Lainie would see about all that. She'd be a bigger part of this, whether Cade liked it or not. They could argue about that later. She took out her cell phone.
"Who are you calling?" Cade asked.
"My mother first, to tell her we'll be staying with her and dad."
Cade groaned. "How big is her house?"
"Plenty big enough for all of us, and then some," Lainie said boldly.
"Good. Because we're coming, too," Chuck interjected.
"We?" Trish asked tentatively.
Chuck put his arm around her. "We. Take some time off, darlin'. We're going to St. Louis. Cade needs a honeymoon. We might as well make the best of this situation. We can baby-sit."
Trish wrapped her hand around his shirt collar. "Do people get married in St. Louis?"
Chuck looked stunned, and then nervous. "Now, look, Trish, we've had this discussion before, and I don't think either one of us is ready for that leap and... "
"We're not discussing it, Chuck. We're doing it." Trish turned to Lainie. "Call your mom. Tell her to schedule a church and hire us a preacher. We're getting hitched."
Chuck relented. "Not just any church. Our church. The church where our family went while we were growing up. The church that sent a van to pick us up, even if our mom was passed out with some guy in the bedroom."
The memories swamped Cade, and he suspected that they swamped Chuck just as deeply, when Chuck said, "Maybe it's time for us to let go of the past, bro, and take hold of the future."
Cade took Lainie's hand in his. She was his future. "Maybe."
Blakely had remained silent up to this point, but now he said, "Okay. Too mushy for my taste, and too familial. I need to get on this stuff anyway, so I'm outta here, but I'll keep in touch. You have my cell number and my home number, and I have yours. I'll get back with you, and then I'll meet you in St. Louis." He grinned. "I'll expect to be compensated."
Lainie told him, "You'll be flying first class. Just say when. I'll buy your ticket."
"Can I bring my wife?" Blakely asked, grinning conspiratorially.
"If you'll join the wedding party," Cade agreed.
Blakely blinked. "No problem. Just say when."
Blakely turned and was gone. Cade paid the tab, led Lainie out the door, and headed for the biggest shopping center he could find. Lainie stayed on the phone the whole way, first calling her parents, and then Drayton. It was all Cade could do to hold his temper as she set up a fake plan.
Lainie wheedled, "Drayton, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am things have been so horrible between us lately."
Wayne could see Lainie. He'd been following them around for hours. He'd speak for Drayton. This might work out to his advantage after all, to have Drayton make such a big flop last night. "It's okay, Lainie. I'm sorry I was such a boob last night."
Boob sounded like a term Drayton would use.
"It's okay. I understand. I hate to do this to you, but Eli and I are going back to St. Louis. My house was destroyed this morning, and I have no place to stay, here."
Wayne panicked. He didn't want to go back to St. Louis. Drayton liked St. Louis, and he always went there to stay at his parents' house, but it was the one place Wayne wanted to avoid. "No. Lainie, that's not a good idea. Why can't you stay with Trish? Build a new house, or buy one? Surely your insurance will pick up the tab."
"Trish has her own life now. She and Chuck are getting married. My family's in St. Louis, you know, so I'm going home. Goodbye, Drayton."
Wayne went wild, using the knife in his gloved hand to destroy the interior of Drayton's car, shredding the seat, the dashboard, anything he could reach with the sharp blade.
It was a good thing he wore the gloves. His hands would have been even more ruined than they already were, if he hadn't. The blade ripped nearly all the way through the thick leather gloves during his fit of rage.
He grimaced. He'd destroyed his hands out of necessity. He'd needed to get rid of his fingerprints, just in case. He didn't want anyone to be able to identify him and peg him as the murderer of so many people he'd left behind in his destructive path. Drayton's parents first, at Drayton's insistence, and then the babies and their mothers.
Wayne shuddered. He'd sunk his hands in acid and ruined the looks of them for life. Hell, he didn't even have all the feeling in his nerve-endings, anymore. Wayne straightened and looked around. He couldn't see Lainie any longer. While he'd been throwing a fit, she'd disappeared.
Damn it. That bitch is going back to St. Louis.
Wayne narrowed his gaze. Had she been telling the truth? Or did she have another reason for returning to St. Louis? Was she onto him?
Wayne slammed his hands down on the steering wheel. Shit. What had he done? He should've hired a better explosives guy. The house should have been rigged, not the truck. The guy hadn't even made sure that the baby was there before he'd set off the bomb by remote control.
Wayne jerked the wheel in his hands and growled. He'd have to do this himself. As the saying goes: If you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself. There'd be no more messing around.
Guess I'll just have to go to St. Louisand get this over with.
Lainie and Cade shopped. Everything Lainie had owned had been destroyed by fire, except for most of her personal items and photo albums. Those irreplaceable things remained in St. Louis in the home in which she'd grown up. She was thankful for that now - glad that her captured memories remained intact.
Lainie spent thousands of dollars on clothing and accessories. She splurged. She owed it to herself. She bought clothing and toiletries for herself and for Eli. Cade did the same, spending very little on himself. Typical male. The most expensive thing he paid for was a set of first-class plane tickets.
Lainie sighed. She was going home. Tomorrow.
The whole entourage flew first class and lived it up royally. They drank champagne and ate appetizing finger foods and delicacy snacks offered in-flight.
Cade kept a constant watchful eye on Eli and Lainie, not trusting Drayton. The weasel could show up at any moment, even on this flight. Lainie had tipped Drayton off to her plans on purpose, so Cade wasn't willing to let down his guard, not even for a minute. Who knew what tricks the weasel of a man might have up his shifty little sleeves, after what he'd done to their house? However, the private detective had made sense when he'd suggested that Drayton hadn't actually blown up their house, but had hired someone else to do it. In Cade's mind, that could be even worse. It would mean that Drayton had money - at least enough to pay for those kinds of services. It'd also mean Drayton had friends - or at least associates - in low places, and contacts of the unpleasant kind.
Lainie linked her fingers in Cade's and leaned in close. Her perfume did funny things to his system. "What are you thinking, husband of mine? You look so glum and serious."
Cade lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers one by one. She shivered. His tone sounded icy even to his own ears. "I'd like to get my hands on Drayton Clausen. That's what I'm thinking. Any objection to my wringing his grimy little neck?"
Lainie smiled, and his heart flipped over in his chest. "I'm glad you're on my side, Cade, and I've no objections at all. Any plans on how to get him in our grasp?"
Cade tightened his grip on her fingers. "Not our hands, wife of mine. My hands, and maybe Chuck's and Blakely's. I don't want you anywhere around when we take Drayton down."
Lainie stiffened, but no argument would convince him to change his mind. "He won't trust you, Cade. He won't meet with you. He'd meet with me. He'd talk to me. I could wear a wire and...
"I'm not using you as bait." Cade ground the words out between clenched teeth, knowing that he'd not risk her or his child, even if it meant never catching the creep after Eli - even if it meant moving to another country and changing their identities. That wouldn't solve their problem, though. It wouldn't end this ridiculous thing. Running wouldn't help them win this dangerous game, and it wouldn't avenge his sister's nor his
niece's death. Nor Lainie's loss of her home.
Lainie didn't give up. She pushed the issue. "If you want to catch a fish, you have to feed him what he wants. I'm what Drayton wants. It makes sense to utilize your best resources."
"You're not a resource, Lainie. You're my wife, and the mother of my child. I won't dangle you in front of some maniac. We'll find another way," Cade vowed, more than determined.
Lainie looked at their daughter, who sat in her car seat, belted into the plane's plush first-class seat. Lainie's mom was right. Money wasn't everything, and Cade thanked God that he was there to help her protect Eli. Lainie's face shone when she whispered, "She's so beautiful, isn't she?"
Cade reached across Lainie and brushed his wide-eyed daughter's cheek. The babe sucked hard and fast at her binkie. Sighing, Cade pushed a lock of Lainie's hair behind her ear. "Just like her mother."
Lainie blushed at Cade's touch, and her voice was scratchy when she said, "Who are you kidding, Cade? She looks like you. There isn't even a hint of me in her facial features."
Cade looked at Eli and brushed an echo of a kiss over Lainie's sweet lips. "She looks like my sister. Just like her. Almost identical. It's as if God gave my sister back to me, through you, in Eli."
Lainie held her breath, and then released it. "What a sweet thing to say, Cade. I know how much your sister meant to you. I'm glad I had a small part to play in at least doing this."
Cade laid his hand across her cheek, and then let it slide down to her throat. Lainie's warmth spread from her into him. "It's no small thing that you did, Lainie, giving me a child - a part of me and you, and a remembrance of my sister - and naming Eli after her, my niece, and my mom."
Lainie shivered and kissed his cheek. A volcanic eruption built within Cade. Looking at her this way, touching her this way, he couldn't help but want her with every fiber of his being. He sighed heavily. There was very little privacy to be had and no place to go to satisfy the need building within him. Was she as affected as he? He was hard and growing, behind the partially-concealing, painfully-constraining fly of his jeans. Lainie brushed her hand over his knee, and then moved it higher, testing him, teasing him. He trembled and drew back, leaning his head against the headrest of his first-class seat. It was soft leather, comfortable, and big enough to sleep in. It was also big enough to have wild passionate sex in, but not with nosy witnesses.
Lainie traced a circle on Cade leg. The muscles rippled as she did so, tightening and flexing. He didn't stop her, and she moved higher by centimeters, until he stilled her hand. "Stop, Lainie. You're messing with fire again."
Lainie smirked. "And I might get burned?"
He drilled her with a warning look - one that didn't scare her in the least, judging by her mischievous expression. Her words chilled him to his bones, and he told her, "Thank God, you didn't get burned. I'm sorry about your house, and everything in it."
Shrugging, Lainie leaned back against her seat. "It doesn't matter. Not really. It was just a house. I wasn't even really that sentimentally attached to it, yet. It's not as if it was my family home or anything, and very few of my personal items were there. Most of my memorabilia and childhood pictures and things I've saved over the years are back home, either in my room, or in the attic. So, no big deal." Lainie shuddered. "I'm just glad Eli wasn't there."
Cade's jaw tightened. "I'd have saved her."
"You'd have tried, but determination isn't always enough. It was a miracle that she was with Trish and Chuck. The man upstairs was watching over us." Lainie laced her fingers in his. "I'm glad we were already awake, and the explosion was so far away from the bedroom." Lainie smiled at him. "Thanks for saving the rocker."
Cade chuckled. "I'm surprised you didn't yell at me for breaking the window with it, and then tossing it into your yard."
"Not at all. I'm glad it was rescued, and it didn't burn. I have the one item left I bought while thinking of Eli. It was the only thing in the house with sentimental value. The rest doesn't matter."
Cade agreed with all his heart. It only mattered that they were all safe.
The landing in St. Louis was smooth, and Cade rented a mini-van to head for Lainie's parents' home. That'd be best. He'd need transportation while there. He and Chuck had a job to do - a mission to accomplish. As far as Cade was concerned, Lainie and Trish had no business getting involved. Not because they were women, but because neither Cade nor Chuck was willing to risk his woman for any mission.
Their first stop was Lainie's childhood home. Lainie's mom and dad came out to greet them, and then led them into the house and showed them to their rooms. While Trish and Chuck settled into the guestroom, Lainie showed Cade to her room - literally - the room in which she'd spent her entire youth. It was still set up and decorated the same as it was then. Posters of all her childhood heroes and teen idols lined the walls, and photo albums were on her bookshelves. Porcelain knick-knacks sat everywhere, and her sports paraphernalia remained hanging in her closet.
Cade looked around. "This is serious girl-haven overload."
Lainie giggled. "It's okay, you big macho guy. You can handle it. You're such a man's man that I doubt if it'll even affect your astonishing virility."
Cade put their suitcases down and wrapped his arms around her. His lips sought hers and found them. He sank into the steamy kiss with the woman he truly adored. When he was breathless and a little too warm for his own good, he pulled back. "Care to test that theory?"
Lainie gasped, blushing crimson. "Are you kidding? My mother would know, and she'd have a cow, and... I'd be mortified."
Cade laughed with gusto. "You crack me up, Lainie. You're a wild woman in bed, a generous, responsive lover, and yet you act like a shy child in your mother's home. One minute you're all woman, with a will of steel and a heart of gold, and the next, you're the best mommy I've ever seen. All those sides of you... they all turn me on."
Cade touched her breast, and her nipple pebbled hard instantly. He wanted to take it into his mouth, but she was right. They couldn't. Not yet. Lainie bit her lip, and he kissed each side of her mouth. He released her before he got in too deep, went too far, and couldn't stop himself from ravishing her. He cleared his throat. "We have work to do, Chuck and I." Cade patted her on the behind, picked up the suitcase, and set it on the bed. "Unpack. Then spend some time with your parents. We'll be back."
She grabbed his arm as he tried to leave her. "What are you talking about? Where are you going?"
He stiffened. She wouldn't like it. "To Drayton's parents' house - the house he inherited when he murdered them."
Lainie sucked in a breath. "Murdered? How do you know he... " Lainie crossed her arms, looking at him accusingly. "Why don't I know about this?"
Cade let out a fast hissing breath. "I've been talking to Blakely on my cell phone. I don't know for sure that Drayton did it, but I suspect him. There's something about him, Lainie. He's not normal, and I was going to tell you what I thought, but... "
"When?" Impatiently, Lainie stamped her foot, obviously perturbed that he'd withheld information from her.
"Now. Before I left." Cade ran a hand through his hair. "Look, Lainie. You have to let me do this. Let me do what you hired me to do."
"I only hired you to be Eli's bodyguard, and, damn it, that was over a long time ago, and you know it. This is not a part of your job description now. It's your job to be with me - to be my husband."
"I am being your husband. And Eli's father. And I take my job very seriously."
Lainie shook her head furiously. "This is above and beyond any husband's call of duty."
"It's not above mine. I was a military policeman, remember? And a mercenary. And Chuck is a security specialist. We both know how to go after criminals, and we both know how to do our jobs." Cade lowered his voice menacingly. "And I have my own idea of what it means to be a husband. And father."
Lainie put her hands on her hips. "And what is my job as a wife?"
Cade blinked. "You're doing i
t. You're taking care of Eli."
"That's not being a wife. That's being a mother." Lainie narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm talking about my role as a wife. Why won't you let me take care of you?"
"You do. Every time you let me hold you and make love to you."
"Is that all then? What about... love? Am I supposed to love you? Is that part of my job as your wife?"
Cade shifted, uncomfortable with the direction of this conversation. "No. Love isn't necessary."
"But... does that mean you don't want me to love you?"
"That's a moot point and a pointless question, Lainie, and one that'll have us arguing." Cade pulled her close. "I don't have time to argue with you. I have a crook to catch. But... " Cade kissed the end of her nose. She scowled at him and put her hands on his chest. "I'm glad you love me. I'm honored."
Cade released her, and she blinked at him in surprise. He'd obviously taken the wind out of her sails with that one. Score one for me. Lainie touched his arm. "Please, be careful, Cade. Come back to me safe. I love you, and I need you, and so does Eli."
Cade nodded. He almost tripped up and responded in kind. He suspected that when this was all over, he'd do just that, but right now, he had a mission to complete. He kissed Lainie quickly and left her standing there with a lone tear running down her beautiful rosy cheek.
Cade slunk down the stairs of Drayton's family home into the dank basement. Chuck called Blakely to tell him what they'd found. Chuck had to make the call. Cade was too angry to speak.
Chuck hung up and said to Cade, "Blakely's on his way from the airport. He hopped a plane not far behind us."
Cade and Chuck had found the photos: snapshots of his sister and niece, alive... and dead. The son of a bitch had photographed all his victims after he'd killed them. What kind of a sinister sick freak did that?
Cade had to fight the urge to scream. He swiped at the unwanted tears at the edges of his burning eyes and held down the bile rising in his throat. Chuck placed his hand on his shoulder, and Cade looked at him. Chuck obviously struggled just as hard to hold in his own emotions. Typical. Just typical.
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