Harlequin Romantic Suspense July 2021 Box Set

by Carla Cassidy

  “The charges have to be dropped first. You have to refuse to testify. Say you were lying or something.”

  “But you were going to get her to refuse to testify against me for that stupid hair-pulling thing. Who ever heard of going to jail for pulling someone’s hair?”

  As Jasmine listened, she felt sicker. And stronger, too.

  “I can hear you two,” she said. Her father’s daughter again. The one who didn’t just sit and take it without being heard.

  “Yeah, well, you weren’t supposed to still be here,” Heidi said snottily, coming farther into the living space. “We’re going to have to tie her up,” Heidi added. “And leave her here. By the time someone finds her, we’ll be long gone.”

  “Not until I have proof that you’ve said you won’t testify.”

  She flashed her phone at him. “It’s on airplane mode.” She let him read what was there. “Sent an hour ago. My full confession that I was lying about all the things I said you did to me. My agreement to go back to counseling. And to pay all legal fees.”

  Because Josh was going to make certain that she got to live with Bella as her mother. In another country.

  There was no reason for them to stick around then. Whether Josh was present or not, the case would go away.

  “I have to be here until Thursday,” he told Heidi, glancing toward Jasmine. “I have to appear or they’re going to get suspicious. I’m not leaving this undone.”

  “The case will be dropped later today,” Heidi told him.

  Jasmine wasn’t sure the other woman was wrong. It could happen that quickly.

  “You should have waited another day to come up here, love,” Josh said, in a voice Jasmine had never heard before. “Like we planned.”

  “I couldn’t be away from you any longer, sweet man. I waited all night...”

  Heidi hadn’t trusted Josh to turn on Jasmine. More clarity came. So much more. Her brother truly was a victim of his wife. He’d tried to fight it the right way, turning her in the first time. And even standing up to the charges when she came after him this last time.

  Thinking he was going to win because he really was innocent.

  And then he wasn’t.

  Heidi had screwed things up by coming after Jasmine. She’d needed more blame to put on Josh, so she’d brought up other times that Josh had been forced to protect their daughter against her and used them against him.

  Josh really had been protecting Bella every time Heidi had been hurt. Which was why none of the injuries were serious. He wasn’t their father.

  He hadn’t reached his breaking point as she thought.

  Not until that night.

  He’d never purposefully hurt his wife.

  But he’d hurt Jasmine. Just as he’d seen their father do. Not nearly as badly, though. He hadn’t been trying to teach her a lesson, or make her afraid of him so he could control. He’d been desperate to have her leave his daughter at the cabin so that Heidi would set him free.

  “We’re going to have get rid of her,” Heidi said. “Just until Thursday. We can say she took Bella away for a few days. The stress of the case was getting to her.” Heidi had always been good at coming up with scenarios to fit whatever circumstances in which she’d found herself.

  Came from a lifetime of lying to her mother to avoid further beatings, Jasmine guessed.

  Maybe not. Maybe she was just a born liar.

  “Josh,” Jasmine said. “Think about what you’re doing here.”

  Heidi didn’t know Jasmine was hurt. Didn’t know that in those hours alone in their safe place, Josh Taylor had become an abuser. The injuries didn’t ever show, done Taylor style. Should have been a clue to her that Josh hadn’t lost it and gone after Heidi. Her wrist injury was clearly visible.

  “I love her, Jas,” he said, sounding more helpless than she’d ever heard him.

  “And I love you, too, sweet man,” Heidi said, cuddling up to him.

  Jasmine wondered how long it would take Greg to get up there. Didn’t let herself consider the possibility that he wouldn’t find her. When she’d turned the phone on, she’d turned the ringer off. If he was calling, she wouldn’t know. But she pretended to herself that he was. That, right there in her purse, he was reaching out to her.

  While he was on his way to find her.

  And then she didn’t pretend anything anymore as Heidi pulled out a gun and started toward her.

  * * *

  Greg had been up most of the night. He’d gone home, lay down for a couple of hours, waiting for the phone to ring. Until he got more to go on, he had nowhere to go. Officers were stationed outside both Jasmine’s and Josh’s homes. Everyone was on alert. A tip line was active and getting calls. Uniforms were following up on them.

  He didn’t lie down until almost five. Slept restlessly through his workout time. And was in the shower when he heard his line ring.

  Dripping, he grabbed it up. Heard that Jasmine’s phone had pinged and was out the door in jeans and the sweatshirt he’d had on the night before, unshaven and with his hair still wet, still asking questions and giving orders. Officers were already all over the area. Greg was to be called the second there was any sign of any of the three missing persons.

  If they were too late...if Josh had hurt her...either of them...

  Putting his bubble on his dash, he put his foot to the floor and drove toward his future. Whatever it turned out to be.

  * * *

  Their cars had been located. He got the report while he was still twenty minutes from the remote cottage that wasn’t even on any books. The land it sat on was registered as vacant.

  And owned by a company that hadn’t yet been linked to anything pertaining to Josh or Jasmine Taylor. It was close to the vacation home in which they’d spent so much of their time growing up. That couldn’t be good.

  Neither could the fact that there were three vehicles, not two, parked there. The third one being registered to Heidi Taylor.

  Heart pounding, he asked the detective in charge, the one whose jurisdiction they were in, to please tread carefully. He didn’t know about Josh, but he was certain that Heidi Taylor was unstable enough to do serious damage. Possibly even kill if she felt threatened. Detective Meridian told Greg he appreciated any help he could give him and said he’d keep in touch.

  * * *

  Shots had been fired from inside the cottage. He got the call five minutes out. Detective Meridian believed they’d been warnings to him and his men. They’d counted three blasts, and there were three holes in the front window, which was covered by blinds.

  No one knew for certain that little Bella was inside, but it was assumed that she was. Her empty car seat was in Jasmine’s vehicle.

  Jasmine would know what Greg had done by now, for sure. She’d know that he hadn’t protected her brother as she’d assumed he’d been doing. He still didn’t regret having done his job. She’d needed the truth. He’d gone after every piece of it he could find.

  William’s call the night before, Josh’s continued refusal to take a plea deal that was sweeter than he could have hoped for...he didn’t get that.

  Meridian was waiting for him when he pulled up. He not only saw the man’s badge clipped to his hip, but he also recognized the authority with which Meridian viewed the scene.

  He filled Greg in on a few particulars. Movements they’d seen in the house. The fact that no one was answering their phones.

  “Other than Jasmine’s they seem to be turned off,” he said. “They ring twice and go to voice mail.”

  He’d called her phone a couple of times since he’d heard it was back on. He’d had no response, either. “It’s possible that she’s got the volume down. That they don’t know she has it on.”

  Jasmine was a smart woman. A true survivor. She knew what to do.

  He had to believe that would
be enough to get her and Bella out of this alive. Couldn’t consider any other option.

  A split second of panic hit as he glanced toward the house. A vision of his father slumped over the steering wheel the other night.

  Same kind of stark, cold, horrifying fear. Like he was losing someone he...

  He loved Jasmine. God in hell, what a time to figure that one out.

  Didn’t matter to him if they lived in separate countries for the rest of their lives, he loved her. Would always love her. She owned his heart, and he had to get her out of there alive.

  “Let me go in,” he said, removing his gun from his hip. “I know all three of them. Have had the trust of two of them at one time or another. It’s a family thing,” he said. Meridian already knew the basics.

  “No way,” the detective said. “I could be sending you into a massacre. I’ve called the negotiators. We’ve got a DV specialist on staff...”

  “I’m a specialist,” Greg said. He’d worked with the High-Risk Team. That made him special enough, as far as he was concerned. “I’m going in, Detective,” he added, walking toward the door. “You can cover me or not.”

  His advance was slow, giving everyone notice that he was coming in. They could shoot him dead. Or they could talk to him. Either way, they weren’t leaving on their own. And they weren’t taking Bella with them.

  As he walked, it occurred to him that Jasmine could have been in on it with her brother. That she and Josh were trying to take Bella and get away and that Heidi somehow found out. He wouldn’t have put it past the other woman to have been having Josh watched.

  They all had cause to hate him. He kept walking. Thinking of Jasmine’s cell phone going live. She had to have turned it on. A cry for help.

  And help was there in the dozens.

  * * *

  “Detective Johnson’s here. He’s walking toward the house.”

  Heidi, whose gun was held strategically behind her back, but pointing at Jasmine, made the statement in a happy-go-lucky voice.

  “I do it!” Bella’s equally happy voice rang out from the kitchen table, where Josh was feeding her breakfast and she wanted to hold her cereal spoon. Thank God for that baby. If she hadn’t woken up at Josh’s sharp rebuke of Heidi when she’d pulled the gun on Jasmine earlier, Jasmine would most probably be dead.

  And the three of them would be on their way to Mexico. And beyond.

  Greg was here. The knowledge gave her a sense of calm. It was all going to be over soon.

  In the space of time since Heidi had first pulled the gun on her—a couple of hours, at least—Josh had tended to Bella, sat with her first and rocked her back to sleep for a bit, right there on the couch with Jasmine. Held his daughter while she slept. And then washing her up and getting her dressed—with clothes he’d brought for her from home, probably for a much longer trip—as was her usual routine.

  Her “Hi, Mommy” when she walked out was as normal as could be. Bella was secure. Happy. With her family. But she didn’t rush over to hug her mother. Didn’t go to her at all.

  The entourage outside had arrived while Josh had been dressing Bella. Only God knew what would happen next. Would Heidi kill them all? And then shoot herself?

  Like she’d shot off rounds when she’d first known cops were outside?

  It happened. More often than a lot of people knew.

  Jasmine had to pee, but there was no way she was going to get up off that couch, give Heidi a chance to accompany her through the bedroom and get her alone.

  And yet...an idea occurred to her. They were all out there. If she got Heidi away from Bella, Greg would get the toddler and get her to safety...

  Looking at Heidi by the door, she leaned forward, planning to stand, figuring she had to time things just right. A shard of pain hit her left side so sharply it took her breath away. She relaxed again, knowing that she’d have to factor the ribs into her plan.

  “I’m coming in!” Greg’s voice sounded in the distance. “I’m unarmed. Just want to talk.”

  “He’s got his hands in the air,” Heidi said, again in that singsong voice, as though giving good news to a child. At least the woman had learned enough to keep things light and easy around Bella. Josh had gotten through to her, at least a little bit. “I’m letting him in.”

  Tears sprang to Jasmine’s eyes. Staring straight ahead when all she wanted to do was look at that door, to see Greg at least once more, she didn’t move. Didn’t dare give Heidi any indication that she cared one way or the other about the man. Josh knew she’d fallen for the detective. If Heidi didn’t, they needed to keep it that way.

  Not that she could count on her brother to be on her side anymore. He was so in love with his abusive wife, so controlled by her that...

  The door opened.

  CHAPTER 25

  “Detective, I’m so glad to see you.” Heidi sounded like she was welcoming royalty. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  What?

  “I just knew, after you sent the officers to my place last night, that you’d have someone watching me,” she continued, as though passing along an interesting piece of gossip. “I knew that I’d be followed up here. And we can end this once and for all. When I heard they were gone, I figured this was where they’d come and if I could get you all up here, you’d see what I’ve been saying all along. Jasmine and Josh...they’re this impenetrable team. They were planning to run away together. To take all their money and my daughter and leave the country and I’d never see my sweet Bella again...”

  What in the hell? What in the...

  Her head screamed so loudly she couldn’t find a clear thought. Heidi and Greg were in this together? But...

  No, that didn’t make sense. Why would Greg need to trap her and Josh? They already had their win. Whether Josh took the plea or not.

  Obviously, someone had noticed her and Josh missing.

  That had to mean Greg had been trying to contact her, right? Because they were...more than friends. He’d found out the truth like she’d asked. It would have been unethical for him to tell her. He’d wanted to wait to make love until after the trial.

  She might not get out of there alive, but she could sit there thinking about Greg if she wanted to. Obviously distracting Heidi wasn’t going to work now.

  “Is everyone okay here?” Greg’s voice, soft and sure...it was like warm blood in her frozen veins.

  “We’re all fine, but only because you got here,” Heidi said, lowering her voice as well. “Josh had a gun. I had no idea.”

  “Shots were fired.”

  “That was Josh. Warning you all to back off.”

  Feeling like the statue she’d become, Jasmine didn’t say a word. Wasn’t sure how much Josh could hear. He’d taken Bella fully into the kitchen alcove and was talking to her loudly. About the difference between chocolate and regular milk and how chocolate had sugar and cereal had sugar and too much sugar in the morning...

  “Ms. Taylor? You okay?” It took her a second to realize that Greg was talking to her. And had the inane realization that her ponytail had come loose. He could probably see her bald spot.

  She made a half turn before her ribs screamed at her. “Yes. I’m fine,” she said, knowing she didn’t sound like herself at all. Hoping he’d hear the pain in her voice. Realize that she was injured. In case he was counting on her climbing mountains in the next minute or two. She’d do it, of course, but she couldn’t guarantee how well.

  Or how long she’d remain conscious.

  “Okay, Heidi, what you did, bringing us here, helped a lot. Except, maybe, it would have been safer for you if you’d just told us where you thought they were.”

  “I could have been wrong,” Heidi said, sounding completely rational now. “Besides, I had to see for myself,” she told him. “I need to see them both taken away, and I knew if I asked if I could come
along, you wouldn’t let me.”

  The woman was diabolical. She truly did have an answer for everything.

  “We’ll get to that,” Greg said. “But first, before anyone gets excited here, we need to get Bella out of here. Just let me take her out and then I’ll bring officers in to arrest these two.”

  Greg was placating Heidi. He had to be. Surely he didn’t believe her.

  But Jasmine might have, given the same circumstance, if she didn’t have years of living with Heidi’s lies behind her. The other woman had twisted her and Josh up in knots for over a year before they’d come together, talked and figured out what was going on.

  “Bella, look! It’s a police car with bright lights! You want to go see it?” Josh’s voice sounded behind Jasmine. She couldn’t see him. Couldn’t see her precious little baby girl. But she held her breath, waiting for Bella to get safely past her mother.

  “Police car! Let’s see! You want to see, Auntie JJ?”

  “In a minute, sweet pea!” Jasmine called, wanting to turn but fearing the pain if she did so. She had to be ready and able to move. While Heidi’s gun was no longer trained on her, she had no way of knowing whether or not Greg knew Heidi was the one armed.

  “Detective Johnson’s going to take you out to show you how the bright lights work,” Josh said. “Daddy’s going to put the milk away and be right out and then you can show me what you learned!”

  Josh sounded as though they were going on a ride at the playground. A testament to how much he loved his daughter. And wanted her life free from witnessing violence. After all this, he was handing her over without a fight. Making it fun for her to go. Without even a kiss goodbye.

  Jasmine wanted to be surprised by that. Strangely, she wasn’t. Josh had always put Bella first.

  Heidi locked the door again as soon as Greg was through it. Locking the three of them in. And that’s what this was all about. Heidi was insanely jealous of Greg’s relationship with Jasmine. And then, later, with Bella, but mostly it was Jasmine.