by M. C. Cerny
“Jacob, what’s up? It’s been awhile so I hope this is good news.” Nick adjusted his head set as he sat in a computer lab at an undisclosed West Coast location, monitoring some video and audio feeds.
“Actually, I need a favor. I need you to run some surveillance programs and get into some video feeds here in New York. I would do it myself, but I’m a bit occupied at the moment and I think the R & D lab might get suspicious if I popped down there to use the computers.”
“Yeah, probably. Is this something that we should be calling Eli about?”
“No, and I would appreciate it if this could be kept quiet. That bastard keeps too many tabs on all of us as it is. Hell, I designed the damn programs to do it. I’m out of commission right now, trying to get Reed Software up and running publically before the third quarter numbers come out.” Jacob sat on the bed next to Katie and brushed her hair back from her forehead. Her chest rose slowly, breathing steady.
“Alright, give me the details.” Through the phone, he could hear Nick tapping on his computer.
Jacob sighed deeply. “Katie Wilson was mugged about a half-hour ago.” Jacob, not one to mince words, gave Nick the full story of the chase and subsequent injury to Katie.
“This is not good, Jacob.” Nick sighed loudly.
“No kidding. I’m hoping the AmCore Bank in midtown has some outside peripheral video feed of the corner where it happened. I need you to ID the kid, then dump the feed. If he’s in school, he might have an ID card or photo metro card that we can use. AmCore is actually a client of ours so, once I email you the codes to the security mainframe, it should be easy to get in, look around, and get what I need.”
“You got it.” Jacob could hear Nick typing away. “Anything else I can do for you while I’m at it? Semi-legal or otherwise?”
“No, but thanks.” Jacob chuckled. “How’s Lulu doing?”
“I don’t know. Her and Julian, well…you know how it is with those two.” Nick sighed.
“Oil and water. I hear she’s been a real firecracker lately.”
“Yes, well, she’s heading up Eli’s new tactical infiltration division, but she’s trying to convince him to let her go undercover in Mexico. I’ll let you know what I find out ASAP.” Nick hung up. He sounded unlike his usual upbeat self, but Jacob had to focus on other things. It also sounded like Lulu and Julian were back together again which, in Jacob’s opinion, was too bad for Nick. Everyone knew Nick loved that crazy woman and she wouldn’t give him the time of day, unless it was to torture Julian.
KATIE WOKE SLOWLY, HER HEAD pounding as she tentatively rolled onto her left side, wincing at the sharp pain in her shoulder. Waves of nausea rushed over her, making her groan. She rolled onto her back, feeling the soft bed beneath her, and let the unfamiliar room come into focus. Where the hell am I? she thought. It was a dark room with masculine décor…dark greys with muted light greys, and silver, modern furniture.
He noted that her complexion was ashen, most likely from shock. “Easy, Katie. You fell and banged yourself up pretty good. Just lay still and let everything slowly come into focus.”
Jacob sat close to her as he continued to hold her wrist, checking her pulse. She hadn’t realized anyone else was in the room with her, but she could now feel his warmth through the heavy blanket covering her legs. She noticed a large German Shepard that lay whimpering and nudging the blanket at the foot of the bed until his head disappeared under the covers. His cold, wet nose touched her leg, bringing her more awake.
Katie turned her head towards the voice and the warm hand that was holding her wrist. She had no idea who he was and she began to panic. Katie squeaked in shock and surprise and, tried to scramble away from the large man, but only managed to hit her head on the headboard.
“Ouch! Damn it!” Wincing, she reached for her head. The disorienting pain made her grumpy.
“I told you to lie still, please.” Jacob leaned over and gingerly held her arms down, while the large dog jumped on the end of the bed and lay over her legs, staring at her.
“Where am I?” Katie tried to remain still, but her body wanted to escape, especially at being held down.
“Whoa, there. You had an accident. Relax because it’s all going to come rushing back at you eventually. You’re safe here.” Jacob closed in on Katie’s personal space, crowding her on purpose, and gently rubbed a pressure point at the back of her neck and head.
“Where am I? What happened?” Katie fought the dizziness to slowly sit up. Her stomach rolled and she cupped her hand over her mouth for a moment, trying to breathe through the feeling. Jacob rubbed her back calming her down. “Who are you?” Her tone suggested that she had no recollection of their former meeting. Jacob breathed a sigh of mixed relief. He had no idea what he would do if she did remember him from a year ago.
“Can you tell me what day it is today?” Jacob cupped the bottom of her chin gently, and held her face up to see her eyes in the light of a small penlight that he pulled from the nightstand.
“Monday. Seriously, what’s going on?” Katie put her hands around the stranger’s wrist to make him let go of her chin and blinked her eyes at the offending bright light.
“How many fingers am I holding up? Your eyes are pretty dilated, Lois Lane.” Jacob rubbed his thumb gently over the bottom of her chin before letting her go and holding up two fingers.
“My name’s not Lois Lane. It’s Katie Wilson and that’s two fingers. Now, who the heck are you?” Katie furrowed her brow and winced at the smiling, good looking stranger.
“I can understand that you’re a little grumpy from the bump on your head. The good news is that you’ve at least got your own name right.” Katie glared at her rescuer. He had the most amazing smile and deep voice, even if she thought his humor was misplaced right now.
“My name is Jacob, Jacob Reed. I happened to follow you while you were chasing your purse thief. Kind of a silly thing for you to do, don’t you think? Here, try and drink this. The sugar should help with the shock.” Jacob handed her a cold glass of juice. Hauk picked up his head as if to say “Bad move, Dad”.
“Yeah, well, I pretty much had him, no thanks to you and the rest of New York. If I hurry, I can make a report at the police station and get a story together for the 6 o’clock news.”
When Jacob looked away, she sniffed the OJ suspiciously before she took a swig and put the glass down on the nightstand. She pinched the bridge of her nose, scowling. Cold juice and nausea didn’t seem to be mixing well. She tried to move out from under the dog and swing her legs over the bed, swaying to the left.
Jacob caught her and steadied her saying slightly sarcastic. “Easy, Louis. Did you even get a good look at the guy?” Jacob reached back and gave Hauk a reassuring pet.
Katie sat for a moment, still disorientated. She tried to think why it sounded strange to her when he called her that name. Since she’d removed the blanket from her legs, Jacob prepped an alcohol pad to clean out a scrape on her knee. He applied the pad, gently rubbing out dirt and blood. “Ouch. I can do it myself, thanks. I don’t know why you keep calling me that, and of course not. The damn guy knocked me down.”
Katie took the alcohol pad and winced at the stinging that shot up her limb. She tilted her head thoughtfully and, clearly exasperated, put her hands up and rubbed the back of her neck, grimacing. She felt the beginnings of a large knot on her head. Hauk barked twice, startling her. She noticed the large dog again, and hadn’t imagined him from some recessed memory. She squinted, her eyes refocusing again. “You have a dog? Is this your apartment? Where are we? How did I get here, and shouldn’t I be in an emergency room somewhere because I don’t think you’re a doctor.”
“Yes…Yes…Still in midtown, and this was much closer than the hospital. Emergency departments take too long, and your pulse was pretty strong.” Jacob also thought emergency departments would ask too many questions and, unlike the last time, he just couldn’t bring himself to leave her there, nor did he want Julian touching
her again.
“So… just to be clear. You’re not a doctor?”
“Nope, but I had field training in the army.” Jacob chuckled at her question. He wasn’t going to lie. Besides, if she googled him, his past military career wasn’t a total secret.
“Where are my shoes?” Katie stood up, wobbly and unassisted, looking around at her surroundings. A huge, but sparse, modern loft looked back at her. Obviously, this guy had money to live here at the exclusive address that she identified from the floor-to-ceiling window view of Manhattan, specifically near Murray Hill. When she stepped onto the hardwood floor, her feet felt warm on the custom radiant heating.
“Maybe I should have called for one.”
“One, what?” Katie tried focusing with the pounding in her head.
“A doctor. Are you sure you’re okay?” Jacob watched her warily and Katie mumbled something that seemed affirmative in answer to his question.
Jacob watched Katie nervously pace his bedroom, slightly limping and steadying herself by gripping his dresser before going out into the open space of his loft. He stood up and leaned against the door frame, his arms crossed. He followed her into the open space. “Look, I’m sorry, but I saw you chasing that thug and thought it best to intervene. He could have had a knife or a gun, and I can’t imagine what else he would have done to you.” He itched to hold her and reassure her, but was too afraid it would spook her more and probably cause her to call the police. She didn’t know him, and he knew more than he should about her. It would probably creep any normal woman out.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you. I’m not accustomed to helpful strangers. How did you know my name?” Katie turned back around to face Jacob. She was wary, but figured if he was of the serial killer type, she would probably be in a dark well somewhere or tied up in a closet. Shaking her head, she ignored those thoughts brought about by too much late night television and no recent dates.
“I only see you every night on channel 10, Ms. Katie Wilson. Plus, your purse is on the table. When I looked for your identification, I checked and it looks like everything is there.” Jacob pointed towards a formal dining area. He had placed her purse on the table and her shoes on the floor.
“Oh, right. Thank-you. I didn’t mean to intrude on your day. You must have had lunch plans or a business meeting or something?” Katie left the question open-ended as she rummaged through her purse, checking to make sure everything was still intact inside. She felt flushed and disoriented from the encounter.
“No meetings today, just a quiet lunch alone. I should thank you for making my day more interesting, at least.” Jacob ran a hand through his disheveled hair, then put them in his pockets. He didn’t seem like those creepy guys that she was used to because of her job. She sensed that he was trying to seem less threatening by giving her some space, but he was certainly no harmless Trevor.
“I’m happy I could oblige then. It’s probably one of those experiences that all New Yorkers have eventually, I suppose. I guess I got lucky that it took so long for it to happen.”
Katie noticed how broad his shoulders were. He obviously carried her from the alley to his apartment. He wore a tailored dark grey Armani suit, a light grey shirt, no tie, and his sleeves had been rolled up over muscled forearms. An expensive, thick, dark metal Tag Heuer watch was on his wrist. She noticed the beginnings of a tattoo on his inner forearm but, with his arms crossed, she couldn’t make anything out.
“Then it was my luck to have seen it happen. I tried to catch the kid, but I wanted to make sure you were okay first. I bet your ears are still ringing. Are you sure you don’t want me to escort you to the emergency room?” Jacob took a small step towards her, but put his hands over the back of the chair because they were itching to touch her again.
“No, I’ll manage, but thank-you.”
“At least let me bandage your knee. You’re kind of bleeding on my floor.” Jacob nodded down to her leg that was still messy and stinging, a small trail of blood streaked down her leg to her ankle.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize. I’ll pay for the cleaning.”
“Not necessary,” Jacob said. Katie realized his loft apartment probably cost at least ten times what she made in a year.
“I’m really thankful. I can just bandage it up when I get back to my office.” As Jacob came toward her, Katie felt that strange buzzing in her head, like her blood was rushing through her veins faster than normal.
“Nonsense. Just hop up here so I can reach your knee better.”
Lifting her up at her hips, Jacob hoisted Katie up on top of the kitchen island and went back to the bedroom to get the first aid kit. The marble countertop felt cool under her bottom and she felt all her girly parts unexpectedly tighten. She looked around and noticed that Mr. Jacob Reed kept a very nice apartment, and that the kitchen was all stainless steel appliances and cool grey marble. Katie thought this guy probably didn’t have any concept of color. Her friend Trevor would be shocked.
Jacob came back with a very impressive first aid kit. Katie rested her palms in her lap and noticed her right hand was also scrapped up. He went to work with more alcohol pads, gently removing the street grime and grit that embedded itself in her hand and knee. Her muscles tensed from the sting, and Jacob gently blew on the wounds, cooling them. Katie shivered at the sensation. Her body seemed overloaded and she felt the stirrings of attraction towards this stranger.
“Easy. That’s one down.” He used a Q-tip to apply ointment cream, and put a large Band-Aid over the wound on her palm.
He went to work cleaning out the scrape on her knee, slightly parting her legs. Katie felt vulnerable and aroused. She tried to think of anything but the attractive GQ-looking man who was practically standing between her legs, cleaning the dried blood from her ankle to her knee. She must have winced when he touched her leg just under the hem of her skirt. “Sorry.” Jacob leaned down to blow air over the small cut on her knee. He was trying to hold it together, but it was bordering on dangerous. He kept trying to think of anything that would cool his lascivious thoughts; otherwise, she was about to see his raging hard-on tent his suit pants.
Katie looked anywhere but at Jacob. She finally looked in the direction of the dog, who stared back and forth between them. He padded to Jacob’s side and sat down obediently next to him, his tail thumping loudly. Katie cleared her throat. “What’s his name?”
“Hauk. My niece, Becky, found him along the highway on one of our family trips when he was a pup. She couldn’t keep him at her house so I promised to take care of him until we found him a good home. It was about two weeks in when I realized that we had a good enough routine going and I couldn’t bear to give him up. That was close to seven years ago so I guess he just decided to keep me as an owner. He’s very friendly. He’ll come over if you call him.”
Jacob struggled to concentrate on fixing the last bandage on her knee, and helped her hop off the counter. He held her too close, which was a mistake, and she grazed his body while sliding back down to the floor. It felt so good to hold her; however, the instant he had the thought, he stepped back. Katie also jerked back, hitting the kitchen island behind her. Both took a deep breath, obviously trying to ignore the moment.
“Come here, Hauk. Good boy.” Katie knelt carefully with her injured knee and the dog walked over. She let him smell her hand before she petted him gently, ruffling him behind his ears. Hauk rolled over so that she could rub his belly, and Katie laughed. Jacob smiled. He hadn’t heard Katie laugh before and the sound was like tinkling bells; so genuine. “He’s a good dog.” Katie looked up to meet Jacob’s intense gaze. He hoped he’d get the chance to get to know Katie better because, right now, he was damn jealous of his dog.
“I let him have the bed when I’m out. It seems fair.”
Jacob knelt down and gave Hauk a belly rub, his hand brushing close to Katie’s. When he mentioned his bed, the one she just woke up in, she had to close her eyes and blink away the image that she suddenly had i
n her mind. Suddenly, her cellphone started ringing with Madonna’s “Vogue” and she moved to get up. Jacob covered his mouth to hide his smile at the sassy tune. He never pegged Katie as choosing that for a ring tone. Thinking about it, he hoped like hell his phone didn’t ring. Reaching into his pocket, he pushed the button for vibrate because his teammates were total assholes for playing with his phone settings.
“I should get that.” Katie grabbed her purse and dug inside for her phone. “Hello?...Oh, hi, Trevor…No, I’m okay. I got mugged earlier and I’m just getting myself sorted out…Yes, I know I should be more careful…My shoes?...Oh, they’re fine…Yes, I’m all intact and in one piece.” She sighed and Jacob could hear only Katie’s voice, but the transmitter he put in her phone earlier would record the rest of her conversation. He tried not to cringe with his firmly-placed guilt. He had to make absolutely sure that she didn’t remember certain events from a year ago. It would make the situation very complicated right now if she suddenly turned to him and said, “Oh, hey, you’re that guy from the exploding warehouse last year”.
“No, no, I’m okay. I got lucky that a nice passerby helped me out…Why?...What time is it?...Oh, crap! I can’t let Jeff put Lindsey on at 6 o’clock. That’s my piece…Arrrg! I should call Jeff first and then the police, though. I have to report this. That guy is still out there…Okay, I’m on my way…Yes, I have flats so I can run to the office…They’re somewhere in my bag…Okay, see you soon, love.” Katie hung up her phone and slipped it back into her bag, digging out a pair of silver slip-on ballet flats.
Jacob ear’s perked up at her calling the other person “love”, but tried to ignore it by continuing to rub Hauk’s belly. “Trouble at Channel 10?” He got up.
“Just this other anchor I work with, she’s…it doesn’t matter.” Katie waved her hand in dismissal. “I’m running late, but I can make it if I hurry. I’m sorry to run out like this, but thanks for everything. I’ll have to contact the police on my way, too.” Katie brushed a lock of hair out of her face, pulling it up into a classy ponytail. She winced but, gritting her teeth, pulled the elastic band through a second time.