by Liliana Hart
Anger simmered inside of me but my hands were steady as I stapled the mouth closed and stuffed the inside with cotton, giving Leeann a little fullness back in her face like she had before she’d gotten so sick.
“I don’t see why you’re so angry. You would have been an orphan abandoned in a foreign country if we hadn’t taken you. Do you know what happens to American infants that don’t have someone to claim them? They’re sold—either into slavery or to be prepped for the sex trade.”
“And I provided a good cover for whatever scheme you and Mom were caught in the middle of.”
His lips twitched. “That too. But never doubt that you were ours.”
I ignored him and went to work finding the carotid artery and tying it off in preparation for the embalming fluid. Her arteries were in bad shape because of all the chemo and it took me a while to find the jugular and cut it so the blood would flow out once I started the embalming process.
“You always had good hands,” my dad said. “You wanted to be a doctor from the time you were a little girl.”
“And look at me now.”
“We always thought you’d be a surgeon. You’ve got the hands for it, and you could gut and dress a fish faster than the pros when you were just a little thing.”
“I liked being an ER doctor.”
“If you’d liked it as much as you say you do, then nothing could have torn you away from it after our—accident.”
“Except for the enormous amounts of debt I had to pay off because of your—accident. And insurance doesn’t dole out money for double suicides.”
“We had an account set up for you, but those bastard FBI agents tracked it and closed it down. Why didn’t you just take the money that was in the bunker? It would have taken care of everything and given you a nice cushion too. Hey,” he said as if a lightbulb just went off. “You could use it to open a practice here in Bloody Mary. If you hate the funeral home so much, close it down. I always hated it too, but you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“Jesus, are you for real? Unfuckingbelievable. You have no conscience.”
“Of course I do. There are many things I regret over the course of my lifetime. But I have a sense of justice and loyalty and right and wrong. It’s just that you don’t understand them. We didn’t raise you to be so closed minded. There are always variations of many truths.”
I straightened and looked straight at him. “You’re a liar. A criminal. And a traitor to the government you worked for.”
“I’ll admit to the first. The second is debatable. And the third—well, maybe you didn’t look closely at what was inside the boxes after all. The truth is seen differently through different eyes, Jericho. Which makes the truth nothing but lies.”
“Stop calling me that.” I rolled the kinks out of my shoulders and grabbed a myriad of pink chemicals from the shelf, mixing them together. The smell that always made Jack sick filled the room, and I was feeling a little sick myself at the moment.
“Why? It’s your name. And it follows the Graves legacy.”
I snorted out a laugh. “Yes, I’m sure using Biblical names for everyone in the family will be the same as greasing a few palms when you’re standing outside the golden gates looking to get in. Good luck with that.”
It somehow felt disrespectful to be having this conversation with my father over a woman as kind and loving as Leanne Mosely. I rolled the machine closer to the table and connected the arterial tube into the artery, and then I watched for a few seconds to make sure the blood was draining down the side trays on the table correctly.
“I need those boxes, Jaye. There are things I can’t tell you about. In fact, most things it’s better you never know about. I would never want to involve you in this life. But there are things at play here that are about more than just my life or your mother’s death.”
“Even if I wanted to give you the boxes, I couldn’t now. Jack’s seen them and looked inside of them. His sense of right and wrong doesn’t have nearly as many shades of gray as yours does.”
He sighed and jingled the change in his pockets again. “I know it. He’s a good man. Better than most, and I’m glad you’re happy together. Despite it all, I loved your mother a great deal. We had fun together. And we were friends. I miss her every day.”
I hardened my heart against the sadness I heard in his voice. It’s just a con. Just another one of his lies to get what he wants. I tied off the artery and inserted the tube in a different one so the left side of her body would plump up to match the right side. Embalming wasn’t a long process, but it seemed like I’d been down here for hours with no escape.
“You need to go, Dad. I can’t help you. And Jack is my priority at the moment. I’d just as soon not to have to bury anyone else.”
The change in his pockets stopped jingling and I felt his disappointment in me. “It was worth a shot.” He made his way up the stairs and I kept my eyes focused on the body in front of me so I wouldn’t have to watch him leave again.
“Watch out for yourself, Jaye. Jack won’t be the only one in danger through all this. He loves you, and that will make him vulnerable. No more late night visits to the funeral home by yourself. If I can get in without notice, then others can too.”
I heard the deadbolt unfasten and the click of the door as it opened and closed again. When I looked up to the top of the stairs, he was gone.
CHAPTER TEN
By the time I finished with Leanne and had her back in the cooler it was almost ten o’clock. I used the shower in the little bathroom off my office and changed into clean clothes, bagging up the ones I’d been wearing down in the lab.
I needed to go home and go to bed since I had an early morning with Mr. Mosely, but my brain wasn’t as tired as the rest of me was. I couldn’t get Lauren Rhodes’ words out of my head. How Jack could be so much more without me. She was right. But despite it all I felt the need to be selfish for once. He was mine. Just like I was his. And he was worth fighting for.
If Jack wanted a career change or to get out of Bloody Mary, then I was okay with that as long as we were together. Lauren had another thing coming if she thought she could wiggle her way back into Jack’s life.
I thought back to what she’d said—about how she’d tried to come see him over and over again while he’d been recovering from his wounds. I’d been there by his side and hadn’t seen or heard a peep from her. And if Jack had told me to go away and let him deal with it on his own, I’d have told him too bad and muscled my way beside him anyway. If Lauren had loved him as much as she’d claimed, then she would have fought tooth and nail to help him through his recovery, despite what he said.
Jack’s past was in the past. I trusted him unconditionally. Which wasn’t easy for me to do considering. We’d work through this mess and then we’d finally get our happily ever after. We sure as hell deserved one.
I flicked off all the lights and locked up before I went out to the Suburban. Agent Donaldson was still in the exact place he was when I went inside, and I gave him a wave to let him know I was heading out.
My dad had been right about one thing. Jack and I wouldn’t take unnecessary chances. No more going places alone, and if we needed an agent inside the house, then that’s what we’d do.
Agent Donaldson turned right behind me into the long driveway that led to the house. I parked next to Jack’s cruiser and another black SUV, and I assumed Greer was still with Jack inside. I looked around for any visible signs of human life—good or otherwise—before I got out of the car and headed inside. Donaldson was right behind me with his hand on his weapon. I wasn’t sure it would make him feel better to know I had my hand on my own gun in the pocket of my windbreaker.
The front door opened before I got there, and Jack stood there with his weapon down at his side as he waited for me to come inside.
“I’ve got it from here,” he said to Donaldson, and Jack pulled me inside and closed the door at my back.
My pulse jumped as he he
ld me against his body, and he burrowed his face against my neck, breathing in the scent of me. I was glad I’d decided to take a shower.
“I missed you.” He kissed just below my ear and chills pebbled over my flesh. He pulled back so he could look into my eyes, and then he took my mouth in a gentle touching of lips. The sweetness of it all enveloped me and I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist. His eyes never left mine and I could see the relief and worry now that I was safely in his arms.
“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I don’t want to fight.” And then he kissed me again and took it deeper. My lids fluttered closed, suddenly heavy, my blood thrumming through my veins and awakening as his hands skimmed my breasts and followed the curves of my waist and hips.
When he pulled back I was panting and the room was spinning. “Do we have company?”
“Carver’s in the office with all of the paperwork. He just got in about an hour ago and relieved Greer of bodyguard duty. Greer wasn’t happy to see him, but once Carver assured him he wasn’t there to take his case away, Greer backed down.” He gave me another soft kiss on the forehead and then backed away. “We need to talk, Jaye. This can’t fester between us. It’ll only make things harder.”
I nodded and took my gun out of my pocket and put it into the little safe that looked like a drawer in the sideboard in the entryway. I hung my jacket on the hat stand and followed Jack into the kitchen. I smelled fresh coffee and immediately went to get a cup.
“Did you eat?” He already had his head in the refrigerator pulling out sandwich stuff. “Of course you didn’t. And you’ve got a headache too. I can see it lurking there behind your eyes.”
“I just need some coffee. And probably the sandwich wouldn’t hurt.”
He didn’t say anything else until a thick sandwich and potato chips was placed in front of me. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and then took a seat.
“I need to explain about Lauren,” he said. “I know you probably heard more than you wanted to this afternoon.”
I grunted because my mouth was full of food, and it turned out I was hungrier than I thought. Martha’s hamburger from lunch wasn’t meant to stretch ten hours. I took a second to swallow and studied Jack. He looked a little uncomfortable and maybe a little nervous too.
“I heard enough,” I finally said.
“We were involved for about a year before the bank heist. She’d barely finished law school and gotten a job at the district attorney’s office. I had to testify in court one day about a gang killing we broke up, and she came up and introduced herself after. We dated for a while before things got more serious.”
“I’m not really sure what happened or how it happened, but one day I looked up and we’re all but living together. We were both overworked, and I was in the middle of my doctoral work.” He looked up then and gave a halfhearted smile. “I didn’t tell you about that.”
“No, you didn’t.” I took a drink to clear my throat. “Why not?”
“Mostly because I wasn’t sure I could go through with it to the end. I knew I couldn’t be SWAT forever. It wears on your mind and your body after a time. But I wasn’t sure after I quit the squad I could go back to being a regular cop either. So I thought if I got more schooling, maybe I could join the FBI and teach a few classes at Quantico. Or maybe I could sit as chief somewhere someday.”
“You’d be good at whatever you decided to do.”
He shrugged it off. “I knew when Lauren and I were together that she wasn’t the one. I told you before that I’ve never told another woman I loved her, and it was the truth. You’re the only woman I’ve ever said that to.” His dark gaze was direct and I believed him. Hadn’t doubted him really.
“You were always there in the back of my mind,” he said. “Even when we were living in different states. But Lauren was comfortable, and it was nice to be able to go home to that comfort after being in the trenches at work.”
“You really don’t have anything to explain to me, Jack.” I pushed my plate aside and touched his hand. “I understand. Just like I understand that seeing her yesterday caught you off guard and made you question whether everything she said might be true.” I wove my fingers with his. “I understand you. But Lauren was right about what she said about me. About us.”
Jack frowned and started to say something, but I cut him off.
“No, listen. She’s right that you’ll never be able to pick up where you left off with your career or go toward a high level position somewhere if you marry me. And I want you to know that I understand the sacrifice, and I love you all the more that you’re willing to make it.”
“It’s not a goddamned sacrifice,” he growled, and it made me smile just a little.
“I know. Which makes it even more special. You love me no matter what. And I trust you with my life, and more importantly, my heart.” I looked into his eyes and kissed him softly, and the tension in his shoulders ebbed as he took it deeper—made it sweeter.
“I love you.”
The words still made my heart flutter when he said them. “I love you too. But you should probably tell Lauren if she touches you again, I’m going to punch her in her perfect face.”
Jack let out a surprised burst of laughter and pulled me into a hug. “I’ll pass the word along. Are you headed up to bed or do you want to sit in on what Carver and I are doing for a while?”
“I’ll sit in with you guys. I want to know what’s going on.” I took my plate to the sink and rinsed it before I loaded it in the dishwasher, and then I refilled my coffee. “Don’t take any unnecessary chances with this. I’m scared for you.”
“I’m more at the pissed off stage than scared. We’ll find out who’s behind this. Carver and Greer are damned good at their jobs, and I’m no slouch either.”
“There’s something I need to tell you, and I don’t want you to get angry with me.”
“That’s always a good way to start a conversation. Does it have to do with your father?”
“You could say that.”
He sat at the kitchen table in the little nook that looked out over the trees. In the daytime it was beautiful. In the dark it was unnerving, especially when there were madmen out for Jack’s blood.
“Don’t worry. Greer’s got agents rotating the perimeter. Our home is safe. Never doubt that.”
“I saw my father again tonight,” I said. “When I came back to the funeral home with Leanne’s body.”
“Where? What did he want?” Jack was all cop now and I gave him a look until he relaxed back in his seat and stopped treating me like I was being interviewed.
“He was waiting for me inside the lab when I took the body down. He’d bypassed security.”
“When was the last time you changed the code?”
“When I came back after the attack. So it hasn’t been long. But I’m not sure anything could have kept him out. He’s good at what he does or he wouldn’t have made it as far as he has.”
“He took a chance being down there when you might not have gone down alone.”
“He’s plugged into everything that’s going on. He knew Agent Donaldson was sitting in front of the funeral home. He knew what was going on with you. He said to let him know if we needed any help.”
“Jesus,” Jack said, pushing up from the booth and getting a cup of coffee instead of another beer. “He’s got balls. I’ll give him that.”
Our knees bumped as he sat back across from me. “I take it he was there for the boxes?”
“Yeah. I let him know I’d told you he was back. He didn’t seem overly concerned.”
“He knows I’ve got my hands full with something else at the moment. It’s actually brilliant timing on his part. And it makes me wonder if he didn’t know some of what was going on before he decided to rise from the dead.”
“I had the same thought. He said my mom is dead.” I looked down into the steaming blackness of my cup as I told him. “It shouldn’t seem so fresh. She’s been dead to me for two years.�
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My hands held the cup for dear life and Jack wrapped his hands around mine. “It doesn’t make the truth hurt any less.”
“No, I guess not. He said they had trouble in Kaliningrad and she didn’t make it out. And he asked me if I’d looked inside the boxes. He said his future depended on the information that was in there.”
I filled Jack in on the story my dad gave me on why they stole me and claimed me as their own, trying to keep the emotion out of my voice and just state the facts.
“He won’t stop until he has those boxes.” He was my father, at least in name, but I couldn’t help a felon and traitor pave the way for his escape. That would blur the lines too much, and I wasn’t sure Jack would ever forgive me if I did. “We need to know what’s on those flash drives.”
Jack nodded. “I haven’t told Carver any details, but he’s said he’ll help if we ask him to. If the flash drives are encrypted, he’ll be our best bet on breaking through. Carver would make an excellent criminal.”
“In my experience, most cops would.”
Jack arched a brow but didn’t refute the statement. “It worries me that your dad can find you alone so easily. He knows your schedule and who you’re with.”
“Like I said, he’s tapped into what’s going on.”
“I don’t want you going anywhere alone until he’s found. Not even to a public restroom. I don’t know what his agenda is, but he can’t be trusted.”
It was my turn to arch a brow. “Since I know you love me to distraction, I’m going to pretend that’s the reason you’re giving me orders instead of asking. And I’ll make you a deal. I won’t be alone if you won’t be alone. My father is the least of our worries for now.”
He pulled back his hands and sighed, and then he scooted out from the booth to stand. I stood up after him, refusing to be the one in the less dominant position.
“You know I can’t promise that, Jaye. If we find out enough information and we know his weakness, it would be procedure to exploit it. He wants me dead. And if I have to be bait, then it’s something I’ll do to catch this asshole and make sure he pays for what he did to those men.”