The cut wasn’t bad, just a little blood and since she didn’t see any on the steps she was sure she hadn’t lost much on the clothes either. She cleaned off her cut and used her first aid kit to apply a liquid bandage. Nobody even noticed, not even Greg, that her hand had a tiny cut on the palm.
The sweetest part of the whole thing was that the man she wanted to kill for reuniting Greg and the whore got the blame. Everybody assumed it was Levins. His escape had come in handy after all. Unfortunately she hadn’t predicted what would happen next. Her rage had messed her up. Instead of taking Clair to a hotel, Greg took her back to his place. There wasn’t room for three at his place. She offered to take the couch and he said no. Damn! She could just imagine what they were doing. She was sure that fucking bitch had her legs wrapped around her man right now.
Her anger started to rage once more. After everything she’d done to have him, everything she’d sacrificed and that whore still took him. God, she had lost out on a promotion because of her love for Greg. She knew that was the reason he had made Special Agent status while she was still just an agent. The boss probably frowned on her deliberate violation of company policy. But she loved Greg. She loved him more than she loved anything else and that love was enough to endure never being promoted.
Now, thanks to Clair—maybe even thanks to Levins—she had watched her dreams burn in that bed. She had to pay. The bitch had to pay for this. Maybe she’d find Levins herself and give him first crack at killing the whore and then she’d kill him. She’d have to kill him to be the hero of the story and then Greg would love her again. It might take him a little while, but he would realize she is the best woman for him.
Her thoughts went back to Greg. She bet they were screwing right now. Yeah, they were and she had to stop it.
Janet picked up the phone, angrily punched in Greg’s number and waited for an answer. She fought the urge to laugh at the disruption. He for sure wouldn’t be able to get it up with Clair after hearing her sweet voice.
“What?” She heard the roughness to his angry baritone voice. He sounded almost groggy, as if he’d actually been sleep. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe they weren’t screwing.
“I’m just checking on you all over there.” She lied. She wasn’t exactly trying to check on them, but he didn’t need to know that.
“What time is it?”
She could tell he was trying to curtail the curse words probably waiting to roll off his tongue. He did not like being awakened unless the reason for the awakening was an emergency. Okay, so he had been sleep. She was wrong, she had conceded until she heard the faint moan of a female voice. She wasn’t wrong. They were screwing.
“We’re fine,” he nearly barked. “It’s almost two in the morning.” She heard the unspoken words in his tone. He didn’t want her to call again unless it was important, but this was important to her. He was important to her.
“Damn-it woman! I’m trying to sleep. I have a raving lunatic on the loose and I don’t need him shooting me because I was too tired to be smart.”
She hadn’t thought of that. If he truly were trying to sleep then she should let him get back to it. “Sorry, I’ll call later.”
“Forget calling, just meet us at the gym.” And abruptly he hung up on her. Well, that had never happened before. He had been short with her if she called late at night, but he had never hung up on her. This new Greg was Clair’s influence and she couldn’t have that…she couldn’t have that at all.
“It’s not nice to take things that don’t belong to you,” she mumbled. “It’s not nice to break up a happy home, but you did it anyway didn’t you?” She took the knife from the drawer and thrust it into her plastic cutting board. She pulled the knife out and thrust it in again and again as if she were thrusting the knife into Clair’s heart.
Greg belonged to her. Greg had always belonged to her. She had perfectly orchestrated her assignment to him because she had seen him give a speech at one of the seminars on criminal profiling and she wanted to know more about him. She knew he was going to be her soul mate, and she wanted to be with him so much that she asked—no begged—for the assignment to work with him. She had gotten her wish, assigned to Greg just as she wanted, and then the rest was up to her. She orchestrated everything over time, with great patience. She manipulated, lied, destroyed, did whatever she needed to do to be with him and when she finally had him in her bed she had given him the best this side of Texas. He was hers, hooked on her lovin’ like no other and they were going to be together forever.
She had done everything to get him, tried everything to keep him, and now she would do whatever it took to get him back. She would lie, steal, destroy, and even kill for him. She couldn’t kill Clair directly, not herself because he would never forgive her for that. She couldn’t risk it, but…but she could orchestrate the murder. Levins, she would need to figure out a way to get Levins alone with Clair. She needed to think, not go off into one of her rages again. She needed to think of a way to get Greg to leave Clair alone so that Levins could get to her. She needed a plan.
Yes, Clair was going to die, and then Janet would have her man back.
Chapter Eleven
“Who was that?” Clair rolled over and stretched.
“It’s okay, baby. Just go back to sleep.”
“No, I have work,” she moaned groggily. God, she was tired and he could tell. He needed her to rest. He needed her to stay in and sleep and just let him take care of her.
“Please stay home today?”
“I can’t,” she moaned, but she hadn’t moved. “I have to go to work…but I don’t feel like it.” She stretched again as if she were trying to wake herself up.
“What time did you fall asleep?”
She yawned. “About an hour, maybe two, ago…I think. You seemed to want to let the entire world know it was two in the morning so I’m thinking maybe the two hours ago estimate is probably right.”
He almost laughed, but he, too, was exhausted. “Janet decided to call to check on us. I don’t know what the hell she’s doing up now anyway.”
“You know she surprised me last night. She seemed so sincere when she told me things would be okay.”
“I guess she has her moments.”
“She must. You dated her for a long time.”
He grunted. He dated her for a long time all right, and now, looking back on things, he didn’t know why. Hell, when he’d slept with her the first time he’d been half drunk. He had just come from one last attempt at getting Clair’s father to reconsider his abandonment of her. She was nearly eighteen at the time, about six months shy of it and the bastard told him he was going to put her out. “She’s dead to me,” he had said. “She died with Amy.” He wanted to hit him, knock some sense into him, but instead he landed at a bar. He had nursed his beer most of the night, but eventually he drank it and then he had another. Two beers didn’t normally make him drunk, but no food, plus his foul mood…well, he wasn’t exactly thinking with the right head when he went home with Janet.
After that night she just seemed to always be there. He worked with her, of course she would be there, but it was more than that. She showed up at his home, invited him for dinner, and a part of him felt guilty for using her to release his own frustrations so he dated her. Then, one thing led to another and for some reason he just assumed things were how they were going to be, so he stayed with her. He never had any intention of moving her into his house, but she needed a place to stay for a little while. Unfortunately a little while turned into something more. It was like that movie where the relatives came to visit and wouldn’t leave. Then she had convinced him to push Clair aside and that started to eat at him, but he was stuck with her.
He thought of leaving her sooner, but he had created the problem and he wasn’t sure if he’d make it bigger by breaking up with her. They were partners, and partners needed to be on speaking terms. Of course by the time he had the balls to call it quits with her he didn’t care if he did end up w
ith a new partner; he just wanted out of the relationship, out of the hell he had suddenly felt himself trapped in.
He was surprised at how well she took it. Maybe, he figured, just maybe his ego was too big for his britches because she had been much calmer than he thought she would be. She had even insisted they remain partners, as long as he could handle it. He thought of saying no, that he couldn’t and he wanted a new partner request too, but hell, he could figure out how to keep work professional. Besides, when he got involved with her he had received a verbal reminder of the company rules and told not to screw up or there would be a lot of asses on the line.
He looked down at Clair. Her eyes were fluttering open and closed as if she were fighting—and losing—a battle to wake up and get ready for work. “Let me call in sick for you baby, please? You need more sleep.”
“My eyes feel like they’re on fire,” she yawned again.
“Sleep, baby. Please?”
She stretched once more and then curled into him. “Okay, but you’ll have to wait until five. Speak with Jackson Talbot and ask him to have Kevin call me when he gets in.”
He felt some sense of pride that she had trusted him to take care of her, that she hadn’t continued to fight him on the work issue. She needed sleep, and another day off work. After last night’s break-in he was sure she had to be stressed. She might have thought work was best to deal with that stress, but if she kept at her current pace, with the load she had on her shoulders, she was likely to break. He needed her sharp, strong, fully awake and alert to any danger that might be around the corner. This day off would be restful and he would accept nothing less than that.
Later that morning, most people would probably consider it early, but since he’d been awake for a few hours he considered it later, Greg eased from the bed so he wouldn’t wake Clair and he started making phone calls. Jackson had been understanding. “We really didn’t expect her to come in,” he had said. “Kevin sent out cancellation emails the minute he heard what happened at her place. God, I wish she had told us. We have ten rock solid guys working here who would gladly beat the shit out of that bastard.”
Greg grunted.
“Hell, if she wants him dead I know people.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Greg said with obvious satisfaction. Clair had people ready to break the law for her, ready to protect her, and she probably didn’t even know it. She wasn’t one who liked to need help. It wasn’t that she felt as if needing help made her weak; she had just gotten use to not having it. Her parents’ betrayal had sent shockwaves through her. She had him, for a while, and she had gotten use to leaning on him when she needed some support or help, but he was the only one. Even now, as he watched her during the day, doing her day to day activities, he noticed she was still the same, only multiplied. She hadn’t even wanted to lean on him.
When he told her Levins had escaped, for a moment she looked as if the bottom had dropped out of her stomach and her knees were about to give way. She had held on to the dining room chair, and then, just as quickly as she started to fall apart she contained herself. There were no tears, no hysterics, not even a request for his help. She had, so effortlessly seemed to utter the words, “I’m not listed; I should be okay.”
Ten years ago she would have at least gone into his arms, asked for his help, and if not asked, she would have willingly accepted the help he wanted to provide. That was ten years ago, before he had thrust the final knife of betrayal into her. The Clair now was hell bent on being rock plus foundation without need of anybody else to hold her up.
He found her strength admirable, but he also wished she would let him in to help her. If she would just open up, even a little, then he’d know there was a chance for them. The sex was great; he wasn’t denying that, but thus far she hadn’t even been able to utter the words, “I love you.” He was going to ask her last night if she did; he needed to know. She had expertly avoided the conversation, and he knew it was avoidance because he could tell from the alert and suddenly aware look in her eyes that she knew what he was about to ask, and she rushed to stop him. He could have pressed the topic, but he was afraid of what her answer would be if he asked; maybe he was mostly afraid because he wondered if she would say no.
Ten years ago she told him she loved him everyday, but he never saw it for the kind of love he felt for her now. God, if she had felt what he was feeling now all those years ago, it must have been hell for her to see him with another woman. The thought of her being with another man someday was giving him a taste in his mouth that was nauseating. That taste was jealousy mixed with fear—he could save her life and still lose her, and he knew that now more than he ever really realized it before.
Why he had expected things to fall back into place after ten years, he wasn’t sure. He had erroneously believed that Clair was going to need his help, or at least want his help, because whether she realized it immediately or not she did need his help. But she hadn’t wanted it.
Things had changed since that first day—marginally anyway. They were having sex—the kind that made his balls ache just thinking about it. He wanted to be inside her as much as possible, partly because he couldn’t believe he was the dumb jerk who let ten years pass without being with her, and the other part was he needed her to see what they could have together. They could have the relationship she wanted all those years ago. They could make love and be friends and be more than friends all at the same time. He wanted the relationship now; but did she? Oh, she wanted the sex. She had given him that, but she hadn’t given him much of her heart and confidence. She still remained guarded with him.
But then today things had changed—a little. She hadn’t fought him on the work issue. She had even told him who to talk to, and then she had drifted back off to sleep leaving everything in his hands. He never thought one action could send his hopes flying, but it did. She had trusted him without protest, without oversight, just pure trust, and that meant maybe, just maybe, it could be about more than sex between them.
“Look,” Jackson said in an entirely too perky tone for five o’clock in the morning. “Kevin has already cancelled her classes for the rest of the week. Tell her not to worry. I’m sure everybody will understand. You can’t turn on local news without hearing about what happened, or walk past a paper rack. It’s all over the place.”
Greg rubbed his hand across his face. He needed to shave; he hadn’t done that since yesterday.
“Besides if anybody has a problem they can fuck off. Those are my words and I won’t say them to a client, but seriously, who would expect her to be here today?”
“Thank God for common sense,” Greg stretched his long legs out in front of him. His shins just barely cleared the coffee table in front of the couch as his bare feet poked out the other side.
“Sense isn’t exactly common, but most of our clients are mature enough and smart enough, maybe even compassionate enough, to understand. Tell her to take it easy and we’ll see her in a little over a week.”
“Great,” Greg disconnected the call. “You work with some good people there, Clair.” He mumbled to himself.
“I know,” came the petite voice from the next room.
“What are you doing out of bed? More likely, what are you doing awake?”
She laughed. “I had to go to the bathroom, and you were gone so I decided to come see what you were doing.”
“Go back to sleep. The sun’s not even up yet.”
She shook her head no. “I’m awake now, and the sun will be cresting soon.” She walked over and sat on the couch beside him. He instinctively folded her into his arms and held her.
“What did Jackson say? Is it too short notice to cancel my classes?”
“No. He said Kevin cancelled them last night.”
“Oh,” she sighed sounding relieved. “They’re all amazing. I’m going to hate to leave them.”
“Where are you going?”
“I want my own studio. The guys are great, they are, b
ut with the new corporate partner things are changing. I’ve seen these changes before and eventually it always leads to being a number, not a person. I don’t like that feeling. They’re already talking about moving the gym to a larger location, by large, I mean large. Think Wal*Mart large and double it.”
“Damn,” his eyes widened. “Is there enough equipment to fill a gym that size?”
“Probably.” She shrugged. “But I don’t want to work in a place like that. If the new partners cared about the employees—”
“What makes you think they don’t?”
“Oh they don’t. When they came in to introduce themselves they told everybody how things were going to be and if they didn’t like it they could leave. Whether or not they let the door hit them where the good Lord split them on the way out of it was up to them.”
“Ouch!”
“Yeah, that’s what we all thought too. I saw Kevin flinch at the statement, but since he’s sold a huge chunk of the company to them he’s really not as big of an owner anymore. He doesn’t have as much power as he use to. I don’t know why he’d strike that deal. I mean the gym was doing great without the change. But I guess there’s always an allure to more money. Bigger is better for some people.”
“But not for you?”
Dangerous Obsessions Page 13