Framed For Love

by Rachel Ann Nunes

  Cassi’s heart again thudded wildly in her chest. “Calm down,” she told herself. “Jared couldn’t possibly know you would come here and find these. He must have hidden them here so—” The alternative was even worse. Had Jared thrown them there at the last minute to hide them from an unwanted visitor? Perhaps the same people who had ransacked her house? Did they have Jared even now?

  No, they’d left Jared a note. Why would they do that if they had taken him?

  “He’ll be coming home any minute,” she said to the Mickey Mouse clock on the bed, but her voice came as a frightened whisper.

  Mechanically, Cassi put the nightstand back together and slipped Jared’s keys into her purse. I’ll go ask Linden what he thinks. It’ll be better than talking to Mickey Mouse.

  For the first time since she met Jared, she wished her family lived near her in California instead of in Utah. Her brother Robert, a police officer in Provo, would know what to do about her house. Maybe she should call him.

  No, Linden had connections with the FBI, and she could trust him as much as Robert. He’d know what to do about Jared and the note.

  In the parking lot next to Jared’s apartment building, she searched for his car and found it stationed between two trucks. Had he even driven it since she’d seen him yesterday at dinner? There was no way of knowing.

  Feeling self-conscious, she checked the keys on the ring and found the one that matched his car. “Car, house, apartment—that leaves five more keys. They could be to anything.” She knew he had several wooden chests in her garage, but they couldn’t possibly be related to his disappearance. He hadn’t so much as been in her garage since he moved into the studio apartment. They had moved in only the necessities, knowing that he would soon be living at the house anyway.

  Maybe he had a private locker somewhere. Or a box at some bus or train station. Did those still exist?

  “Stop it,” she told herself. “The only box Jared has is one at the post office.” That made her examine the keys more thoroughly. Which one was it? She spied a gold one that read: U.S.P.S. DO NOT DUPLICATE.

  Setting her lips in frustration, Cassi started her car and drove toward the freeway. Where was Jared? The note on her bed implied that he had something someone wanted, so obviously they didn’t know where it or he was. Jared must still have it—and that meant he could return at any moment.

  But from where? And how could he have left without his keys or his car? The most worrisome problem, of course, was why he had hidden the keys in the nightstand. It didn’t make sense unless they were important.

  I have to know, she thought. Stifling the rational voice inside her that urged her to Linden’s, she left the freeway and headed in the opposite direction.

  It took her twenty minutes to arrive at the post office nearest her home. The late summer sun had begun to set, sending sprays of red light across the western sky. It was beautiful, but Cassi hurried inside the post office, not giving nature’s artwork a second look. She had been with Jared to check the box before, but couldn’t remember exactly which was his. To make matters worse, the key didn’t have a number stamped on it—a protection in case it was ever lost, she supposed.

  She began trying the key in all the boxes, glad that she was alone. The post office glowed with faint fluorescent lighting, but it wasn’t dark enough yet for her to worry about being watched from the shadows of trees outside the large windows.

  Why would she think of that? Shrugging off the odd feeling, Cassi concentrated on her work. At last the key turned in a lock. Inside, she found junk mail and a thin manila envelope addressed to Jared. She didn’t recognize the bold writing, but as she glanced at the return address in Covina, she saw that it was from her long-time friend, Renae—or perhaps from Renae’s husband, Trent. What either might send to Jared completely escaped her. Regardless, it wouldn’t tell her where Jared was or why he was missing.

  Loneliness fell like a heavy shroud on Cassi’s shoulders, and she desperately wished Jared was with her. What if something serious had happened to him? What if she never saw him again? The events of the day came rushing back—broken dishes, neatly placed books, the knife sticking out of her waterbed—and she had to tighten her jaw to control her emotions.

  Something was dreadfully wrong.

  Without paying attention to anything around her, she made her way back to the car and onto the freeway, heading toward Linden’s. Please be there, she thought.

  The manila envelope on the seat slipped to the floor. Cassi let it stay where it fell.

  CHAPTER TWO

  THE TWO MEN WHO HAD cornered Jared in his apartment Tuesday night and then forced him into their white sedan weren’t gentle. His body ached where they had hit him repeatedly when he tried to refuse their hospitality. All attempts at rational conversation with the thugs failed, and with two of them holding him, he didn’t have the chance to try out his recently-learned kickboxing skills.

  On the drive, they tied a blindfold over his eyes, but it would have been just as confusing for Jared if they had left it off. Having only been in San Diego three months, he wasn’t familiar with most of the terrain—especially at night.

  He tried to peer out at the men, but the cloth was thick and black and blotted out all light. It’s for intimidation, he thought. And it worked. He was completely and utterly terrified. But at least he had managed to hide the keys where no one would ever find them.

  They dragged him out of the car a short while later and into a building. Jared could feel the difference in humidity. Abruptly, the hands left him.

  “We know you have it,” a man said. “Tell us where it is and we’ll let you go.” The crisp, decisive voice didn’t belong to either of the men who had so kindly escorted him from his apartment. This voice belonged to a man who was accustomed to being obeyed.

  “What is it I’m supposed to have?” Jared asked.

  “Don’t play stupid with us. We have proof.”

  Proof? Jared’s blood ran cold. What kind of proof could they have? “Who are you?” he asked.

  He heard a dry laugh. “Don’t you want to live? The less you know, the better for you.”

  “I know nothing,” Jared said.

  “We know you have it.”

  “Your men searched my apartment. I don’t have whatever it is you want. I don’t even know what you want.”

  “You don’t lie very well.”

  “Lack of practice,” Jared mumbled under his breath.

  “You have something that belongs to us. Make no mistake—we will get it back.”

  Out of the darkness, a jabbing pain assaulted his jaw, followed closely by another attack to his stomach. More blows showed Jared that the treatment the thugs had given him in his apartment had only been the warm-up.

  “I don’t have it!” Jared screamed, raising his arms to ward off the unseen attack. This much was true. He didn’t know if Trent had even sent the information yet.

  More punches, and Jared finally saw lights—stars popping in and out of existence as his brain reeled with pain. His legs gave out, and he crumpled to the carpeted floor. The blows stopped, but the pain remained—throbbing, aching, and sore.

  “Take him away,” the voice ordered. “Let him think about it for a while.” Rough hands jerked him to his feet, and the pounding in his head intensified.

  “Wait!” the voice commanded.

  Jared’s forward motion stopped.

  “If your life means so little to you, maybe we’ll have to invite your girlfriend to visit us.”

  Jared tasted blood in his mouth, but he didn’t speak. Anything he said could only make the situation worse.

  “Just think about it.”

  He was taken from the room. After a lengthy walk, he was half-dragged, half-carried down a seemingly endless flight of hollow-sounding stairs and shoved through a door. He stumbled over something soft and sprawled over it onto a bare cement floor. The door locked behind him.

  He spit blood and lay for a long while withou
t moving, his cheek pressed against the cool cement. The three-month-old bullet wound in his left shoulder ached worse than he ever remembered.

  Oh, Cassi, he thought. What now? In his mind he pictured her, vivacious and beautiful, with her long hair curled in its naturally tight ringlets. When taken by itself, her face might be no different from a thousand other pretty faces, but with her love of life, her kindness, and vulnerability, she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He loved her more than he had ever imagined it possible to love anyone.

  Thoughts of Cassi gave him the determination to fight for freedom, though his body wanted nothing more than to seek oblivion. With both hands, he managed to work off the blindfold. Still sitting on the ground, he forced himself to turn in a full circle as he searched the room. His body throbbed with the torment. The room was dark and windowless and gave him the impression of being very large. No help here. He tried to adjust his position to find a more comfortable spot. One foot hit the soft thing by the door. Was it a blanket? Perhaps a mattress?

  Each movement brought eye-watering agony, but he forced himself to crawl over to the lump. Whatever it was, it had to be more comfortable than the cold cement.

  His hand froze as he touched the object. It wasn’t a blanket at all, but a lifeless body.

  CHAPTER THREE

  LINDEN STARED AT CASSI AS she stood in his study and told her story. “You should have called me from your neighbor’s as soon as you saw someone had been in your home,” he scolded. “You could have gotten yourself killed. Why are you so impulsive?”

  His words hit home. “Killed? Oh, Linden, we have to find Jared!”

  “Don’t you have any idea what Jared was involved in? I thought you two were close.”

  “We are. It’s just—” But he was right. Apparently Jared hadn’t shared everything about his life. She gazed at Linden unhappily. “Maybe three months isn’t enough when it comes to deciding about marriage.”

  The furrow in Linden’s brow told her he felt her pain, though he couldn’t really know how she felt. He had never married. To her knowledge, he had never even been in love.

  Linden put his arms around her and held her tenderly. She felt safe and comfortable and allowed his presence to calm her.

  “The keys have to be important,” Linden said, leading her to his sofa.

  “That’s what I thought. But I don’t know what they go to.” Cassi swallowed hard, but the lump in her throat wouldn’t leave. “His P.O. box was the only thing I could think of. You know, maybe he mailed something to himself.”

  She waited for Linden to tell her she was wrong, but his expression remained serious. “And was there anything at all in the box?”

  “Just junk mail, and an envelope from our friends in Covina. I have the mail in the car. Would you like to see it?”

  “It’s probably nothing, but why don’t you go get it? Maybe you missed something. Meanwhile, I’ll call my friends at the Bureau and see if they’ve heard of anything that might be related. It just doesn’t make sense, your apartment being such a mess and Jared’s so neat. Unless they were trying to scare him by threatening you.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “Well, maybe my friends will have some ideas for us.”

  Cassi went to her car, her mind racing with the memories Linden’s comment revived. His involvement with the FBI was what had brought Cassi and Jared together, and though Cassi was grateful she had met Jared, she had hoped never to have any involvement with the FBI or any of the other players in their past adventure—especially Jared’s gorgeous ex-boss, Laranda Garrettson. Cassi simply wanted to settle down with Jared and eventually start their own art gallery.

  Outside, night had fallen, and Cassi breathed in the perfumed scent of the red and white roses featured in Linden’s flower beds. She recognized dahlias and zinnias as well, a rainbow of orange, yellow, red, pink, and burgundy. Funny, she had never thought of Linden as a gardener. She had worked for him as an assistant art buyer for five years and then as head buyer for the past six months, but there was still a lot she didn’t know about him. Had he planted the flowers himself when he had moved in three months earlier? Had he tended them as lovingly as the paintings and statues she found for his gallery? Or did his gardener care for the plants?

  A strange, uneasy sadness filled her, and she made a silent promise to involve herself more in Linden’s life, if he would have her. Not only was he a good and loyal friend, but he would make an excellent grandfather for her children, since her own parents lived so far away in Utah, and Jared’s even farther in New York. Perhaps she could make a difference in Linden’s life, too.

  The sadness left Cassi, but uneasiness still lurked in her heart. She gazed into the starlit night. “Jared, where are you?”

  She retrieved the manila envelope and stack of junk mail from her car. As she turned to go up the walk, a twig snapped somewhere on the edges of Linden’s spacious estate. Cassi froze. She searched the darkness with anxious eyes. Nothing.

  Just an animal. Was it watching her from the trees?

  When she returned to Linden’s study, he was in his study pacing the floor with his cell phone. He set it down when he saw her. “They don’t have any information on Jared. Of course, we expected as much. But because you haven’t seen him since last night, they’ve agreed to look into it as a favor for me. It’s not really their problem . . . yet. But given his past involvement with the crime boss Big Tommy, they feel it’s possible they’d be called in anyway—if Jared is really missing.”

  Cassi shivered. “Did you tell them about the break-in at my house?”

  “They’re sending someone from the police department over there now. They’ll call us when they get there.”

  “Good. I hope they catch whoever did it.” Cassi sighed and sank to the sofa. “You know, I still have nightmares about that last day at Laranda’s gallery. I keep thinking she’s coming back for Jared. Isn’t that stupid? I mean, she’s in jail, right?”

  Linden gave her a wry smile. “Actually, she’s not anymore.”

  Cassi gasped. “What?”

  “Now, don’t get upset on me. She’s where she can’t hurt you. I just found out on the phone that Laranda Garrettson is dead. Last week they found her body in her room at the prison hospital. Evidently there was a fire, and she couldn’t get out.”

  “How horrible! She must have felt so helpless in that wheelchair. I wonder how it started.”

  Linden didn’t speak, and Cassi searched his face. “There’s something you’re not telling me, Linden.”

  He sat next to her, taking her hand. “I didn’t want to tell you. The fire was set on purpose, and Laranda was tied to her wheelchair. She was murdered.”

  “Murdered!” Cassi had a sneaking suspicion where all this was leading. “Who would do that?”

  The muscle in Linden’s jaw twitched. “My friends think it was Big Tommy’s gang. Revenge for infringing on their business interests.”

  Cassi pulled her hand away and sprang to her feet. “And now you think they’re after Jared, don’t you? Your FBI friends think that, too. That’s why they’re looking into this.”

  Linden gazed up at her helplessly. “I wish I could say you were wrong, Cassi, but you’re right. We never thought you and Jared might be targets—your involvement was negligible. We knew Laranda would be in danger, but—”

  “No, it can’t be! I won’t let it be. I can’t lose him!” Cassi felt her whole body shaking.

  Linden came to his feet and put his arms around her. “It might not be true. There is still that business about the keys Jared hid. I mean, why would he do that unless he knew he was going away? Maybe he’s off planning a surprise for you. Maybe he doesn’t know what’s going on.

  “But the note.”

  “I know. The facts aren’t adding up. Obviously, we don’t have all the information we need. That’s why I’ve asked them to put you in protective custody until things are straightened out.”

  Cassi
shook her head violently. “I’ve got to find Jared.” For a brief second she felt déjà vu. The last time Jared was in trouble, she had gone to his rescue—only to be the one to shoot him in the shoulder.

  Linden’s arms tightened around her. “I don’t want you in danger. You need to stay here until we know what’s going on. Please, can’t you be reasonable?”

  “I love him, Linden. I can’t be reasonable until he’s safe.”

  “We’ll find him. For all we know, he’s visiting friends. Why don’t we call his apartment right now and see if he’s there? Then you two could go into hiding together. You could even go through with your wedding—although you wouldn’t be able to have a reception.”

  Cassi wasn’t comforted, but something Linden said made sense. Jared had left those keys in the nightstand for a reason. But perhaps that reason wasn’t sinister. Perhaps it was completely innocent and separate from the ruin in her house. Maybe he had wanted her to find the keys and the envelope with Renae’s address in Covina. Could it be a romantic ploy? Could the envelope hold instructions on where to find him? Renae had called, after all, and left a message on her answering machine. Perhaps when Cassi hadn’t opened the envelope and found instructions within a certain time period, Renae had been instructed to call and urge her on. That could be it.

  She stared at the envelope on the table by the sofa. It was addressed to Jared, not her. Should she open it? Was it the beginning of a treasure hunt, with Jared as the treasure?

  While Cassi debated, the phone rang. Linden grabbed it and barked, “Linden here.” He listened for a full minute. “Yeah, we’ll wait for you here. She should look at it, but I want her protected.”

  Cassi looked at him questioningly as he hung up the phone.

  “It’s your house,” he said. “They’ve been inside, but they don’t see anything wrong.”

  Cassi’s jaw dropped. “But that’s impossible! I saw it. Dishes were broken, everything was out of place. The waterbed had a knife in it.”