by Dani Criss
“Do as I told you, Katie,” he commanded, needing to be completely certain she would follow his instructions to the letter.
She swallowed hard, then nodded slowly.
He leaned over and dropped a light kiss on her forehead. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
Watching him being taken away was the most difficult thing Kaitlyn had ever done. She was too worried to stand still, angry enough to smash something. Craig Fallon had some nerve to press charges against Jake!
She shut the door and quickly set the alarm system, then grabbed the cordless phone, watching the police car drive off with Jake in the back seat as she dialed his service. In less than twenty minutes Jake’s people were parking their cars in her driveway. Kaitlyn was surprised at how relieved she was to see the two. She had her shoes on and her purse slung over her shoulder when she opened the door for them.
“Whoa, Red,” Steele said, catching her by the elbow and firmly guiding her back into the living room. Dev closed the door and threw the dead bolt. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To see Jake. Surely we can bail him out—”
“The company lawyer is on his way to do that right now, so why don’t you just sit down and—”
“You go right ahead and make yourself comfortable,” she retorted, glaring at the hulk standing in her path. No way was she going to sit and wait for the very slow wheels of justice to release Jake. “I’ll see you when I get back.”
The man didn’t move, didn’t even flinch as she gave him her most potent glower. He was nearly as tall as Jake and every bit as broad shouldered. Getting past him was going to be tricky. She feinted to the left, then rushed to the right. The move nearly worked, but the man’s reflexes were too damn good. He was back blocking her way before she could take a second step.
“You’re pretty good, Red,” he said, “but Jake pays me the big bucks to be better. Now, why don’t you just—”
“Why don’t you—”
The woman standing with her back against the door let out an earsplitting shrill whistle. “Enough. Why don’t we just take her where she wants to go?”
“Because I think this case is personal with Jake,” Steele said over his shoulder. “He won’t appreciate us dragging her down to the station.”
“Come on,” Dev insisted. “It’s the Overland Park station, not some inner-city precinct. The scum’s not as low class as they are downtown.”
“Jake still won’t like it,” Steele maintained firmly.
“Jake gets a little carried away with this protection stuff sometimes,” Dev said. “It’s not going to traumatize her to see the inside of a police station. The alternative is for you to tie her to a chair until he gets back and I guarantee he won’t like that one bit.”
Steele waggled his sandy eyebrows. “Tie her to a chair. I love it when you talk kinky stuff.”
“Quit clowning and give me your car keys,” Dev snapped in mock annoyance. “I’ll get her in the Camaro while you set the system.”
Keys in hand, she took a fast look outside, then led Kaitlyn over to the yellow ’68 Camaro, letting her into the back seat. She got in on the passenger side, passing the keys to Steele as he climbed in behind the wheel. Kaitlyn noted the way the two worked together and understood why Jake had paired them up.
The friendly sniping between them, though, could not keep her mind off Jake, as they most likely intended. What were the police doing to him? she wondered as Steele drove quickly and efficiently through the streets of Overland Park. Kaitlyn knew he wouldn’t be in any danger, but he was bound to be worried about her and frustrated as hell. Jake didn’t handle frustration well, she mused as Steele pulled up to the building and parked his car.
The three of them walked inside and waited in the clean and brightly lit station room while a flurry of activity went on around them.
“Jake can take care of himself,” Dev told her quietly at one point.
Kaitlyn nodded, relaxing a little, but still unable to sit in a chair as the other two were doing. Jake would be able to hold his own with the cops or with whatever criminal element the wealthy suburb station had in custody. But she wished she could see him, reassure him and herself that everything was going to be all right. For now, all she could do was pace the small waiting area.
It was more than two hours later when she saw him walking toward her. Relief flooded through her, almost making her knees buckle.
“Thank God,” she heard Steele grumble. “I couldn’t have stood another five minutes of watching her pace. All that nervous energy makes me nervous.”
Jake spotted her and scowled, then aimed the glare at his two employees.
“I gave them no choice but to bring me here,” Kaitlyn quickly told him, noting that his clothes were rumpled and his hair had been finger-combed repeatedly. This was one of those rare times his infinite patience failed him.
“You should have stayed home,” he growled.
“You’re going through this because of me, Jake Riley,” she snapped. “I was worried. I was not going to sit at home.” She paused for a breath. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“I’ve got a court date in three weeks,” he said, putting an arm around her shoulders and leading her to the door. Dallas and Dev followed. Jake waited until they were situated in the back of Dallas’s Camaro. “Meanwhile, Rob is getting me mug shots of Fallon from the time he was arrested. First thing Monday morning, we’ll get that restraining order, then we’ll take the photos to the security staff in your office building. If Fallon shows up on the premises, he’ll be arrested.”
In the back seat of the car, Kaitlyn felt the anger radiating from him. She was sure it was because he’d underestimated Fallon’s craftiness. Neither one of them had expected him to file charges against Jake.
She slid her hand in his. He looked at her in surprise, then his hand closed around hers, his fingers gripping hers tightly until Steele pulled into the driveway of her condo. Once Jake had thanked his two agents sincerely, he ushered Kaitlyn into the house.
“You reset the alarm,” he told her. “I want you to get into the habit of doing it each time.”
He was very serious, almost as if he were afraid that she would overlook some detail. But this went deeper than the current situation warranted, she sensed. She reset the system as he’d told her, then went to stand beside him.
“You’re upset,” she said, “and I think it goes beyond what we’ve been through tonight.”
“I was worried, leaving you alone.”
“But there’s more to it, isn’t there?” she wanted to know, reading the anguish in his eyes.
He went to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer, twisted off the cap, then took a long swallow from the bottle. It required a supreme amount of effort, but Kaitlyn waited. Finally, when he’d accepted that she would not be sidetracked, he answered her.
“I nearly lost someone once,” he said. “To a stalker. I figured the guy was a harmless loony and I seriously underestimated him.”
Jake took another long drink from the bottle, needing to rinse out the bad taste in his mouth that came with just remembering that night.
“You miscalculated,” Katie said, trying to ease the pain and guilt that would always tear through him at the memory.
“This wasn’t a matter of choosing the wrong tie or putting an important paper in the wrong folder. But that’s the way I treated it. I should have known better. In my business mistakes can cost lives and this one nearly did.”
“But, Jake—”
“Katie, it was Candy who almost died.”
He saw her eyes widen first in shock, then in realization of what he was going through. He’d always been close to his sister Beth, but Candy was the youngest, the one he’d spent the most time looking after. It was Candy he’d talked to about Katie’s leaving. Candy had confided in him, looked up to him, depended on him, put all her faith and trust in him, and when she’d most needed him, he’d let her down.
Katie laid a h
and on his forearm. “But she’s okay, isn’t she?”
“Little thanks to me,” he said bitterly. “The guy will get tired of hanging around, I told her. I said he wasn’t all there mentally, but he wasn’t dangerous. I was wrong on all counts.”
Her hand was still there, warm, comforting. A lifeline he longed to latch onto. But this demon would not be banished. She gazed up at him, her eyes filled with compassion and caring, and he vowed to himself that he would protect her.
“Katie, I need to stay here tonight. With you. I need to know you’re safe.”
Though he hadn’t phrased it as a question, Kaitlyn knew he was asking her to put aside her need to be self-sufficient. For him. And this once, she wanted to do it—but deep down she knew she wouldn’t be helping him. He needed to conquer this particular fear, and as difficult as it was to refuse his request, this time she had to. For his own good.
“No, Jake,” she said quietly.
His jaw clenched. His eyes went hard and cold.
“Jake, you have to be able to let go a little,” she said, trying to explain. “You’ve put in a first-rate security system. I’ll have almost instant assistance if I need it. You can even have your security car patrol the neighborhood and I won’t complain.”
“Cars,” he corrected. “I have more than one car a night on patrol.”
She let that soak in a moment. “Someday you’ll have to tell me just how big a company Riley Security Services is.”
“Let me stay tonight and I’ll tell you all about it.”
He touched his fingertip to her cheek, the brush of his skin sending her nerve endings skittering. She leaned closer, reading the silent plea in his dark eyes.
“You have to walk away,” she told him, the words very hard to get out. “You have to be able to say this is where your responsibility ends.”
“Throwing me out will not make that happen.”
Jake would still worry about her. Nothing would change that, except being with her. She wouldn’t allow that, though. He understood why she wouldn’t let him stay, but he didn’t like it one damn bit. He downed the rest of the beer in one swallow, then threw the empty bottle into the trash. It landed with a loud and satisfying thunk. He grabbed his gun off the counter, checked the weapon, then held it out to her. She didn’t reach for it, just stared at it.
“I want you to take it,” he growled. “Keep it by your nightstand. I want to know you have a way of protecting yourself if you need it.”
Still she hesitated. “It’s been a long time since I handled a weapon,” she said.
Jake took her hand and laid the gun in it, making her feel the weight of it. She would remember how to use it in a pinch. It would all come back to her instinctively.
“Keep it by your nightstand,” he repeated. “At least do this much for me.”
“Jake, I need you to understand why—”
“I understand, all right,” he told her sharply. “Your motives are noble, but I notice you’re getting what you want.”
Kaitlyn raised her chin and narrowed her eyes. He’d hit a nerve and he knew it. He was angry and lashing out. She took the gun, stood in silence as he snatched his jacket off the back of a kitchen chair. Jaw clenched painfully, he disarmed the system to walk out, not even tossing the customary order to rearm it over his shoulder.
Chapter 7
He was wrong, Kaitlyn thought as he stalked across the driveway to his Town Car. She hadn’t gotten what she’d wanted. She wanted him to understand. But his need to protect her at all costs had gotten in the way of that.
Jake’s problem, she decided as she locked doors, turned off lights and reset the security system, was that too few people stood up to him. It was a very rare occasion when he didn’t get his way and he didn’t know how to deal with matters when that happened.
He had no idea how badly she’d wanted to give in, and if her situation had been the only concern, she would have. But Jake needed to put the past mistake behind him, much as she needed to kick the monkey off her back, as he’d pointed out.
She put the gun on the nightstand, then noticed the card lying there. She picked it up. It was Jake’s card. On the back he’d written his home phone number. Kaitlyn smiled to herself, thinking of how he must have put it there earlier in the day. For her. So she would feel safer in the house alone.
A case of overprotectiveness or extreme thoughtfulness? she asked herself, kicking off her shoes. She voted for the latter. Should she have let him stay? she wondered, recalling the anguish in his gaze as he’d spoken of the incident with his sister. At long last she could understand why he felt it was better to do too much rather than too little, especially with those closest to him.
Kaitlyn remembered how he’d been with his family those few months she’d lived with him. He’d saved every penny he could to pay off the mortgage on his mother’s house and had insisted she quit her second job. He’d moonlighted, taking a job—as most cops did—with a security firm. That’s when he’d begun talking of going into business for himself.
His sister Beth had celebrated her second wedding anniversary soon after Kaitlyn and Jake first met. Kaitlyn recalled that when his brother-in-law mentioned wanting to go into the remodeling business for himself, Jake had passed out business cards to everyone he came into contact with. He’d helped Mark scout out an office location, had gone to the bank with him and had co-signed for a business loan. He’d never appeared on their doorstep empty-handed. Some delicious something from the bakery, baby food, diapers, toys—he’d brought them all at one time or another.
Then there was Candice. Jake’s dad had died before Candy’s first birthday, so Jake had looked after her almost from the very start. During Kaitlyn’s months with Jake, Candy had come over to the apartment nearly every day to share all the little details of her life with him. She would chatter on and he would listen, occasionally worry, always advise. Then she would turn to Kaitlyn and question her about college. Candy had been a year behind Kaitlyn and a business major, also, and she’d had many questions about which classes to take and which professors to avoid.
Those evenings his sister had come over had meant a lot to Jake. The bond between the two was very special. So it was no surprise that a miscalculation on his part bringing harm to her stayed with him still. He had to come to terms with that, forgive himself for it. Kaitlyn had meant to help him along that road, but perhaps she’d only alienated him.
Something she hadn’t wanted. Seeing him in handcuffs tonight, she’d realized how much he’d done to help her feel safe. The card on the nightstand was proof that he hadn’t originally intended to spend the night. Only when he feared the stakes had been raised did he ask. And he’d asked, not demanded.
The big question in her mind as she got into bed that night was why this mattered so much to her. Why should she care that he make peace with himself—that this particular demon stop tearing him up inside? Why did she hate that she’d hurt him?
And why was she afraid the answers might change her life forever?
The phone rang just before five o’clock in the morning. In bed and still awake, Jake grabbed for it and had it off the hook before it could ring a second time.
“Katie?” he asked, expecting, fearing, the worst.
“Jane,” the female voice on the other end corrected. “From the monitor room. You said you wanted to be notified if we got a tripped alarm at the address on 120th Terrace. We got one two minutes ago. We’ve dispatched a team.”
Katie’s address, he realized, snapping on the light. If Jane had sent a car, that meant Katie hadn’t answered her phone. “I’m on my way.”
“ETA for the security team is three minutes. Police should be right behind them.”
He would beat them both, Jake vowed, yanking on his clothes and shoes and grabbing a weapon. Pushed by fear, he raced out of the apartment building and to his car, sped down I-35 to 119th Street, left into Hollowbrook, and pulled up to her condo a minute behind the security team. Inside, t
he alarm was screaming. Outside, the nearby neighbors were turning on lights to see what the commotion was about. None of the floodlights he’d installed had been tripped.
He rushed over to Max Slater and indicated the right side of the corner condo. Max nodded, then started around that side.
“Stay here,” Jake told the other man, pointing to the garage and then to the front door.
Drawing his gun, Jake made his way around the condo, visually checking the living room and kitchen windows for signs of entry. Nothing. Around back he glanced at the bedroom windows. Nothing appeared to be disturbed there, either. No lights were on inside. Katie was in there. Alone? Or was Fallon there? She could be hurt, or at the least had to be frightened out of her mind.
He pulled out his key ring and found the extra copy he’d made of the key to her front door. He motioned for Max to watch the sliding glass door, then went around the front. With the second man at his back, he let himself into her house. The alarm continued its deafening blare. Jake shut it off.
The silence was worse, he thought, motioning for the other man to take the kitchen, while he would take the master bedroom. Nothing was out of place in the living room, so he made his way down the darkened hallway. Her bedroom door was open. He inched inside. The bed was empty, the covers rumpled and thrown back. Nothing out of place here, either.
Except that Katie wasn’t where she should have been. He checked the closet and the master bath. Nothing and no one. The spare bedroom she used as an office was undisturbed, as well.
He told Max to wait in the kitchen for the police, sent the other man to check the laundry room and garage while he checked the basement. She wasn’t in the rec room. He searched the storage area and still came up empty.
“Where the hell is she?” he growled, coming back up the stairs.
“Sir, her car’s not in the garage,” Martin said.
Jake frowned. Fear gripped his gut tighter. Fallon had taken her somewhere. How the hell would Jake find her? She could be anywhere. Fallon could be doing anything to her. And Jake couldn’t stop it.