by Noelle Adams
After they ate, they cleaned up the dishes together, then settled on the floor in front of the fire. Caleb stared into the flames, and Blake wondered if he was mentally assessing their situation, coming up with plans of attack and counterattack.
“What did you do in the military?” she asked abruptly.
When he looked at her, startled, she tried to soften her question with a smile. “I mean, you were in Special Forces, right?” she asked.
He nodded.
“So, what does that mean, exactly?”
He sighed and propped himself up on one elbow. “For me, it meant mostly reconnaissance.”
“You mean, like, spy stuff?”
“Pretty much. There’s some place the government wants to get a look at, but we’re not supposed to be there. So I sneak in, get the lay of the land, and sneak back out again.”
“You make it sound easy.”
“Well, it’s simple, I guess – straightforward. But easy, it ain’t.”
She looked into the fire. “It also sounds dangerous.”
Caleb nodded slowly. “Danger is definitely a part of it.”
“Part of the job, or part of the appeal?”
“Both, I suppose.”
Blake didn’t want to ask the next question, but she felt that she had to. “Is that why you came along with me? Up here, I mean?”
He looked at her as if she were nuts. “What? Because I’m ‘addicted to danger’ or something silly like that?”
“Some people do get addicted, I’m sure,” she said defensively. “You just said yourself that it’s part of the appeal of your job.”
“My former job,” he corrected. “And maybe some men do get hooked on the adrenaline, but that’s not me. When I was twenty it might have been a rush to jump out of airplanes in the dead of night, into enemy territory, not knowing if I’d make it home again. But these days, the most danger I want out of life is driving my bike a little too fast, or maybe – ” he grinned ” – maybe hooking up with gorgeous blonds who have crazy boyfriends.”
She couldn’t help but smile in return. “So that is part of the appeal!”
“Your appeal?” he asked. She nodded. “Baby, danger is the least of your appealing traits.” He stretched out his hand and ran it over the arch of her hip, down her thigh and then back up again.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked, although she was pretty sure that she could guess the answer.
“I’m thinking that Mulholland Drive isn’t the only place in California where you can find dangerous curves.”
Trying not to laugh, she brushed his hand away and leaned over to pin him against the rug. “I’m serious,” she said.
“So am I,” he grinned up at her.
She sat back with an exasperated hmph.
Caleb sighed. “Okay, fine, what is it you want to know? What is it that you think I’m not telling you?”
“It’s not that I think there’s something you’re not telling me, it’s just that I can’t imagine any man doing what you’ve done for me. Coming up here with me, making me feel safe…”
Caleb sat up and gently encircled her upper arms with his hands. “I can’t imagine any man not doing it.”
“But this so isn’t your problem. You have nothing to do with this, and you’re probably putting yourself in danger for no practical purpose.”
Was that guilt she saw flitting across his face? Greg’s words, be careful, and his significant glance at Caleb came back to haunt her. She knew what that look meant. In this crazy mess, she didn’t know who she could trust. Except that, as she had reminded herself so many times, she did trust Caleb, it was impossible not to, whether she had a reason or not.
He spoke slowly, carefully. Maybe too carefully. “Being with you is my practical purpose. And right now, it’s my only purpose, and it’s all that I need.”
Was he just telling her what she needed to hear? Blake realized that right now, she didn’t care. She leaned forward and kissed him. His mouth was soft and warm against hers. “I want you,” she said. Her voice was low, her need evident.
He didn’t need any further encouragement. He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, laying her gently on the bed where she’d slept as a girl, dreaming her romantic dreams, innocent and full of expectation.
Their clothes seemed to melt away between their eager fingers. He suckled on her nipples so gently that it made her cry out and grab for him, urging him not to wait. When he entered her, it was with the keen furor of a man on a mission. Their bodies joined, two halves making a whole that Blake already knew she couldn’t live without. Their movements were impatient, questing toward the release that both needed so badly. And when they peaked, Blake knew that no matter what happened, she would no longer be happy without this man in her life.
She loved him.
Eighteen
Dawn arrived slowly, with the sun taking its own sweet time creeping over the eastern hills and sprinkling gentle morning light over the lake. Blake sat at the kitchen table and watched out the window as a small flock of ducks glided across the surface of the water, calm ripples streaming out behind them in an ever-widening wake.
She stirred her corn flakes before lifting the spoon to her mouth. As much as she was enjoying the simplicity of her current surroundings, she couldn’t help but wish that her cold cereal was an egg-white omelet stuffed with spinach and shallots. On the other hand, given her present situation she knew she was damned lucky to have corn flakes at all, not to mention the peaceful environment in which she was enjoying them. She took another bite, chewing and swallowing with resolute enjoyment.
Across the table, Caleb was playing with his own bowl. He looked up at her. “You know what this cereal needs?”
“Bananas?” Blake ventured.
“Bacon,” he replied. “A nice plate of crispy bacon, with maybe a few eggs on the side. And toast with butter. That would really liven things up.”
“I’ll say. Especially the emergency trip to the cardiologists afterwards,” she smiled. “Actually, you’re reading my mind.” She told him about the breakfast she had been wishing for.
“Spinach and shallots, huh?” he asked, chewing thoughtfully. “Throw some sausage in there and it might not taste half bad.”
He caught her disdainful look and grinned. “What?” he teased. “Man cannot live on egg whites alone, you know.”
After breakfast, the dishes were quickly cleared away and Caleb poured them a second cup of coffee. He set both mugs on the table, then hesitated before sitting down. “I want to show you something,” he said.
Blake opened her mouth to ask him what it was, but he was in and out of the bedroom before she had a chance to speak. In his hand was a medium-sized object. Blake’s spine stiffened when she saw that it was a gun in a holster.
He pulled it out and held it up for her inspection. Muzzle up, finger off the trigger.
“Glock nine-millimeter,” Blake said grimly. “Is that Rube’s?”
“No, it’s mine.” He laid the weapon flat on the table. If he was surprised that she was able to identify it, he gave no sign. “Does Rube have one like this?”
Blake nodded. “He has a gun safe in his bedroom. Maybe I should’ve brought one of them up here, I don’t know…” She picked the gun up and checked to see if it was loaded. It had a full cartridge and a round in the chamber. She set it back down. “He used to take me to the gun range sometimes. It wasn’t really my idea of a fun afternoon, but he felt strongly about keeping weapons in the house, and if we were going to have them he figured I should know how to use them. I agreed.”
“I wanted you to know it was here, and I wanted to show you how to handle it, if you didn’t know already.” He smiled. “I guess Rube beat me to it.”
Blake caught his smile and returned it. “I don’t really like guns,” she said gamely. “They’re loud and smelly and oily, and loading those cartridges can do a number on your manicure. Plus, you know, there’s the whole potentia
l death thing that can be a bit of a downer.”
“Well, if you’re in a situation that requires a gun, it’s better for the other guy to get dead than you.” Caleb’s tone was light, but his eyes were serious. “Think you’re up to doing some target shooting today? It might be good for you to feel fresh about hitting a bull’s-eye.”
She put out a finger and lightly traced the contours of the weapon, feeling the crosshatching on the handle. “Do you really think it’s going to come to this?” she asked quietly. Even after everything that had happened, she couldn’t quite believe it.
Caleb hesitated, looking as if he was considering several possible answers. Finally, he just said, “I hope not,” and took her hand.
The sound of tires crunching on gravel brought them both to their feet.
“Is someone here?” Blake’s voice came out in a whisper.
“Sounds like it.” He looked over at her, calming her with his eyes. “Any idea who that might be?” he asked. “Milkman, postman, neighbor?”
She shook her head. “Everything on this part of the lake is closed down. Nobody has a reason to be up here.”
Caleb fastened the holster to his belt. He picked up the gun and checked it as Blake had a moment ago, then held it at his side, finger off the trigger. “Stay here,” he said tersely. He let himself out the back door and stalked off around the tree-side of the house.
Blake paced back and forth for a moment, then threw up her hands. “Hell with this,” she muttered. She crept through the house to the front window, standing to the side and peeking through the curtains the way she had seen people do in the movies. She moved her head, trying to see who was coming up the short drive.
The front end of a car appeared. It was a sedan, burgundy and newish-looking. It had a California license plate, but apart from that Blake couldn’t see anything that would identify it as belonging to a friend or a foe.
As Blake watched, the passenger door swung open, and a woman got out. She was on the small side and had short, dark-blond hair. She wore a yellow sweater that stirred dim memories of childhood.
“Mom?” Blake said in surprise.
The woman stopped as if she’d heard, then she bent down and scooped up a familiar, rough-coated terrier who had followed her out of the car. The woman and said something to a tall man with a mustache who exited the other side of the car. It was Dad.
At the sight of her parents, joy exploded inside Blake. She tore open the front door of the cabin and leapt outside. “Mom! Dad!”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Caleb emerge from the bushes to stop her. He was bent low, coming at her like a linebacker on an intercept course. Laughing, she dodged around him, and bounded down the front path.
Not caring about how many years it had been since they’d spoken, not worrying about whether or not it would be well received, Blake wrapped her mother in a fierce hug, nearly squashing the Toto look-alike that Elaine still held in her arms. The two women pulled apart, and she looked down into her mother’s wide blue eyes that mirrored her own.
Elaine Sera appeared taken aback at the enthusiastic greeting. Then joy overtook surprise. She allowed the dog to escape from her grip, and she pulled her daughter into her arms.
When they moved apart again, Blake turned to her father and embraced him before looking around for Caleb. He stood a few feet away, watching their reunion. His eyes were tender, but his mouth was a hard, angry line. Suddenly Blake realized that when Caleb had seen her run out the front door, he’d thought she was running into a trap. He thought she would be killed, right in front of him, just like that girl he’d gone to high school with, and she cursed herself for so cavalierly tossing good sense to the wind.
She held out a hand to him, and he took it reluctantly. “It’s all right. I’m okay, okay?” she said softly.
He came close to her. He looked like he had a lot to say, but all that came out of his mouth was a quiet, “Don’t do that again.”
She nodded gently, then faced her parents. “Mom, Dad,” she said tremulously, “this is Caleb.”
“So, start at the beginning, and explain this to me one more time,” Elaine said brusquely. “I want to make sure I really understand what’s going on here.”
Blake sighed, and rubbed Sampson behind the ears. The little dog was panting happily on her lap, having just devoured one of the treats that Elaine had brought with her in a Ziploc. The five of them were sitting at the kitchen table. Coffee and cookies had been laid out, introductions had been made, brief explanations had been given. The initial elation of their reunion had given way to an awkwardness that was just on its way to being dispelled. And now Mom was sounding like a school principal again.
The exasperated quality of Blake’s sigh wasn’t lost on Elaine. She smiled sharply and spoke with the rigid self-assurance of one who is not used to being argued with. “Come on, for those of us in the Alzheimer’s club, give me all the dirty details one more time.”
“Before we do,” Caleb said easily, “why don’t you tell us what brought you up here?”
Blake nodded in agreement, thankful that Caleb was on her side.
It was Blake’s father, William, who fielded that question. “We got a call that you were in trouble,” he said simply.
Blake shared a careful look with Caleb before speaking. “From who?”
“He said his name was Greg, and that he works with your – your – “
“He works with Rube Jeffries,” Caleb supplied.
“Right.” William’s pursed lips conveyed his opinion of Rube.
“The man who called you is Greg Betch,” Blake said. “He’s Rube’s assistant.”
“Well, he sounded worried about you,” her mother said. “He told us that you were in trouble, and asked if we knew where you were.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Well, nothing, of course. But after we got off the phone we realized that if you were anywhere that his people couldn’t find you, it would probably be here.” Elaine reached a hand forward. “So you’ve finally run away from that man. I’m so glad.”
The old resentment surged forward and Blake pulled her hand away. Sampson delicately sniffed her fingers. “You never did like Rube.”
“With just cause, evidently.” Elaine picked up her coffee cup. “That man is a criminal. I knew it from the first moment I laid eyes on him. I’ve seen his kind in my office a thousand times.”
Blake couldn’t keep the sarcasm from her voice. “Oh really? You’ve seen forty year old men, who started with nothing and became self-made multi-millionaires in your office? Boy, high school sure has changed since I was a kid.”
“You never finished high school, so you’re not really qualified to make that statement.” Elaine tossed out the criticism and then went on as if nothing had happened. “You know perfectly well what I mean. I’m talking about people who think that the only way to get ahead in life is to shortcut the law. If they’d put as much energy into legitimate success as they put into being criminals – “
“All right, Elaine,” William said mildly. “We’ve been over this ground before. Blake doesn’t need to hear this again.”
“No, I don’t,” Blake’s voice was low. “I know Rube is – well, I know he’s made some bad choices with his life.” Even now she couldn’t bring herself to criticize him. “I’m not going to try to defend everything he’s done, especially after everything that’s happened. All I’m saying – all I’ve ever tried to say – is that he may not have trod the conventional path, but he always treated me well. And that has to count in his favor, at least a little bit.”
Elaine stared at her daughter, her piercing eyes sizing Blake up, as if determining what notations would go on her permanent record. Suddenly the corners of her mouth turned sharply upward. “Children never stop surprising you,” she said irrelevantly. “I mean, you’ve always had spine, you’ve always been willing to say what’s on your mind. And now you’re obviously becoming the woman I always knew
you could be.”
It was a backhanded compliment, that was for sure. Blake returned her mother’s gaze, turning Elaine’s words over in her mind, examining them for hidden meanings. She considered possible responses and further questions, but it had taken them a long time to get this close to making peace, and she couldn’t help but realize that this was not the time to press the issue. The men were silent, having the good sense to keep out it. Finally, Blake smiled tearfully. “Thanks,” she said. And that was all.
Her father reached over and touched her hand, then turned to Caleb and changed the subject. “So where do you come into all of this?”
Caleb shifted, and Blake could see that he was mentally wording his response, trying to come up with something other than, I’ve been boning your daughter, and when she went on the run I decided to come along for the ride… so to speak. Finally he said, “Well, Blake and I have been seeing each other – “
“For how long?” Elaine asked.
“A little while,” Caleb said easily. His relaxed, secure attitude gave no reason for argument. “When she realized she was in trouble, I didn’t think she should be alone, so I came along.”
William eyed Caleb’s firearm, which was holstered in plain site on his hip. “You have a license to carry that thing, young man?”
“Yes, sir, I do,” Caleb replied.
“Were you in the service?”
“Yes, sir, I was. Army Special Forces.”
“No kidding,” William said amicably. His protective paternal manner gave way to a broad, dry grin. “I was an infantryman, myself. Where did you serve?”
“Oh Lord,” Elaine said. “If you two start talking military service, we’ll never hear the end of it. Come on, Caleb, why don’t you help me bring the luggage in from the car, and then maybe we can get lunch started. You and Bill can talk later.”
“Luggage?” Blake forestalled Caleb’s response. She set Sampson on the floor and leaned forward. “Mom, you’re not thinking of staying here?”
“Well, of course we are. You’re our daughter. If you need help, we’re the ones to give it.” Sensing an argument in the offing, Elaine settled back and crossed her legs, prepared to do battle if necessary.