelley. Jack t
ook a moment to evaluate the situation as he reached the Volkswagen Beetle. He felt certain Shelley had nodded in agreement to meet him. But they weren’t exactly able to set a meeting point. Leaning against her car, he scanned the area for her.
The courthouse wasn’t overly huge. The first floor housed the actual police station, the courtrooms and the judges’ chambers. The second floor contained the holding cells where prisoners were kept until their arraignments and bails were set. Once convicted, they were sent to the county prison. Jack stood in the employee parking lot, which was situated off to the side and posterior of the building. Most employees entered and exited through the rear except on days when court was in session. Those days they had to use the main entrance and pass through the detection devices along with everyone else for security measures.
It struck him odd that a beat-up blue truck sat near the rear entrance. The area was kept clear for emergency vehicles. He hadn’t noticed the truck earlier, but then again he hadn’t been looking for it either. The truck was illegally parked. A uniformed officer was on his way over to the truck when the back door of the building opened. Shelley proceeded out, followed closely by a man. The unnatural position of her arm behind her back and the way he seemed to shove her around in front of him told Jack all he needed to know. Jack sprinted, removing his weapon from its holster and taking aim on the run.
The uniformed officer reacted, but not quickly enough. The man shot the officer, who dropped to the ground in a heap. That was his second mistake…shooting an officer behind the police precinct. His first was taking Shelley captive. Cops poured out of the building and appeared from every direction. The unidentified man used Shelley as his shield, forcing her toward the truck. Two officers gathered the injured cop and moved him to safety.
“Let the woman go, Baldwin,” one of the officers yelled.
“No, my beef’s not with you, Brady. Now go away afore I have to shoot you.”
“You’ve already shot an officer. Let’s not make it more,” Captain James replied as he entered into the mix with his weapon held at the ready.
“Problem’s not with you either, James,” Leon snarled, tugging Shelley close and holding the gun to her temple.
Had he heard that right? Jack strained to hear more as he closed the distance. The man was a Baldwin. No doubt a relative of Bubba’s. The man Jack had arrested. The scenario unfolding somehow made sense and it didn’t at the same time. How did this man know Jack had a relationship with Shelley? They’d only been on one date. Jack gritted his teeth. Somehow this man knew. Had he followed them? That had to be the answer.
Jack stopped at the police perimeter set up around the rear of the building, flashed his badge at the uniforms even though most knew him and pushed his way to the front. One glance and Jack knew Baldwin wouldn’t escape, not with this crew chomping at the bit to shoot him. Fear showed in Shelley’s eyes and it tore at his heart. He swallowed hard and took a cleansing breath as he chose his words carefully.
“Your problem’s with me, Baldwin,” he proclaimed as he stepped forward, then stopped. Shoulders lifted, chin tilted, Jack attempted to meet the gaze of the perpetrator, but he kept hidden behind Shelley. “I’m the one who arrested your nephew, not her. Let the woman go and we’ll talk.”
All he needed was a split second of indecision on his enemy’s part and Jack would have him. Leon spun, dragging Shelley along with him and managed to keep his back shielded by the truck. Jack assessed the situation. Leon had a problem. Both hands were occupied and he couldn’t open the door. One hand held Shelley and the other held the gun. Leon raised his chin and peered over Shelley’s shoulder. Jack read the wild anger in his eyes before the weasel darted back behind her. He held his weapon leveled in Baldwin’s general location.
“Please, no more bloodshed,” Shelley croaked. “Please put your guns down.”
“Do as the woman says,” Leon bellowed. “Let me leave an’ you’ll receive my demands when I’ve reached a safe place.”
Her eyes showed the shock of seeing a man shot. Jack understood her pain and hated to add to it. Her plea touched the last warm spot in his heart. He’d seen enough bloodshed to last an eternity. But this man held her tight, with a gun to her temple, threatening her life. What was he to do? He swallowed hard. Not one muscle twitched, as Jack stood poised, waiting for the perfect shot. It would come. It always did where he was concerned. The Marines taught him well. One shot, one kill.
“Let her go. She had nothing to do with this,” Jack stated in a tight, emotionless monotone. His gaze fixed on Baldwin. If he so much as leaned a smidgeon from behind Shelley, he was as good as dead.
“Don’t worry, cop. I won’t hurt your lady friend. She’s insurance.” Leon twisted Shelley’s arm, causing her to gasp in pain. It struck a chord deep in Jack’s soul. No man should hurt a woman…ever.
“Take me instead,” he stated as he set the safety on his weapon and held his hands out with it hanging loosely on his finger by the trigger. Jack knew he took a dangerous chance leaving himself exposed. At least that’s what he hoped this crazy man thought.
Chapter Six
“Are you nuts?” The voice of his partner David reached his ears from directly behind him on a rushed whisper meant only for him. “That’s Leon Baldwin. He’s not right in the head. Negotiation isn’t a word in his vocabulary.”
“Don’t worry,” Jack whispered back without looking away from Leon. “It’s not in mine either.”
Jack took a step. Leon reacted by tightening his grip. Shelley winced, eyes closed tight and lips thinned, releasing a weak whimper. He had to do something. Remembering Shelley’s plea, he needed to take Leon down without shooting him. Bloodshed wasn’t an option. But if he could get close enough, he had another viable tactic. Disarm and defeat.
“Her for you.” He harrumphed at the idea. “Ain’t either of y’all I want. I’ll set her free if’n you release my nephew.”
Leon peeked around the edge of Shelley’s head. Only one eye was visible, but it would have been enough for Jack’s sniper skills to pinpoint his target and drop him. But he couldn’t, not without risking Shelley’s sanity in the process. He wouldn’t be the reason she lost sleep at night because the face of a man he shot haunted her dreams. No, he refused to scar her soul with that image, not if he could prevent it. It was bad enough he lived every day with his best friend’s dead gaze seared into his gray matter. He wouldn’t do something similar to her.
Her eyes opened wide, showing anger laced with a hint of fear. Jack swallowed the smile that threatened to upturn the corner of his lip. The woman had backbone. Faced with a gun, she’d overridden her pain and fear and channeled it into anger. This was good. Leon didn’t stand a chance.
Another step caused exactly what he hoped. Leon shifted the gun from Shelley’s temple to point directly at him. “Stop right there or I’ll shoot you instead, cop.”
An idea bloomed in his head at the mention of the word. He repeated it, praying Shelley read his intentions in his eyes and understood.
“Cop,” Jack stated with a nod at Shelley. She blinked and he hoped it was his answer.
Shelley feigned a faint and slithered to the ground as Leon grappled to hang on to her but lost his grip. Jack dove at Leon. Capturing the gun’s barrel in one hand, he grasped Leon’s wrist with his other. Bones snapped, but the gun fired, then dropped to their feet. Jack plowed into Leon’s chest with the full weight of his body.
As they hit the ground, Jack elbowed Leon’s ribs. Blood dripped from his fingers, but Jack didn’t take the time to determine whether it was his or the perp’s. He scrambled to his knees, straddled Leon, pinned him to the ground and connected a fist to his jaw. Leon took on the strength of a wild beast and flipped Jack up over his head to land flat on his back. Neither rested. Both sprang to their feet and squared off. Leon came at Jack as if possessed. But for Leon it wasn’t enough.
Years of being a Marine kicked in. Memories of secret battles fought flooded Jack’s syst
em as the shadows of faceless enemies in the desert resurfaced. Bombs hidden along the roadside took many a good man, not giving them the chance to protect themselves in a fair fight.
Pent-up frustration fortified Jack’s strikes, knocking Leon senseless. He caught Leon’s last limp punch in his hand, spun and twisted the arm behind Leon’s back and shoved him up against the truck. Life wasn’t fair and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to fix it. The path Leon chose endangered an innocent in order to get something he wanted. In Jack’s book, that wasn’t giving Shelley a fair fight and he intended to make sure Leon understood his mistake.
“Jack! Jack! I think you got him, buddy.” David grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Leon. “Let the uniforms take him from here. Come on, you need medical help. You’re bleeding, man.”
Jack took a step and stumbled. David didn’t let him fall. He leaned into David and turned, looking for Shelley. On a graveled breath, he refrained from calling her by name, not wanting to raise suspicion. He’d promised her that they were a secret and he didn’t intend to let it slip. “The woman, how’s the woman?”
“I’m fine,” she stated, pushing her way through a wall of police officers to get to him. She glanced from the detective holding him up to Jack. His color didn’t look good. Blood soaked his shirt and dripped from his fingertips. “You’re shot,” she stated in a panicked tone.
“I’ll be fine.” The weak smile he gave her did nothing to ease her concern. “That was a good move you made.”
Relief that the situation ended mixed with a new fear for Jack’s condition. All she wanted to do was gather him in her arms and cart him off to the nearest hospital. But she took his cue and continued the façade of being strangers. Part of her didn’t care if everyone knew she’d slept with him but a smidgeon of sanity kept her morals intact. Was he protecting her or himself?