Jonah refocused his thoughts, considering Annie’s point. “True. So maybe he was about to turn it all over to the cops. Maybe that’s why he was killed.”
“Or maybe this is all a setup. Maybe none of this information is real, and if we take this to the authorities, we expose ourselves to the higher-ups in the operation without having anything that will actually stick.”
Jonah clenched his teeth and made two decisions. “Regardless of what all this means, I know two things. First and most important, you’re out. I don’t want you connected to any of this if it should blow up in my face.”
“But—”
He held up a hand, cutting her off. “Second, we won’t decide anything here and now. I need time to study these files and put all the pieces together.”
She closed the file in her hands and handed it back. “I can still be of help to you. Let me go over these records with you.”
Jonah started shoving the contents of the locker into the gym bag and shook his head. “I’ve already involved you more than I should have.”
She put a hand on his, and his heart fisted when he met her pleading gaze.
“I need to do this, Jonah. I need to feel I’m doing something to make my life better, safer. For too long, I’ve drifted along letting life happen to me and suffering because I gave others too much control over my life. Please don’t ask me to sit on my hands now. I am involved whether I like it or not.”
He drew a slow breath, his respect for Annie blossoming inside him. He grazed his fingers along her chin. “I appreciate what you’re saying. I understand and applaud you for wanting to change your life. But if I allowed you to get mired deeper in this muck…”
“I’d still be in danger, through no fault of yours.” Turmoil swirled in the depths of her dark eyes, landing a sucker punch to his gut.
Before he could counter her argument, she glanced at her watch and bit her bottom lip. “Which reminds me…I want to go to that self-defense class at the police station that you mentioned. It starts in thirty minutes. Can you drop me off?”
Jonah nodded, relieved to hear she was taking her personal safety seriously. “Of course.”
Studying the rest of the locker’s contents would keep until that evening. Making sure Annie stayed safe was his top priority, and the class was, for the time being, the best means to that end.
Besides, he was headed to that class himself—though he decided it was best that Annie not know of his role.
Chapter 12
Jonah let Annie out at the door to the gymnasium housed at the back of the Lagniappe Police Department. A hollow ache filled her as she waved goodbye to him and watched him drive down the block and out of sight. She’d see him again soon enough. At the diner tomorrow, if nothing else. So why did parting from him cause this bittersweet emptiness inside her?
She wasn’t falling for him. She couldn’t be growing attached to a man at this delicate crossroad in her life. She’d only been free of Walt a little more than a year. Too soon to give her heart again. But since when did love follow any prescribed schedule?
She barked a harsh laugh as she turned from the street. Love? Now she was really rushing things. Jonah was a friend. Nothing more.
With a cleansing breath, she faced the large brick building that housed the city police department. The name they’d found on Hardin’s file flashed in her mind. Joseph Nance. Detective Nance.
If she marched inside the station now and found Detective Nance, told him everything she knew, could this whole frightening scenario finally be over?
Or would she create an even bigger nightmare for Jonah?
“Impatience can blow an investigation.”
She owed it to Jonah to do things his way. She trusted him to figure out the whos and whats of the criminal activity at the diner in his own time.
Warmth flooded her veins as she turned that truth over in her head again. She trusted Jonah. No small feat.
The class had already gathered around a set of floor mats in the center of the gym. She hesitated, remembering how intimidating the private lessons with Jonah had been. Even knowing he wouldn’t truly hurt her, his strength and sheer masculinity had resurrected so many vivid memories of Walt’s power over her.
Annie was having second thoughts about joining the class when the instructor spotted her lurking by the door and waved her in. “Hi! You’re not late. We’re waiting for our practice aggressor to arrive. Please have a seat.”
Taking a deep breath for courage, Annie walked toward the mats.
“I’m Jan, the instructor, and you are…?”
“Annie.”
“Welcome, Annie.” Jan flashed a warm smile. “Feel free to join in or just watch today. Whatever you feel comfortable with.”
Annie sat cross-legged on the floor next to the other women and pressed a hand to her jittery stomach. As much as she wanted to leave, wanted to crawl into a safe cave somewhere and pretend Hardin hadn’t been murdered, she hadn’t been mugged and she hadn’t divorced or ever been married to Walt in the first place, wishing didn’t make those things true. “Do it for your kids.”
She only had to think of the years she’d let Walt intimidate and hurt her, think of any man doing the same to Haley, to know she had to do something now to turn her life around. She wanted to pass on strength and courage to her daughter, not a legacy of fear and doubt. Putting Haley’s innocent face front and center in her mind’s eye, Annie raised her gaze to the instructor and squared her shoulders.
“Remember, you can protect yourself, and you have a right to protect yourself. Your job is to convey those ideas to your attacker. Frankly, most aggressors are looking for an easy target. If you send him the message that you won’t go down easily, that you know how to defend yourself and are willing to hurt him to protect yourself, there’s a good chance he’ll back off and look for an easier target.” The instructor paused when the locker-room door creaked open. “Ah, here’s Joe now.” To Annie, Jan said, “That’s what we call the volunteer in the suit. Generic Joe. Mr. Any Man.”
A man, decked from head to foot in a heavily padded suit, lumbered into gymnasium. With a slow, stiff gait, impeded by the bulky pads, he approached the mats where the class had gathered.
None of the other women seemed daunted by his hulking appearance, but Annie couldn’t help shifting uneasily. The man’s face was completely hidden, the bulky suit and shielded helmet conjuring images of masked horror movie monsters. She had the prickly sense that the man’s attention was focused on her as he took his place in the center of the mats. Digging deep in her floundering willpower, she fought the urge to flee from the room.
The woman beside Annie offered to be the first to practice the defensive moves the instructor demonstrated. Annie watched in fascination as the petite woman shouted at the padded man, commanding him with a forceful tone, “Stop! Get back!”
The demonstration continued with the diminutive woman striking the pretend attacker’s face mask with an upward arc of her palm, then following with a knee to the groin and a sharp kick to his kneecap. The women applauded as the man lifted a hand and hobbled back. The class continued in this way for the remainder of the hour.
As the instructor gave final instructions and dismissed them, Annie glanced around the circle again, her outlook buoyed by the positive mood of the other women. The support and encouragement they gave each other fed the constructive energy of the class.
Other than Ginny, Annie hadn’t had a network of friends or support for a long time. The idea of these women becoming a base of encouragement and help appealed to her. Maybe they could understand the struggle she faced, the seemingly insurmountable odds. Jan touched Annie on the arm as the group scattered and “Joe” clomped back toward the locker room. “Thanks for coming, Annie. I hope you learned something and that you’ll come back.”
She nodded. Though the class had seemed intimidating at first, she’d gained a new perspective as she watched the other women.
Annie grab
bed her purse and headed outside. What a day!
Her thoughts drifted to the cooked financial records they’d found in Hardin’s locker, and her heart pattered with a combination of hope and trepidation. Having that proof of illegal activity put her and Jonah in an even more dangerous position. But Jonah’s investigation took a huge step forward. The sooner he resolved the case and the people responsible for Hardin’s murder were caught, the sooner she’d be safe and could move on with her life.
Finding that evidence, taking the self-defense class…Annie inhaled deeply and let a warm tingle of satisfaction and accomplishment flow through her. They were baby steps perhaps, but any forward progress was better than wallowing in the mire her life had become. Taking back control in her life rather than drifting along at the mercy of the pervading winds felt good.
Hadn’t there been a time in her life when she’d met daily challenges with a zest for life, when she’d felt confident and capable and ready to leave her mark in the world?
Yes—before her world had narrowed to the handsome Special Forces soldier who’d married her as he left for overseas duty—and returned a different man.
The hiss of hydraulics and squeak of brakes called her attention to the bus arriving at the stop across the street. Her bus. Shaking off memories of Walt, she clutched her purse to her chest and jogged to the corner. With a quick glance left and right, she checked for oncoming traffic and stepped out into the street.
Suddenly, tires squealed.
A man shouted, “Annie!”
From the edge of her vision, a blur of steel and dark glass streaked toward her.
A wall of muscle plowed into her from behind.
Asphalt bit her hands, her knees.
A crushing weight landed on her, knocking the breath from her lungs.
The same weight wrapped around her, rolling her aside as a car raced past her head, missing her by inches.
Adrenaline spiked through her blood, and a violent tremor shook her. Trapped by the dearth of oxygen in her lungs, a scream lodged in her throat.
“Annie! Are you all right?” Large hands roamed over her face and arms.
She blinked, struggled to draw in air. Jonah?
Her heartbeat staggered as his rough-hewn features swam into focus above her.
“Honey, answer me! Are you hurt?”
Her joints ached. Her palms and knees stung. Her head buzzed numbly.
“No,” she rasped.
Jonah examined her bloodied hands and swore under his breath.
“Wh-what are y-you doing here?”
He steadied her with a hand under her arm as he helped her to her feet. “I intended to give you a ride home from the class. I had a hunch they might try something like this.” He sighed and glanced around at the people who gawked at them from the sidewalk. “Although I didn’t think they’d make their move in such a public place.”
She stumbled numbly beside him out of the path of traffic. Slowly the buzz of terror that filled her ears faded, allowing his words to sink in. She jerked her head toward him and drilled him with a dubious stare. “You think that was deliberate? That that car was trying to run me over?”
His mouth pressed in a taut line, his jaw stiff. “They pulled out from the curb the second you stepped into the street, gunned the engine and drove straight at you. Seems pretty conclusive.”
A chill washed through Annie as she felt the tingle of blood draining from her face. She looked down the street, not certain what she was searching for. “Well, maybe they just didn’t see me…or maybe…”
“Annie, they didn’t stop.” He put one hand on each of her shoulders and met her eyes evenly.
A fierce quaking started deep inside her, working outward in concentric waves of terror. She knew what he would say before he said it, but hearing the words, acknowledging the truth, made the event all the more frightening.
“Honey, this was no accident. They tried to kill you.”
Chapter 13
Jonah kept a close eye on Annie as he drove her back to her apartment. For someone who’d almost been killed, she seemed too calm. He worried that her reserve meant she was in shock, though when asked direct questions, she gave coherent answers.
Her hand trembled when she raised it to brush her hair from her eyes, and her pale complexion told him she wasn’t totally unaffected by the near-miss with the speeding car.
But when he thought about her past, all the tragedy and trauma she’d survived, a new concern presented itself to him. After Hardin had been murdered, she’d shown surprising composure and detachment also. Maybe Annie was suppressing her reaction, bottling up her emotions as she’d learned to do in her marriage. If so, she was a ticking bomb. How much trauma could she handle before she broke?
She gave her children a brave smile when they rushed to greet her in her kitchen. Haley held a fat cat in her arms, though Annie seemed to barely notice. She hugged both of the kids at the same time and held on to them even when they wiggled for release.
Finally Haley and the cat fought free of Annie’s embrace. “Mommy, can Fuzzy sleep with me tonight?”
Annie blinked at her daughter and stared at the cat as if just seeing it for the first time. “What’s that cat doing in here?”
“I let him come in to play. I named him Fuzzy. Can he stay in my room tonight?”
Annie drew a slow careful breath. She seemed so tired and disoriented, Jonah stepped closer, in case she toppled.
Smoothing a hand over her forehead and into her hair, Annie shook her head. “Baby, that’s the Smiths’ cat. You can’t keep him. The Smiths would miss him too much.”
“But, Mo-om—”
Jonah intervened when the whining started. He took the cat from Annie’s daughter and carried it to the door. “Maybe you can play with Fuzzy again tomorrow. Right now he has to go home for dinner. Okay?”
The cat scooted out the opened door and trotted away.
Haley glared at him, her lower lip poked out in full pout mode. “When can I have a cat, Mommy?”
The tortured, world-weary look in Annie’s eyes when she glanced at her daughter shredded Jonah’s heart. She rubbed her temple with her fingertips. “Someday, sweetie.”
Rani strolled in from the next room, her arms full of toys. “Sorry about the cat. I didn’t think it would hurt for her to play with him inside for a little while. Then she started talking about keeping him and—” The babysitter winced. “My bad.”
Annie shook her head. “It’s okay.” She hesitated, still looking dazed. “Have the kids eaten dinner?”
“Yes, ma’am. And Ben’s had his bath. I was just putting the toys away when you arrived.”
Thanking the babysitter, Annie showed her out before sending Haley off to get ready for bed. Her worried eyes met his then, and she tipped her head. “Will the couch be all right for you?”
Jonah lifted an eyebrow. “Pardon?”
“You were going to sleep in your truck and watch my apartment again like the other night, weren’t you?”
“You saw me?”
She nodded. “Rather than try to dissuade you from your guard duty, I figured I’d offer you a more comfortable post. I’m not sure I want to be alone tonight.”
A tender ache swelled in Jonah’s chest. Annie looked so fragile, so near breaking, and the powerful urge to pull her into his arms, kiss away any fear or doubt that weighed her down nearly suffocated him. “The sofa is fine.”
She gave a quiet, stoic nod. “I’ll get you a pillow and blanket.”
She disappeared down the hall, and Jonah sighed his frustration. He hated the resignation that shadowed her gaze. She needed to tap the fiery, fighting spirit he’d seen before, the determination that blazed in her eyes when she talked of protecting her children. Annie needed to approach her own safety and happiness with the same moxie. Through the screened helmet of his “generic Joe” suit, he’d noted her withdrawn and dubious body language at the self-defense class.
Not that he expecte
d her to overcome years of intimidation from her marriage in one session, but so much of her healing and her progress in the class would depend on her attitude. The attempt on her life had clearly rattled her, shaken what confidence she had. She was teetering on the edge of giving up. He couldn’t let her retreat into that cave of defeat. His gut told him Annie had a vibrant, core strength. He needed to find a way to revive her hope, fan the fire inside her and give her the courage to fight back.
The desire that Michael had lost. The hope that had been snuffed out in him by the bastards who swindled him.
The hot burn of acid bit his stomach, and he gritted his teeth. He wouldn’t let Farrout and his men, or whoever the hell was involved with the attempt on Annie’s life, rob Annie of her will to rebuild her life.
Focus, Annie scolded herself for the umpteenth time that day as she let her thoughts drift to the dark car that had hurtled toward her yesterday. She’d already mixed up three special orders thanks to her drifting attention. But every time a car horn blasted on the street outside, or the distant whine of a siren sounded over the murmur of the lunch crowd, her mind jumped back to the instant terror, the jolting realization that someone had tried to run her over.
And the heady rush of warmth and security when Jonah had scooped her into his protective arms.
Stop it. She gave her head a brisk shake to clear the images of Jonah’s long legs and broad shoulders curled uncomfortably on her sofa this morning.
“I need two cheeseburgers, well done, hold the onions please.” She slapped the order slip under a clip on the order wheel and started scooping ice into glasses for tea. Had they said sweet or unsweet tea?
Damn it. She had to get her mind back on work. She couldn’t give Farrout any reason to fire her now. She filled the glasses with sweet tea, going with the odds. Most Southerners took their iced tea sweet. As she carried the drinks out to the customers, she glanced to the front door, waiting to see Jonah arrive.
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