Grace Under Fire

by Beverly Barton

  "I have to talk to Grace, try to make her understand."

  When Jed turned and headed for the front door, Rafe caught up with him and grabbed his arm. "Maybe you should wait until morning. Give her a chance to digest the information."

  Jed shrugged off Rafe's grip, shook his head and kept walking. He heard his fellow Dundee agent huff loudly. Okay, so Rafe thought he was making a mistake. He got the message. What Rafe didn't understand was that he couldn't risk letting Grace decide she neither wanted nor needed him, as a bodyguard. If she rejected him personally, he'd find a way to live with it. But he couldn't allow her to fire him as her personal protector. He knew in his gut that Booth had pulled Hudson Prentice's strings. Booth wanted Jed off this case. He wanted Grace vulnerable and exposed.

  Once inside, Jed took the stairs two at a time. When he reached Grace's bedroom door, he stood there, hesitant, and said the first real prayer he'd uttered in he couldn't remember when. Don't let her hate me. Please, let her understand.

  Jed knocked on the door. No response.

  "Grace?"

  He knocked again.

  "Grace, please, let me talk to you. Let me explain."

  He leaned over and pressed his head against the door. Of all the women on earth, why did she have to be the one? Most women wouldn't give a damn that he was Booth Fortier's nephew. But Grace cared. It mattered to her in a way it couldn't matter to anyone else.

  "Grace, I'm sorry. I should have told you."

  Jed grabbed the crystal doorknob, and much to his surprise, it turned and the door opened. Had she unlocked it for him? He eased the door back a little bit at a time until he could see inside the dark room. She hadn't bothered turning on a light; only the pale, shadowy glow from the moonlight drifting through the windows saved the area from total darkness.

  "Grace?"

  Moving slowly and carefully, he entered the bedroom and began searching for Grace. Within moments he saw her sitting in one of the two chairs flanking the fireplace. All he could make out was her silhouette. He flipped the switch that activated the wall sconces on either side of the mantel and a soft, creamy blush washed over Grace. She sat staring off into nothingness, her hands folded neatly in her lap. When Jed approached, she didn't move or speak. He went down on his knees beside her chair, but didn't touch her.

  "I didn't mean for you to find out the way you did. I'm sorry. I should have told you myself."

  "Yes, you should have," she said in a soft, low whisper.

  "I know you probably hate me." His hand hovered over her arm. He wanted to grab her, hold her, never let her go. "Hell, I hate myself. I've spent seventeen years trying to run away from the fact that I'm Booth Fortier's nephew and I thought I'd succeeded. Until this case. And even then, I had no idea how much it would cost me to be that monster's blood kin."

  Grace turned to him, and when he saw her red, puffy eyes and the tears still clinging to her eyelashes, he felt as if his heart was being ripped from his body. He knew he didn't deserve this woman, knew he was all wrong for her, but knowing the facts didn't stop him from wanting her—wanting her more than he'd ever wanted anything in his entire life.

  "Hate me if you must," Jed said. "Don't forgive me for lying to you, for keeping a horrible secret from you, but do not fire me. Don't send me away. Please, Grace, allow me to remain your bodyguard. Keep me and the Dundee agents on the job."

  Grace reached out and rubbed her fingertips across his cheekbones and it was only when she touched him that he realized he was crying. He didn't understand what was happening. He didn't cry. Not ever. Not since his mother died when he was a teenager. Nothing and no one had ever mattered that much to him. Not until Grace.

  "I won't go," he told her. "Do you hear me? I won't leave you!"

  "My poor Jed." Grace caressed his cheek.

  Emotion choked him. He swallowed hard, then grabbed Grace's hand, brought it to his lips and turned it palm up to kiss. He was so overcome by her gentle touch, by her kind heart, that he couldn't speak.

  Grace turned around, leaned over and pulled Jed to her. He pressed his head against her bosom as she wrapped her arms around him. When she laid her cheek against the top of his head, he slipped his arms around her and held on for dear life.

  "How can you be so kind to me?" he asked, his voice harsh because he was trying so hard to conceal how emotionally vulnerable he was. "My uncle is the man who ordered your husband and father murdered."

  "He ordered your father's murder, too," she reminded him. "It isn't your fault that your mother was Booth Fortier's sister. None of us chose our families."

  Grace cupped Jed's face with her hands and urged him to look at her. When he did, what he saw surprised him beyond belief. Although crying, Grace smiled at him. Her face blurred quickly through the mist of tears in his eyes. She lowered her head and brushed her lips over his.

  "I've had a couple of hours to think about you and me and why you didn't tell me about your relationship to Booth Fortier," she said. "My emotions have pretty much run the gamut. But I realized something a few minutes ago when I heard your voice outside my door." Holding his breath, he stared at her. Praying. Hoping beyond all reason. "When all is said and done, you're as much a victim of Booth Fortier's viciousness as I am. Perhaps even more so."

  "Ah, Grace … Blondie—"

  She kissed first one cheek, then the other. "I love you, Jed. Knowing who your uncle is doesn't change that fact."

  "But do you trust me?" he asked.

  "Yes, of course, I trust you."

  "Enough to put your life in my hands?"

  "Yes. Now and forever." She kissed him with a passion born of desire and uncertainty.

  Jed returned her kiss, deepened it, took it to its furthermost reaches. When she curled her arms around his neck, he lifted her into his arms and carried her to bed. And they made slow, sweet love to each other, savoring every moment, understanding how precarious and unpredictable life can be.

  * * *

  Chapter 21

  « ^ »

  Elsa finished checking e-mail, then rose from her swivel chair and picked up her empty coffee mug. Grace had asked her to send out for lunch, so Elsa had included her order with the others. The delivery boy from Café Continental should be here in the next five minutes, giving her just enough time to refill her coffee mug and drop off a couple of file folders to Mr. Prentice's office. Odd that she hadn't seen him this morning. Customarily he made up excuses to frequent Grace's office. Maybe he'd finally realized he was never going to get to first base with Grace, especially now that Jed Tyree was in the picture. Although Grace hadn't confided in Elsa about her personal relationship with her bodyguard, it didn't take a genius to figure out they were crazy in love. It was all they could do to keep their hands off each other. What a time for Grace to fall in love, Elsa thought, then sighed. She was twenty-eight and had never been in love. When had she ever had time to form a serious relationship with a man? Being both mother and father to her three siblings hadn't afforded her the luxury of even dating all that much in the past ten years.

  When Elsa approached Mr. Prentice's outer office, his secretary Terrie, who stood with her ear to her boss's door, saw Elsa and put her finger to her lips in a Be Quiet gesture.

  "What's going on?" Elsa asked.

  "Sh … Mr. Prentice just arrived a few minutes ago and I notified Mr. Tyree, as I'd been told to do. Then Mr. Tyree came storming down here and marched right into Mr. Prentice's office and has been giving him a tongue-lashing. It seems he's accusing Mr. Prentice of betraying Ms. Beaumont." Terrie leaned back against the door and listened. "Oh, my gosh, I believe Mr. Tyree just fired Mr. Prentice."

  "I don't think Mr. Tyree has that authority," Elsa said.

  "Uh-oh, it's gotten awfully quiet in there." Terrie scurried away from the door and barely made it into her chair before Jed barreled out of Hudson Prentice's office.

  "Morning, ladies." Jed grinned as he glanced from Elsa to Terrie. "Why don't you take an early lunch t
oday, Terrie? Mr. Prentice will be leaving for the afternoon. He has an appointment with Chief Winters, who will be here shortly to pick him up for questioning."

  As soon as Jed disappeared down the hall, Terrie leaned over and gushed with information. "Mr. Tyree accused Mr. Prentice of being in cahoots with Booth Fortier. I didn't believe it, but now I do. If the chief of police is coming to get Mr. Prentice, then it must be true. Mr. Prentice claims that Mr. Tyree has no evidence against him, but he sounded scared. And Mr. Tyree said that the Dundee Agency has Mr. Prentice's personal telephone records that show he recently made several phone calls to a man named Oliver Neville."

  Elsa dropped the file folders on Terrie's desk. "Don't spread this type of gossip around the office. Wait until Ms. Beaumont makes an official announcement. If Chief Winters isn't going to arrest Mr. Prentice, only question him, then perhaps it's all a big misunderstanding."

  "Oh, yeah, sure thing. But I heard Mr. Tyree tell Mr. Prentice that things would go easier for him if he told the truth instead of waiting until the police had more evidence against him."

  Elsa nodded, then turned and headed back toward the kitchenette area near her office, knowing the minute she was out of earshot, Terrie would be spreading the news throughout the complex. Elsa wasn't sure why the thought that Mr. Prentice might be involved with a mobster didn't surprise her. Perhaps it was because she'd never really respected Hudson Prentice, although she'd often felt sorry for him. What did surprise her was that he would betray Grace. She'd been so sure he was in love with Grace.

  No sooner had Elsa returned to her desk, with a full coffee mug in hand, than her telephone rang. As she placed her coffee on a coaster atop her desk, she picked up the receiver.

  "Sheffield Media, Inc. Grace Beaumont's office. How may I help you?"

  "To whom am I speaking?" The voice was disguised, making certain Elsa couldn't identify it later.

  "This is Elsa Leone, Ms. Beaumont's personal assistant."

  "Miss Leone, I have someone here with me who'd like to speak to you."

  "Who is this?" Elsa asked as she buzzed Grace's office, per Jed Tyree's instructions, were she to receive a suspicious call. "What do you want?"

  "Elsa, it's Troy." Her brother sounded scared to death. His voice quivered. "Please, sis, you've got to help me. If you don't do what they say, they're going to kill me."

  "Troy, who has you? Where are you?"

  Jed rushed out of Grace's office, an extension phone to his ear. When Elsa looked up at him, he nodded and motioned for her to keep talking.

  "Troy? What's going on?" Elsa asked.

  "Troy's a little tied up right now," the voice said. "But he sends his love."

  "What do you want?"

  "Your cooperation."

  Elsa's stomach knotted painfully. "I'm listening."

  "How much do you love your little brother? Enough to exchange your boss's life for his?"

  Elsa closed her eyes as the painful realization hit her—someone connected to Booth Fortier had kidnapped Troy. "I don't understand—"

  "Now, don't play dumb with me, Miss Leone. Not when I know what a smart girl you are. So listen up. Here's the deal—you find a way to bring Grace Beaumont to us and we'll give you back your little brother all in one piece."

  "But how do you expect me to—"

  "That's your problem. Figure it out. I'll call you back in one hour to tell you where we'll make the exchange."

  The dial tone screamed in Elsa's ear. The end. Finality. Elsa glanced up at Jed, her frightened gaze meeting his troubled glare. "What—what am I going to do?"

  "Don't panic," Jed told her. "We'll find a way to help your brother."

  "But how? You heard what he said—they want Grace."

  "Who wants me?" Grace walked out of her office into Elsa's just as the delivery boy from Café Continental arrived.

  After Jed took the box lunches, then paid the boy and tipped him generously, getting rid of him as quickly as possible, he explained the details of Elsa's recent phone conversation to Grace.

  Grace put her arms around Elsa. "We won't let them harm Troy." She looked to Jed. "Will we?"

  "I don't want either of you trying to figure out a way to help Troy. Do you hear me?"

  Jed's gaze went from Grace to Elsa and back to Grace. "I need to talk to the other Dundee agents, then contact my boss." He put his hand on Elsa's shoulder. "We'll figure out a way to save Troy without putting Grace in danger."

  Elsa nodded, but knew in her heart that what Jed Tyree had promised them simply wasn't possible.

  * * *

  An hour later, after Elsa received the second phone call from the mystery man and Jed had been in contact with both Sawyer MacNamara and Dante Moran, the Dundee agents were assembled in Grace's office.

  "No way in hell am I going to allow this," Jed bellowed.

  "It's the only way to save Troy," Grace said.

  Jed paced the floor like a wounded bull preparing to charge. Grace understood how he felt; if their roles were reversed, she'd feel the same. And it wasn't as if she was being noble or was fearlessly prepared to walk into the lion's den. She was scared senseless. But they truly had no other choice.

  "I know it's not a foolproof plan." Dom Shea watched Jed moving about frantically. "But Moran has promised us that the Feds will be all over the place within fifteen minutes of Grace's arrival at the warehouse. They'll be as thick as flies on sh—" He cleared his throat. "They're moving up their timetable by forty-eight hours in order to take advantage of this situation."

  "To hell with their timetable!" Jed spun around, leaned down and grasped the arms of Grace's chair on either side. "Don't you understand that there is no way either the FBI or Dundee's can guarantee your safety? I'm not willing to risk your life. Not to save Troy Leone or anybody else. And certainly not to catch Booth Fortier. A week ago you might have been willing to die to bring Booth to justice, but I thought … I thought you felt differently now."

  Grace grasped both of Jed's wrists and looked up into his face, their gazes connecting. "I want to live now more than I've ever wanted to live. Everything in my life is different. You know that." Grace sensed a hush fall over the room and knew that Elsa and the three Dundee agents were all aware that Jed and she were lovers. "But neither of us could live with ourselves if we don't do all we can to save Troy and to put Booth Fortier behind bars for the rest of his life."

  Jed pulled away from Grace and stood, then glanced from one Dundee agent to the other. Dom, Rafe and J.J. "I'm going with her."

  A rumble of protests arose from the agents, then Rafe said, "You can't do that and you damn well know it. For this thing to work, it's got to look as if Elsa and Grace slipped away from all of us without telling us what had happened with Troy."

  "I'm not letting her go in alone," Jed told them.

  "She won't be alone," Dom reminded him. "Not for long. She'll be wearing the homing device and we'll know where she is at all times, even if they move her from the warehouse. Once everything is in place, Moran's people will move in. And we'll be with them. I told Moran you had to be part of the rescue mission.

  Grace stood, walked over to Jed and slipped her arm around his waist. "See, in the end, you'll he my knight in shining armor."

  "Some white knight I am." Jed pulled her into his arms and held her fiercely. "If anything happens to you…"

  "Whatever happens…" She glanced around the room. One by one, Elsa and the Dundee agents made hasty exists, leaving Grace and Jed alone. "Whatever happens, I want you to know that the time we've had together has been wonderful. You've brought me back to life, given me a reason to—"

  He kissed her with all the passion and frustration he felt. And she gave herself over to the moment, pushing aside her fear. Please, dear God, help us. I don't want to die. I want to live. I want a chance for a new life … with Jed.

  * * *

  Two hours later Elsa drove her Honda Civic to the Garland Industries warehouse and parked out front as she'd been
told to do by the mystery voice over the phone. Grace adjusted her blouse and glanced down at the cameo attached to the gold necklace the FBI agent had brought to Sheffield Media and placed around her neck.

  "There's a small homing device inside the cameo," Special Agent Taylor had explained.

  "We'll be able to track you as long as you're wearing the necklace."

  Elsa turned to Grace. "I'll never be able to thank you enough for doing this. You're risking your life for Troy."

  Grace patted Elsa's hand where she clutched the steering wheel. "Jed and the Dundee agents aren't going to let us get hurt. And don't forget that the FBI knows what's happening and they're going to arrest Booth Fortier today. To add to all his other crimes, they'll now be able to prove that he was behind Troy's kidnapping."

  Elsa took a deep breath. "If only Troy hadn't gotten himself involved with these people, this wouldn't be happening."

  "No time for worrying about all that," Grace said. "Now, come on. We're to go to the door over there—" Grace glanced in the direction "—and knock once, then they'll let us in."

  Elsa nodded. "He said that they have Troy here and will make the exchange as soon as we arrive."

  "Then let's get this over with."

  Grace opened the passenger door, got out and waited for Elsa. They walked down the sidewalk and to the front door of the Garland Industries warehouse. Elsa knocked once. The door opened. They went inside the dark, dank, cavernous building, but didn't see anyone, not even whoever had unlocked the door for them. Grace's heartbeat thundered in her ears. Be brave. Show no fear, she told herself.

  "You did a very good job, Ms. Leone," a man's voice said, but still they could see no one. "By now, Ms. Beaumont, you must know that your assistant has led you into a trap."

  "What's going on here?" Grace asked. "Who are you? Elsa said Troy was in trouble and asked me to come here with her to get him. Where is Troy Leone?"

  "Troy is safe," the voice replied. "For now."