She nodded, her lips pressed into a white line.
Jonah turned only his head, only to see Hailey with her eyes on him. Eric pressed a handkerchief to her forehead and she winced. He asked her, “What happened?”
She gritted her teeth. “He came out of nowhere. Totally silent. I could hear Elise moving around upstairs and I was about to head up there, but there was a door I was trying to clear the way to, for a second exit. I felt him there more than I heard anything. When I turned he slammed something into my head.”
Jonah wanted to rail at her for being caught unawares, but he figured Eric would have that talk with her—after he’d made sure she was okay. That was the only thing that stopped him, aside from the fact she looked like she was about to throw up.
Sure enough, Hailey pushed away Eric’s hand, turned around and puked.
“Concussion.” Parker pulled a bottle of water from his coat pocket and handed it to her, but Eric intercepted it. “Thanks.”
Jonah turned to Elise. “Are you hurt anywhere else, or just your arm?”
She had bruised ribs already, and plenty of grazes from their near misses the past couple of days. She’d hardly needed this to add to it.
Elise shook her head, but her eyes filled with tears. “The water—” Her voice cracked.
Nathan said, “It was full of debris. When I got to her, she was tangled in weeds.”
Elise sucked in a choppy breath that made him want to pull her into his arms in a hug. Before he could, Nathan wrapped his mom up in a comforting hold while Jonah tried to keep his grip on her injured arm.
The siren signaling the ambulance drew closer.
“Help is here.” He could hear how flat his voice was, and he hated it. Elise needed comfort, but it wasn’t like he was going to be the one to give it to her.
It was just a matter of inches and the knife would have made it into her heart. Inches and she would’ve been a dead woman.
Elise whimpered. Jonah couldn’t fight it anymore. He placed Nathan’s hand on the compress on her wound, and touched her face instead. “I am very, very glad that you’re okay.”
“Me, too.”
If he hadn’t seen her fall, they wouldn’t have been able to pull her from the water in time. If she hadn’t seen them from the window, Elise wouldn’t have turned in time to see the attacker and been able to move aside.
Next time, he was going to be there.
Next time, he would make sure he was standing between Elise and her attacker.
Next time, Jonah would take a bullet for her.
But as she turned to Nathan and sought comfort from her son, what he realized she needed was someone to love her.
Too bad she would never let him.
*
Elise watched while the doctor finished up the stitches in her arm, slathered goo on it and stuck a bandage on top. Parker stood by the door, arms folded across his chest like this was another day at the office.
Nathan held her good hand with one of his and texted with the other. Apparently his mom getting cut was big news. She squeezed his hand, and he did the same in return, glancing her way. She was glad her son had stayed with her. Not that he could have gone anywhere else, but she knew he wanted to be here.
Unlike a certain other person, who had touched her like she was the most precious thing in the world and said sweet words while he looked in her eyes. And then Jonah just switched it off. Got up and went to work. Leaving her with macho Parker for a bodyguard.
What was up with that?
Leaving her to be checked out by the EMTs, not even waiting to know if the cut was serious. Or to find out the extent of her bruises. No, he left her to talk with Detective Manners and his smarmy partner, to tell them what had happened.
She’d wanted to send Nathan somewhere out of the way so he didn’t hear it, but he’d insisted he was fine. How much more of this was her son going to be able to tolerate before he freaked out at the prospect of losing his mother, leaving him with no parents? He missed his dad, even though it was also hard because he’d never actually met Martin. She’d told him everything she remembered, many times over, and every year they’d had cake on Martin’s birthday. But that wasn’t the same as having a dad in his life.
If Jonah wanted to fill that position as Nathan’s uncle, he was going to have to actually stick around instead of leaving for work at every opportunity. Clearly the fact that he intended to protect her was all talk. He seemed to be leaving it to his team, like she was just another witness on a case who didn’t mean anything to him.
“All finished.”
She gave the doctor a small smile. “Thanks.”
“I’ll get you scripts for ibuprofen and an antibiotic to fight off any infection, and you’ll be good to go.” He leaned toward her for a second, a gleam of humor in the eyes shaded by bushy gray eyebrows. “I expect to not see you back for any other injuries anytime soon. Okay, missy?”
She laughed. “I’ll try.”
It wasn’t like she could control the fact that someone kept attempting to kill her. But she could control what was happening at the zoo, and the danger that lay there.
“Let’s go.”
Parker’s eyebrows rose, as though he didn’t intend to move until he decided to do so. “Where to?”
“I want to talk to the mayor.”
Her voice was steady, but the residue of fear was like a dark cloud at the edges of her vision. Like being in a tunnel. Jonah’s presence had helped, but now that he was gone, she was being sucked in.
Like the water.
She’d thought the knife and the fall were the worst part—until she’d hit the lake.
Freezing cold had sucked the fight from her. Then she’d tried to move, tangled in weeds. She’d kicked out with her legs, only to jar them against something hard, shooting pain up to her hips.
Elise shivered. Parker handed her the change of clothes someone had brought her. That weirded her out, but maybe it had been Jonah who went through her things. Or a female marshal. Another stranger going through her bags and seeing the sorry state of her wardrobe.
Parker drove them downtown. He led the way to the mayor’s office like he was a professional bodyguard. Like Elise was actually someone important.
The receptionist, a perky girl who looked barely older than Nathan, looked up. “Can I—”
“No.” Elise strode past a chuckling Parker and walked straight into the mayor’s office. “Dom?”
His chair dwarfed him, his dark hair shiny in the fluorescent light. “I’ll call you back.” He ended the call on his cell phone and set it on the desk in front of him. Dom got up and circled the desk, one arm outstretched toward the chairs. “You look like you should sit down.”
Elise took one of the seats. Energy bled from her as she realized how much effort she’d been using just to keep herself upright and alert. “I need to talk with you.”
Nathan took the other seat while Dom perched on the end of the desk. Parker had taken up residence by the door, hands across his chest again. Was that his go-to pose? Maybe it wasn’t just because it showcased his muscles. Or maybe he was that shallow. She would probably never know the answer.
“Uh…Mom?”
Elise blinked. Parker smirked, which made her roll her eyes at him out of embarrassment. Was he going to tell Jonah she’d been staring?
She turned to Dom. “We won’t be returning to the zoo.” Not just because she’d nearly died. “There are too many hazards for anyone to be walking around. I need the construction crew to clear everything out first. Then we will be able to go in.”
“Ah, yes.” Dom scratched his impressively trimmed facial hair. “About that. Well, the foreman called me a short while ago. I was about to come looking for you. Are you okay?”
He didn’t need the ins and outs of what had happened to her. “What did the foreman say?”
“It’s about the lion.”
Nathan said, “You mean the tiger, Shera?”
Dom
nodded. “The crew won’t go in the zoo unless the animal has been caught. I know it’s loose, and so far hasn’t hurt anyone. Thank the good Lord. But the crew refuses to come in unless you catch the tiger first.” He glanced at Parker, then back at her, his voice suddenly low. “People are starting to notice. They know she’s not dangerous, but a tiger can’t be free to roam.”
“Shera is very dangerous.”
Dom blinked. “I was under the impression she was old, and blind.”
“That doesn’t mean a four hundred-pound animal isn’t dangerous. She takes a swing at anyone and they lose. I’m genuinely worried she’ll come across a kid wandering the woods.” Elise didn’t have time to be hurt, or tired. “I’ll take care of that first thing tomorrow.”
“Mom—”
“We’ll take care of it.”
Nathan shook his head. “That wasn’t what I was objecting to.”
She knew he was worried if she could do it without two weeks of bed rest. But what other choice was there? Animal control could help, but they’d let it go this long. They simply weren’t prepared for a loose animal of Shera’s nature.
“I want the crew in there ASAP.”
Dom scratched his jaw again. What was wrong now? “I understand the need, but you don’t look capable of doing this without help.”
Elise shifted, ready to fire back even if it was the truth. But he cut her off.
“Nevertheless, I understand the urgency. We need this tiger deal wrapped up so you can get to work.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll ask Bernadette if she knows of anyone who might be able to help you.”
Elise stilled. “I don’t need her help.”
“Still, I’ll ask her, anyway. She might be of assistance in this case. She does know most of the people in town, and she’s worked on fund-raisers for the zoo before.”
“That’s interesting.” Elise knew she should close her mouth, but pain plus the meds the doctor had given her meant she had no filter. “I’m glad she found something to do with the money she stole from me.”
Dom leaned back for his phone and pressed a bunch of buttons. Then he looked up at her. “My wife has done serious wrong to you in the past, but that is the reason she is going to be involved in this.”
“She doesn’t have anything to do with me being back here, or my working for this town.”
Dom’s eyes widened knowingly. “She doesn’t?”
“You hired me.”
He didn’t say anything. Elise was beyond caring what Bernadette intended to do. She wasn’t interested in her mother-in-law trying to “fix” things between them. “Did she hire me back with my husband’s money?”
Nathan reacted, but Elise couldn’t stop it now.
“With his death benefit? His life-insurance money that I should have been able to use to feed and clothe Martin’s son? Money that your wife—Nathan’s own grandmother, the richest person I know—stole from me?”
Dom sputtered.
The door flung open. Jonah stalked across the room. “You didn’t need to text me, Dom. Parker already did.” He turned his dark look toward her. “You’re done.”
“What?”
He hauled her up. Thankfully, using her good arm. His grip wasn’t painful, but she wasn’t getting out of it without a fight. As he dragged her by Nathan, Elise saw tears on her son’s face. He swiped them away, and she saw the look of disapproval on Parker’s face.
“I’ll stay with Nathan,” he said.
She turned back, still being pulled along by Jonah. Nathan wasn’t coming with her?
FIFTEEN
Jonah slammed the door to the SUV and strode around to Elise’s side. He flung the door open and waited for her to get out. He restrained himself, he didn’t even tap his foot.
Elise and his mom were going to get things straight once and for all.
It was part of protecting her—that was how he saw it. She was hurting enough, she didn’t need the stress of his mom’s lies on top of it. He was as mad as she was that his mom hadn’t given her money she was supposed to have had, but the look on Nathan’s face was what had put him over the edge.
After Parker had sent him that text, he’d rushed over from Fix’s house. The first thing he’d seen was Nathan, and the hurt in the teenager’s eyes was more than Jonah could take. So he did the thing he always did—he fixed the problem.
Jonah took Elise’s elbow, wondering if this was, in fact, a good idea. He stopped and turned to her, pointing at his mother’s front door. “If we go in there, you’re seeing this through to the end. You can’t chicken out in the middle of it. So if you’re not up to this, or if you want to regroup and do it later, then tell me now and we’ll walk away.”
Elise lifted her chin. “I want to know what she has to say for herself.”
The front door opened, and his mom stood there. Her dress was cut well to accentuate her slim figure, and around her neck was a string of pearls Dom had given her on their first anniversary. He supposed some might find her intimidating, with her expensive clothes and power haircut. Jonah saw her as “Mom.”
Sure, she’d always had the housekeeper clean up when he was sick as a kid. And the chef was the one to make him chicken soup. That wasn’t the point. She was the one who sat with him on his bed and watched cartoons with him when he didn’t feel well.
If Jonah and Martin were both sick, she’d let them sleep in her bed. His dad had joked about being kicked out to the guest room, but he’d understood. It wasn’t until Elise came into their lives that Jonah started to see a different side of his mother—a side he didn’t like.
His mom’s eyes were on the woman at his side. “Hello, Elise.”
No turning back now, he supposed. Elise was going to have to finish what she’d started in the office. She’d have to get all her facts—and her emotions—straight before they made sure Nathan was okay. Parker would keep him physically safe, but emotionally, who knew how he was doing?
“Can we talk to you, Mom?”
She smiled, a softness that he didn’t think he’d ever seen before. “Sure, honey.” His mom held the door wide, and then escorted them to one of the front sitting rooms. “Please have a seat.” Her gaze settled on Elise. “Are you okay, dear?”
Elise did not look well. Jonah sat beside her on a dainty couch that made him feel like he’d just walked through a muddy field. He took her hand because he wanted to. They were here so she could move past this and finally get some rest while he ran down the person trying to kill her.
Jonah pulled out his phone. No missed calls—as if he wouldn’t hear his ringtone. But his frustration had been loud in his ears. He didn’t even know if Elise had tried to say anything to him during the car ride to his mom’s house—he’d been that determined to get this over with.
Across from them, his mom wrung her hands together. “Do you want me to tell you why you’re back in town?”
Elise took a breath, like it was strength. “Yes, I would, Mrs. Rivers.” Elise had always been polite to his mom, even when Bernadette was tearing her down in front of her society friends.
His mom nodded, not even correcting Elise on the fact that she’d taken her husband’s name. “When Dom first mentioned the state of the zoo and its need for repair…well, I immediately thought of you. And Nathan.”
Jonah’s eyes widened. Beside him, Elise sucked in a breath. “You knew about Nathan?”
Bernadette smiled, but where it should have been calculating it was only amused. “Did you really think I would let you go off on your own and not keep track of you?”
“But you kept Martin’s death benefits and his life insurance—”
“And his trust fund.” Bernadette’s smile disappeared. “Let’s not forget about that small fortune.”
“You kept money I could have used to raise Nathan.” Elise shook her head. “Not that I wanted to live large, or for Nathan to be spoiled. I’m glad he knows how to work hard for what he wants, and the value
of things you can’t buy with money. But I could have used it.”
“You did. Or rather, I did.”
Elise frowned, her shoulders sinking as though she didn’t have the energy to hold herself up. Jonah shifted so she was leaning against him. She said, “What do you mean?”
“I had a man keep track of you. He reported to me you were pregnant, so when you had Nathan, I paid off the hospital bill. Small things like that. But after several years I realized the extent of the wrong I’d done you. I knew I couldn’t approach you, you’d never have accepted the money when you felt like you were handling your life. And you would have kept Nathan from me if you could.”
His mom sighed. “The PI told me when you needed anything. Like when Nathan broke his leg, and the time the sanctuary couldn’t afford to pay you and your electricity bill was due, and suddenly paid off. All that was me. Trying to help.”
Having a financial guardian wasn’t something that went unnoticed. Elise had simply figured it was the help of her local church.
She lifted her chin. “Trying to pay off your guilt?”
His mom’s smile was small. “You could say that.”
“Is that why you had Dom hire me? So you could pay for Nathan’s college tuition?”
“Your job pays your salary. But the Martin Rivers Memorial Scholarship is a different story. His trust fund has helped more than forty young men and women go through college who otherwise would never have been able to afford it.” She sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m trying to make amends, to be a better person. This is my overbearing way of fixing what I’ve done.”
His mom was quiet for a moment, and then she said, “I’m asking for your forgiveness, Elise. No amount of money can buy it, I know that.”
“The old you would have done exactly that. Thrown money at the problem until you felt better about yourself.”
Jonah saw the joy brighten his mom’s eyes. “You could say I’ve seen the light.”
Elise stiffened. “You helped in your way, and I’m grateful for that. But the reality is you’ve always resented my presence in your life. Why would now be any different when I’m still the same me I always was? Nathan can’t fix what’s wrong with you.”
Easy Prey (Love-Inspired Suspense) Page 12