A Stranger Is Watching

by Linda Randall Wisdom

  “Sasha’s idea of comfort is to swallow a glass of vodka,” she whispered. “Do you know what straight vodka tastes like?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “It tastes like lava straight out of the volcano. It’s disgusting. I think it was really a Russian Mickey Finn.”

  “That’s a new way of putting it,” he said softly.

  She tilted her head back so she could face him.

  “He was the one from before,” she whispered. “How did he find us, Riley? We should have been safe here.”

  “I don’t know,” he whispered back. “He’s been unconscious since we brought him back, so I haven’t been able to get any answers from him. He was taken into surgery right away and hasn’t come out of the anesthesia yet. I told the doctor to call me when he wakes up.”

  “Do you think he’ll tell you how Grieco hired him?”

  “He may not want to, but I think we can persuade him to tell me what I want to know.”

  Jenna’s brow furrowed in thought. “Will you hurt him?”

  He hesitated. “Smitty.”

  “No, let me finish. I want you to hurt him,” she said hurriedly. “I want you to tie electrodes to sensitive parts of his body and turn on the juice. Hang him upside down by his toes. Put him in a pool filled with piranha or hungry sharks. Maybe stake him over an anthill and cover him with honey.” It was clear she was getting into her element.

  Riley winced. “Where did you learn all this? I can’t imagine your local night school offered Torture 101 as one of its classes.”

  “I watched a lot of B movies the nights I couldn’t sleep,” she admitted. “I just don’t want to know that you’re going to sit there and ask him questions and he’ll sit there and just stare at you.”

  Riley grinned. “You’re a bloodthirsty wench, Smitty.”

  She shook her head. “Only when it comes to him. Just make him suffer.”

  He brushed her hair away from her eyes. “Be careful, Jen. What you want is the same as what he does for a living. Once you start down that road it isn’t easy to find your way back.”

  She shifted her body, burrowing farther under the covers. “Is that what happened to you? You were afraid you couldn’t find your way back?”

  “Close enough.”

  “Is that one of the reasons you left the Marshal’s Service?”

  The question hung in the air between them for so long Jenna didn’t expect him to answer her.

  “I left because I felt I could no longer effectively do my job,” he said finally.

  It was as if the partial darkness gave them permission to discuss what had been kept quiet for so long.

  “Because of me?”

  “Because I knew every day I’d go in to work I’d want to look through the computer and find out where you were. I’d want to know all about your new life. For all I knew, I’d even travel to wherever you were while lying to myself and saying I was only doing it because I wanted to know you were safe,” he said candidly. “What I felt was wrong. That’s when I decided it was time to get out.”

  “Where did you go?”

  “I have a house on the far shore on the island of Kauai. It’s not much more than a beach shack, but it’s fine for me.” He sounded as if he was speaking the truth, but there was still a ring of some undefinable emotion in his words.

  The pain was stark in Jenna’s eyes. She had left Riley because she felt she was doing something for his own good. Instead, he’d gone on to make a life without her. While he hadn’t said anything, she sensed he’d been living only a half life the same way she had. She always felt as if she’d been waiting for something very special.

  It sounded as if he’d been merely existing, too.

  Was that why she called for Riley when she lay in the hospital that night? Why she refused to see, or talk, to anyone else? They’d told her he was no longer with the Marshal’s Service. She hadn’t cared. She only wanted him.

  Now she could be honest with herself. She hadn’t wanted Riley to come to her because she knew he would keep her safe. That wasn’t the only reason. She wanted Riley because she hadn’t stopped loving him. She wanted to see him again. She didn’t care how selfish her demands were.

  She reached out and touched his cheek with her fingertips. The pads lightly traced the harsh lines, feeling the sandpapery texture of his skin.

  “I wouldn’t have needed the sand and the water as long as I had you,” she murmured. “What I always needed was you, Riley.”

  His eyes flared with raw emotion as her words wrapped themselves around him.

  “But I knew how much you loved your work. It wasn’t right for me to insist you give it up.” She continued stroking his face, retracing the familiar contours. “What you’ve said is I made the wrong choice. Just consider that I was afraid to discuss it with you. Especially after...” Her voice dropped off.

  Riley didn’t need to hear the words to know what she meant. Their argument about babies. The night he’d found the pregnancy test box. The night that she later wished she hadn’t gone into work. What would have happened if she had been home when he arrived? Could she have staved off his finding the box, and life would have gone on as before?

  Those were all thoughts she didn’t want to pursue because she never felt she had the right answers.

  “Afraid?” He showed surprise at her choice of words. “Why were you afraid? I know I acted pretty much like an idiot that night, but you still didn’t need to be afraid of me.”

  “I didn’t want you to hate me later for taking you away from what you knew and loved,” she admitted in a soft voice. “You know that’s why I had to leave.”

  “Oh, Smitty.” His voice ached with so many emotions they overflowed. He cupped her cheek with his palm and lowered his head until his lips touched hers in the barest of kisses. “There was nothing, nothing, that mattered to me as much as you did. I would have killed Grieco with my bare hands before I would have allowed him to lay a finger on you. I wanted to kill that bastard out there today. I might even have done it if we hadn’t had an audience. I wanted to hurt him the way he hurt you.” His breath was warm against her lips.

  She kept her arms around his neck, so he couldn’t move away from her

  “You’re an honorable man, Riley Cooper,” she brushed her lips against his. “Ask Sasha to use the electrodes and the bamboo shoots under the fingernails.”

  It was as simple as his slowly sliding over her, his knee nudging hers apart as he settled himself in the cradle of her thighs. Her short nightgown hitched up to her waist as he spread his palm across her flat belly.

  At the same time her own hand moved across his shoulder. Her fingers traced a scar she knew came from a knife wound about six years ago. She found another scar that was round and puckered along his side. When her hand crossed his washboard belly, he sucked in a deep breath at her light touch.

  He touched her as she touched him.

  His fingers tangled in the dark blond hair at her apex, his finger gently probing the moist folds. One finger entered, a second followed to rub the tiny nub nestled there.

  Jenna gasped and arched upward.

  Riley’s head moved downward until his mouth covered her breast. His fingers danced inside her as he suckled on her taut nipple. He could sense her heart racing, hear her frenzied whimpers as she began to thrash under him. He ignored her murmured pleas and continued taking her higher. As he felt her start to tighten and tremble, he lifted his head. He ignored her whimpered cries and quickly slid downward until his mouth replaced his fingers.

  Jenna’s eyes snapped wide-open as his hot moist breath seared ultrasensitive tissue. She moaned his name as he drank deeply from her. His probing tongue drove her even higher until she was wound as tight as a wire.

  Riley felt no pain as her nails dug deeply into his shoulders. He held her hips fast as he kept on sending her further into space.

  It was as if Riley knew exactly where Jenna was. What she was feeling. How much more she could take. Just as abr
uptly he lifted his head and pulled himself up over her. It seemed a lifetime as he hastily rolled on protection even if it was only scant seconds. He thrust deeply into her with a powerful stroke that sent her over the edge.

  Jenna’s scream of release was swallowed by his covering mouth. She was so lost in acute sensations that she could only wrap her legs around him and hang on. She was lost, but she wanted him to feel the extreme pleasure she did. She reached down between them and touched him. His expletive described where they were, just as he released himself into her.

  They wrapped their arms around each other, remaining that way as they fought to catch their breath.

  “Tell me, Smitty, are you going to respect me in the morning?”

  “Is respect that important to you?” Jenna asked, her voice shaking with suppressed laughter.

  “Yes, it is,” he said solemnly.

  Riley dropped light kisses across her forehead and along one temple.

  “I don’t want people to think I’m easy,” he murmured. “After all, I have feelings, too.”

  Jenna pasted a properly contrite expression on her face. “I wouldn’t dream of hurting your feelings, Riley,” she told him. “Of course I will hold you in the highest respect.”

  They stared at each other with solemn gazes until Jenna finally broke down laughing.

  “Great way to make me feel better, Smitty,” Riley grumbled.

  Jenna opened her mouth to reply when the phone rang. Both froze. Riley kissed her and kept one arm around her as he rolled over and snagged the receiver.

  “Yeah?” He settled the receiver between his shoulder and his ear.

  “Such lovely telephone manners,” Jenna murmured. “Is that what you learned as a marshal? How to intimidate someone in one word.”

  Riley listened for several minutes. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He hung up.

  “He’s awake,” she guessed.

  He nodded at her statement. He climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

  Jenna lay back, listening to the sounds of the shower running. Riley came back out of the bathroom with his still-wet hair slicked back from his face. He pulled on shorts and a T-shirt then looked at her as if he’d suddenly remembered she was in the room.

  “I don’t want you leaving here until I get back. Will you do that for me?”

  She nodded. A trace of fear crossed her face. “You’ll be careful, won’t you?”

  Riley walked over to the bed and leaned down, kissing her deeply until she was breathless.

  “Don’t worry. He’ll be so pumped up with painkillers he won’t be able to even lift his little finger.”

  “Then he might not remember his own name, either,” she said worriedly.

  He kissed her again. “I’ll see you later.”

  Jenna watched him leave the room. She was still worried about him seeing that man again, but she didn’t doubt Riley would learn something.

  “My hero,” she murmured.

  Riley couldn’t remember ever being in a hospital that didn’t smell of antiseptic and sorrow. That was probably why he stayed out of them as much as possible.

  This one smelled more like French vanilla along with the homey aroma of French roast coffee drifting down the hallway.

  “The patient is doing well,” Dr. Minton reported to Riley and Sasha, who’d joined him. “He was bewildered when he woke up and demanded to know where he was. The nurse told him he had just had surgery and was now in a medical facility. He has asked her a lot of questions, but she told him nothing more.”

  Riley looked at the older man. “Is there any way I can talk you out of coming with me?”

  He smiled. “Of course not. This man has attacked one of the hotel’s guests. I would like to know why.”

  “You’re not alone on that score,” Riley said grimly, heading for the door.

  When Riley entered the room, he found a nurse with a book in her hand seated in a chair in the corner.

  The man he’d shot was lying in the only bed in the room. He had one wrist handcuffed to the bed frame.

  Riley glanced at the nurse. “We’d like to be alone with the patient.”

  The nurse quietly left the room and closed the door behind her.

  “So, how’re you feeling, sport?” Riley asked in an old-pal voice.

  He snagged the chair the nurse had vacated and passed it to Sasha. He took the other chair and turned it around, sitting on it with his arms crossed along the back.

  The man watched them warily.

  “Sorry I had to shoot you, but hell, you were holding on to my woman. You were promising to hurt her. Even kill her. There was no way I could let you get away with that,” Riley went on in his good-ole-boy manner. “You’ve got to consider yourself lucky you could get such excellent medical care so fast. This place is so isolated, who knows how long it would have taken to get you to a doctor. Of course, since we’ve helped you, it’s only fair you help us out.”

  “I’ve got nothing to tell you,” he said sullenly.

  “Would it be so bad to tell us your name?”

  The man started to laugh then coughed. He winced in pain. “John Smith.”

  “Really? I’ve met a lot of your relatives. Popular name.”

  Riley linked his hands together in front of him. “So tell me, John. What brought you to these parts? I can’t imagine you’d come all the way down here for some camping. Too many creatures that only come out at night. And the temple is pretty far out there. Considering you’d grabbed my woman, I guess you weren’t out there to see the sights. You didn’t have a camera on you nor was there one in your Jeep. Why don’t you tell me why you were out there, John. Why did you cut my woman? Threaten to kill her.”

  “I’ve got nothing to say.” He looked away.

  “You were on private land, Mr. Smith,” Sasha spoke up. “This is land where trespassers have been shot without a second thought. It was by Ryan’s good graces you were brought here and given medical treatment.” He leaned forward, resting his hands on the engraved top of his cane.

  Riley directed a level gaze at the man. “Personally, I’d like to spend some quality time with you. The same kind of quality time you spent with my lady. Of course, I’m bigger than she is, and I’d be more prone to fight back in a much nastier method. And right now, you’re feeling pretty crappy, so that should make it like it was with her. I’d start thinking about what you did to her and I’d lose my patience and it could come out worse for you. But what the hell. What goes around and all that, right?”

  The man stiffened, and for a moment his shackled wrist fought the restraint. Pain crossed his face, and he fell back against the pillows.

  “Who sent you out here, John?” Riley asked.

  “You don’t scare me.” He glared at Sasha next. “Neither do you.”

  “What about your employer? How do you feel about him?” Sasha asked.

  “He don’t scare me.”

  Riley’s interest was caught now. The man’s words said one thing, but he saw a hint of fear in his eyes. The man wasn’t as confident as he professed to be.

  Riley knew this was the time for him to press his advantage. He wanted information from this man, and he intended to do whatever was necessary to get it.

  “You know what, John? I think your boss does scare you. I also think he told you not to come back until you got the job done. And if you didn’t get the job done, he’d want to cut you up into little pieces and feed you to his goldfish. Look what happened. You not only screwed up the job, but you got shot up. We’ve got you by the cojones, my friend. Your best bet would be to come clean. Tell us what we want to know and we can help you out.”

  “And if I don’t talk?”

  Riley didn’t say anything. He just stared at the man for a moment. He knew the man lying on the bed was a professional. That was the only way he could have tracked them down here. He had just listened to his death sentence and barely batted an eye.

  “Which one of Grieco’s men h
ired you, John?” he asked abruptly.

  “Grieco?” He laughed then coughed. “Everyone knows Grieco’s in prison. His business went bust more than a year ago.”

  Riley froze. “What?”

  “You heard me. His men fought over the business. Some ended up dead. A few are in prison and someone else took over.”

  Riley’s brain whirled. “Who?”

  “I don’t know.”

  He refused to believe what he’d just heard. He talked to Dave every two days, and his former partner hadn’t relayed any of that information.

  “Why isn’t word about it on the street?”

  “There was some who wanted it kept quiet. They figured if it was too widely known there’d be even more fighting for it. That’s all I know. I don’t deal in the areas he did.” He showed his distaste.

  “No, you deal in the areas where you can beat up women.” Riley stood up and left his chair. He walked over to the bed and leaned over. “I know what you did, John,” he spoke in a whisper that seemed to slice through the other man. “You kept all the lights off and grabbed her when she walked into her apartment, didn’t you? You knew she wouldn’t put up much of a fight, because she didn’t know how. I just want to know one thing. Who told you to break her fingers?” His dark eyes took on an unearthly glow. “Who told you to do that, John?” His voice softened, but the fury was there. The need to hurt someone vibrated in his tone. His fingers tightened on the railing as if he had them wrapped around the other man’s throat.

  John tried to shy away from Riley, but there was nowhere for him to go.

  “Did you know she was an artist at one time, John?” Riley continued speaking in a deadly soft voice. “She could paint pictures that would make your heart cry. Now it isn’t known if she’ll ever be able to paint again. Someone told you to break her fingers. Someone wanted her to suffer for the rest of her life. They wanted to make sure she couldn’t return to her art.” He leaned down until his face was close to John’s. “She has the heart of an artist. She couldn’t hurt a fly. But you took that away from her. Do you know what she wanted me to do to you, John?” He didn’t bother waiting for an answer. “This sweet wonderful woman who wouldn’t step on a bug asked me to consider using electrodes and medieval torture instruments on you.” The man paled even more. “Make it easy on yourself, John. Tell me who hired you.”