It was true, but Jake had no idea if Douglas had kept his word. And since the patina of politeness had disappeared, Jake decided not to pull any punches. “I don’t want you investigating Jessie—got that?”
Now Douglas had a reaction. Annoyance danced through his raisin-colored eyes. “But she—”
“You had no right,” Jake interrupted. He turned to leave, saying the rest of what he had to say over his shoulder. “And it won’t happen again.”
Chapter Eight
Jessie finally won the argument with Jake.
No easy feat.
She’d insisted that she accompany him to Dr. Radelman’s house. Jake hadn’t wanted her to go—because of her safety, he’d said. Jessie dug in her heels and reminded him that she might recognize something they could use against Radelman. Finally, she wore him down, and he agreed to let her go.
Now as they parked up the street from the house, she conceded that Jake had a point about safety. Specifically, the baby’s safety. She couldn’t keep doing things that could put her life, and therefore the child’s, in danger.
Of course, doing nothing might prove just as dangerous.
“How exactly will we get in?” she asked, eyeing the houses that lined both sides of the suburban street. It was a Neighborhood Watch kind of area, and she didn’t relish the idea of breaking in.
He dangled a key in front of her. “This way.”
“Where did you get that?”
“Douglas. He knows the owner of the real estate agency that Radelman’s using to sell his house.”
“Convenient.”
He lifted a shoulder. “I didn’t tell Douglas why I needed it. I figured it was best to leave him out of this.”
Jessie quietly agreed. As far as she was concerned, she wanted Douglas to have nothing to do with anything going on in her life. Their little chat still had her shaken.
Jake pointed his finger at her. “All right, here’s the deal, and if you don’t agree, I’ll take you right back to the ranch. If anything—and I mean anything—goes wrong, you’ll get out of there without arguing. First sign of trouble, I want you gone.” He waited until she nodded in agreement. “Then, let’s get this over with.”
It certainly didn’t look like the residence of a felon. There was a cobblestone walkway, tan shutters, ornate grillwork on the porch and flowers. Even in the pale streetlight, Jessie could see the tiny blue buds that dotted the thick rosemary bushes in front of the house.
Jake unlocked the door, and they slipped inside. He clicked on a tiny flashlight that he took from the pocket of his windbreaker. “Stay right with me,” he whispered, handing her a pair of thin rubber gloves, also from his pocket. He put on a pair himself. “And if we find anything, we’ll call the cops. The idea isn’t to tamper with evidence here.”
She rolled her eyes. Jessie didn’t have that in mind, either. What she wanted, though, was to find solid proof and stop the person who had kidnapped her.
Their search was slow and tedious because of the near darkness, and because Jessie had no idea what they were looking for. Still, they checked the obvious places, all the drawers and closets. Then they checked the not-so-obvious ones, including the toilet tanks.
The place was clean. Too clean. Radelman’s furniture was still there, but there weren’t any personal items lying around. No photos. No mementos of any kind. Even the drawer to his nightstand was empty, and there wasn’t so much as a trace of lint in the pockets of the clothes that hung in his closet. Someone had obviously sanitized everything.
Jessie was ready to give up, when she glanced again at the notepad on the desk. The top sheet was blank, but she thumbed through it. On the second-last page, she found some writing.
“Seems to be a list,” Jake observed from over her shoulder. He held the flashlight so they could read it. “Transport kit for aliquots. Storage tank.”
“Aliquots,” Jessie repeated. “Samples. Specifically, equal samples of something. Perhaps yours.” She glanced up at him when he didn’t say anything. He was staring at her. “What?”
“Since when does a cocktail waitress need to know about aliquots?”
Jessie flinched. What a stupid thing for her to say. But she didn’t panic. She quickly covered her tracks. “A cocktail waitress doesn’t need to know it, but I do own a dictionary. And I use it on occasion.”
“Then, do you have any idea what that is—?” Jake pointed to the underlined words at the bottom of the page. “Chorionic villi sampling.”
“No. You?”
“No, but I will soon.”
He must have heard the sound at the exact moment that she did, because they both turned toward the front door. A second later, Jessie heard a key sliding into the lock. She tossed the notepad back onto the table.
“This way.” He caught onto her hand and hurried down the short hallway to the closet. It was tiny, she soon learned when he pushed her inside. He came in after her, squeezing the door shut.
Jessie didn’t say anything, even though they were practically on top of each other. She knew how much danger they could be in. And her mind began to whirl with all the possibilities.
Had Dr. Radelman returned? Or was it one of the other kidnappers who’d followed them there? It could be just a real estate agent showing the house or a caretaker doing a routine check. After all, there were a lot of plants, and the ones left alive needed some water. But Jessie knew it wasn’t that. It was too late for a routine visit from a caretaker or potential buyers.
Her heart started to pound and she felt a dizzy spell coming on. Great. Just great. Someone might come through the door to kill them, and the world whirled around the way it does when you’re on a carnival ride. Because she had no choice, she closed her eyes and put her head against Jake’s shoulder.
“Are you all right?” he whispered in her ear.
She tried to nod and thought maybe she had succeeded. It was hard to know—with the dizziness.
Suddenly, she could hear muffled laughter and people talking. Two people. A man and a woman.
“You’re sure this is okay?” The woman giggled after her flirty sounding question.
The man made a husky growling sound. “Sure. Like I told you, if anybody comes by, I’ll just show my ID from the security company and say I was checking out the place.”
Jessie didn’t allow herself to feel any relief yet, even though it didn’t seem these visitors were armed and dangerous. But they were there. Between them and the front door. Jake probably didn’t want to explain to anyone how he’d come by the key to the place.
The giggles and conversation soon turned to sounds of kissing. Then, groping. Jessie hadn’t realized just how distinctive the sounds were of a couple engaged in heavy foreplay. Foreplay that was even more uncomfortable since Jake was pressed right against her.
It was pitch black in the closet. Jessie was actually thankful for that. It meant she didn’t have to look at Jake’s face to see how he reacted to such erotic sounds. However, she was aware, somehow, that he was looking at her.
The rhythm of his breathing changed slightly. Beneath her hand, she could feel his heart begin to pound. Muscles stirred in his chest. All of that was from the surge of adrenaline, she assured herself. That and the rather vocal couple who apparently liked to talk dirty. Hard not to react a little to that.
Too bad she couldn’t move back at least an inch or two, but her back was already against the wall. However, she could do something to minimize her contact with Jake. Holding her breath, she moved her head from his shoulder. Just a fraction.
He moved at the same time. A fraction. And his mouth collided with her cheek. At first, she thought he’d tried to kiss her, but he hadn’t. He put his mouth next to her ear.
“Are you okay?” he whispered. His breath brushed against her face.
No. She wasn’t okay. Jessie nodded, anyway. But she really should have given that some thought first. Since Jake’s mouth was still against her ear, his lips rubbed against her lobe.
And the sensitive little spot just below it that she hadn’t known was so sensitive.
A silent groan rumbled in her throat. She didn’t make a sound, but Jessie had no doubt that he felt it. Felt it and knew what it meant. She wasn’t the only one who was aware of this unexplainable attraction between them.
Slowly, a fraction at a time, he turned his head and slipped his arm around her waist. The contact was so intimate that Jessie almost panicked. Almost. Until he lowered his mouth to hers. The first touch of his lips was hardly more than a caress. But it was enough. More than enough. And after that, panicking was the absolute last thing she had on her mind.
Jake’s mouth was warm and yielding. Sweet. Clever. It was all those things and more. It’d been years since a man had kissed her, and never like this. Never.
Her heartbeat slowed. Her breath became thin. The dreamy feel of pleasure seeped through her until her muscles went slack. And still he didn’t stop. He continued the gentle, thorough assault. Continued to take exactly what she offered. His mouth moved over hers as if he knew every secret she’d ever hidden in her soul.
Sweet heaven, she was in a lot of trouble here.
But the kiss continued. Jake didn’t deepen it. He didn’t have to. It was enough simply to have his mouth on hers. Enough for her to know this wasn’t some ordinary kiss.
A slow burning hunger quickly replaced the dreamy feeling. It took Jessie a moment to realize what it was. Desire. Need. And maybe something more. But somewhere beneath the haze, beneath the fire, she knew this was wrong. She didn’t trust Jake. He certainly didn’t trust her. And they darn sure shouldn’t complicate things with kisses. Besides, they were literally lurking in a closet. She should have her mind on plenty of other things.
Jessie eased away as much as she could. It didn’t help. When she breathed, she breathed him. His taste was in her mouth. His scent covered her. Jake was the pinpointed center of all her senses, which were honed to razor-sharp edges.
In the other room, their visitors had obviously moved from foreplay to sex. She shut them out, or rather tried to. It wasn’t a good idea for her to combine Jake and sex in the same thought.
“We shouldn’t have done that,” she whispered.
He jerked his hand from her waist and ground his forehead against hers. He cursed softly. She wanted to curse, too. And kick herself for letting this happen. She’d already made too many stupid mistakes.
“Don’t move!” a man shouted.
She froze. Jake reacted with lightning speed. Somehow, he turned around, blocking her with his body. In almost the same motion, he reached down and pulled a gun from an ankle holster. She hadn’t even known he was armed, but she was thankful for it.
Jessie held her breath. Died a couple of dozen deaths. And waited out the maddening silence that followed.
The man shouted, Don’t move again, and the lights in the living room flared on. She peeked around Jake and through the louvered slats caught a glimpse of the hulking man. In uniform. A cop.
This wasn’t good. If he arrested them for trespassing, she’d have to reveal who she really was. In the long run, it might put them in even more danger. After all, if the kidnappers learned she was a former police officer, they might be especially eager to silence her. Permanently. Still, she couldn’t imagine them being any more tenacious than they already were.
“What are you doing in here?” the man demanded. He hadn’t said it to them, Jessie assured herself, but to the lovers.
The couple scrambled to cover themselves, both trying to answer at the same time and neither of them making much sense. “I work for the security company,” the younger man said, his voice clipped. “I wanted to check out the place. My girlfriend came with me.”
The cop cursed. “How long have you been here?”
“Not long.” The woman, that time. Her voice shook uncontrollably. “A half-hour maybe.”
“Was anybody else in here?”
The couple glanced at each other before shaking their heads. “Just us.”
Another round of profanity, equally as vicious as the first. “Get the hell out!” he yelled at the couple.
Snatching up the rest of their clothes, the two hurried out the door. The cop didn’t. He had his back to the closet and he kept a two-handed grip on the pistol.
Something was wrong. Very wrong. Jessie’s concern turned to full-fledged fear when the man didn’t move. He just stood there, his head tipped back slightly as if listening for something. Not for something.
For them.
He’d expected to find Jake and her in the house. He probably didn’t have an arrest in mind, either, especially since there weren’t even any handcuffs on his equipment belt.
Seconds passed. Slowly. Jessie forced herself to calm, just so he wouldn’t be able to hear her breathing. God, if he turned around and saw them, they’d be trapped in the closet. And likely dead within seconds. The man’s sleek, matte-black pistol would see to that.
Jake didn’t move, but since she was so close to him, Jessie felt the vibration of his body. Every muscle was tense and primed, in case they had to fight their way out of this. This was the second time he’d put himself in the line of fire to protect her. At Cryogen Labs and now. She didn’t like that she had to rely on anyone for safety, but she would have been terrified if Jake hadn’t been there. As it was, she was just plain scared out of her mind.
The man in uniform shifted his weight slightly and eased his head higher. Another minute went by. Maybe two. He swore again and lowered his gun. She was certain he would start to search the place then, but he didn’t. He left, and moments later she heard a door slam shut.
Jake pressed his fingers to her mouth as if to remind her not to say anything. Jessie needed no such reminder. They weren’t out of danger yet.
“That was no cop,” Jake whispered after what seemed an eternity.
“No, he wasn’t. He was looking for us, Jake. I think he’s one of the men who kidnapped me. And the man who fired shots at us outside Cryogen Labs.”
He made a sound of agreement. “But then, how would he know we’d be here? If he followed us, he waited a long time to come inside.”
That was true and it only tightened the knot in her stomach. “Who knew we were coming?” she asked. “Douglas?” It wasn’t really a question. Douglas had given Jake the key. And after that warning he’d given her earlier, she definitely didn’t trust him.
“He wouldn’t have told anyone, but his friend who gave him the keys could have. How about you? Did you tell anyone we were coming here?”
Jessie said no right away, but it was a lie. She’d told Byron earlier when she called, but he wouldn’t have said anything. Although, the phone could have been bugged.
“Douglas and I had a little talk this afternoon,” she said, testing the waters. The alarmed look that Jake gave her made her even more cautious. “He believes I’ll hurt your campaign.”
He gritted his teeth. “I was afraid he’d say something to you. Did he scare you?”
“Not really,” she lied. “It just made me wonder how much you trust him.”
She obviously caught him off guard. Or something. She heard his rough intake of breath, and his gaze snapped to her.
“He’s my brother-in-law.”
And that didn’t answer her question. “But do you trust him?”
For a moment, she thought he might laugh. Or yell. He didn’t.
“Yes,” Jake finally responded, although there wasn’t much conviction in his voice. “Douglas is ambitious, sometimes to a fault, but Willa loves him.”
It still wasn’t an answer. Or maybe it was. Maybe beneath his implication of family loyalty, Jake didn’t trust Douglas, either. So it meant Markham wasn’t the only name on her list of suspects. She added Douglas to it.
“What now?” she asked after a long silence.
“I have some people looking for Radelman and the nurse. Beyond that, we wait. Except, from now on we’re smart about it. I’m not taking a
ny more chances with your life.”
“Or yours,” Jessie quickly added. “I shouldn’t have brought you into this. I should have just turned it all over to the cops when I escaped from that warehouse.”
Of course, in that case she would almost certainly be dead, especially since the cops hadn’t believed her story. Still, if she’d wanted to, she could have convinced them by telling them the whole truth, something she wasn’t especially eager to share. It wouldn’t have protected her from the killers, but it might have kept Jake out of danger.
“Do I need to apologize for what just went on?” he asked.
Jessie had to look at him to make sure he was serious. Because the gunman had left the lights on, she could easily see Jake’s face. He certainly seemed serious. “You don’t. Do I?”
He gave an indifferent shrug. “Let’s just call it a mutual lapse in judgment and leave it at that.”
A lapse in judgment. Yes, that’s exactly what it was. Hopefully, they had sense enough not to repeat it.
It seemed as if he was about to add more to that, but then he took a deep breath as if he’d caught a whiff of something. “Smoke,” he mumbled. And then he repeated it in a much louder voice. “Damn it. He set the place on fire.”
Oh God. “Let’s get out of here.”
Jake tore from the closet, but instead of running, he reeled toward her. “This is probably a trap.”
Her throat snapped shut and she nodded. Yes, it was a trap—that should have occurred to her right away. “He’ll be expecting us to go out the back.”
“Then, we’ll have to leave through the front. Stay behind me. And I mean it.” Jake latched on to her arm and rushed to the front door. On the way there, he yanked a tiny phone from his pocket and called 911. He said nothing more than their address and that there was a fire.
He put the phone away and turned the knob, but when he pulled, the door didn’t budge. He gave it a fierce shake. “It’s blocked. Someone really wants us dead.”
Smoke started to float through the room, and Jessie didn’t think it was her imagination that it was already getting hotter. “We’ll go out the window.”
His Child Page 9