by Woods, Karen
“If you say so,” he dismissed.
About four blocks from the apartment complex, the driver announced, “There’s something going on up here. The police have a roadblock set up.”
Looking ahead for the first time in minutes, Geri saw flames and smoke. She feared her building was on fire. The butterflies in her stomach became elephants.
After hearing her identify herself and stating her address, the police officer at the barricade said, “M’am, your building isn’t there anymore.”
“What?” she demanded, her voice way too soft as the reality of the situation sank in.
“There was an explosion, followed by fire. The emergency crews are still trying to contain the damage. I can’t let you in. You’d just be in the way.”
“What time did the building explode?” Josh asked.
The officer said, “About ten thirty. Leave me a contact number. I’m sure a detective will be getting back with you.”
She reached for her cell phone as they drove away. She punched one button on speed dial and then he heard her say, “Detective Matthews, this is Geri Erikson. Do you remember my case? Yes, it’s the harassment. It’s become somewhat more serious tonight. My apartment building has been bombed, as well as my car… Yes. I’ll meet you at the station, Detective.”
“After talking to the police, you’re coming home with me,” Josh told her after she disconnected the call. “I’m not risking my sister and her family.”
“Just take me to the police station,” she said. He heard the sick weariness in her voice and couldn’t blame her for that. Then she gave the driver the address for the police station.
* * *
Josh accompanied her into the station. She was grateful for his support, even as she worried about him making himself a target.
The detective’s office was small. It smelled faintly of old coffee and a mixture of other, far less pleasant, odors.
After the introductions, Geri said, her tone sounding to her own ears far too blunt, “There were thirty four apartments in my apartment building. Many children lived there. Did anyone get out?”
“I don’t know,” the Detective said. “I can try to find out.”
“Please?”
Josh came to sit beside her on the hard wooden bench that sat against the wall in the office. He put his arm around her shoulder and handed her his handkerchief. Geri was aware of the Detective placing a call. Josh spoke softly to her, “Gerianne, you’re alive. That’s what counts.”
Geri remembered the children she always saw playing around the apartment building. Most of those children would have been asleep when the building exploded. She found herself growing angrier than she had ever been in her entire life. Oh, she had been angry when her father died. She had been angry when one of Brad’s SEALs had attacked her. She had been angry when her graduate school roommate had been murdered. She had been angry when her mother had died. She had been angry when her mother’s cat had been strangled and left hanging on her doorknob. She’d been angry at the array of sick gifts that had been sent to her. But, none of those angers even approached the rage and sorrow she felt building within her. How dare he hurt innocent children!
“Ms. Erikson,” the Detective said. “A few people got out of the building. No one knows yet how bad the loss of life is. The building itself going to be a total loss.”
“Thank you,” Geri said, struggling to regain her control. Josh’s arm tightened around her in a gesture of support. She was grateful for his being here.
For the first time since she had known the man, the Detective smiled. “Where will you be?”
“She’ll be with me,” Josh said.
“We’ve discussed this,” she said. “It would have the appear-ance of impropriety.”
“I won’t put my sister and her family at risk by leaving you with them. So, tonight, you’re stuck coming back to the ranch with me or with going into protective custody with either the Houston P.D. or the Fort Bend County Sheriff. Make your choice and make it now.”
“You haven’t left me any choice and you know it. I don’t appreciate this!”
“You don’t have to appreciate it. You just have to stay safe. I intend to see to it. You’re coming back to my house, and that’s all there is to it.”
“Josh, there are limits to how much I have to do what you tell me. You’re my employer, not my father.”
“Geri, stop being so damned self-sufficient, starched up, and proper. I’m offering you a safe haven. A stiff drink, a hot bath, and a solitary bed. Also, some of the best security in the state. Unbend and take help from someone, for once in your stubborn life!”
“I can’t help it! I am starched up, proper, and self-sufficient, damned or not. I don’t know how to be anything else. Unbending isn’t in my nature,” she countered, hearing both fire and frustration in her voice. “So get off my back! I’m doing the best I can.”
Josh nodded and smiled. Somehow, that one smile, that little bit of respect and approval, touched her heart, deeply.
He said, his voice gentle “I know you are. But, you don’t have to do it alone. You do have friends who are willing to help.”
She rushed into speech before he could say anything more. Involving him here wouldn’t be safe, for him. “I don’t want to put you at risk. This idiot could decide that you were a good target for his rage as well,” she said. “I’ve got enough blood on my hands as it is. If anything happened to you, too...”
“You aren’t putting me at risk. I’m offering you assistance. Besides, I’m awfully hard to kill.”
“Even you aren’t bulletproof,” she dismissed. “You’ll die just as easily as any other human being. I beg you, don’t involve yourself in my problems. It’s simply too dangerous.”
“I’m already involved. You involved me when you thought I was your stalker tonight and you pointed your pistol at me.”
“I didn’t expect anyone, beside security, to be in the building that late. And they had made their rounds not five minutes before you walked down the hall.”
“You need to be more heavily insulated, protected, from this animal. I can help.”
“I don’t want to put anyone else at risk.”
“I’m hard to get to. And you will be equally hard to get to if you take refuge at the ranch. Let me help you. Please?”
“And if I say ‘No’?”
“I’m going to help you anyway. It will be more pleasant if you cooperate.”
She sighed as she looked at him. “Okay. You win. But, this is only for tonight. Tomorrow, I take a hotel room until I can find another place to live.”
“We’ll see about that. We’re supposed to play golf with the people from Tyler in the morning. I’ll call and cancel that.”
“Don’t you dare do that, Joshua Samuel Sutherland! The last thing I want to hand this idiot is any sign he’s caused me to change my day to day schedule. It’s bad enough I’m having to hide at the ranch. But, the meeting with the Tyler people is too important to scuttle and rescheduling it could mean they would cancel. We need to acquire Tyler before those two incompetents at her helm run that business completely into the ground. Tyler is a critical supply chain component. And you know it.”
Josh laughed. “At least, the fight is back in your eyes. That’s good. I didn’t like the stark defeat I saw there, earlier.”
“You haven’t begun to see ‘fight’, yet. Pray the Lord that you will never see me in a real fight.”
The detective nodded. “I certainly wouldn’t want to fight with you. You’re lethal.”
She saw the questions in Josh’s eyes and cringed.
Then, she changed the subject as quickly as she could. The last thing that she wanted to discuss with him was her past. “I’m going to need a new set of clubs, shoes, and something to wear on the golf course. My golf things were all in my apartment.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Josh assured her. “I’ll call the pro at the club and have him lay back clubs and shoes
for you. We’ll get out there a little early.”
“That should work, at least for the golf.”
“I’ll make a couple of calls. I’ll see your wardrobe restocked.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Don’t worry about anything. Right now, you need a hot bath, a stiff drink or two, and a safe place to sleep.”
“Is there anything else, Detective?” she asked.
“We’ll keep in touch,” Leo Matthews, the detective, said.
“Thank you,” she said.
“And Ms. Erikson,” he added.
“Yes.”
“Keep a low profile for a couple of days. The press is going to be out in force on this one. Two explosions happening to the same person on one day is just the sort of sensationalism the press loves. Hopefully, with the explosions happening in different parts of the area, and with you only being a renter in that building, the connection might go unnoticed by the press, at least for a little while. But, I really wouldn’t bet on it. I’ll let ATF know about this and give them your contact number and location. I’m sure both ATF and the FBI will want to talk to you, too.”
“Oh, joy!” she replied, her voice dry, as she rolled her eyes.
Then she turned to her boss, “You sure you don’t want my resignation, Josh?”
“Under no condition.”
She sighed. “You said something about a stiff drink and a hot bath?”
“After we get you some clothes.”
“Thank you for this. I appreciate it more than I can tell you.”
“Hey, I thought this was what friends were for—to help out when needed.”
Friends, Geri thought. It was precious little when she wanted so much from him. But, maybe, for now, this was safer. By accepting his invitation, she had made him a target. If there were anything more than friendship between them, he would be a bigger target. Even with the appearance of something more than friendship between them, there was increased danger to him. She wouldn’t willingly endanger him further. But, it looked as though she had no other real choice, at least for tonight.
Geri wasn’t used to shopping after midnight. But, it was amazing what Josh could accomplish with a single phone call. A very upscale ladies clothing store was open when they got there.
The prices were far higher than Geri was used to paying for clothing. But, tonight she didn’t care. She selected a pair of Capri pants and a polo shirt for golfing tomorrow, along with two blouses and a skirted business suit. Those and a few pair of jeans she could pick up at a discount store would be a good place to start rebuilding her wardrobe.
But, obviously, Josh had other ideas. She had to admit his taste was excellent as she looked through the pile of garments he selected for her while she was trying on the suit.
* * *
“I can’t afford these,” she protested.
“Don’t you worry about that,” he told her. “You need clothes. This was Mandy’s store. I still own it. Don’t worry about the cost, it’s a lot less than the price tags.”
“You will let me pay for them?”
“If you insist,” he agreed.
“Fine. You just make sure I get the bill, okay?”
“It will take a little while to figure out the costs. So, we’ll take some of these things tonight and the bill will come in a few days. Okay?” he said, fully intending never to give her the bill, or at least not to give her the true bill.
This was the least he could do in return for her having virtually single-handedly kept the corporation together and running smoothly after Mandy had died. He owed her more than he could say for her having snapped him out of the self-destructive binge he had gone on in his grief. He owed her his life. What was a few thousand dollars worth of clothes and feminine fripperies in comparison to that?
Besides, he was rather enjoying watching her look at the clothes, especially watching the almost wistful look she had on her face as she looked at the more feminine, less conservative, pieces. She had always been profoundly conservative in her dress. But, he was seeing her softer, more feminine side. And he had to admit that he liked it.
She had made her way in a traditionally male field of engineering. Somewhere along the line, she had obviously decided she had to downplay her own femininity in order to get ahead. Josh decided that had been a major mistake on Geri’s part. She was a beautiful woman who deserved to be admired for her body as well as for her mind. Josh added several more quite feminine garments to the stack.
* * *
“Josh,” Geri protested as he placed a gorgeous gold silk brocade jacket on the pile with several evening and cocktail dresses. “I seldom socialize to the extent I need this many dressy dresses, especially not now.”
“They will all look very good on you,” was all he said in response to that complaint. “Go get hose and underwear. Don’t forget pajamas.”
Geri shrugged. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him that she never slept in any sort of clothes, couldn’t stand the feel of clothing bunched around her as she slept. That would be just too personal.
Somehow, she would pay for this. It might take forever. But, she would pay him back every dime. Even with that resolution, she almost gagged at the thought of spending eighty dollars for single a pair of panties. The bras were even higher priced. She settled in her own mind on buying a single pair of briefs from here, just enough to get her by until she could hit a discount store.
But, he stopped that intention with his order to the clerk, “Give her a dozen sets of underwear, Mary.”
“Have you considered I’m not made of money?”
He just smiled at her in that all too sexy way of his that was profoundly annoying as he obviously had no idea what his smile did to her. Then he said, “They’re just clothes, Geri. Go finish trying on those last few outfits. It’s getting late.”
Josh pulled out three outfits, including the capris and polo she’d picked out for golf. “We’ll take these tonight. Send the rest around to the ranch in the morning.”
The clerk eyed Geri speculatively.
Geri wanted to sink beneath the floorboards. She was so embarrassed. The clerk obviously thought Geri was Josh’s mistress. Geri’s found herself blushing at the notion of being his woman. Her hand lingered on a silk negligee. It was just the thing she would wear if she were going to seduce Josh.
Now, there, Gerianne, is a truly dangerous thought. I doubt I’d know how to even begin.
* * *
Josh watched her as she looked at the nightgowns. He was uncomfortably aware of how she would look in that negligee. The mental pic ture of her in that, with her blonde hair hanging down, was stunning.
“Go try on those last few outfits,” Josh instructed in a sharper voice than he wanted to use. “It’s late.”
“I know. I won’t be long. Thank you,” Geri replied as she rushed off to the fitting rooms.
* * *
Geri blinked back tears as she stood in the fitting room. She’d become a duty, an unpleasant duty, to him. That hurt, on top of everything else. But, maybe, she told herself it was safer this way. She wasn’t sure that she could survive the pity in his eyes when he realized she loved him. And it would be pity she’d see because he didn’t love her in return.
* * *
Josh took advantage of her being in the fitting room to pick out three negligees for her, including the one she had wistfully lingered over, and put them with the pile of other things. He placed the one she’d lingered over in the pile of things to be taken to the house with them. The clerk, Mary, folded that and placed it in the bag.
Mary said, “She seems distraught.”
“Her house burned to the ground tonight.”
The clerk nodded. “Poor woman.”
Josh walked away and stood by the front display window. He was lost in his own thoughts. He’d never been a man to run from the truth, regardless of how much it shocked him. He wanted Geri. He wanted her rather badly. He resolved that he would keep her
safe, even from himself.
Chapter Three
Josh’s home represented a level of wealth and privilege Geri couldn’t even begin to understand, even with the number of years she had known him. The antique grandfather’s clock that stood along one of the marble lined walls was worth her salary for at least six months. There was so much wealth represented by this single room of his house that it boggled her mind.
Yet, Josh moved through this environment as he did through any other. He was always the picture of calm efficiency, accepting whatever his surroundings with equanimity. He was as comfortable here as he was in the wilderness.
She had seen him in both settings. Most years since she’d been with the company, there had been a week long corporate retreat, primitive camping style. Some years, they’d gone out hunting for game, on horseback, usually in the mountains of Utah or Montana, with just a pair of mules to haul group supplies and equipment. A year ago, they’d all gone white water rafting down the Colorado, floating through the Grand Canyon in early June. Every year, the trip was different. Every year that team building trip was the highlight of her year. That team building trip had been one of many things lost in Josh’s grief, this year.
Most people had been delighted the team building exercise hadn’t happened this year. Out of all of the engineering and management staff, only she and Josh really had a good time on any of those excursions. For the rest of the people, judging by the murmurs she always heard around that time, the trips were dreaded.
Josh’s housekeeper, Mrs. Henderson, a woman in her late sixties, met them at the door. The woman wore her robe and house slippers, but was at the door waiting when they walked in.
“Good morning, Josh, Miss Erikson,” the housekeeper said formally. “Can I get you coffee? Or a drink? Something to eat?”
“Miss Erikson is staying indefinitely, Betty. We’ll put her in the blue room.”
The older woman looked surprised for a moment. Then the surprise in her eyes turned to approval. “Of course. Miss Erikson, your bags?”