Keeping Watch (9781460341285)

by Choate, Jane M.

  Despite her job, she lived in a world full of light. His was colored by the darkness of his past, starting with the abandonment of a father he had never known and a mother who had discarded her children with no more thought than she would give a used tissue.

  His days in the army had only confirmed his belief that the world was a harsh, unforgiving place. Nothing he had seen had convinced him to think otherwise. What if he were to take a chance with Dani? He’d only drag her down into his world. He’d die before he’d do that.

  To his relief, Dani seemed no more inclined to give voice to the attraction that existed between them than he did.

  As if sensing his need for a diversion, Dani pivoted on her toes and raised her leg high in the air, aiming a foot in his direction. She took him by surprise.

  She missed his chest by a hair. “Shelley’s been teaching me some self-defense moves.”

  He grinned. “Not bad.”

  They went through a series of moves with Jake offering suggestions to refine Dani’s technique. She was never going to have the strength to take down a man twice her size, but she could learn how to defend herself enough to escape if someone should grab her.

  “Enough,” he said when he noticed that she was panting with exertion.

  “I need to bulk up,” she said. “I’m puny. You’re just too polite to say it.”

  “No one’s ever accused me of being polite. Besides, I think you’re a cute kind of puny.”

  Dani grinned. “Good save.”

  “There’s something I was to run past you.”

  She waited.

  “I want to bring in a buddy from Delta. With two of us, we can do a better job of covering you.”

  “You’re doing a great job,” she said staunchly.

  “It shouldn’t have gotten as far as it did with Newton.” Self-recrimination was heavy in his voice.

  “Who is this buddy?”

  “His name’s Salvatore Santonni. He’s a good soldier, an even better friend. I’d trust him with my life.” He paused. “And with yours.”

  “If you think we need him, do it. I want this over.” She shook off the grim mood that had settled over her. “What about ordering Chinese? I feel in the need of empty calories and MSG.”

  “Good idea.” He picked up his phone and ordered from his favorite Chinese restaurant. “Hope you’re hungry. I ordered enough to feed a small third-world country.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  The food arrived within a half hour. By that time, both Jake and Dani had showered and changed. After Dani offered a prayer upon the food, they attacked the white cartons with relish.

  “Mmm. Spiced shrimp,” she said, digging into the shrimp-and-vegetable concoction. “My favorite.”

  “Save some,” he ordered, “or I won’t share the spring rolls.”

  “You’ve got yourself a deal.” Her good mood took a nosedive. “You think I should offer Newton a deal, don’t you?”

  “It’s like you said—we’ll find another way to find out how she knew about the peanut oil.”

  Dani took a pull on the bottle of soda he handed her. “Making a deal goes against everything I believe in. Even when it’s necessary.”

  “So we’ll make sure it isn’t necessary this time.”

  She forked up a piece of shrimp. “My boss isn’t going to like it. Neither is the senator.”

  “Why do you refer to your father as ‘the senator’?”

  “Old habit. When I was growing up, he was always larger-than-life. He was gone a lot, and when he came home, he filled the house with his voice, his energy. I loved that about him. I still do. But he can be overwhelming.” She wrinkled her nose. “Especially if he doesn’t get his own way.”

  “You have a lot in common.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “You’re both smart and stubborn. You both like your own way. You both fight for what you believe in. Neither of you will give an inch when you believe you’re right.”

  She dipped her head in acknowledgment. “You’re right. The only difference is I don’t try to tell him how to live his life. Ever since my mother disappeared, Dad hasn’t been the same. He’s terrified something will happen to me. If he had his way, he’d wrap me in cotton wool and stuff me away in the attic.”

  “You can’t blame him for wanting to keep you safe. I imagine I’d feel the same if I had a daughter.”

  “I don’t blame him. I just wish he’d trust me to know what I’m doing. I can’t be the pampered princess he wants to make me.” She arched a brow in his direction. “The spoiled princess you thought I was when you took this job.”

  “I was wrong,” he said promptly. “You’re no spoiled princess.” The more he learned about Dani, the more he realized she was a mass of contradictions, a curious blend of wariness and emotion, strength and vulnerability.

  “When did you change your mind?”

  “When you saw that dead bird and didn’t flinch.”

  That wasn’t all, of course. There was a lot to like about Dani, he reflected. He appreciated the closeness that had grown between them, the total acceptance she gave him even when she didn’t agree with him, especially about matters of faith. But most of all, he cherished the lack of loneliness she brought him. No one else, not even Shelley, had been able to penetrate the walls he’d built around himself since Libya.

  Dani had made herself an important—too important, perhaps—part of his life. He would do well to remember that she was a client. Nothing more. He frowned at the direction of his thoughts. How many more times did he have to give himself that particular pep talk?

  As many as it took, he thought with harsh resolve. Dani didn’t need an ex-soldier in her life, broken in both body and spirit. She needed someone who lived in the light, not a man who had spent too much of his life in the shadows.

  Once this was over, she wouldn’t need him at all. The bleak thought brought him no comfort.

  SEVEN

  Newton didn’t get her deal.

  “She’ll stand trial for both charges of attempted murder,” Dani said in satisfaction after a meeting with the D.A. on Monday morning. “If I have my way, she’ll be going away for a long time.”

  Jake knew Dani’s own case mattered far less to her than that of the man Newton had tried to poison. Dani wanted justice for him.

  Wanting justice was the reason why Jake had enlisted in the army—that and the need to protect the innocent. Much youthful idealism had been stripped away from him, but he could still feel glimmers of it now and again.

  It was refreshing to see it in Dani, to watch her fight for those who could not fight for themselves. She was a warrior every bit as much as any soldier.

  When he said as much, he was surprised to see tears fill her eyes. He hadn’t expected to make her cry.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just good hearing that. I wondered if anyone understood why I do what I do. That I’m trying to make a difference.”

  And wasn’t that another reason why he’d enlisted? To make a difference? To protect a way of life that was more precious than life itself? In his experience, that desire burned brightly in the men and women who served their country.

  Jake believed. He believed in himself. He believed in his skills. He believed in the country that he’d spent most of his adult life defending.

  Dani’s quest for justice rekindled that belief, despite what he’d been through. And maybe, just maybe, he thought with a start, her belief in God had sparked his own.

  He pushed that away. God hadn’t been there for his men. Why should he, Jake, believe that God cared what happened to him?

  Whatever his feelings about God, however, he respected Dani’s belief, respected what she was trying to do. “You are making a difference. Look at
what you’re doing for Stephanie Brooks. If not for you, she’d still be a punching bag for her husband. You’ve given her a new chance at life.”

  “Thank you. I needed that.” She sounded vulnerable, and all of his protective instincts came out.

  “You could have taken the easy way, given Newton the deal she wanted. No one would have blamed you. But you stuck to your guns. That takes guts. And courage. Never let anyone tell you differently.”

  “I couldn’t go back on my word to Mr. McBride and his family. They’ve been through so much. Patricia Newton is going to pay for what she did. It won’t make things right, but maybe it will be some satisfaction.”

  Jake wanted to kiss her, right there in the middle of the D.A.’s office, with her colleagues moving from one office to the next, with the phones buzzing and the whir of the copier an uneven counterpoint.

  He could only imagine her reaction should he put thought to action. She’d be shocked, perhaps even horrified, but he couldn’t help wondering if there’d be a tiny part of her that was thrilled.

  At times he thought Dani had feelings for him, or maybe that was just wishful thinking on his part. Abruptly, he pushed those thoughts away. He had no business thinking of Dani that way. His own past had left him distrustful of the idea of love. He had no experience with it, no example from parents who had loved each other and their children. What did he know of giving or receiving love beyond that of a sibling relationship?

  Nothing.

  Over the years, he’d watched several of his friends fall in love and have the requisite white wedding, only to have the marriage end in bitterness and hatred. He didn’t want that. Better to keep his heart safely tucked away, free from pain and loss.

  He drew in a harsh breath and struggled to remember what they’d been talking about. Patricia Newton. That was it. “What happens next? With Newton.”

  “Her lawyer will push for a change of venue. She may get it, seeing as I’m the prosecuting attorney as well as a victim. I’ll argue against it.”

  “Will you win?”

  “I plan to.”

  “How long does a trial of this type usually take?”

  She pursed her lips. “With jury selection, the trial itself—anywhere from three weeks to a month.”

  “And you still have the rest of your caseload to deal with.”

  She pushed up the corners of her mouth and managed a smile. “We don’t have the luxury of working on only one case at a time around here. We’re spread thin enough as it is.”

  “I know. I’ve seen your caseload.”

  “I’m not the only one. We all have similar caseloads.” Her mouth drooped, her earlier elation vanished. “Ryan’s been pushing to get some of mine. He wants to make a name for himself.”

  “Is that normal, for an A.D.A. to poach on a colleague’s cases?”

  “It’s not abnormal. Like I said, he’s ambitious. It goes with the job.”

  “What about Sarah? Does she poach, as well?”

  “Sarah doesn’t poach so much as she steps in to take credit for other people’s work. We all know it, even Freeman.”

  “And yet you give her a pass.”

  “She does good work, when she has a mind to. Either she or Ryan could prosecute the case without a problem. They’re each competent. They’d do the job.”

  “But they don’t care the way you do,” Jake said.

  “No,” she said softly. “Neither of them care the way I do. That’s why I have to keep Newton’s case. I owe it to Mr. McBride and his family.”

  “You’ll run yourself into the ground if you keep this up.” In the short amount of time he’d known her, he couldn’t help but notice that she’d lost weight, that the shadows beneath her eyes had grown deeper, giving her a fragile appearance that made her look as though she would shatter into a thousand pieces at any moment.

  “I don’t know any other way to be.”

  No, she wouldn’t, Jake thought. Dani gave her all and then some. She didn’t have it in her to hold back, to let others pick up the ball because she’d been dealt a blow. He loved that about her. At the same time, it worried him.

  She was under tremendous stress and would continue to be until her stalker was caught.

  She couldn’t afford to let down her guard. Neither could he.

  * * *

  A summons to Belle Terre was not to be ignored. Dani had sidestepped the last few invitations from her father, but she knew she could not get out of this one. He was worried about her and needed to be reassured. Knowing that his worry came from love helped take the sting out of her annoyance.

  The familiar mixed bag of emotions fell heavily upon her shoulders, weighing them down, a confusion of love and longing, disappointment and misunderstandings. She just wished her father saw her as she was, a grown woman with a job she loved and was determined to do, with a life outside the mansion that had been home for her first eighteen years of life. Though she loved him dearly, she would not submit to the kind of smothering attention and protection that had been foisted upon her as a child.

  Ever since her mother had disappeared four years ago, she and her father had been especially close. With that closeness, though, had come more of the overprotective tendencies he harbored.

  So late Monday afternoon, she and Jake made the twenty-mile drive to Belle Terre. The sun blazed through the windshield, and she lowered her visor to block its piercing rays.

  The greenery of the passing fields, the silhouettes of horses in the paddocks, the sheer openness of the sky were comforting, familiar and a stark contrast to the noise, pollution and congestion of Atlanta. She wondered what Jake thought as they put more and more distance between them and the city.

  The houses no longer crowded each other as they had in town but had given way to land-rich estates that spread for miles. Only discreetly placed fences announced the boundaries.

  When he turned the Jeep into the private lane to Belle Terre, Jake whistled. “You have your own road? Should I pay a toll?”

  She gave his arm a playful slap. “Not until you reach the main house. Then a tribute and a tug of your forelock would be nice.”

  Dani expected him to laugh at that, but, instead, he only said thoughtfully, “I feel like I’ve just stepped into an alternate universe.”

  She shot him a worried look. Was Jake like the few boys she’d dated in her teen years, intimidated by her family’s wealth, their home, their name? She hadn’t thought so, but more than one beau had dropped her after seeing her home for the first time. It hadn’t helped that her father was a United States senator and had a gun collection that rivaled those found in museums.

  Then she laughed at herself. Jake, a former Delta Force soldier, wouldn’t be intimidated by something as superficial as a few acres and a house.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing.”

  Belle Terre wasn’t the largest home in Georgia, but it was one of the oldest and one of the last family homes to be passed down from generation to generation. Many of the South’s older estates had been parceled out, piecemeal, to developers, to corporations looking for a country retreat for their top executives. Belle Terre remained, having survived the War Between the States, the invasion of carpetbaggers, the Great Depression and even a fire that had destroyed much of the upper level.

  It had survived because of the determination of the people who had called it home. A fierce sense of pride filled her as she thought of her ancestors, especially the women, strong and independent and feisty as all get-out.

  As a child, she’d spent hours at a time reading old diaries she’d found tucked away in a forgotten bureau in the attic. The stories she’d found there filled her with awe and a determination to never dishonor her family name.

  Neither her grandmother nor her great-grandmother would have
folded under the nastiness the stalker had seen fit to heap upon her. They would have shaken their fists at the world and dared anyone to try to frighten them.

  A wave of sadness swept over Dani as she acknowledged that she couldn’t say the same for her own mother. Madeline Barclay had taken off, without even a goodbye, much less an explanation. Determinedly, Dani shook that off. She wasn’t her mother.

  She wasn’t her grandmother or her great-grandmother either. She was herself. Dani Barclay. That had to be good enough.

  She directed Jake to park the Jeep in front of the house.

  “You sure about that?” he asked with a doubtful look at the manicured lawns that flanked the drive, the carefully tended flower beds, brilliant with color and texture, the white-pillared porch. The front yard swept down from the house like a velvet skirt in rich emerald. The setting sun bathed the centuries-old white-brick mansion in pinks and golds, giving it a fairy-tale appearance. “I feel like I should be crossing a moat.”

  She laid a hand on his arm. “Belle Terre is just another home.”

  “It is not just another home.”

  She supposed he was right, but it was home to her, though she hadn’t lived there full-time since she’d graduated from high school. In some ways, it always would be home. It was here she had learned to ride a horse, then drive her first car. It was here that she had laughed with her mother when they spent a summer afternoon trying on old clothes they’d found in the attic.

  It was here she had last seen her mother.

  She climbed from the Jeep. The afternoon was bright with sun, the insects humming in the humid heat, a typical Georgia day. The normality of it reassured her, and she held on to that. There’d been little normalcy about her life in the past weeks.

  Her hand in Jake’s, they climbed the wide steps that led to the front door. It was unlocked, and they stepped into the marble-floored foyer. The smells of home greeted her, and she breathed in a mixture of lemon-scented polish and flowers.

  There were always fresh flowers at Belle Terre, a legacy of her mother. Today there were roses, pink and delicate, tucked into a Waterford vase, one of Madeline’s favorites.