Keeping Watch (9781460341285)

by Choate, Jane M.

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For being honest.” And then, a heartbeat later, “And for being here.”

  That cost her, he thought.

  “That bird, to break its neck that way.” She made an impatient gesture, the derision clearly directed at herself. “I know. I deal with murderers, rapists, the worst society can offer, every day. But this...” She shook her head. “I had a canary when I was a little girl. Somehow it got out of its cage one day. It flew into a plate-glass window, broke its neck on impact. Funny. I hadn’t thought of that in years. This brought it back.”

  Jake’s interest sharpened. “Who knows that story?”

  She looked startled. “A few people, I guess. My parents. A couple of friends at the office. Anyone who worked for my family during that time. Why? The bird in the package...that’s just a coincidence. A horrible coincidence.” She paused. “Isn’t it?”

  Jake didn’t believe in coincidences. Not when it came to protecting a client. In his experience, coincidences masked convenient opportunities.

  At her apartment, Jake had Dani wait outside the door while he went through the place. Gun drawn, he checked every room, including closets and underneath the bed.

  When he determined that all was clear, he gave her the go-ahead. “Bring enough for a week,” he said. “We don’t know how long you’ll be gone.”

  For a second, her shoulders drooped. Then she straightened, stared him in the eye and said, “Let’s get this creep. I want my life back.”

  Once again, Jake gave her points for fighting back. The lady was determined not to be a victim.

  * * *

  The trip to Jake’s home gave Dani a chance to sort through her impressions about her unwanted bodyguard. She was still fuming over his high-handed attitude.

  She set that aside and studied him from beneath her eyelashes. Military. It was obvious now. The ramrod posture, the buzz cut, the way he had of issuing orders and expecting to be obeyed. She’d confirmed her guess by checking him out on the computer and had learned that he’d been part of Delta Force.

  He had a quiet alertness to him that was at once reassuring and unnerving, for it reminded her of the purpose for his presence. A powerful man, she mused. In looks. In manner. In basic appeal. But it wasn’t power that she sensed now. It was determination.

  The whitewashed brick house set in an older neighborhood came as a surprise. She’d expected something ultramodern, not the homey picture it suggested. That picture, though, was belied by the high-tech security that protected the house.

  Jake punched in a set of numbers, followed by another set. Before he entered, he told Dani to wait outside while he swept the room with his gun drawn.

  At her raised brow, he said, “You don’t go anywhere before I check it out first. Even here.”

  Inside, he introduced her to his sister and filled Shelley in on the latest threat.

  Shelley Rabb listened, nodded, made a few notes for herself.

  Dani was immediately drawn to the other woman. Shelley had eyes more blue than gray, dark hair cut close to her head and a quirky smile. A few keystrokes on the computer earlier in the afternoon had netted Dani the information that Shelley had once served as a Secret Service agent.

  “You don’t look like an ex–Secret Service agent,” Dani said. “I mean—”

  Jake draped an arm around his sister’s shoulders. “No, she doesn’t. Probably what made her so good at her job.”

  “And don’t you forget it,” Shelley said with a mock growl. “I hope you weren’t fooled by this one,” she said, motioning to Jake.

  “I’m beginning to get the picture.” Dani enjoyed the byplay between Jake and his sister. They were opposite types physically, but she sensed the deep affection they had for each other. While growing up she had wished she’d had a brother or a sister. Hers had been a lonely childhood in many ways. She pushed away the old regret. She’d been raised in a home filled with love and laughter. She had no cause to complain.

  “Has he pulled his macho military stuff on you yet?” Shelley asked.

  For the first time in hours, Dani smiled. “You could say that.”

  “Don’t let him get away with it. Underneath all that bluff and bluster, he’s a lamb.”

  That earned a snort from Jake. “Why don’t you show Dani to a room?”

  Shelley took Dani to a tastefully decorated bedroom, the aqua-and-cream color scheme quietly soothing.

  “Make yourself at home.”

  “Thank you. It’s beautiful.”

  “Dinner in an hour. It’s Jake’s night to cook.”

  The dinner of spaghetti with clam sauce, salad and garlic bread was delicious. It was simple but filling, and Dani helped herself to a second serving. “Where did you learn to cook like this?” she asked Jake.

  A shadow passed over his face, but it was Shelley who answered. “Jake was cooking for us before he turned nine.”

  Where were their parents? Dani wondered but kept the question to herself.

  “I’ll clean up,” she volunteered. The prosaic duties of clearing and rinsing dishes and stacking them in the dishwasher helped settle her thoughts after a chaotic day.

  “Jake’s a great cook,” Shelley said upon joining her, “but he can’t scramble an egg without dirtying every pan in the kitchen.” Her smile curved with a blend of affection and exasperation.

  Dani surveyed the kitchen and had to agree.

  “If you two have finished gossiping, Dani and I have some talking to do.”

  She knew what was coming and dreaded it. The last thing she wanted to do was dissect her past. “I’ve got a brief to write.”

  “It can wait. I want a list of the names of people who knew about your canary.” Before she could react to that, he added, “We’re going to have to go over your case list tomorrow.”

  She squared her shoulders. “I know.”

  “Plus your coworkers, your friends.”

  “You can’t seriously suspect any of them.”

  “Until I get this guy, I suspect everyone. And I am going to get him.”

  She stiffened. He sounded just like her father and Victor, a onetime boyfriend and now friend, telling her what to do, expecting her to obey their orders, while coddling her at the same time. She’d worked too hard for her independence to relinquish it.

  Jake’s expression remained implacable. With his military background, it was natural for him to give orders, but that didn’t mean she had to like them.

  “Trust me,” he said. “I know what I’m doing.”

  Trust me. Two small words, but so difficult for her to accept.

  “Okay,” she said in a resigned voice and struggled to smother a surge of frustration, reminding herself that Jake was only trying to do his job. “Where do I start?”

  “Make a list of anyone who knows about your childhood, especially those who knew about the bird. Family. Friends. Attendants who used to work for your family.”

  “Okay. Then what?”

  “Then we find out what those people are doing now. Where they’re living. Where they’re working. If they’re here in Atlanta or have moved away.”

  “That’s a tall order.”

  “We’ve got to start somewhere. After we do that, we start ruling out those who don’t live in the state.”

  “How far back do I go?” she asked.

  “As far as you can.”

  Dani started with the present and worked her way backward. The list grew as she recalled the various gardeners, housemaids, grooms, cooks and others who had worked for her family. The list of her friends was a much smaller one. Intimidated by her father’s position and the grandeur of the house, few friends had come to visit. Boyfriends had been put off by the bodyguards who were he
r constant companions.

  She had regarded those few boys intrepid enough to tolerate the bodyguards with suspicion. Were they attracted to her or her family’s wealth and background? As a result, she had been wary of any man who had shown too much interest. She’d had only one serious relationship, and it had ended four years ago.

  Trust didn’t come easily, especially after she’d joined the D.A.’s office and seen what men and women could do to one another.

  Jake gave a low whistle as he read the list of people who had worked for her family. “Just how big is your parents’ home?”

  “The house itself is fairly large, the grounds over a hundred acres. They take a lot of work.”

  “I’m beginning to get the picture.”

  By midnight, Dani was weary beyond belief and ready to call it quits. Jake, however, seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of energy.

  “Enough,” she said after he’d questioned her over and over. It was bad enough that someone hated her enough to threaten her. To be grilled about people she considered friends, even family, was too much. “Enough.”

  She rose and, without another word, went to her bedroom and shut the door behind her.

  * * *

  Jake rose every morning at four-thirty. He headed to the weight room he’d added at the back of the house and pushed himself for the next forty-five minutes, sweating out painful memories that still had the power to cause his gut to contract.

  There’d been a time when he could scarcely lift his injured leg off an exercise mat and had resisted the therapy prescribed by his doctor. After a while, he’d used it as a kind of punishment for the fact that he had lived and seven of his men had died during the botched mission in Libya. The pain had been excruciating, but he’d pushed his way through it.

  He shoved aside the images and considered his newest client. He hadn’t wanted to bring Dani to his home, but it seemed the best way to protect her. Maybe he’d been too quick to paint her as a spoiled princess. Maybe. He was reserving judgment.

  She’d held up during the trip to the police department and viewing the dead bird, an experience that would have sent many into hysterics.

  When Dani appeared in the weight room a couple of hours later, dressed and obviously ready for work, he gave a start. “You’re going to work?”

  “I’ve got seven cases. I can’t afford to take a day off.”

  “I thought—”

  “—that I was just playing at being deputy district attorney and take off whenever the whim hits me?” She stopped his protest with a lift of her hand and gave him an unsmiling look. “I get that a lot. Whatever you think of me personally, Rabb, I take my work seriously.”

  After questioning her about the past last night, she’d been pale, fragile and shivering. That vulnerable woman was gone. Today, there was a resolute firmness about her. She was dressed in a red suit that shouted confidence.

  The result was professional, competent and, at the same time, totally feminine.

  “Give me ten minutes.” He showered and dressed in record time.

  They made the drive to the city building in near silence, each caught up in their own thoughts.

  At Dani’s office, Jake made himself comfortable on a sagging sofa and booted up his laptop. He ought to be able to do a cursory check on the names she’d given him last night. Nothing was private anymore.

  Two hours later, he had made considerable inroads into the list of names. Those who had worked for Dani’s family were clean, no records, not even a whiff of any illegal activities. More important, from the stalking standpoint, there was no hint that any of them had cause to bear a grudge against Dani.

  “I need to know about the people you’re prosecuting.”

  Her brow knit in concentration, she gave him a distracted look. “I can’t discuss ongoing cases.”

  “I think you can make an exception, given the circumstances.”

  Dani pulled files from her desk, handed them to him. “You can start here.”

  After another hour of reading, he looked up and studied Dani, who was currently bent over a legal pad. “I didn’t think anyone used those anymore.”

  “I’m old-school.”

  A knock at the door had them both looking up.

  “Ms. Barclay...I mean, Dani, Victor Wingate’s on the phone.” The secretary darted a nervous look between her boss and Jake. “Shall I take a message?”

  “Please.”

  Clariss backed out of the office.

  “Who’s Victor Wingate?”

  “A defense attorney. He and I have faced off on a few cases over the years.”

  “Anything else?”

  “We dated for several months. Things were serious for a while. Then they weren’t.”

  Jake pulled out the notebook he kept in his pocket and scribbled down the name. “Do you still see him?”

  “Once in a while, when one of us has something we have to go to and can’t get out of.”

  “Was it his choice or yours when it stopped being serious?”

  “It was mutual.”

  Jake doubted it. No man would willingly give up a woman like Dani. She had it all. Looks. Intelligence. Class. Then he remembered another woman, also lovely and appealing, also the daughter of a wealthy, powerful man, only to find that she was shallow beneath the pretty exterior. Hadn’t he learned his lesson?

  Love, or even a relationship, wasn’t for him. Especially not now, when he carried around more than his share of baggage.

  He pushed that away. This wasn’t about him. He checked his watch, saw that it was past noon. “How about lunch?”

  “I usually order in.”

  Another surprise. He’d figured her for eating at one of the trendy restaurants that dotted the city.

  “Sorry to disappoint you,” she said.

  “You didn’t.”

  Over sandwiches, chips and soda, he pumped her. “Tell me about your cases.”

  Dani put down her sandwich and wiped her mouth. “You read the files.”

  “I want your impressions. What your gut tells you.”

  Whether or not it was because she didn’t know whom she could trust, Dani opened up about her cases.

  She gestured to the fattest file. “Jerry Brooks. He beat his wife until she could barely stand. I finally convinced her to file charges and go to a safe house. He promised he’d kill her if he got his hands on her again. He’s currently out on bail.

  “He’s the worst kind of bully. He thinks he’s above the law because he’s a city councilman.” Her lips quirked. “Or he was. It seems his constituents frown on members beating their wives senseless and sent him packing. He works at a mechanic’s shop now.”

  “So he’s been humiliated in front of his peers.” A powerful motive for revenge.

  “He doesn’t scare me.”

  “Maybe he should.” Jake lifted another file. “What about this one? A woman accused of elder abuse.”

  Dani nodded. “Patricia Newton. She’s a home health aide, wormed her way into an elderly man’s life. It seems he felt sorry for her because she came from the Middle East and was having a hard time getting a job. Turns out Newton was forging Mr. McBride’s name on credit cards the entire time she was supposed to be caring for him.”

  “That’s rotten, but it doesn’t sound like something for your office.”

  “You’re right. It wouldn’t be. Ordinarily it would go to another prosecutor. In this case, though, the woman was systematically poisoning her client. It was only because his daughter arrived and found him comatose that he’s still alive.”

  “Nice.”

  “She’s out on bail, too.”

  “What’s with the court, letting scum like those two out on bail?”

  Dani massaged her te
mples with her fingertips. “The court’s job is to grant bail if it sees fit. It’s my job to make sure Newton and Brooks don’t have a chance to hurt anyone else.”

  “You care.” Jake pointed to the files. “You care about the victims. That’s why you do this. You could have had your choice of any of the big firms in town, but you went with the D.A.’s office.”

  “You get it. No one really has. Certainly not my father.” The last was said with some irony. “He’s devoted his entire life to serving, first on the bench, then in the state legislature, then on the national level. But he doesn’t get why I need to do what I do.”

  “What about your mother?” He’d learned that Madeline Barclay had disappeared four years ago and hadn’t been seen since.

  “My mother didn’t understand either. She tried. She was coming around to accepting what I did when she went missing.” Dani cast him a shrewd look. “But you knew that, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah. I knew.”

  “My father hired the best agency in the South to find her. They didn’t turn up one clue as to where she went. Or why.”

  Jake moved closer. “I’m sorry. That must hurt.” Some pains didn’t go away. He ought to know.

  After their mother had walked out on him and Shelley, he’d done his best to protect his little sister, to buffer her from the reality that their mother had left them without a second thought. No way did he want her to feel as worthless and unwanted as he had, but she was too smart and had already figured out for herself that their mother hadn’t loved them.

  As he’d grown older, he wondered if his mother’s abandonment had played into his reluctance to fully give his heart to a woman. Something had always held him back but for one momentary lapse. Maybe it was a lack of trust. Or maybe he just didn’t have it in him to truly love.

  He pushed away the unwanted memories and focused on what Dani was saying.

  “It hurts every day,” she admitted. “Every day. But I’ve learned to live with it. Victor was a big help back then. He fielded calls, was there to hold my hand when I was ready to fall apart. We grew close.”

  “What happened?”

  “He started being clingy. Rather, he wanted me to be clingy. Things got awkward. We finally parted ways. But we’re still friends.”