Baby In My Arms

by Madeline Harper

  KATE OPENED the door to Coral’s office and closed it quickly behind her, before turning on the light as Ben had instructed. Then she flew to the desk, grabbed the December calendar and flipped through it. She was looking for two dates—her lunch appointment with Coral and the night meeting that never happened.

  All the appointments were written in pen, she noticed as she went through each date. Good. They’d be difficult to doctor so if…She stopped, flipped back and then forward again. Her heart skipped a beat. Both pages pertaining to her had been torn out!

  Had Coral ripped out the pages—or had someone else gotten to the book, the same someone who attacked Kate and who might have harmed Coral? Ignoring for a moment Ben’s instructions to hurry, Kate sank into the desk chair and took a deep breath. There was no disputing the facts, but missing pages in a diary would mean nothing to the police. She had to find something else.

  She opened Coral’s desk and began methodically to rummage through it. No travel folders. No cruise brochures. Not a single notation that Coral planned a trip.

  The door opened, and she jumped, startled.

  “Don’t go creeping around like that,” she admonished.

  “I thought that was the idea,” Ben teased. “Quiet, creeping searches. Find anything?”

  “Pages are missing from her calendar.”

  “Your pages?”

  “Yep.”

  “What else?” he asked.

  “It’s not what’s here but what isn’t—no hint of a cruise.”

  Kate got up so he could sit down at the desk and turn on the computer. “That stuff could be at her house.”

  “I doubt it. Now I’m sure she’s not on a cruise. That’s just what they want everyone to think. Did you find out anything in their offices?”

  “Nothing incriminating. Jennifer’s a fitness freak with a drawer full of granola bars and low-fat cookies. As far as paperwork is concerned, she seems to run the day-to-day operation, instructor schedules, workout programs, that sort of thing. Nothing financial.”

  “And Mark—”

  “Girlie magazines everywhere.”

  “I knew it!”

  Ben didn’t seem to be listening as he hit a series of keys on Coral’s computer.

  “He’s running the call girl ring,” she insisted.

  He shook his head. “The spreadsheets look legit in the ratio of income to expenses. The spa does a good business.”

  “No wonder. He probably makes most of the money on the side with his sleazy operation,” Kate said, not giving up.

  “Umm. The figures aren’t that good, Kate. Profits are in the normal range. Nothing extraordinary.”

  “Then it’s hidden away somewhere,” she insisted, “buried in a innocent-looking file.”

  “Don’t think so. I’m pretty good at unearthing hidden files.” He continued to hit computer keys, pausing between each series. “Damn.”

  “What’s the matter?”

  “None of the obvious codes work.” He paused to think for a moment before shaking his head. “No, that’s too simple.”

  “What?”

  “Her name. What did you say it was before she came here?”

  “Carol Lam—”

  He’d hit five keys before the last name was out of Kate’s mouth. “I don’t believe it. She used Carol for her password.” Ben shook his head. “Three easy accesses in a row. This place should have hired me to hack-proof.”

  Kate laughed. “Especially since you always leave a back door open.”

  “Only until I’m sure my clients know what they’re doing.”

  “And I don’t?”

  “Nope.” He looked up at her with a wink. “Maybe I’ll give you a few lessons once all this is behind us.”

  She cocked her head and frowned slightly. That was the first time he’d mentioned anything that hinted at the future, even if it was only business. She started to respond, but he was back to the keyboard.

  “Let’s see what we have here…”

  The moment was gone, and it was clear that he hadn’t even noticed it. He was teasing, and she was taking it seriously. She bent over, trying to concentrate on the screen.

  “Hmm, this is interesting. Look at the file named Xmaslist.”

  “Christmas cards, I imagine,” she said as he opened the file. “My name’s probably in there.”

  Ben chuckled. “Oh, I don’t think so. Not in this one, anyway, unless your name is Scarlett or Bambi…or Paige.”

  “Oh, my God, it’s the hooker list!”

  “Looks like it. Beside each name is a number—” He hit a few more keys. “Some kind of code. Okay, I’ve got it. Separate subfiles on each woman, more codes, more numbers…” He turned to Kate. “Be patient. This may take a minute.”

  She glanced at her watch. “Besides the janitor, do you suppose there’s a night watchman?”

  “Probably. We’ll just have to hope his rounds aren’t hourly.”

  “Or even every two hours,” she said. “It’s past ten….” She stopped, afraid of putting pressure on him.

  But he wasn’t listening. His concentration was total, and Kate had no choice but to wait, standing by nervously until at last he uttered what sounded like a victory cry.

  She focused on the screen as he told her, “It’s all here. Dates. Times. Escorts, as they’re called. And-fees. Look at this, Kate, they charge astronomical rates. This isn’t some streetwalker fifty-dollars-anhour deal. We’re talking top-of-the-line prostitutes. Three, four, five grand. And your friend Carol, alias Coral, is the brains behind the operation.”

  “No!” Kate protested. “It can’t be true. It’s not possible. Coral is so…nice.”

  “The two things aren’t mutually exclusive. Haven’t you heard about the madam with the heart of gold?” He exited the document and hit the print key. “This is quite an operation, Kate, bringing in huge amounts of money. It’s mind-boggling.”

  He leaned back in the chair, stretching, almost languidly, as the desktop printer began spitting out pages while Kate, dumbstruck, slumped in a corner chair.

  It wasn’t possible that her mentor, her teacher, was involved in something so sleazy. She remembered the last time she’d seen her friend, now known as Coral, at lunch in a downtown restaurant. Her hair, worn short, was tinted a becoming shade of blonde, and her neat trim figure was shown off to advantage in a designer pantsuit. She looked much younger than her forty-plus years. She was warm, witty, charming. How was it possible, Kate wondered, that such a together, classy-looking woman was running a call girl ring?

  “Ready?” Ben asked. “Let’s hit the road.”

  When she didn’t respond, he got up and touched her shoulder. “Kate?”

  “It can’t be true,” she said in a muted voice. “I was sure Mark was the ringleader. How could Coral have done something like this?”

  “One word,” Ben said coolly. “Greed with a capital G. Obviously, your friend Coral has a secret side.” He ripped the list from the printer and tucked it into his pocket. “Now I’m beginning to agree with you about her vacation. I think it could be bogus.”

  “Should we call the police from here?” Kate asked, getting to her feet.

  “Sure. We’ll tell them we broke into the spa and gathered all this information by hacking Coral’s computer. I don’t think so, Kate. Getting arrested for burglary won’t do either of our careers any good.”

  “What happens next?” she asked in frustration.

  Ben took her face in his hands. “Let’s talk about that after we get out of here. We’ve done all right so far. Don’t worry.” He kissed her quickly. “That’s for luck.”

  “I needed it,” she said, holding on to his strength for a moment. “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s go.”

  She led him down the hall, through the reception room to the spa entrance. As she headed for the door, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked, frightened.

  “Nothing—yet. But t
his is the only area with outside windows. It’s too exposed. Plus there’s an alarm,” he added, pointing to a yellow box at the entrance. “Better go out the delivery door.”

  “Won’t there be an alarm there, too?”

  “Probably, but it’s closer to the car and not so exposed. Come on.” He grabbed her hand and headed for the door he’d come in almost two hours before.

  “Yep. There’s the yellow box.”

  “We can’t get out,” she said in near desperation.

  “Oh, we can get out all right, and the door’ll lock automatically behind us. But the alarm will definitely sound.”

  “Can’t you bypass it or something?”

  “I know computers, Kate. I’m not a master electrician.”

  “But there’s a number pad so there must be a code….”

  “Sure, but security companies are a little more careful with their codes than the managers here at the spa. I might be able to crack it if we had all night.”

  “But we don’t,” she said, looking nervously at her watch. “Wait, I have an idea. What if I call the security company, tell them I’m Jennifer and I forgot the code-”

  “Yeah, and they’ll take your word for it. No way, Kate.” He looked her up and down. “How’re your legs?”

  “My legs?”

  “Are you all toned up from the machines?”

  “Well, my thighs could be better, but I’m getting there. A few more sessions on the leg press and—” She stopped midsentence. “This isn’t the time for teasing, Ben. We could be in trouble.”

  “You’re right, and that’s why I asked about the legs, because they’re going to have to get you to the car in Olympic-record time.” He moved to the door. “When I open this, I want you to run like hell. My car is parked about a hundred yards from here, at the end of the alley—”

  “Why so far away?”

  “So nobody would connect it with this place.”

  That made sense. But a hundred yards…at top speed… Kate wished she had more spa workout time under her belt.

  “The car’s locked so stand by the passenger door—”

  “Yeah, like I’ll get there first.” Her heart pumped with alarming speed as the enormity of what they’d done finally hit her.

  “The alarm’s going to be real loud. Don’t let it frighten you,” he advised.

  “Oh, no. Of course not,” she replied sarcastically. “Ben, I’m already as frightened as I’m going to be.”

  “I doubt it,” he said under his breath.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Just that the alarm will alert the night watchman. We’ll just have to hope he’s not nearby.”

  “And if he is?”

  “Run even faster,” he suggested.

  She began to tremble. There was a very good chance they’d get caught. And arrested. And booked. Reporters would come. Newspapers would carry the story. Maybe eventually they’d prove their case, but it wouldn’t matter because by then her job would be history.

  She’d be in jail, and Amanda would be in limbo.

  “That kiss you gave me for luck…”

  He looked down at her, his eyebrow cocked.

  “It didn’t last long enough. I need a little more encouragement.”

  With a smile he leaned over and kissed her again, this time more thoroughly. “How’s that?”

  “I’m ready to try out my legs.”

  Ben turned the handle, the door opened and they rushed into the night.

  FOR A FEW SECONDS all was quiet except for the noise of their feet pounding across concrete.

  Then the sound of the alarm cut through the night with an endless wail. Kate raced beside Ben for a few seconds, until, just as she expected, he outdistanced her. That was okay. He’d get to the car, start the engine, and then she’d be there.

  She felt a sharp catch in her side and slowed down for an instant. Her breath came in short gasps, and her heart pounded with the turbulence of a bass drum. Damn, she cursed to herself, she was in no shape to run a hundred-yard dash. About halfway to the van, clutching her side, she tried to speed up.

  That was when she heard the footsteps behind her and a voice yelling out for her to stop.

  The night watchman!

  Kate wasn’t about to stop, even though she was nearly doubled over from the pain in her side, and her breath was coming out in short, sobbing gasps. She was determined to make it, especially when she heard the sound of a car door opening and slamming, the engine starting. Ben was in the Bronco!

  But the guard was closing in. She could hear his breathing, almost as ragged as her own. She was almost there. Just a few more steps-A hand grabbed her jacket, pulled hard and stopped her in her tracks. She tried to lunge forward, but he held fast.

  “No, you don’t—” His voice was raspy and deep, and somehow Kate knew that the man was as winded as she. If she could only break away. She whirled, lashing out with her fists. “Let me go,” she cried.

  Then Ben was there. She heard a dull thud, the guard dropped to the concrete and she was free.

  Ben dragged her toward his car, holding her arm tightly. “Get in.” The driver’s side door was open, and he lifted her high enough to propel her inside, across the driver’s seat. She scrambled out of his way as he vaulted in and slammed the door.

  As they sped off, she looked out the back window to see the guard lying in a crumpled heap. “Is he—”

  “He’s all right. Just knocked the wind out of him long enough, I hope, to keep him from getting the license number.”

  He stepped on the gas and propelled the Bronco around a corner just as Kate saw the guard struggling to his feet. “I don’t think he had time to see the number,” she said. “Unless he saw it before you hit him.”

  “No way. He was too busy trying to capture you.” Ben made a sharp left, then a right. The alarm was still wailing as they came to an intersection and he pulled out into the traffic. Only then did Ben hit the headlights and slow down.

  Kate let out a shaky breath. “We’re okay, Ben. We made it!” Adrenaline pumped through her body, energizing her. “Oh, boy, what a trip!”

  Ben threw back his head and laughed. “You’re a hell of a date, Kate McNair.”

  BEN PUSHED the car to the maximum speed. Even if the watchman hadn’t seen the tags, even if there were no police cars in sight, there was an urgency inside him to get home. Fast.

  And her name was Kate.

  He’d called his sister in advance and asked if Amanda could spend the night. In case of repercussions from the break-in, Joan’s house would be a safe haven. To be honest, Amanda’s well-being was only part of the reason for his call; Kate was the rest. He wanted her alone for a night.

  She’d taken off the blond wig, and her hair fell damply around her face. She looked incredibly provocative as she pushed her hair away with nervous hands and looked out the window, seeming to watch the night fly by.

  Was she as keyed up as he? As anxious? As much on fire?

  It was difficult to tell when they were both silent… expectant, as if there was an unspoken agreement about what would happen when they got to his house. He stepped on the gas and the Bronco leaped forward, its headlights eating up the dark mountain road.

  The excitement of their adventure, the thrill, still hung thickly in the air; it enveloped them both, and heated the already charged atmosphere.

  Seated beside Ben, Kate clasped and unclasped her hands. She was possessed by an overpowering urge to reach out and touch him. She closed her eyes and tried to control her raging heart, but it was impossible. Her whole body vibrated with need for him. What was happening to her? She’d never had this kind of hot yearning before, never wanted a man as she wanted Ben. Now. This minute.

  She took a deep breath and let it out through open lips. Calm down, she cautioned herself. We’ll be home soon.

  But her body still throbbed with memories of his kiss and touch, their lovemaking, the feeling of him inside her. She wondered if her legs
would be strong enough to climb the stairs from the garage to his house. From his living room to his bed.

  It didn’t matter. If she couldn’t walk, he’d have to carry her. That would be just fine.

  ONE SMALL LIGHT burned when they finally reached Ben’s living room. “Do you want me to build a fire?” His lips were close to her ear, his breath sending shivers along her spine.

  “No,” she whispered, admitting, “I have enough heat for both of us.”

  She met his eyes boldly, and he saw the fire there. His arms enclosed her and he pulled her toward the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs he stopped, unable to go another step, and pressed his body hard against her. The clothes she wore felt heavy, keeping him from her.

  “Let’s get rid of these….” His hands shook as he peeled off her jacket, shirt and bra, leaving her naked from the waist up. He let his hands roam her skin, stopping to place one over the curve of her left breast.

  “Your heart,” he said. “It’s pounding so…”

  “The chase. The excitement.”

  “Right,” he agreed wryly. “Me, too.” He kissed her hard, and while his tongue and lips explored hers hungrily, she pulled at his shirt, opening it to his waist. Then, struggling with his zipper, she pushed it down and reached inside to touch him.

  He felt as though rockets had gone off inside his head. Swaying, he grabbed on to the railing. “I don’t think I can make it upstairs.”

  Her laugh was soft and low. “Don’t worry. We can make love here.”

  “On the stairs?” he asked as he buried his face in her hair.

  “Have you ever…”

  “No. Have you…?”

  She shook her head as she sank back slowly.

  He held on and dropped to the stairs on top of her. “I wonder if this is possible…”

  Her throat was so tight she could hardly speak. “With us anything is possible.”

  He knelt in front of her and hungrily kissed her mouth. Warm liquid heat flowed through her as if she’d been freed from a winter’s chill. He broke the kiss, and their eyes met and held. His handsome bronzed face was intense with pleasure. She leaned forward and kissed him, mating her tongue with his, pressing her damp skin against him. Just as their bodies touched physically, she yearned to be part of his heart, part of his life—forever.