Wanna Bet?

by Chula Stone

  He couldn’t see her backside, but he could tell from the way she was squirming and bouncing on her toes that his message was getting through. He had to hold her to the table with one large arm, which brought him close enough to smell the smoke still in her hair from the night before. Quelling the panic brought on by those memories, he took a deep breath and applied five last swats.

  He helped her up and they stood there for a moment, looking at each other, breathing hard. There she was, all exhausted and vulnerable, still smelling slightly of smoke with her hair sporting a variety of leaves and twigs. He had never seen a more gorgeous example of feminine beauty in his life. Folding her in his arms was his only option. No option, really. Just nature taking its course. Kissing her felt even more natural. So right. So sweet. For that moment, the world was in balance and time took a holiday.

  “Is this how you protect all my clients?” Tobin demanded.

  Jeep brought his chin up and looked at Tobin over Jenny’s head. “That was fast.” He knew he wouldn’t have to let Jenny go. Tobin would take care of that and probably clean his clock for him as a bonus, but he was gratified to feel Jenny cling to him before Tobin could drag her away.

  “I warned you!” Tobin growled. He held Jenny to one side and took a step toward Jeep.

  Jenny was struggling to get away from Tobin, then struggling to keep a hold on his arm when it became clear what he intended. “It wasn’t his fault.”

  “Sure it was,” Jeep grinned. She was actually trying to protect him. From his boss. One of the toughest men for his size that Jeep had ever met. Not that Tobin was a shrimp, but the rest of Sentry’s employees generally had to look down on him. It was a point of pride with them that if he felt they needed a dose of his famous left hook, they took it. And here she was, the Chihuahua trying to hold back a Great Dane.

  He grinned at the sight. “Careful, Mr. Tobin. She’s a feisty one. I just had to…”

  “Jeep, please!” she pleaded.

  “Just had to what?” Tobin demanded.

  “Just had to bring her back in the house again. She got away from me while I was calling you, so I had to explain to her how dangerous the situation is.”

  “And I was thanking him for being so kind and patient,” Jenny added. “He’s been a perfect gentleman the entire time.”

  Jeep saw Tobin’s suspicious stare go to Jenny’s torn blouse and ragged jeans. “Hey, I never…” Jeep began, indignant.

  “He didn’t…” put in Jenny at the same time.

  “Never mind! Just go upstairs and put some clothes on.”

  “She hasn’t got any more clothes ‘till Mrs. Abernathy gets back this afternoon,” Jeep explained.

  “Then put on a Sentry uniform polo. You should find some in the closet,” Tobin told her. She scooted out the door and soon they could hear the water running. “It’s barely noon and you already lost her?”

  “It was an accident. The bathroom window should have bars across it, Mr. Tobin.”

  “I’ll have Salk get right on it. He and Pepper will back you up for this next phase of the operation.”

  “Next phase? So you’ve confirmed what Jenny told me?”

  “Didn’t take much. Why didn’t I see that connection?” Tobin was being generous in taking the blame. Not unusual for him, but Jeep still appreciated it.

  “Fresh eyes saw something the rest of us missed.”

  “She makes a habit of that and I’ll have to hire her.”

  “I wish you would.”

  “Maybe after this is all over. And if my plan works, it will all be over pretty soon.”

  Jeep was not sure he liked the sound of that. He had been looking forward to at least a couple of weeks alone with Jenny here in the safehouse. “Plan? I thought the plan was to watch all the people in those pictures and see what develops.”

  “That was before Jenny’s information. If VanDyke and Chalk are working together, we’ve got to get one step ahead of them.”

  “How do we do that?”

  The look Tobin gave Jeep took him aback. “Well, first things first. I’m quitting and I’m shutting Sentry down.”

  Chapter Three

  “Why in this world would you want to—?” Jenny came into the kitchen toweling her wet hair.

  “Easy does it, there, Jenny. Hear the man out.” Jeep seemed much too calm to Jenny. Her life was at risk. His job was at risk. The jobs of all the nice people she had met the one day she had worked there were disappearing before her eyes, and for the life of her, she couldn’t imagine why.

  “No, better yet,” continued Tobin, “What I really need is a felony. I’ll get LeBeau in on this. He can produce some proof I’ve been siphoning millions out of the business, defrauding shareholders.”

  “You’re a privately-owned company,” Jeep objected in a much too logical tone. “You don’t have shareholders. And anyway, why bring Frenchy into this? Captain Feldspar will be happy to arrest you. He’ll think it’s a hoot.”

  “Feldspar thinks everything is a hoot. Will he be able to charge me without some sort of proof?” Tobin sounded even more sensible than Jeep.

  “What are you two idiots babbling about?” Jenny squealed.

  Jeep gave her a look that could have popped a tire on an eighteen-wheeler. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, amazed that in only two days her body could react like that to his unspoken signal. She knew without a doubt what he was trying to telegraph her with that look and it spelled no end of trouble for her rump.

  “I’d rather not give that womanizing accountant a shot at Jenny at this stage, if you don’t mind. I haven’t solidified my position yet enough to risk an incursion by enemy forces,” Jeep muttered.

  “Your position looked pretty good to me when I came in.”

  “Leaving her out of the equations for the present, why is it exactly that you want to either fold the business or commit fraud?”

  “Good question,” Jenny sarcastically put in. “Wish I’d have thought of that.” There went another tire.

  “Le Beau can make an accounts receivable ledger read like a who-done-it. Maybe I should go for a bankruptcy. Or give him a real challenge and try some insider trading.”

  “Maybe he just wants to leave you all in the lurch while he goes off to a nice little vacation at the taxpayers’ expense.” Again with the look from Jeep. I wonder if a truck can run on just fifteen wheels?

  Jeep relaxed back into the sofa. “That’s it, isn’t it? She’s hit the nail on the head again.”

  “She seems to be two for two so far,” Tobin concurred.

  “I don’t even know what we’re talking about!” Jenny couldn’t keep the complaint out of her voice. She even added her little whine.

  “It’s the plan, isn’t it? You want Chalk to follow you into jail,” Jeep mused.

  “Then while VanDyke is thinking we’re totally distracted with our own self-destruction and Chalk’s attacks, you’ll swoop in and nail him.” Tobin and Jeep exchanged looks Jenny didn’t understand.

  “Chalk and you? On the inside together? You’ll need the Sniper to watch your back,” Jeep suggested.

  “I can arrange for him to go undercover as a prison guard, no problem.”

  “Who’s the Sniper?” Jenny wanted to know.

  “Nobody you’ll ever know you met, if I have my way,” was Jeep’s cryptic remark. “But I’d trust him with my life. And Mr. Tobin’s life. And your life, which is really saying something.” Jenny wondered what he meant by that.

  Tobin nodded his agreement. “The Sniper is kind of like gravity. You can’t exactly see it and by the time you realize what it’s going to do, it’s too late to do anything about it.”

  “We’ll have to close down all other operations. Think Turly can handle things for a few days?” Jeep asked.

  “Send him Salk and Pepper if he squawks.”

  “That’ll teach him, Mr. Tobin,” Jeep sounded to Jenny as if he were trying not to laugh, “but we do want to come back to a working oper
ation when this is all over.”

  “Are Salk and Pepper that bad? They’re supposed to be looking after my stuff. What about my apartment?” Jenny wondered.

  “No need to worry about that, my dear,” Tobin assured her. Funny how she didn’t really feel assured. “Everything salvageable has been moved into your new apartment. Insurance will cover your losses.”

  “New apartment?” She looked from Jeep to Tobin and back again.

  “I need a nice, reliable tenant in one of my buildings, very near my offices, in fact. Most of the building is occupied by Sentry employees. Very secure. Very convenient. And the rent is lower than your old apartment.”

  She narrowed her eyes as she noted the smug look on Jeep’s face. “You knew how much I paid in rent?”

  Like icing falling off a cupcake in the sun, all expression slid from Jeep’s face in what she suspected was a practiced bodyguard maneuver. Put on gun. Stand in imposing posture. Hide all emotion. “We haven’t got time for this now. We’ve got to get things in motion, Mr. Tobin.”

  Tobin nodded back at him. “You’d better keep her with you for the next few days. She’ll be safe and more than likely help things along.”

  She got the impression that Jeep would have kept her with him no matter what Mr. Tobin had said.

  “I can’t believe he’s going to go through with it. Closing his company?” Jenny’s voice betrayed her confusion.

  “It’s only for a few weeks. And as he said, there’s no use in having a company if he’s too dead to enjoy it.”

  “But this Feldspar person…?”

  Jeep continued shuffling papers and filling filing boxes. “Captain on the detective squad. Owes Mr. Tobin more favors than any one man can repay in a lifetime, not that it bothers him in the least. He’s glad to play along, if only to see Tobin in one of those orange suits. Just for grins.”

  “So, Mr. Tobin is being held without bail? I would think any good lawyer could get him out.”

  “Feldspar convinced the judge he was a flight risk. Something about a passport and a one-way ticket to Argentina.”

  “And how will Chalk know he’s been arrested? You said they’re going to try to keep it out of the papers?”

  “Chalk will know. It’s one of those cops and robbers things. The street will talk, so to speak. Here, I’ll get that box. I don’t want you lifting something like that.” His scowl had never frightened her, but now it had an even stranger effect on her. She wondered if he was thinking what she was thinking.

  As he took the box from her with one hand, his other gave her a sharp swat. They’d only been together for a week, but here in the safehouse, alone, with nothing else to do, they had talked, laughed, argued and joked until Jenny felt as if she had known him all her life. So when she realized that she no longer questioned his right to spank her, it was only a mild surprise.

  “Just don’t do that in front of the others,” Jenny begged.

  “And give them a show? Salk and Pepper would enjoy it way too much. Oh, no, little one. There are some things that are…very private.”

  The look he gave her. The feelings shooting through her reminded her of zipping down the slide too fast on a playground. So confusing. So enticing. So distracting. It was as if she had woken up and found herself in his arms, his lips on hers. Too close. Too hot. She pushed away, fanning herself. “Can we turn up the air conditioning?”

  “It’s October.”

  “Turn down the heat, then. And wipe that grin off your face. You look like a raccoon in the dog food bag.”

  He just hoisted the heavy box up onto one shoulder and gave her a pat on the behind as he walked out the door. Definitely a very tall slide. Or maybe the swing.

  “Get in the car. You’d think after a week here, you’d be itching to get away from the place.”

  “I am, oh, believe me, I am. I can’t wait to get into my own apartment.”

  He cleared his throat as he put the last box in the moving van and turned to put his arm around her to escort her to the car. “About that apartment…”

  “Yes, what about it?” she asked suspiciously. She knew it was too good to be true. There had to be some sort of catch.

  “It’s a two bedroom apartment. Did I mention that?”

  “I believe you did, yes.”

  “And it’s big. Plenty of room.”

  “Um-hmm.” Plenty of room for what, she wondered.

  “So Salk and Pepper will be no trouble when they take over for night watches.”

  “Salk and Pepper? I thought they were going to help Turly?”

  “They are.”

  “But they’ll be with me at night? When do they sleep?”

  “Nobody is really sure if they do sleep or not, but if they do, it seems to be in shifts. We’ll hardly even know they’re there.”

  “We?” She figured she’d just found the catch.

  “Yeah, uh, Mr. Tobin wants me to stay. In the apartment. With you. Yeah.”

  “Mr. Tobin?”

  “Yeah, and he wants Salk and Pepper there, too. And he wants you to work full-time for Sentry from now on. No more subbing for the schools.”

  “For a guy who is supposedly in jail and company-less, Mr. Tobin sure is bossy.” Jenny could feel her blood pressure rising with every repetition of the word “wants.” She knew who was doing the wanting, and what he was actually wanting wasn’t on the list. It didn’t have to be. They both knew what it was.

  “Old habits are hard to break, I guess.”

  Jenny turned to face Jeep as they headed onto the highway. “Let’s get one thing straight. You are not moving in with me.”

  “It’s just for safety. Just like the safehouse.”

  “It’s different, and we both know it.”

  “You didn’t object when I told you Salk and Pepper were moving in.”

  “That’s different, too, and don’t try to tell me you don’t know why. What just happened back there in the safehouse proves why.”

  “What? What happened in the safehouse?” Jeep cradled her neck in his huge hand. “Nothing. Now, if you want me to show you what can happen, let’s get into that apartment and I’ll show you something happening.”

  “That’s exactly what I mean.”

  “You’re not being logical.”

  “And you’re not being reasonable.”

  “I’m always reasonable. What’s your objection? Tell me.”

  “You know how I feel. I’m not going to…to act married before I am married.” Jenny could feel her blush start in her toes and move all the way up to her hair and perhaps invade part of the roof of the Suburban they were riding in.

  “So it’s marriage you want.”

  “No!”

  “You don’t want to be married? I thought you said you did. Make up your mind.”

  Jenny’s exasperation showed in her voice. “All right, yes, I do want to be married some day, but—”

  “So we’re just speeding things up a little.”

  “Jeep!”

  “Look, I know it seems quick to you, but I’ve studied you for months. I know you. And going through a week like the week we just went through…well, that counts for a lot, too. Are you trying to say you don’t feel it? ‘Cause I know how to handle a fibbing girl now. I’ve learned a thing or two from your newsletters, remember.”

  “You may think you know me, but I don’t know you. It’s too soon—too sudden.”

  “Well, we wouldn’t have to rush into anything. If you really want to wait, we can wait. But I still need to move in with you. You’re the one who said I couldn’t move in if we weren’t married. And the company closing will look more convincing if I am seen to be going on with life. I mean, there has to be a reason for me to move in, since I’m not working for Tobin anymore to protect you.”

  “Are you suggesting we get married just on paper? Just so you can move in and convince Chalk that Sentry really is closed?”

  “Sure. Why not? I won’t push you. I’ll sleep in the seco
nd bedroom until you say differently.”

  “What if I never say differently?”

  “I’ll move back out, if you want me to. Once this whole thing blows over and we catch Chalk and VanDyke, I’ll vamoose if you say so.”

  Jenny looked at him long and hard, but she didn’t see even a hint of a flinch. “You’re really serious, aren’t you? You would go through with this absurd idea.”

  “It’s not absurd. It makes sense. And admit it. It would be fun.” His hand stroked her neck and hair, caressing her tenderly. “I’ll make it very fun.”

  Into her mind floated the image of the slide or the swing or maybe both. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t believe she was even contemplating this ridiculous move, but she heard herself saying, “If you really think so…“

  They stopped at a traffic light, having left the highway at the exit nearest her new home. He kissed her persuasively until cars behind them honked their horns.

  “I know so,” he murmured.

  Somehow, she believed him.

  Jenny sat in her usual pew in church the next morning, wondering what Jeep would say if he ever found out what she had done. She had kicked him out last night, knowing that Salk and Pepper would be perfect gentlemen towards her, even if they were perfect clowns in every other way. They would prowl the halls or the outside of the building as they had at the safehouse, she had no doubt. She was also certain that she could come to the early service and get back into the apartment without her absence ever being noticed. She didn’t even have to worry about seeing her parents who might ask uncomfortable questions. They lived on the other side of town and attended a much more traditional church.

  “What the heck do you think you are doing here?” whispered a voice in her ear.

  Jenny jumped high enough to rock the pew as she landed. “What are you doing here?” she shot back. “This is my church. Where else would I be on a Sunday morning?”

  “In your apartment, where you’d be safe. Don’t you realize Chalk knows where you go to church?”

  “But how did you know I was here? Salk was asleep and Pepper was out patrolling the front of the building.” She knew because she’d watched them, waiting for the right moment to make her move.