Noah blinked and forced his attention back to his call. Carmichael had answered her phone. He quickly explained the situation to her, and listened as she used another phone to call their technical department. She had an IT technician working on it from their end, while Drew did what he could from the office.
“It’s going to take some time to track this,” the detective told him. “We also can’t shut something like this down without a court order. I’ll get started on that while the guys here see what they can do.”
“Fine. If anything changes, call me. I’ll do the same,” Noah said, and disconnected the call.
He could hear his colleague swearing under his breath. So, no progress here, either.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m going to need help shutting this thing down. Whoever set it up was good. Better than me.” Drew’s head snapped around. “Don’t say it.”
Noah kept his expression neutral. “I don’t state the obvious.” Drew’s skills lay in different areas, mainly with people, not computers. He could charm birds out of the sky, informants to part with information, and ladies to part with their inhibitions. He didn’t charm computers.
“Call Ryan back at HQ and get one of the newbies on it, maybe Mal Ryker.” He vaguely remembered something about the new-starter having worked in defense communications.
“Noah?”
He turned at Jessica’s call.
Both the women were standing, and Noah could see the striking familial resemblance. Both were petite, attractive, with a spine made of steel and an identical lift to the chin that he didn’t think either was aware of.
Jessica gestured between the two of them. “Aunt Jacquie, may I present Noah Samuels. Noah, this is my aunt, Jacqueline Pennington.”
“I know who he is,” Jacqueline said, looking Noah up and down. “I make it a point to find out all about the man making a spectacle of my niece, Mr. Samuels,” she remarked. Noah barely restrained a shudder at the Arctic vibe he got from the woman.
For no other reason than he knew it would irk, he held out his hand and smiled.
Jacqueline Pennington grudgingly took it. She pumped it once. “Jacqueline Pennington.”
He nodded, but maintained his grip well past the length of time for appropriate contact. “Please, call me Noah.” He leaned closer. Just a little. “I’m the bodyguard,” he said in a low voice. “I make it a point to make sure your niece doesn’t get hurt,” he said meaningfully. He let go of her hand.
Jacqueline tilted her head to one side. “Samuels. It’s an unusual name.”
“If you say so.” He had enough family to know it wasn’t that unusual, but he wasn’t about to contradict the figurehead of JP Designs.
“I know a gentleman by the same name,” the woman noted. Noah kept his expression neutral. She was a shrewd old gal. He could see how she’d successfully spearheaded a multi-million dollar industry for four decades. He nodded.
“That would be my father,” he informed her. Interest briefly lit the older woman’s eyes.
“Really?” she breathed.
“Really.”
“Please pass on my regards next time you see him.”
Noah forced his lips into a tight smile. “Oh, I think you’ll probably speak to him before I do.” He twisted and tossed the mail he still clutched onto the top of Jessica’s desk. He met her eyes, ignoring her confused gaze. “I need to talk to you.” He knew he was purposely excluding Jacqueline, and that it was probably rude, but he had a job to do. The stalker was not only attacking Jessica personally, but now professionally. They needed to move fast, before the bastard did something else. He ignored the quick intake of breath from the older woman, as well as the dark look she shot him.
Jacqueline’s lips firmed, and she nodded. “Well, I must go. I understand your book launch is in a few days?” She turned to her niece.
Jessica nodded. “Yes. At Perbacco. 8:00 p.m. I’ve hired the restaurant.”
The older woman nodded in approval as she reached for her handbag and gloves, and rose gracefully from her seat. “I’ll be there. Would you care to join me the following day for morning tea?”
Jessica smiled. It was their ritual. She would join her aunt in her hotel room, and they would politely update each other on their current situations. “That would be lovely, aunt. Thank you.”
The woman nodded once. “Fine. I’m staying at my usual hotel, you can reach me there.” She inclined her head in Noah’s direction. “Mr. Samuels.”
“Noah,” he reminded her, knowing it would niggle.
Jacquie looked startled for a moment. “All right, then. Noah.”
Noah nodded. “Jacquie.”
She started slightly at the familiarity, before she glanced to her niece. “Jessica.”
She air-kissed Jessica and made to leave. She hesitated at the door and turned to Noah. “I’ll pass on your regards to your father,” she said, and left. Noah hid his annoyance at her words as he turned to face Jessica.
Her eyebrows rose. “Your father?”
Noah nodded.
“How does my aunt know your father?”
“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. He suspected he didn’t want to know the answer to that particular question. He’d shut the door on his father eons ago, and didn’t need to go reopening it. He could tell from the little line marring her forehead that she wasn’t satisfied with his answer, and spoke before she could ask any more questions about a subject that he didn’t want to talk about.
“Drew found out more about the car.”
Her face paled. “And?”
“It’s based at KTFA. They don’t know who was driving it, though. Apparently their attention to keeping records is not a high priority.”
Jessica folded her arms across her chest. He could see her processing the information. She blinked, and he knew she understood the full gravity of what he’d said. The woman was quick. And smart.
“It’s someone at the station,” she gulped. Her hand rose to the necklace at her neck, her fingers trembling. “Oh, God.” She twisted. She turned, a lost look on her face.
Noah reached for her, drawing her close. He just wanted to make her feel better, grounded, not so lost. His hand rested on her shoulder, and he could feel the warmth of her body, the slimness of her frame, through the silk material of her blouse. He hunched lower so that he was at eye level with her.
“It’s okay, Jess, we’ll catch him.”
Her hand rose to her mouth. “It’s someone I know, someone I work with.” She gulped. “Oh, God.” She looked up at the ceiling, as though to compose herself. She took a deep, shaky breath. “I keep thinking this will all go away, but it won’t, will it?”
He felt sucked away by the torment he saw in her.
“We don’t get any closer, do we? We found a fingerprint, and we found the car, but we still don’t have a clue who is behind all of this.” She shook her head. “He really wants to hurt me.”
Noah listened to her as she continued in her low voice, aching to take away the fear and the pain he heard there.
“He’s attacking me. He’s attacking the places where I work. He sent a letter bomb, he called me on the radio—now he’s destroying my business…” She halted and took a steadying breath. “He’s destroying me,” she whispered.
Noah enfolded her in his arms and rested his chin on her forehead. She was shaking like a damn leaf. “We’ll get him, Jess. Don’t you worry. We’ll get him.”
She pulled back to look up at him with big, beseeching eyes, and their difference in height, her petite beauty, struck him.
“Trust me,” he said, and tucked her back under his chin. “We’ll get him.” Determination hardened in his gut.
We’ll get him.
* * *
J
essica handed several shopping bags bearing expensive designer logos to the chauffeur and smiled at the man.
“Thank you for your help,” she said to him softly. The older man blushed and nodded.
She turned and smiled brightly at Anita Cross. The strawberry blonde was short and slim, and Jessica had thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of creating a new wardrobe for the woman.
“You have your colors and your style portfolio now. If you like, you can make another appointment with Gwen, and we’ll organize a hair-and-makeup session for you.”
Anita sighed. “God, do I have to go through more primping?”
Jessica smiled. “We’ll only do what you’re comfortable with. This exercise is merely to show you some new ways to wear your hair and makeup that you might find quite attractive.” She forced herself to maintain eye contact with the grumpy woman, and not focus on the shocking pink lipstick the woman wore.
“Well, you certainly know how to milk blood from a stone, don’t you? These appointments are beginning to add up, you know.”
Jessica inclined her head, masking her teeth grinding with a smile. This woman’s husband was going to run for the Senate. He’d commissioned Jessica to groom his wife into a more suitable image of a politician’s wife. And the woman was balking, every step of the way.
“I realize why you might think that, Mrs. Cross,” Jessica said, using a soothing tone, and thinking the woman had quite the appropriate surname. “Your husband seems to think I can help you feel more comfortable when he goes on the campaign trail.”
Mrs. Cross grimaced. “Well, if Walter thinks all this bother is of some use, I guess I can put up with it.”
Jessica bit her cheek as the reluctant woman got into the back of the town car. She waved until the car had merged into traffic, then turned to face Noah. He was talking on the phone, and staring down the street. He hung up.
She smiled. “You’ve been very patient, thank you.”
Noah kept his gaze trained down the street. He arched an eyebrow, but didn’t meet her eyes. “It’s my job, ma’am.”
Her smile faltered. She’d actually appreciated having Noah with her. He didn’t interfere with the shopping expedition, but his presence had felt like a buffer with Mrs. Cross’s constant complaints and arguments. Sure, most of the time he’d shuffled those darned cards, and she’d watched his dexterity with a fascination she refused to acknowledge, refused to wonder about. But the reason he was with her wasn’t because he was being friendly or supportive, but because he was being paid to protect her. His tone and manner were totally professional, his behavior toward her beyond reproach. Nothing like the parking lot incident. Her pulse stuttered as she remembered his body pressed against hers. But he was her bodyguard. He’d shown her just how little he’d invested in their shared moment of passion with his easy capitulation to her statement that it couldn’t happen again. And then he’d played with those cards. It was what she wanted, but darned if it didn’t hurt. Just a little.
“Still, I appreciate your forbearance,” she said, her tone stilted.
He nodded as he stared up the street.
Darn, he wasn’t even going to look at her.
“That was Drew. He’s had a chance to analyze the recording of the phone call.”
Her stomach muscles clenched at the reminder of the call. “And?”
“It was pre-recorded. That’s why he kept interrupting you. He wasn’t responding to your remarks, he’d recorded his conversation, and then called it in remotely.”
She paled. If it was recorded beforehand, then the stalker could have been anywhere at the time it came through. Like sitting opposite her on the sound console, waiting for her reaction. She remembered Hamish staring at her across the desk. She closed her eyes. She got a bad vibe from that man, but she’d managed to convince herself that she was being paranoid. Now she felt sick.
“Can we trace the call?” she asked hoarsely. Her hand rose to touch the necklace around her neck. For some reason, the cool pearls didn’t give her the comfort she normally found wearing them.
Noah shook his head. “It was a pre-paid cell, like the other calls. There’s no background noise to try and track.”
Jessica blinked back frustrated tears. Every time they found something out, it seemed they were farther away from identifying and stopping her stalker. She wanted to scream, to rant. She took a deep, steadying breath. Ooze tranquility. She would not lose it. She was a Pennington. Her aunt’s stern voice reverberated in her head. Penningtons don’t get hysterical. Penningtons are proper. She couldn’t do anything about the stalker right now. Better to focus her attentions on something more productive. Like getting over this fascination with her bodyguard.
She turned in the direction of the secured parking lot they’d left her car in. “Well, we’d better get going.”
He nodded and followed, stopping every now and then to look into the store windows they were passing. She would never have thought he took such an interest in fashion.
After the third shop window he placed his hand against the small of her back. She couldn’t stop the shudder that swept over her frame.
“Let’s move,” he said in a low voice.
Jessica laughed. He was the one gawking at the windows. The contrast of his actions to her impression of him reminded her of her aunt’s comments. She looked up at him briefly as he hurried her along the sidewalk.
“Drew seems nice,” she said in an effort to make conversation, and to distract herself from the warmth of his touch. She’d had a good talk with the man, once he’d shut down the site.
Noah grunted.
Hmm. She could tell they were close friends, but apparently he wasn’t going to discuss him with her. She changed tack.
“How is it that my aunt knows your father?”
Noah’s features tightened briefly, and he glanced down at her. “I get the impression your aunt knows a lot of people.”
Jessica nodded. “True.” Her aunt not only designed and manufactured tasteful home furnishings, she’d also designed the interiors of the homes of several wealthy people, as well as a five-star hotel chain. She’d just recently returned from a trip to the United Arab Emirates, where she’d consulted on the interior design for a new seven-star hotel. So how did her aunt know Noah’s father? And why did he seem reluctant to discuss the matter?
“What does your father do?” she asked.
Noah glanced briefly over his shoulder. “He’s a businessman.”
“Uh-huh.” Noah’s hand hurried her along faster. “What kind of business?”
Noah shrugged. “It varies. For a while he was in the foreign service.”
Jessica halted, her mouth open. “As in the diplomatic service?”
“He’s also in stocks, oil, construction.” He shrugged again. “It varies.” He looked down at her. “Keep moving,” he told her.
She allowed herself to be pushed along. So Noah’s father used to be a diplomat. Noah would have been brought up with protocol and cultural etiquette training. She slid a quick glance to the man hurrying her along. And yet he successfully hid that veneer… One would never have guessed, just looking at him.
Noah glanced over at the window they were passing. He slowed his pace.
Jessica’s confusion deepened. He wanted to window shop?
As she turned to him to ask him more questions, a movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.
“Jessica,” a husky voice called out.
A tall, slim figure ran up behind her. It was more the feel of an approach than any logical assimilation of facts that caused her eyes to widen and her head to turn, her shoulders rising to ward off a physical attack.
She caught a glimpse of a dark blue hood and dark hands reaching for her.
Chapter Ten
Noah
had noticed him a while back. The man had paid a lot of attention to Jessica, and then had followed them as they’d walked to the parking garage. Now he was making his move.
Noah reacted instantly. He raised his arms and braced them. The figure ran into them, gasping as Noah hit him in the sternum. Noah twisted his fists and grabbed clothing. He neatly kicked his leg out and used the guy’s momentum to flip him onto his back.
“Try to pick on a woman, will you?” Noah said harshly.
The guy went down with a thud. His breath wheezed out. He tried to raise his arms in a defensive move. Noah quickly and forcefully slapped his arms out of the way. He grabbed the jersey and rolled the guy over, shoving him face down on the ground. He placed his knee on his back.
“Hey, wait,” the man choked.
Noah grabbed one of his arms and twisted it up his back.
“Who are you?” Adrenaline pumped through his veins. Noah patted the guy down for weapons. He wasn’t going to let this punk surprise him. He wanted to punch him. Hell, if this was the man who had terrorized Jessica for the last four months, he wanted to do a lot more than just punch. He gritted his teeth. His arm ached, but he wasn’t about to let go. He grabbed the guy’s thumb and twisted it into a lock that would take only minimum effort to break the digit.
Passersby began to stop and stare.
“Ow, dammit. Jessica.”
“Noah, wait.” Jessica ran up to him.
“Stay back.”
“Lemme up.”
“AJ?” Jessica breathed as she bent over to look at her assailant’s face.
Noah’s brows snapped into a scowl. “Damn it, I told you to stay back.”
“Wait, I know him,” Jessica told him, her face pale.
“Most victims know their stalkers,” Noah gritted at her. Damn, didn’t the woman know to run away from danger, not to it?
“Hey, who you callin’ a stalker?” the man beneath him cried out.
“AJ? What are you doing?” She turned to Noah. “He’s one of my students.” She flicked a glance at the growing crowd. She paused as though something had caught her eye, then shook her head and turned back to them.
Guarding Jess Page 11