Protecting the Heiress

by Martha Kennerson

  Jasmine dropped her right hand and shifted weight to her right leg. “I’m counting on it. Meeks won’t ever move on if you’re simply missing. Let me break it down for you, sweetheart.” Jasmine leaned forward so she was at eye level with Francine. “This museum is under construction and full of hazardous materials like paint thinner and gasoline. Mix those flammables with some faulty wiring and poof...problem solved.”

  She straightened and walked back to the table, where she stood and looked over everything that was laid out before her.

  “Jasmine, you can’t—”

  “This place will go up in flames with you inside. You didn’t have time to make it out after trying to save poor Jimmy,” she said in a sour tone. “Everyone knows how you like to play superhero, so trying to save him on your own won’t be a stretch for people to buy.”

  “Jasmine...please don’t...don’t do this,” Francine said, trying to keep the fear from taking control, or at least keep it out of her voice. Women like Jasmine despised weakness.

  Jasmine faced Francine and sighed. “I would say I’m sorry, but...that would be a lie. I want Meeks. As long as you’re in the picture, that won’t happen.”

  Francine lowered her tone. “I’ll give him up. I’ll simply walk away. I won’t even try to stop you from...solving your client’s problem.”

  “Stop lying,” she yelled. “We both know Meeks is not the type of man a woman can walk away from.”

  “Jasmine, please—”

  “Enough!” Jasmine said as she ripped off a piece of duct tape and placed it over Francine’s mouth.

  Jasmine stood over Francine and smirked. “This is your own fault, you know,” she said, brushing off wood shavings from her clothes. “I tried to make it quick with Daniels. But that didn’t work. I’d even planned something very special for you and Tiffany with Lee Jergens, but Meeks stepped in and got you off the case.” She grabbed Francine’s cheeks with one hand and shook her face. “Now you’ll have to die trying to save poor old Jimmy.” Then she shrugged. “Oh, well, you saved Tiffany, so that should be some consolation. I really hated the thought of her being collateral damage. At least I was able to finally put that rabid dog Jergens down. He really was one crazy, pathetic piece of a man.”

  Francine pulled at her bindings, which were too tight for her to slip through. She wanted to scream, but the tape was holding steady. She tried to fight back the tears that began to fill her eyes.

  “Time to get this show on the road,” Jasmine said as she reached for the syringe. She held it up and flicked it once with her middle finger. “This will help. You’ll be out cold, and I’m sure the smoke will take you before the flames get anywhere near you.” She smiled, as though she was trying to reassure her. “I’ve already splattered paint thinner and gasoline all over the place so it shouldn’t take long. I moved Jimmy to the storage room where he’ll be found. He was a recovering addict and everyone knows how often they slip up, so him having a heroin sandwich at lunch is believable.”

  Francine’s heart sank. She may not have known Jimmy well, but she knew his story. She’d read how he had spent so much time mending his life and his relationship with his family. It pained her that Jasmine was going to take that away from him.

  Jasmine stood on the side of Francine. She pushed back Francine’s left shoulder with her left hand, holding the syringe in her right hand. “I’d let you have some last words, but I really can’t stand the sound of your voice.”

  Francine’s whole body tensed as she lowered her head, closed her eyes and let the tears fall. I’m sorry, baby. I love you, Meeks. Forgive me, Farrah, Felicia, Mom and Dad.

  “Goodbye, Francine,” Jasmine said just before she lowered the needle to Francine’s shoulder.

  Jasmine suddenly screamed and stumbled backward. The needle crashed to the concrete. “Shit!” she yelled.

  Francine flinched at the sound, and her eyes flew open. She looked up and saw the head of an arrow hanging out of Jasmine’s shoulder.

  Another arrow whipped through the air. This one landed in Jasmine’s upper thigh, and she stumbled again. She released a piercing scream before she dropped to her knees. Jasmine reached for her gun, only to be tackled to the ground by Farrah.

  Francine’s vision was soon filled with familiar faces. In what felt like seconds, Meeks was kneeling at her right side with his crossbow strapped across his back, slowly removing the duct tape from her mouth.

  “Hold on, Cine, we’ll get you loose in a second. Just hold on, baby,” Meeks said, keeping his focus on her face.

  Francine blinked away her tears and nodded.

  Seeing Meeks’s crossbow, she had assumed he had been the one to shoot Jasmine. That is, until she looked to her left to find her sister kneeling and working to release her hands and feet. Farrah was also wearing her crossbow strapped around her back.

  Police, EMS and several of their agents swarmed the room. With both Meeks and her sister by her side and knowing that the baby she carried was safe, Francine could no longer contain her emotions. With her hands and feet finally free, she wrapped her arms around Meeks’s neck and cried.

  Farrah threw her arms around both Meeks and her sister, kissing her on the cheek as she whispered, “I love you.”

  “Hey, that’s my line,” Meeks said.

  Francine simply nodded. Meeks tightened his hold on her and said, “I don’t know what I would have done if...if we hadn’t gotten here in time. I wouldn’t have survived losing you.”

  Chapter 26

  After several moments rejoicing in the fact that her sister was safe, Farrah released her hold and walked over to where Robert stood watching over the trio, stopping briefly to check on Jimmy, who was being loaded into a waiting ambulance. Farrah received reassurance that he was going to be fine, then continued toward Robert. Both Robert and Farrah diverted their attention to where the police and their team were working. They watched as EMS treated Jasmine’s wounds while she was cuffed to the gurney; she didn’t say one word. Because her injuries weren’t life threatening and she refused to acknowledge that she understood her rights, the assistant district attorney, a close family friend, had been brought up to speed on all the pending charges and decided not to transport Jasmine until her court-appointed lawyer arrived on the scene and her rights could be reread to her before she was questioned. No one wanted Jasmine to get away with all the things that she’d done.

  The police finally removed Jasmine from the warehouse and placed her in another waiting ambulance. The area was marked off and Meeks’s team was allowed to videotape and take photos of the warehouse scene as he and Francine watched.

  “By the way, nice shot and great call,” Robert said, poking Farrah with his elbow.

  “Thanks, but it was Meeks. All I could think about was lighting Jasmine’s ass up with an arrow straight through that black heart of hers,” Farrah said, smiling to herself.

  Robert laughed. “I can’t believe you actually listened.”

  “Well, we didn’t have much choice,” she said, looking around at the cans of paint thinner as well as small puddles of liquid splattered all over the floor. “The moment we opened the door and smelled the paint thinner and gasoline, we knew we couldn’t take a chance on firing our guns,” she explained.

  “Good thing we keep the crossbows in the cars,” Robert said.

  “Another thing my sister insisted on.” Farrah looked over to where Meeks was still holding Francine’s hand while EMS was checking her out for any potential injuries. “She could never have known that one day that policy would save her own life.”

  Farrah and Robert made their way over to where Meeks and Francine were standing. Meeks was conferring with the EMS attendant who had just cleared Francine to leave, who recommended that she follow up with her own doctor in a day or two.

  Robert pulled Francine into
a brief hug. “You okay?”

  Francine kept her hold on Meeks’s hand. “I am now,” she said, smiling up at Meeks and then at her sister.

  “I spoke to Sergeant Jefferson, and he’s willing to come to your place in the morning to take your statements. He has enough here to keep himself busy, so you can take her home,” Robert explained to both Meeks and Francine.

  “Thanks,” Francine replied.

  “We’ll handle everything on this end,” Robert said, turning his gaze toward Farrah.

  Farrah nodded and gifted Robert with a slow, sexy smile.

  “Sergeant Jefferson is going to question Bill Morgan about his role in this mess and we’ll bring Tiffany up to speed on everything, too. At least she doesn’t have anything else to worry about now,” Farrah said.

  “I think we should keep a team on her for a little while longer anyway, just to be sure,” Francine declared.

  “Will do,” Robert said.

  “Thanks, man...for everything.” Meeks and Robert shook hands while the sisters shared an embrace.

  Meeks circled his arm around Francine’s waist. “You ready to go?” Meeks asked.

  “Yes,” she said, leaning into Meeks’s chest. “I’m ready to go home.”

  “Please, baby, I know what the EMS said, but let me have Dr. Perry meet us at home to check you out...for me,” he said, his eyes begging for her compliance.

  “Home...okay,” she whispered.

  Meeks scooped Francine up into his arms. “Hey!” she protested. “I can walk. Besides, I want to go thank the guys again.”

  “Woman, I’m not letting you out of my sight, and you’ve already thanked them. Anything else can wait.”

  Carrying Francine in his arms, Meeks walked outside and headed toward his truck.

  From her gurney in the ambulance, Jasmine screamed Meeks’s name over and over. Francine’s whole body tensed. Meeks pulled her closer to his chest and smiled down at her as if he hadn’t heard Jasmine’s call.

  He kissed Francine lightly on the lips and whispered, “I love you.”

  She buried her face in Meeks’s neck and said, “I love you, too.”

  Chapter 27

  Francine sat on her sofa wrapped in an oversize white robe, trying to comprehend all she’d learned and shared over the past twenty-four hours. Between what Meeks, Robert and her sister had told her about Jasmine and everything she’d learned on her own about the woman, Francine was feeling tired and overwhelmed. However, through it all, she’d made a couple of decisions that she needed to share with Meeks. Well, almost everything. Francine decided to keep her position of power within the company—thanks to the proxies she now controlled—to herself.

  Meeks walked over to Francine, wearing his matching white robe, and handed her a coffee mug. “Here you go. Tea with lemon and honey,” Meeks said, sitting down next to her on the sofa.

  “Thanks,” she said, taking a sip and sighing as the warmth spread within her. “That’s good.”

  Meeks pushed Francine’s hair off her shoulders, leaned over and kissed her on the corner of her mouth. She closed her eyes and smiled. A flash of the two of them making love the night before and just now in the shower flashed through her mind. Her body responded to his touch like always, but Francine knew she had to refrain—just for a little while longer.

  “Meeks, we have to talk,” Francine said, placing her cup on the table.

  “What’s up?” Meeks asked, rubbing her back with his right hand.

  “About the board meeting.”

  Meeks sighed and dropped his hand. “Sweetheart, I understand how you feel, but I can’t back down from this. Personal security for celebrities, it’s just not—”

  “I know,” she said, smiling.

  Meeks’s expression froze, and Francine’s smile widened.

  “You know? What do you know?”

  “I know about that bug you had placed on my necklace,” she said, crossing her legs and folding her arms.

  Meeks gave her a guilty smile.

  “Farrah told me about it when she called to check on me this morning.”

  “I can explain that—”

  “And I can’t wait to hear it,” she cut in. “Later. Right now, I want to tell you about a couple of decisions I’ve made. First, I can’t say I agree with you one hundred percent, but I can see everyone’s point about the celebrity aspect of our business, so I propose a compromise.” Francine lowered her arms.

  “Compromise...like what?” Meeks asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “We limit our celebrity personal protection offerings to products and monitoring services only. There are plenty of agencies and freelancers out there that can handle the bodyguard aspect of things. We can even provide them with a few quality references.”

  Meeks took her hands in his and smiled. “I think that’s a brilliant idea. And your second decision?”

  Francine could see the hope in Meeks’s eyes. She’d weighed out her idea of having it all and what that meant for her versus her mother. “I think it’s time I stepped back from fieldwork and embrace the CEO role as my father intended—unless I’m needed, of course.”

  Meeks’s relief was almost tangible.

  “Not to mention focusing a little more time and attention on a very pushy man who thinks he’s going to marry me,” Francine said, picking up her tea and taking a sip as she looked at him over the rim of her cup.

  Meeks laughed, and his eyes sparked with excitement. “Oh, I can think of several things you’re needed for other than fieldwork,” he said, grabbing at her and trying to untie her robe. “And I already told you, marrying me is a done deal.”

  Francine laughed as she melted into him, loosening his robe. “You really suck at the whole proposal thing, you know.”

  “Just wait, but in the meantime...” he said, stopping her hands. Meeks stood and tightened the belt on his robe. “How about I get us something stronger than tea to drink to celebrate our compromise?”

  Francine stood and stopped his progress. She intertwined their hands and held his gaze. “Nothing for me. Well, at least not for another seven and a half months...”

  Meeks’s jaw dropped as he just stared at her.

  “With everything that’s happened, I hadn’t had a chance to tell you,” she said, breaking eye contact and looking down at their joined hands.

  Meeks withdrew his right hand, used his index finger to raise her head and stared into her eyes. “Tell me now. I want to hear you say the words.”

  Francine smiled as she watched his eyes glaze over with unshed tears. “We’re having a baby.”

  Meeks pulled Francine into his arms and kissed her breathless. “I love you,” he said after letting her up for air.

  Francine laughed. “I love you, too.”

  Meeks dropped down on one knee, stared up into Francine’s eyes and held their interwoven hands at his heart. “I don’t have a ring to offer right now, but I do have my life, my heart...my soul, and they’re yours. Would you be willing to share them with me?”

  The overwhelming feelings of love and passion Francine felt for Meeks in that moment were nearly too much to handle. She had to flex all her muscles just to stay upright. “Now that’s a proposal,” she said, smiling down at him as the tears began to flow.

  He stood and leaned in to kiss her tears away as he said, “Finally, I get something right.”

  * * * * *

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  ISBN-13: 9781460385180

  Protecting the Heiress

  Copyright © 2015 by Martha Kennerson

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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