“We’ll drown,” she pointed out, amazed at how shaky her voice sounded.
“I won’t let that happen,” he promised.
From nowhere, a crowd gathered. Jackie shivered. She lay perpendicular to the cab, scant inches from the front tire. J.D.’s expression looked more bleak than she had ever seen. He closed his eyes, holding her close and rocking her against his chest.
Abruptly two paramedics pushed aside onlookers as a familiar voice told people to step back. Great. Doubting Thompkins had arrived to witness another event-filled moment in her life.
J.D. reluctantly allowed himself to be replaced by the attendants. But the concern in his expression warmed her despite the cold.
“Lie still, ma’am. Where are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” she tried to explain.
She was still trying to convince them in the ambulance minutes later. In truth, Jackie felt weak and numb with cold. She was so grateful for the warmth of the car and the blanket put over her, she decided not to argue any further.
“Where’s J.D.?” She’d lost him in the commotion.
“The guy you were with?”
“Yes.”
“He’s going to follow in his car,” the attendant promised. The doors clanged shut and they were off with sirens blaring and a sliding, slipping lurch as the back tires spun in the widening ice slick caused by the fire hydrant.
A hydrant whose existence had saved her life, she reminded herself again.
At the hospital, a familiar intern greeted her with a shake of his head. “Back again?”
“Not by choice,” she muttered.
Dressed in a ridiculous hospital gown, she answered medical questions, interspersed by questions from a young police officer she’d never seen before. Reluctantly, she submitted to poking and prodding and another session with the X-ray machine, but only because her ankle throbbed like mad.
Her patience, however, fled once she finally warmed up and knew that the ankle was still just sprained. “I’m fine,” she told everyone who would listen. “I want to talk to J.D.”
When the curtain parted once more, annoyance sent words tumbling past her lips even before her eyes lifted to the newest visitor. “I want my clothes right now.”
Thompkins raised both hands defensively. “I didn’t take them.”
Embarrassed, she dropped her pointing finger to her lap. “I thought you were the nurse,” she mumbled.
“Not even on my good days,” he assured her.
Jackie realized Thompkins wasn’t in uniform. His heavy winter coat was dark, but definitely not police issue. He also wasn’t alone.
J.D. came forward, his intense gaze raking her from top to bottom. Not for the first time, she was reminded of a predator, despite his current, rumpled condition. His outer clothing was sopping wet Bristles shadowed his jaw and his hair had that finger-combed look again. Yet, he still managed to appear dark and disturbingly sexy.
“You sure you’re okay?” he demanded huskily.
“Fine. I’ve even got the tests to prove it.” But his obvious concern soothed something ragged in her chest.
“You scared the hell out of me.” And he kissed her full on the mouth right there in front of Thompkins.
“J.D.!”
“Don’t ever scare me like that again!”
“It wasn’t my fault! I was attacked.”
“I know.” His expression shuttered, that bleak look returning. “It was my fault. I should never have left you there. I thought I’d die when I saw him push you in front of that cab.”
The intensity behind his words had her reaching for his hand. “No. It wasn’t your fault. I was just in the wrong place at the right time. It could have happened to anyone.
“You do lead an exciting life, Ms. Neeley,” Thompkins interrupted. “Want to tell me what happened?”
“I already told you,” J.D. said. He never took his eyes from her face.
“And I already talked to another officer,” Jackie pointed out. “Besides, what’s the point? You don’t believe a word I tell you, anyhow.”
“Jackie…” J.D. squeezed her fingers warningly.
“Be quiet, J.D.” Thompkins said sternly. “Please, Ms. Neeley. Humor me. Take your time and tell me in your own words exactly what happened.”
Jackie lifted her chin and sent him a glare. “I was waiting for J.D., when someone ran out of the alley behind me. He tore my purse from my shoulder and knocked me into the street.”
“Can you describe him?”
“Sure. He was big and he wore something dark that covered his face. That’s all I saw. The streetlight was out, and the wind was blowing snow in my face.”
Thompkins rubbed at his jaw. “Okay. Can you describe your purse?”
“Down to the tissue inside,” she assured him and proceeded to do just that.
“I suppose those keys you just mentioned included your new house keys?” Thompkins said.
She glared at him. “All my keys were in my purse.” She spared a wry glance at J.D. “J.D. thought it was dangerous for me to leave them on the table in my hall.”
He winced, but didn’t release her hand. How could he look so incredibly sexy to her? And why was she even thinking about sex right now?
“Ms. Neeley—”
“Look, I’m tired and I’m hungry. I’ve been assaulted, flash frozen and examined. I have no desire to sit here all night in this dinky gown answering any more questions. I’ve told you what happened. The cab driver is blameless. If anything, he should get a medal. I still don’t see how he missed me.”
“Me either,” J.D. muttered.
“No charges will be filed,” Thompkins promised. “I’m just doing my job, Ms. Neeley.”
“Well in case J.D. didn’t fill you in, let me give you something interesting to think about tonight. We spoke to the woman who owns Teller Photography. It seems she’s missing a couple of elves.”
Thompkins gave J.D. a sharp look. “What do you mean she’s missing some elves?” he demanded.
J.D. released her then. Feeling righteously smug over what they had learned, Jackie explained. “One of her elves disappeared sometime after work on Sunday. Another one failed to show up tonight. Both young. Both male. And both just happen to be friends of Donnie Lieberman and Oggie Korbel.”
Thompkins’s surprise was all she could have hoped for and more.
“Oggie Korbel was murdered,” he muttered. He looked at J.D., who nodded.
“I know,” Jackie agreed. “Now, you may think I’m crazy, but even you will have to pay attention to three dead men, Officer Thompkins.”
“Three?”
“Trust me,” she said sarcastically. “At least one of those missing elves is dead.”
Chapter Eleven
J.D. almost smiled. His relief was indescribable. Jackie really was okay. In fact, other than a few bruises, Jackie didn’t look or act like a victim. Despite what she’d been through, she was giving them hell in a tart, refined manner. He wanted to hug her as Thompkins pursued his questioning. Instead, J.D. slipped out of the cubicle and cornered the doctor.
“Okay to take Ms. Neeley home?”
“Sure. We were just waiting for you guys to finish with your questions.”
The doctor obviously believed J.D. was with the police since he’d trailed behind Thompkins from the moment they entered the hospital. J.D. thanked him and went out to move his car to the curb. Nothing had ever scared him as badly as seeing Jackie fall in front of that taxi and knowing there wasn’t a thing he could do to save her. He still couldn’t believe she was all right.
Thompkins came through the pneumatic doors before J.D. could reenter the hospital.
“They’re releasing her. Don’t let her go back to the house.”
“Not a chance,” he agreed.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the elves?”
J.D. shrugged. “I forgot.” It was the truth. He hadn’t been able to think of a thing beyond Jackie’s safety.
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Ben rubbed at his jaw, his expression troubled. “I don’t like this. Her mugging is too coincidental.”
Thompkins wasn’t doubting any more.
“You think it had something to do with our visit to the photographer?”
“Frankly, I don’t know what the hell to think. Just be real careful until we find out what’s going on, J.D.”
“Can I assume you’re going to the mall?”
“Yeah. They’ll be closing in a few minutes. I want to have a chat with Ms. Teller before she leaves.”
“You’ll let me know what she says?”
Thompkins frowned, but nodded. “Yeah.”
J.D. grabbed Jackie’s case from the trunk of the car, thankful he’d put an entire change of clean clothing inside his gym bag only yesterday. He’d already changed his own wet jacket for a spare sweat jacket.
He heard her before he parted the curtains.
“You must have a clothes dryer somewhere in the hospital,” she complained. “I can’t leave here in sopping wet clothing.”
J.D. entered the cubicle, smiled sympathetically at a nurse who held a sodden bundle of clothing, then handed Jackie her bag.
“Here you go. I have the car waiting at the door, so you won’t need a coat. Yours wouldn’t do you much good anyhow. The buttons are gone and the shoulder tore out of it completely.” He took the wet bundle from the nurse and allowed her to precede him into the hall, ignoring Jackie’s protests.
The nurse offered him a warm smile. “You’ve got your hands full with that one.”
J.D. grinned back. “Yeah. I do, don’t I?” He felt good. Wonderful. Jackie was going to be fine.
He hummed tunelessly, in relief, as he put her wet belongings in the trunk of his car and cleared the windshield of new snow. She had come close to dying tonight. The horror still hadn’t left him.
He used the car phone to call home and check on the kids, noticing for the first time the way snow blanketed the grassy areas and had begun to cling to the asphalt, as well.
“I know it’s a school night, but the kids aren’t here, J.D.,” his aunt informed him. “Joan Honnrue invited them to spend the night. They’re predicting several inches of snow tonight and the schools already announced delayed openings for tomorrow.”
J.D. studied the swirling snowfall. If his children were at the neighbor’s down the street, his responsibilities for the rest of the evening were nonexistent. “That’s fine, Aunt Dottie. Do you think you can stand the peace and quiet all night?”
“I’ll manage,” his aunt said with a chuckle. “You just go tend to your love life. I like that girl,” she told him. “Jackie has spunk.”
Was his entire family playing matchmaker? He looked up and saw Jackie heading toward the glass doors. Aunt Dottie didn’t know the half of it “You’re a wonder, Aunt Dottie. See you tomorrow.”
He disconnected and climbed out to hold the car door for Jackie.
“I could have called a cab, you know,” she stated grumpily when he slipped behind the wheel.
He wanted to laugh in sheer relief, but she probably wouldn’t take it the right way. And she was entitled to be grumpy after tonight’s events.
“No money, remember?”
“Oh, no! How am I going to pay for my motel room?”
“I have money. And credit cards,” he told her.
“I can’t let you pay for my room!”
“Okay, I’ll pay for my own and we can share.”
Jackie stopped fidgeting and stared at him. “What about the kids and Aunt Dottie?”
“The kids are staying the night with the neighbor down the street.” And he would send Joan Honnrue a dozen roses in the morning. “I just talked to Aunt Dottie. She’s already in bed watching television.”
“Oh.”
What was she thinking? “Are you still hungry?”
“Yes.”
“They have a decent restaurant across the street. I’m buying since I haven’t had dinner yet, either.”
Her silence hung in the air. “I’m tired, J.D.”
“You have to eat,” he cajoled.
“Not dressed like this, I don’t”
He grinned in relief. It wasn’t him she was objecting to. “The hotel probably has room service.”
He let the words linger in the silent car. The remembered taste and feel of her teased his libido. Was she also remembering the sweet way she had given herself to him this afternoon? Was she regretting her actions? Or looking forward to a repeat?
“I’ve been thinking about that attacker, J.D. What if he wasn’t some random mugger? I mean, Steve Pinta could have seen us go inside Teller’s. Maybe he thinks I’m a threat to him.”
“Thompkins is already looking into that possibility.”
“Oh.” She settled back in her seat, somewhat deflated. “I still don’t see how there can be a connection between Donnie and Larry. It doesn’t make sense.”
The car lost traction as J.D. turned a corner. Snow clung to the roads making driving treacherous.
“It’s really coming down out here.”
“Yeah. Aunt Dottie says we’re going to have several inches before the night’s over.”
Jackie twisted to face him as he drove past the state police barracks and pulled into the parking lot of a chain motel. He parked the car, turned off the ignition, then reached over and cupped the side of her face with his hand.
“Is this okay?”
“Yes.”
At her soft response, he claimed her lips. She trembled beneath him, alive. Blessedly alive. The thought of how close he’d come to losing her made him pull back. “I’m glad you weren’t seriously hurt tonight.”
“Me, too.” Her hand on his upper arm quivered just the tiniest bit. Passion, rather than rejection dominated her expression.
She was so unique. So unbearably special.
“I can get two rooms if you’d rather,” he offered.
She drew in a shaky breath and raised her chin. “Seems like a waste of money to me.”
J.D. chuckled. He kissed her again, a hot, demanding kiss, gratified when she responded in kind. “Hold that thought,” he whispered. He pulled away and opened the car door. The biting wind and snow cooled more than his ardor.
He checked them in, grateful that the clerk seemed too preoccupied by the football game on his small television set to ask any questions about their bedraggled state. Jackie hovered silently.
He imagined she hadn’t spent a lot of time in hotels in her life. He’d bet there were a lot of things she hadn’t had time or money to do since her disastrous marriage. Including spending a night with a man who wasn’t her husband.
Jackie was endearingly nervous as she eyed the kingsize bed. J.D. called room service for a meal while she excused herself to use the bathroom and change clothes. He knew better than to fantasize about her changing into some slinky, seductive outfit. After all, he’d seen her wardrobe.
He stripped out of his sodden dress pants and pulled his own sweats on.
After setting his wet shoes near the heating unit and hanging his socks and wet pants to dry, J.D. prowled the room listening to her hair dryer. Finally, he flipped on the television to catch the last part of the nightly news.
The food arrived before Jackie came out. J.D. realized he was the nervous one now as he arranged their dinner and poured them each a glass of wine. He wished the motel had had a flower shop.
When she stepped into the room, J.D. flicked off the sports. She’d brushed her hair until it gleamed in the soft light, pulling it away from her face with a small clip. Despite the bruised look beneath her eyes and the wary way she surveyed the room, she carried herself with an aura of grace and dignity.
When had he fallen in love with her?
“Good, the food came. I’m starving,” she said.
“Me, too. Dig in. I’m ready to eat yours and mine and call for seconds. I hope you like Chablis.”
“I don’t know. I don’t drink much.”
“It’ll help you relax.”
Jackie peered at him from beneath a fall of hair. “Do I need to relax?”
“After that fall you took,” he said lightly, “I think so.
She hesitated, then lifted her fork. They ate in a strangely companionable silence, looking out over the parking lot and the falling snow.
“I’m not sure this is a good idea, J.D.,” Jackie said in a quiet tone.
He swallowed and cocked his head to one side, deciding to keep his tone light. “What isn’t?”
“You and me.”
He studied her face and saw years of self-abasement reflected there. “Then nothing will happen, Jackie. We’ll finish eating, watch a movie on television and go to sleep. Married couples do it all the time.”
“We aren’t married.”
“For tonight, we’re whatever we want to be. If you’re tired, we’ll sleep. No pressure and no demands.” He wanted to destroy the apprehension lurking in her eyes.
Apparently, it worked. She took several more bites before slanting a glance in his direction.
“And if I want to make demands?”
He almost laughed at the mercurial flux of her mood. “Oh, I’ll suffer through somehow.”
“You’re a tease, Mr. Frost.”
“Thank you.”
“No,” she said, suddenly serious again. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For caring. For just being you.”
J.D. set down his glass, no longer interested in food or the wine. “You’ve intrigued me from the moment we met over that ice pick in your store. Every time you sent me away, I found myself looking for reasons to come back.”
“You aren’t just feeling sorry for me?”
J.D. leaned closer, brushing her knee with his own. Jackie’s lips parted, but she didn’t draw her leg away.
“I might feel sorry for Ben Thompkins or the nurses and doctors you were taking to task, but not for you. You’re the strongest person I know.” He covered her hand with his own, feeling her tremble.
Jackie pushed her plate aside. “I’m not strong.”
He slid his hand along the material covering her arm. “Oh yeah, in every way that counts, you’re solid steel.” His hand rounded her shoulder, soothing the delicate tremors. “But you’re also sexy as hell.” He pushed back a fall of hair that had worked its way loose from the clip. “Very sexy.” And he leaned forward until he could kiss the side of her neck. Jackie quivered in reaction.
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