The List

by Velvet Vaughn

  Maybe this situation would work out the same way. It would be tough and Lauren would throw a fit, but in the end, she would be safe and that was all that mattered. The best thing to do would be to just march in the room and tell her in no uncertain terms that she was leaving in the morning. Quick and fast, like ripping off a bandaid.

  He paced back to the great room and found Lauren and Jac chatting away like schoolgirls. His heart twisted at the sight. He knew Lauren missed having a mother around. Corinne had never been available, not through the school plays or the skinned knees or the awkward years as Lauren transformed from a little girl to a young lady. Oh, she never missed a birthday and always managed to send a nice Christmas gift, but in all the ways a daughter needed a mother, Corinne failed miserably.

  Matt tried his best to be both parents to Lauren but he knew some things she would never be able to discuss with him. Thank goodness for his mother. She lived for her granddaughter and had been a positive influence in Lauren’s life. He didn’t know what he would have done without his parents.

  But it wasn’t the same as having a mother.

  Sometimes he wished he’d gotten married again so Lauren would have a female influence other than his mom. He almost did once, but after the fiasco with Sue, he vowed he’d never allow a woman to become important to him again. For Lauren’s sake.

  His gaze strayed to Jac. She was listening intently as his daughter chatted happily with her. He closed his eyes in self-disgust. What had he been thinking making love to her? He’d been indifferent, borderline rude to her all day. He’d hurt her and she didn’t understand his withdrawal.

  He didn’t understand it himself.

  He sustained casual relationships with women he was having sex with before. But last night with Jac made that impossible. The entire evening had been surreal and now he felt disorientated, off-kilter. She made him want things he couldn’t have and made him feel things he had no business feeling. It wasn’t just the sex—although that had been spectacular. For the first time in his life, he felt whole, complete with her in his arms.

  It scared him to death.

  He could admit to himself that he cared deeply for her, but he had to get over his obsession—and the sooner he started the better. No sense leading her on. They couldn’t even be friends because he would want her every time he saw her. After spending an incredible night where they made love three times, he would know exactly what he was missing.

  It took a Herculean effort, but he shoved those thoughts aside. He had to deal with Lauren. He was about to upset her and she would probably hate him. He could hardly bear the thought. Running his hands through his hair, he repeated “bandaid, bandaid” in his head and stepped forward to face his personal firing squad.

  “Hi, Dad. I was just telling Jac about… Dad? What’s wrong? How did you get that bump on your head?”

  “We need to talk, princess.” He sat in a chair facing the women on the couch. Lauren was visibly shaken after he carefully told her about the accident last night. Both he and Jac assured her of their well-being and once she calmed down, he dropped the bomb.

  “Lauren, honey, I’m arranging for you to fly down to stay with your grandparents until this is over.”

  “Oh, well.” Pause. “I don’t want to leave you or Jac. I would be worried.”

  “I’d be a nervous wreck if you stayed.”

  “Are you sure I have to go?”

  “Positive.” Wow, this had been easier than he thought. His baby was growing up.

  She nodded with determination. “Okay, I’ll go. Right after the dance next week.”

  Damn. “No, Lauren, you’re going in the morning.” Just as soon as he could locate his globe-trotting parents.

  Lauren jumped to her feet. “I am not missing that dance, Daddy.” She stomped her foot, reminding him of when she was a toddler. “You know how much it means to me.”

  “Your safety is more important.”

  Lauren bristled. “What makes you think I’ll be safe out in the African wilderness? I could be gored by a rhinoceros, or swallowed by a boa constrictor or, or, come down with a deadly case of malaria.”

  Matt blanched. He hadn’t thought about those things.

  “I could be kidnapped by some remote jungle tribe and forced to marry the chief’s son at spear point and have my nose and mouth pierced and my body tattooed.”

  Leave it to his overly dramatic daughter to carry it a bit too far. She must have watched too many hours of programming on the Discovery Channel. He sighed. “While you do paint quite a picture, I’m sure you’ll be just fine. But to make you feel better, I’ll have Grandma and Grandpa meet you someplace safer, maybe Tahiti. A vacation on a tropical island. How does that sound?”

  “Aren’t they expecting me to fly to Kenya tomorrow?”

  He averted his eyes. “Not exactly.”

  Lauren crossed her arms. “You haven’t been able to reach them, have you, Daddy?”

  That’s what he got for having a smart daughter. “Not exactly.”

  She threw her arms wide. “What, you’re going to stick your fifteen year old daughter—” she jammed a finger in the air—“who I might add, has been sheltered, albeit it lovingly, her whole life on a plane bound for Africa to fend for herself?”

  He jumped up from the chair. “For goodness sake, Lauren, you know better than that. I would never do that to you.”

  Lauren glared at him. He glared back.

  “Why don’t we sit and discuss this rationally,” Jac appeased.

  Lauren plopped down next to Jac and grabbed her hands. “Jac, please, you have to make Dad see reason. I have to go to the dance.” She fought tears. “I’ve already bought the dress and—” she sniffed—“I organized the whole thing. It’s not fair that I don’t get to see it through. We’re announcing how much money was raised for the victims.” A choked sob emerged. “I can’t disappoint Billy. This means the world to him.”

  Matt hardened his heart. He had to. For her sake.

  “I’d be safer here with you and Dad,” she pleaded, still speaking directly to Jac. “I’ll be extra careful, I swear.”

  Jac’s gaze met his. She chewed on her bottom lip, obviously torn between her loyalty to Lauren and to him.

  “Would you go if they tried to send you away?” she cried.

  “It’s different, honey.” Jac ran her hand down Lauren’s long hair. “I’m an adult.”

  “I’m almost an adult!” Big fat tears spilled down her pink cheeks. She turned to Matt. “Please, Daddy. I swear I’ll go right after the dance. Please.” Her chest heaved with sobs.

  She looked exactly like she did when she was a little girl and he felt as if a wrecking ball had slammed into his gut. He closed his eyes and resisted the urge to drag her into his arms and promise to slay all her dragons, just as he had when she was five and woke up screaming with nightmares.

  He’d never been able to stand it when she cried. Even when she was a baby, he had to hold her, cuddle her to his chest, whenever she was upset. He knew he wasn’t supposed to do it each time she bawled, but he just couldn’t help it. His heart ripped clean in two every single time she was upset.

  It did now. He wanted to cry with her.

  But he had to be strong. Swallowing a lump bigger than Texas, he opened his mouth to argue but Jac derailed his plans when he saw the tears streaming down her face as well.

  He was a dead man walking—or standing as the case was.

  “Since you can’t reach your parents and she has people here to watch her, don’t you think it would be best to keep her with us? We can’t just send her away by herself. Dan is a professional bodyguard.”

  “No.” It was a croak but he managed to get the word out.

  Jac swiped her fingers across her damp cheeks. “Matt, she will only be fifteen once in her life. This means a great deal to her. We can put her on a plane afterwards.”

  He shook his head.

  “Lauren why don’t you go to your room so your
dad and I can discuss this.”

  Lauren threw her arms around Jac. “Thank you. I knew you would understand.” She kissed her on the cheek. “You’re a great friend.” She wiped the tears with the back of her hands, leaped from the couch and disappeared, a door slamming in her wake.

  Matt’s gaze followed his daughter and as soon as she was gone, he rounded on Jac.

  “What the hell are you doing?” He pointed a finger. “You have no right to tell me how to raise my daughter.”

  “No, I don’t.” Jac spoke calmly, her gaze direct. “But as her friend…and yours, I would hope I could offer advice.”

  He threw a hand in the air. “Well, I don’t need your advice.” He lowered his voice. “Just because we slept together doesn’t mean that gives you authority in this house. I’m sending her away and that’s final.”

  Jac visibly recoiled from his harsh words and once again, he felt like a complete jackass.

  “I didn’t mean that,” he sighed, reining in his temper. “It’s just…Lauren is my life. She has been since the day she came into this world—before actually, when I found out Corinne was pregnant. When she was nine and broke her arm, I honest to God had to be sedated. I know I’m overprotective, but I just love her so damn much.” His voice broke. “I don’t know what I would do if something happened to her.”

  Jac’s voice was husky with tears. “You could never know how much this is killing me, knowing that it’s my fault that sweet young girl is bawling her eyes out, my fault that you’re torn up. I’m dying inside, Matt. Literally dying.”

  “Your fault,” he snorted incredulously. “How is it your fault? I’m the one sending her away.”

  “Because—” she sobbed—“whoever is doing this is out to destroy me. You and Lauren are innocent bystanders. Don’t you see? This is a direct attack on me. It’s personal. Lives have been lost and it is my fault.”

  He crossed the room in two steps. He gripped her arms and hauled her to her feet. “I’ve told you. Don’t say that. It is not your fault.”

  “I may not be family, Matt—” as you pointed out was implied in her tone—“but I also love Lauren. I don’t want her harmed. You trust Luke, Logan and Dan, don’t you?”

  “I wouldn’t have hired them otherwise.”

  “Then let’s trust them and us to keep her safe.”

  He dropped his head to Jac’s. He might have been able to withstand just Lauren or just Jac, but the double impact wore him down. He felt battered, beaten. “I don’t know…all my instincts are telling me to send her away.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. Might as well stick a fork in him. He was done.

  “We’ll keep her safe.”

  “If she’s harmed…”

  “She won’t be. We won’t allow it.”

  That easily, he conceded. He sighed deeply in defeat. If something did happen to Lauren, he would never be able to live with himself.

  Twenty-Five

  Lauren accepted her reprieve as expected of a fifteen year old girl. She skipped around the house like a Mexican jumping bean on speed, emitted happy squeals like a dolphin on speed, and then ran to her room to call her girlfriends like a teenager on speed.

  Matt had just chugged half a bottle of Pepto-Bismol to soothe his upset stomach when his cell rang. He finished the call and went searching for Jac. His surly mood disappeared after their argument. He decided he needed to treat her with the respect and dignity she deserved. He would just keep his damn wandering hands to himself.

  He found her sitting on the deck, Murphy curled against her side. “Hey, everything okay?”

  Murphy lifted his head and ‘woofed.’

  Matt crouched down and ruffled his coat. “Glad to hear it, buddy,” he quipped. He brushed a hand down Jac’s back. “And you, sweetheart?”

  She nodded, her eyes moving from Murphy’s wagging tongue to the panoramic view. Matt followed her gaze to the canopy of red and yellow and orange leaves surrounding the lake.

  “It’s pretty as a postcard,” she observed wistfully. “If I had the slightest bit of artistic talent, I’d paint this scene. I could sit here and stare at it all day.”

  “Me too.” His gaze however, was locked on Jac. She turned at his words and her breath caught at the look on his face.

  He reached out and brushed a stray tendril behind her ear. Darn his wandering hands. He cleared his throat. “How do you feel about taking a ride downtown to talk to a friend?”

  “A friend…? Harvey?”

  “The one and only.”

  Her melancholy vanished and she jumped to her feet. What are you waiting for?” she called over her shoulder impatiently.

  He chuckled and picked up his pace to follow.

  Luke and Logan met them at the car and they piled in and headed to the station. They filtered single file into the stone building and approached the officer manning the reception desk. They signed in, passed through a metal detector and followed the cop escorting them to a private examination room. A few minutes later a man wearing a rumpled blazer and crooked tie entered, exchanging handshakes with Luke. He introduced himself as Detective Hurley.

  The detective pulled out a chair and flipped it around to straddle it. “We picked Block up this morning and have already questioned him thoroughly. He broke down and admitted making non-threatening phone calls and attempting to visit Ms. Sera at her residence. But he vehemently denied responsibility for the cut brake line, hostile notes or packages.”

  Detective Hurley pinched the bridge of his nose. “Frankly, questioning Block has been…tedious to say the least. When he isn’t whining like a trapped animal he sobs like a newborn baby.” Hurley shook his head. “He may have even wet himself when I accused him of making terrorist threats and sending the fake bomb.

  “Also, it could have been Block who tried to run you off the road. We obviously haven’t had enough time to conduct a DNA test, but we do know that his blood type matches the sample from the truck. The bad news is that it’s O positive, the most common type.”

  Detective Hurley sighed and stood. “I think it would be best if Ms. Sera talked to him alone. We’re hoping he’ll open up to her. We can sit in the next room and watch via the two way mirror.”

  “No way, uh-uh.” Matt crossed his arms, shook his head and announced defiantly, “I’m not leaving Jac alone with that psychopath.”

  “Mr. Block will be in hand and leg cuffs,” the detective assured him.

  Jac placed a hand on Matt’s arm, touched by his protests. “Let me talk to him first. You’ll be right next door.”

  “But if he tries something…”

  “You’ll be right next door,” she repeated. “I’ll be fine. I promise.”

  He scowled but followed Luke, Logan and Hurley to the adjoining room. A few minutes later the door pushed open and a tall uniformed officer led an orange jumpsuit-wearing Harvey inside. He shuffled forward, his hands shackled in front of his body. He looked frail and pathetic.

  His eyes lit up when he spotted Jac at the table and he broke into a wide grin. “Jacqueline, I’m glad to see you.” He held his manacled hands out in appeal and tried to reach her but the cop placed a meaty paw on his shoulder and shoved him into a chair.

  Pinning Harvey with a warning look, the cop spoke to Jac. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

  Harvey waited until he left. “Oh Jacqueline.” He threw his arms atop the table, his palms up in silent appeal. “I’ve missed you. Please tell them they’re making a mistake. They think I want to harm you. I’d never hurt you, Jacqueline, you know that, don’t you?”

  “Harvey, why did you quit your job and follow me all the way from California?”

  Harvey’s gaze skidded to the floor. “I didn’t...exactly.”

  Jac placed her hands on the table. “Harvey, you’re here. That clearly indicates you followed me.”

  His watery eyes met hers again. “Yes, but I had to see you.” He opened his hands in a pleading gesture. “Don’
t you know how much I’ve missed you?”

  She hardened her heart to his desperate appeal. He was truly pitiable and this is how she got into the mess in the first place. She felt sorry for him and agreed to go out. He mistook her friendship for love. Pitying Harvey wasn’t good for either of them.

  She tried her question again. “Harvey, why did you quit your job with Freedman and Freedman and follow me here?”

  “I didn’t quit.” He slumped in the chair. “They fired me.”

  “Fired you? Why? Numbers are something you’re actually good… I mean, you seemed to know your stuff.”

  “They fired me because I missed too many days when I fell into a major depression after you left me.”

  “Oh, Harvey.” She was wrong. This man was light years past pathetic. He needed to hike the equivalent of Mount Everest just to reach dismal.

  She fought the sliver of sympathy that tried to snake its way into her heart. “They fired you and you decided to come here and stalk me?”

  “I’m not a stalker. I saw the front page story about you in the paper. I was so proud. It was a sign that I should come see you.”

  “How did you see the article from California, Harvey? The story appeared in the Bloomington paper.”

  Harvey’s eyes widened innocently. “I pulled it up online. I check it daily for news about you.”

  She sighed.

  “Jacqueline, the police accused me of some horrible crimes. Has someone actually done these things to you? Did someone tamper with your brakes and try to run you off the road?”

  “Yes.”

  He clutched her hand. “I wouldn’t hurt you, Jacqueline. I love y—”

  The door burst open and Matt thundered inside, halting Harvey’s declaration. Jac eased her fingers from his grip.