Zack’s dark eyebrows pulled together in a frown and he leaned forward and thumped a finger in the center of the flyer. “You know something about this, about her. I know you do.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because I’m your brother, Dalton. I know when you’re lying. Look, you don’t want to put yourself in the middle between a lawman and a criminal. If you know anything about the whereabouts of this woman you need to tell me now.”
“I’ve got nothing to tell you.” Dalton leaned back in his chair. He hated lying to Zack, but until they connected with Trent Cummings he wasn’t willing to share anything with his brother. As much as he didn’t want to be between a lawman and his criminal, he didn’t want Zack to be in the middle of a lawman and his own brother.
Zack leaned back in his chair and expelled a deep sigh, his gaze still on Dalton. “What’s up with you lately?”
Dalton frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“It seems like for the last six months or more you’ve withdrawn from all of us, withdrawn from life. You stay holed up either in here or at your apartment. You don’t visit anyone, you don’t date. You don’t share anything of yourself with anyone.”
“When did you get to be Dr. Phil?” Dalton asked with more than a touch of irritation.
“If I were Dr. Phil, I’d not only be able to point out the problem, but I’d also have an idea what had caused it.”
“There’s no problem,” Dalton replied emphatically. “I like being alone. Why is that an issue?”
Zack raked a hand through his dark hair. “I guess it’s not, if that’s the life you choose.” He stood and started for the door, but before he reached it he turned back to face Dalton. “Dad said he’s seen your truck passing by the house a couple of times in the last couple of days.”
“I’ve been staying off and on at the cabin. George is doing a little remodeling work.”
Zack held his gaze for another long minute, then turned and left the office. The moment he was gone Dalton picked up the phone and called Emmett Treadwall, a local handyman and made arrangements for him to paint Dalton’s apartment immediately. He then called George to let him know that the apartment was going to be painted. Covering tracks, covering his lies.
Maybe he should have confided in Zack, but without any real evidence to damn Sinclair, he just wasn’t sure what his brother would be forced to do.
In just a matter of days it would all be over. Hopefully Trent would believe Janette enough to start a full-blown investigation that would lead to Sinclair’s arrest. Then Janette and her grandmother and little Sammy would begin a new life someplace where there were no reminders of the horror she’d experienced.
Temporary. All of this was temporary. Another week or so and she’d be gone. Once again he picked up the flyer and stared at her picture.
He’d been irritated the night of the snowstorm, irritated that even for a single night he had to share his space, accommodate somebody else’s needs. He’d told himself he was living a solitary life, but maybe it was in reality a selfish life.
He tossed the picture aside and frowned, not wanting to chase that thought any further. Just a couple more days, then he could get back to his own life.
What he didn’t understand was why that particular thought didn’t hold much appeal.
Chapter 11
She was waiting for him at the door when he pulled up in front of the cabin just after seven. Knowing that Sinclair was in town, he’d driven around for an hour before coming here, making sure that he wasn’t being followed.
The sight of her with Sammy in her arms warmed his heart despite his need to remain emotionally distant. As he approached, Sammy wiggled with delight, arms flailing as if to reach for him.
There was no way to maintain any kind of distance from an almost six-month-old baby. Dalton took the little boy from her arms as he stepped through the door. “Hey, buddy,” he said, then smiled at Janette. “I think you’ve got a heartbreaker on your hands.”
She laughed. She looked brighter, happier than he’d ever seen her and a thrum of tension wound tight in his gut. He wanted her. God help him but he wanted her again. Even knowing that in a matter of days she’d be out of his life, even knowing that he could only be a temporary fixture in her life, he wanted her.
She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him toward the kitchen. “I hope you haven’t eaten yet. I made a meatloaf and I’ve got a wonderful surprise.”
“I haven’t eaten, and what’s the surprise?”
“Let’s have dinner first, then I’ll tell you.”
“Sounds good. And I have some news, too,” he said.
He stepped into the kitchen and looked around in surprise. The table was set and in the center were two tall candles and a bottle of wine. He shifted Sammy from one arm to the other. “Where did all this come from?” he asked.
“I called Savannah. She did me a favor and picked up some things from the store and brought them out this afternoon.” She took Sammy from his arms. “Sit. I’m just going to put him down, then I’ll be right back to serve the meal.”
As she disappeared into the bedroom Dalton sat at the table. The candles gave off a pleasant glow and their vanilla fragrance mingled with the scent of the meatloaf. And beneath it all he could smell the scent of Janette, the honeysuckle that now reminded him of making love with her.
He could get used to this, coming home from work to her and Sammy. He steeled himself against the very thought, against the sense of homecoming that had filled him the moment he’d seen her and Sammy at the front door waiting for him.
She came back into the room a few minutes later, the glow of happiness still lighting her features. “You look unusually happy tonight,” he said.
“I am.” She went directly to the oven and pulled out a meatloaf surrounded by potatoes. “First of all, I cooked Smiley’s special meatloaf. Even people who profess to hate meatloaf love Smiley’s recipe.” She set the dish on the table. “Second, there’s nothing better than candlelight to put a woman in a good mood. And third, I can’t wait to tell you about my really big surprise. But first, we eat.”
From the refrigerator she pulled out a salad, then joined him at the table. “And how was your day?”
He opened the bottle of wine and filled their glasses, then began to fill his plate. “Boring,” he said, “except for the visit I got from Sinclair and Zack.” One of her pale eyebrows danced upward. “Sinclair has been passing around flyers in town with your picture on it.”
“Where did he get a picture of me?” She passed him the salad bowl.
“Looked like an old school photo. Did anyone else in town see you besides me?”
“The guy at the bus station was the only person I saw, and if Sinclair asks him any questions all he’ll be able to say is that he saw me the night of the storm but didn’t know where I went.”
Dalton nodded. “I do have some good news.”
“What’s that?”
“I got a call from Trent today. He was able to wind things up sooner than he expected in Oklahoma City so he’s planning on coming to Cotter Creek sometime late tomorrow afternoon. As soon as he arrives in town I’ll drive him out here to hear your story.”
Her blue eyes held his steadily. “So this could all be over by tomorrow night.”
“That’s right. If everything goes well, Sinclair could be in custody as early as tomorrow night.” He looked at her curiously. “Why don’t you look pleased with that news?”
“Oh, I am pleased,” she quickly said, then frowned, a charming little wrinkle appearing between her brows. “I was just thinking that I need to figure out what happens next.”
“When you get your GED, what are your plans then?”
She took a sip of the wine, the set her glass back on the table. “I’d like to get a job that pays well enough that I can help support Nana and Sammy and also pay for college night classes. Eventually I’d like to be a teacher.”
“A
n admirable profession. Is that something you’ve always wanted to do?”
She grinned at him. “Only after I’d finally given up my desire to be a princess.”
He laughed and for the next few minutes they ate and exchanged small talk. Again Dalton was struck not only by her beauty, but by her intelligence and sense of humor, as well. Whenever she finally got settled in someplace she would have no problems dating and would eventually find a man who didn’t want to live without her.
After they’d eaten they cleared the table and cleaned up the kitchen. Despite his desire to the contrary, every bump of their shoulders, every brush of their hands as they worked side by side, sent sizzling electricity through him.
“Now are you going to tell me the secret that has you so excited?” he asked.
She poured them each another glass of wine, handed him his then pointed him toward the living room. “Go make yourself comfortable and I’ll be right back.” She disappeared into the bedroom.
Dalton carried both his wine and hers to the living room and sank down on the sofa, his curiosity piqued. A moment later she came into the living room carrying a red book bag.
“This is the bag I carried back and forth to the GED classes I was taking,” she said as she set it on the coffee table. “I hadn’t opened it since that night with Sinclair. Yesterday afternoon I decided maybe it was time to pull out the books and start studying again.”
She sat next to him on the sofa and took out the books that were inside, then pulled out a small tape recorder. “I used to tape the classes so if I got confused about something or felt I missed something I could listen to the class as many times as I needed to.”
He nodded, wondering where she was going with this. He reached out for his wineglass and took a sip, aware of a palpable tension radiating from her. He set his glass down and frowned. “Are you okay?” She was staring at the tape recorder as if it were a coiled rattlesnake getting ready to strike.
She looked up at him and smiled, a beatific smile that shot a new ripple of desire through him. “I’m better than okay. Anyway, that night I had the book bag next to me in the car when Sinclair pulled me over. The best way to explain all this is this.” She leaned forward and pushed the play button on the recorder.
“Turn off your lights and get out of the car.”
Dalton nearly fell off the sofa as Brandon Sinclair’s deep voice boomed from the recorder.
“Well, well, don’t we look all sexy in that little skirt.”
As the tape played, a sickness welled up inside Dalton as he heard the sheriff bully Janette. It was only when he heard Janette whimper from the tape and say no that he leaned forward and shut off the recorder. He couldn’t stand to hear the rest. He didn’t want to hear the sounds of her being taken against her will.
For a long moment they were both silent. Dalton stared at the tape recorder with a vague nausea rolling around in his stomach.
“I didn’t know I had it until yesterday,” Janette said, her voice seeming to come from far away as it penetrated the veil of rage that had descended over him. “I must have accidentally hit the On button when I went into the book bag to get my license.”
She reached out and took one of his hands between hers. “The whole thing is on tape. We’ve got him, Dalton. It’s not just my word against his. There’s no way he can dispute what’s on that tape.”
Dalton stared at her. Although intellectually he’d understood that she’d been raped, that whimper he’d heard coming from the tape, the terror-filled protest that she’d released, moved it from intelligent knowledge to emotional sickness.
He wanted to kill for her. He wanted to weep for her. Her strength awed him…humbled him. He squeezed her hand, fighting for words.
“Dalton?” Her soft voice pierced the haze that had fallen over him. “Are you all right?”
He let go of her hand and instead pulled her into an embrace. She laid her head on his shoulder and he stroked the silk of her hair. “I’m just sorry. So damned sorry.” Tears burned at his eyes.
“It’s okay. I’m okay, especially now that I know he is going to pay for what he did.” She looked up at Dalton and he saw that there were no shadows in her eyes, no pain of any kind. Instead her eyes sparkled with hope, with a new kind of peace.
As he held her gaze her mouth opened slightly and she leaned forward. He intended a soft, gentle kiss of healing, but the moment his mouth claimed hers and her tongue swirled with his the kiss became something much different.
Her arms curled around his neck as her kiss grew hot and demanding. He knew they were going to make love again, tasted it in her kiss, felt it in the willing way she filled his arms.
He told himself he didn’t want to, that it would do nothing but complicate his conflicting emotions where she was concerned. But as she snaked her hand beneath his shirt and caressed his chest, he was helpless against the onslaught of sensations her touch evoked.
In all probability she would be out of this cabin, out of his life within the next two days. But at the moment she was warm in his arms and he allowed good sense to be swallowed by desire, knowing that it would only make it more difficult when the time came to tell her goodbye.
*
A quiet desperation simmered inside Janette as she kissed Dalton. It was the desperation of a woman who had fallen in love with the wrong man.
She kissed him with all the heart, all the soul she possessed, needing to take the memory of this last chance to be in his arms with her when she left.
Her fingers danced across the warmth of his broad chest as their kiss grew more frantic, more needy. She broke the kiss only long enough to pull her sweatshirt over her head, then to draw him down to the floor.
“I want you, Dalton,” she said fervently.
“I want you, too.” He ripped his shirt over his head and tossed it aside, then stood and took off his jeans. While he was doing that Janette finished undressing, then when they were both naked, she lay back on the rug and beckoned him back into her arms.
He lay beside her, his gaze as hot as his hands as he caressed the length of her. His lips followed the path of his hands, nipping lightly at the base of her throat then kissing the fullness of one breast. A moan escaped her lips as rivulets of pleasure swept over her.
She knew this would be the last time she’d make love with him and she wanted to capture his taste and his touch in her memory. She knew his strength and his belief in her would sustain her through whatever her future held.
When she reached down to wrap her hand around his hardness, he released a low deep moan that only increased her excitement.
She hadn’t realized that as a woman she’d been dead until Dalton had brought her back to life. Gratitude mingled with love, intensifying this moment in time with him.
They caressed each other as if they’d been making love together for years, with easy, sure movements that evoked the most intense sensations.
As he touched her intimately the build began, a rising wave of pleasure so intense she thought she’d go mad with it. And when the peak came, she cried out his name, trembling as the release swept her away.
She knew he was waiting for her to take the lead as she had the last time they’d made love. But she didn’t want the lead. She parted her legs and motioned for him to get on top.
He hesitated, his eyes glowing and the muscles in his neck strained. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
He moved on top of her and she waited for the panic to strike. The scent of him surrounded her, clean and with that touch of sandalwood she found so attractive.
He didn’t take her, but instead held himself above her, as if waiting to see if she’d freak out. She realized at that moment that she wasn’t going to freak, that her trust in Dalton was so complete, all she wanted was to be surrounded by him.
She pulled him closer and as he eased into her, there was no thought of anything but him. His mouth sought hers as his hips moved against her. She clung to
him, loving the feel of his broad back beneath her fingers, wanting to urge him deeper into her.
He moved faster, faster still, his lips leaving hers as their breaths mingled in quick pants. When he stiffened against her she wanted to cry, because she was free of the specter of Brandon Sinclair, because she loved Dalton West.
He moved his upper body off hers and stared at her in the waning light. “We didn’t use protection.”
“Don’t worry, I’m on the Pill. After…what happened, I wanted to make sure that if I ever got pregnant again, it would be my decision.” His statement was a jolt back to reality. He was worried because he didn’t want a baby. He didn’t want a wife. There was no happy ending here with him.
She scooted out from beneath him. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to take a quick shower.” She left the living room and went into the bathroom and a moment later stepped beneath a warm spray of water.
Although she’d been with Dalton less than a week, the love she felt for him was deeper and stronger than anything she’d ever felt for any man. And visualizing a future with him was just as silly as visualizing herself a princess or a ballerina.
The door to the shower opened and Dalton peeked in. “Mind some company? I’m great at washing backs.”
She smiled at him and stepped aside to allow him entry into the small shower. Even knowing that loving him was a study in futility, there was no way to guard her heart against him.
Twenty minutes later he was dressed and she sat at the kitchen table in her robe. “The next time you see me I’ll have Trent with me,” he said as he pulled on his coat. “I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know what time we’ll be here. Meanwhile, I’ll fill in Zack and play the tape for him.”
She nodded and stood to walk him to the door. She was glad he wasn’t spending the night. Sleeping in his arms would only make things more difficult.
When they reached the front door he turned, drew her into his arms and smiled down at her. “Just think, by tomorrow night this will all be over. You can move on with your life and not be afraid of Brandon Sinclair any longer.”
Glory, Glory: Snowbound with the Bodyguard Page 29