All Due Respect

by Vicki Hinze

  Matthew still hadn’t returned Seth’s call, but he could just ask her, straight-out. And he would, except Matthew had made it clear that Seth should keep his mouth shut on this, and through the years, Seth also had learned that when a woman says she’s fine, a smart man doesn’t pry or push until she signals she’s ready to talk. He pries or pushes, and she gets her nose out of joint. And a woman’s nose out of joint translates to a man living in misery, getting his ears blistered and his ass chewed, until she gets over it.

  Life would be easier if trust could be forced. But it couldn’t, so he’d just have to wait, and hope it came in under its own steam. And he’d have to hope that whatever had happened to her didn’t cause either of them more trouble. Matthew’s willingness to go to the wall for them was about at an end. Seth still had no idea why Colonel Mason had gone out on a limb for them. Had to be because of Julia. She clearly had met with the man and had given him her word on bringing him into the loop if the occasion arose. Why hadn’t she mentioned that to Seth?

  Wait. Wait. She had told him. She had gotten the suspect’s time-line list from Mason on the sensor-codes theft.

  Seth glanced over at her: Tense, wary, pale, clearly scared stiff—and doing her damnedest to hide it. It was more trouble. Seth would bet his sensor on it. But it wasn’t about Jeff.

  No, for Jeff, Julia would go to anyone for help, including the devil himself. Could be the attacker, Karl, something related to Benedetto. Hell, there were a dozen possibilities. So which one, or what, had caused this?

  Julia couldn’t stay in the vault forever.

  She had gotten the restraining order against Karl that morning. Matthew had helped shove through the paperwork. Fortunately, he had connections with the staff judge advocate’s office on base, and they had connections off base with the civilian authorities who handled legal matters. A judge had signed the order, and Julia had a copy of it in her hand by nine-fifteen.

  For what it was worth.

  Which was nothing.

  During the day, Seth had dropped by the office several times, including to invite her to ride along with him to see Jeff. But as much as she wanted to see him, she had refused. Karl could be watching. The last thing she wanted to risk was leading him to Jeff. There was no doubt in her mind Karl Hyde would do anything, use anyone—even a helpless child—to hurt and “punish” her.

  Even Dempsey Morse had ventured out of his hermit hole after lunch and stopped by her office for a short chat, something he had done only once since she had taken over the project. He seemed like a nice man—said all the right things—but something about him set Julia’s teeth on edge. That she couldn’t peg exactly what had her grinding them.

  Mr. Sandlis had called in sick with the flu. And about five, Greta and Linda had left to take their kids out for pizza. It was after eight now. The lab had been quiet for hours, and Julia had lingered as long as she dared. She couldn’t do anything to arouse more professional suspicion.

  Unlocking her desk, she removed her purse from the drawer. There was no place to go but to the apartment. She needed clothes. Maybe she’d just grab some things at the mall and find an obscure motel.

  Obscure motel? In Grayton? With Karl’s connections? Highly unlikely.

  Resentment burned in her stomach. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone? Why couldn’t he accept the divorce and just leave her alone?

  He didn’t love her. He had deceived her into believing he did. Maybe even deceived himself into believing it. But he never really had loved her. For him, this was about control. He had married her, therefore he controlled her. Until death they do part.

  For Karl Hyde, their relationship was that simple.

  Feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders, Julia left the lab, then the vault, and then drove to the apartment.

  The lamp she had left burning in the living room glowed, warm and welcoming, but, inside, dread dragged at her.

  Just to be safe, she made the block, and then circled two blocks, checking for odd cars or anything unusual. Detective LeBrec had taught her the protective technique, trying to ease her fears during the time between Karl’s arrest and his trial. His buddies in blue had bailed him out. To their credit, they had done so before Detective LeBrec had filled them in on the entire story. Still, after they had learned Karl had duped them, they hadn’t had his bail revoked. LeBrec claimed it was a protect-your-own kind of thing. Regardless of why, Karl had remained free, and she had been the prisoner. LeBrec had stashed her in a women’s shelter for safekeeping.

  Less than an hour after Karl had posted bail, Agent 12 had shown up at the shelter and had given her several safety tips. One of which was to get the hell out of the shelter because every cop in the county knew where it was, and within minutes of her arriving there, Karl knew it, too. Matthew had reiterated the “secure the perimeter” technique LeBrec had taught her, and he had rented her a car and helped arrange her escape.

  Walking into his office with Seth and pretending she had never before seen Matthew had been difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. She’d only had to block any memories of him from her mind and to keep them blocked. Fortunately, in the past three years, she had become adept at blocking memories. Except when she got the phone calls.

  And since hearing Karl was out.

  Everything seemed fine, so she garaged the car, walked up to the front door, and then checked the locks. Secure. She keyed the knob, the dead bolt, and then stepped inside, her heart knocking against her ribs. When she closed the door behind her, a little sigh of relief escaped her throat. Safe.

  Moving to turn the key in the dead bolt, she remembered Seth and his mother, imagined the horror he must have felt at hearing his mother’s screams and not being able to find that key. Julia’s heart wrenched for the pain of the child, and for the guilt that remained with the man.

  Nothing could chew a person up and spit them out like guilt. What she felt about Uncle Lou proved that.

  “Hello, sugar.”

  Julia jerked around. “Karl.” Oh, God! He was in her house? How had he gotten into her house?

  He smiled, but there was no warmth in it. At the foot of the stairs, he leaned, elbow against the banister. “Clever. Running off to the vault—and renting this place in Seth Holt’s name. I should’ve known you’d still be screwing that bastard.”

  Julia finally slugged through her fear and found her voice. “Get out.” She fished in her purse. “I have a restraining order. Get out of my house now, or I’ll call the police, and they’ll put you back in jail.”

  “Don’t threaten me, sugar. It pisses me off.” He locked the dead bolt, snatched the key out of the lock, and then stuffed it into his pocket. “You know what happens when I get pissed off.”

  How in God’s name could she forget? He hadn’t raised his voice, but she felt as threatened as if he had screamed at her.

  He sat down on the steps. His slacks bunched at his thighs, and his brown leather jacket was unzipped, split open and hanging loose at his sides.

  Oh, yes, she knew what happened when he got pissed. No more than that little reminder, and every nerve in her body stretched piano-wire tight. Fear cramped her stomach, tasted bitter on her tongue, raged through her as strong as it had before she had left him, leaving her feeling helpless. Hopeless.

  Three years had passed. Three years. Hadn’t she made any progress? Any recovery? How could the fear feel the same? How?

  Karl draped his arms over his knees. “I’ve done some checking, and it’s a good thing I’ve come home. You’re in a lot of trouble, sugar.” He smiled up at her, enjoying this, and then the smile faded. “So how do you like it?”

  He’d lost her. Locking her knees to stay upright, trying desperately to think of a way out, she tried to clamp down on her fear that he had killed her Uncle Lou, nearly had killed her, and now he had returned to finish the job. “Like what?”

  “Being screwed and screwed over by your man, Seth Holt?”

  Having no idea what
he meant, she kept quiet.

  “No matter. Those days are over, too.” Karl sprawled back on the steps, propping his upper body with his elbows on the steps. “He’s using you, Julia. And, being a genius and all, you’re still falling for it.”

  “For what?” God, but her knees wouldn’t stop shaking. Any second she’d heave. Her stomach churned and rolled.

  “He set you up to take the fall for the security breaches. He’s Benedetto’s mole.”

  Shock streaked up her spine. How did Karl know about this? He couldn’t know about this. No one could.

  He knows, Julia. Accept it.

  “You’ve always been Seth Holt’s sucker. He led you around by the nose, and you followed like a stupid bitch in heat.” Karl stood up, hitched his pants on his hips. A bar of lamplight slanted across his chin. “But those days are over, too. I’m home now, and you’re going to do exactly what I tell you when I tell you. Just like you always did.”

  Julia swallowed hard. His tone and verbiage resonated of all the intimidation tactics he had used on her. He deliberately preyed on her fears. Damn it, she knew what he was doing. Exactly. So why was he getting to her emotionally? Why couldn’t she stand up to him? Why, after going through all she had to get away from him, was she still letting him scare her to death?

  Because you know what he’s capable of doing to you. What he has done to you. You’d damn well better fear him, Julia.

  “Marriage is forever,” he said. “Forgetting that could be unhealthy. For you . . . and for Jeff.”

  Her stomach lurched. Dear God, he knew about Jeff, too? How on earth could he know about Jeff, too? He had to have had some of his cop friends watching her.

  What difference does it make how he knows? He knows. He always knows about everything. You know that, Julia.

  Impossible.

  Oh, really? Well, just when did you tell him you worked in the Black World?

  The security breaches and Benedetto. He did know about the breaches and Benedetto.

  Uh-huh. So when did you tell him?

  She never had. He’d known that she worked for the DoD—but no one outside of high-level Department of Defense personnel and the President of the United States knew she was involved in the Black World. No one else, except the others in it, working alongside her.

  So how did Karl know?

  She had no idea.

  “Jeff’s a cute kid,” Karl said. “Damn shame I’m going to have to use him to keep you in line. Getting a willful woman to toe the line’s a real pain in the ass.”

  Use Jeff? Over her dead body. “You leave Jeff alone, Karl. I mean it.”

  “Or what?” He rounded on her. “What are you gonna do, little girl?”

  “I am not a little girl.” She jerked the restraining order, waving it at him. “I’m a grown woman, and I’m not the same woman you used to terrify.”

  He gave her a wicked smile. “You’re standing there shaking in your shoes, and you’re gonna tell me you’re not scared?” He stepped toward her. “Sugar, let me tell you something. If you’ve got any smarts at all left in your scrambled head, you goddamn well better be scared of me.” He leaned closer, nose to nose, and whispered. “I’m your worst nightmare, and I’m back in your life for good.”

  Every instinct in her body warned Julia to run. But she couldn’t run; the world wasn’t big enough to hide her. Not with Karl and his connections. She tried that once and had nearly died three times. Only a fool would try it again.

  Dragging up every ounce of courage she possessed, she glared into his eyes. “Leave Jeff alone. His father already makes his life a living hell, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you from making it any worse.”

  Surprise flickered through Karl’s eyes. “Well, I’ll be damned. You love the brat. You, Holt, and the brat. Now, isn’t that something? Got you a real little family going here, huh, Julia?”

  She held her glare and said nothing.

  “Good. Protect him. Hell, protect them both.” Karl rubbed at his jaw. “’Course, you protected Holt once, and that didn’t work out too well for you. But, hey, maybe you learned some tips, and this time you’ll do better.”

  He stood so close she could smell him; a smell that triggered a memory. The hammer attack. The man who had knocked her off balance, tossed the hammer at Seth. It really had been Karl. His smell. That’s why she had blocked the memory.

  The stubble on his unshaven face rustled under his hand, and she sensed the wheels turning inside his mind. He would force her into doing what he wanted, using Jeff and Seth as weapons.

  When does it end, Seth? Does it ever end?

  It ends, honey. When you choose to make it end, and not a minute before. You have to decide how much power you give the fear….

  She couldn’t choose to allow Karl to use force against her, or allow him to use Seth or Jeff as weapons to control her. She had to choose to refuse.

  Anticipating Karl’s reaction, she braced. “You have no place in my life anymore. I want you out of my house. Now.”

  He punched her.

  Reeling from the blow, she lost her footing, stumbled against the back of the sofa and grabbed hold to steady herself. Her jaw throbbed, her teeth ached, her eyes teared, and she couldn’t quite focus.

  God, how she regretted not learning to defend herself.

  “Don’t give me orders, Julia Hyde.” Cold fury narrowed Karl’s eyes. “Don’t you ever give me orders. You tossed my ass in jail and put me through hell. Well, your hell starts now.”

  He shoved her toward the kitchen. “Get me some food.”

  She banged a hip and elbow against the cabinet. Pain streaked through her whole left side, hip to shoulder, stole her breath. Tears filmed her eyes, and she blinked hard. She was damned if he would get that satisfaction from her, too.

  How had this happened? What could she have done differently to have prevented it?

  More importantly, what did she do now to get out of it?

  Needing comfort so she could think, she grabbed the pasta pot from the cabinet, filled it with water, and then set it on the stove, looking longingly at the phone. If she called the police, she would be dead before they could get here. She was no match for Karl physically. She had to get out of the house—before he got any more wound up. Already he was pacing. That was his pattern. Get in those verbal digs, slap or punch her, and then pace. After pacing came sitting and brooding, and then the serious cursing. After the serious cursing . . .

  No, she had to get out of here before he got to serious cursing. At the stove, she watched Karl from the corner of her eye. He turned the television on ESPN, cranked back in a recliner and put his feet up, the remote in his hand. Some hockey game blared, and Karl brooded, muttering curses on her head.

  She watched. Waited. Worried. And watched some more. When he seemed mesmerized by what was happening on the screen, she made it to the sliding door. Her heart pounded hard, threatening to thud right out of her chest. If he caught her, he’d beat her senseless. Maybe, to death.

  Stay or go. Either way, you’re going to get beaten.

  No. She stared into the pot of heating water. No, not again. She turned the burner knob. It clicked off.

  Then go, Julia. If you go, at least you’ve got a chance. Go, Julia. Run!

  She inched the door open, slid through, then softly closed it behind her. As soon as the lock caught, she turned and ran blindly into the night.

  Stay away from the street. Watch out for the lights. He’ll see you!

  She hugged the houses, hoping to hell someone didn’t mistake her for a prowler and shoot her. Checking behind her, she didn’t see him following her. She didn’t see anyone. Still, she ran. And ran, wishing she knew where to go, what to do.

  Seth.

  She had no choice. She had to warn him. Get his help. Karl would go after Jeff. Maybe after Seth, too. Karl clearly still believed that they had, and were still having an affair.

  Disappointment warred with a stitch in her side, battlin
g for her attention. She pressed a hand against the ache and ran on. Not contacting Seth during the past three years had done no good whatsoever. The scary part was that if Karl hadn’t disabused himself of the idea of an affair by now, a TNT blast wouldn’t rid him of the notion. She couldn’t let him blindside Seth, and they had to protect Jeff.

  Headlights shone behind her. Julia ducked behind a hedge and dropped flat on her stomach on the muddy ground, breathing hard against a sprinkler head digging into her ribs and still bubbling water, soaking the hedge. Hearing an engine running, she peeked through the thick, wet leaves. A car crept down the street.

  Her car.

  Chapter Twelve

  Julia stumbled into a service station.

  The young man behind the counter, wearing a baseball cap, gave her a wary look. Winded and muddy from running, sprawling on the ground, and sliding under bushes to avoid Karl, she smiled to assure the clerk she posed no threat. “Where’s the phone?”

  “Outside, around the corner.” He motioned left.

  “Thanks.” She nodded, then went back outside. The lights were bright, making her an easy target.

  What was she going to do about Jeff?

  She could go to Matthew, but that still left Seth vulnerable. He deserved to know the truth. He needed to know the truth, and he could call and speak directly to Jeff.

  God help her, she had to tell him every dirty detail.

  First, you have to get to him.

  She dialed the operator.

  “May I help you?”

  “I need to place a call and charge it to my home phone.”

  “Is someone there to accept the charges?”

  “No, I’m single.” She stretched to peek around the corner. All clear.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. Unless someone at your home number authorizes the call, I can’t connect you.”

  Julia stared heavenward. “Obviously, I’m not there, or I wouldn’t need to forward charges.”