by C. J. Snyder
Time to put a stop to this. “To watch me get naked while you hold a gun on me?” The sneered words backfired. Suddenly they both had the picture in their minds. Maggie reached for her water with both hands and drank half the glass.
Jack released her leg and cleared his throat. “Why’d you do it, Maggie?” His change of subject was welcome. The question was one she expected. Without his hands all over her, she could meet his eyes cooly. “I had a good reason.” Her evasion amused him. “Which was?”
“Still my own business.”
“You will tell me, sooner or later.” There was a veiled threat behind the words.
She was tired of his threats. Tired of his manipulations. And she could be as cooly amused as he. As long as he wasn’t touching her. She smiled. “No. I’m not. And I’m not going back to the hotel with you. You can arrest me here as easily as anywhere.”
He laughed. “I’m not here to arrest you, darlin’. Not yet, anyway.”
Her smile faded. “Then what?”
He ignored her question and fingered one of her short curls. “I wish you hadn’t cut your hair.” The evasion was unsettling. “Why are you here, if you’re not going to arrest me?” “I’m going to arrest you,” he clarified. “Just not yet.”
The feel of his hands in her hair left her shaken. His words scared her. She scrambled to find a response and failed. She dropped her gaze to her water glass. Short of making a scene, which was the last thing she wanted to do, how did she force him to stop touching her?
“What was in the safety deposit box?”
He didn’t know? “I don’t know what you mean.”
His fingers left her hair and skimmed her cheek down to her chin. He lifted her face to his. “Liar.”
She summoned the raw courage she’d lived on for the past two years and forced her mind back to her plan. She smiled at the dare. “Think so?” “I know so.”
“Prove it.”
“I intend to. But I’ve got time.”
Don’t count on it. The words almost tumbled out. He was nearly out of time, although he couldn’t know that. But first there were things she had to know. “How did you find me?” “Melissa.” He frowned, then it was gone. “One of our operatives spotted her leaving Chicago. I followed her here.”
“You were here?” Maggie kept her hands wrapped around her water. She wanted a drink, but didn’t dare lift the glass. He’d see her abruptly trembling hands if she did. “For a week. When I didn’t find you, I went home with her.” Maggie closed eyes that suddenly stung. Life in Colorado truly was over. Derek, Sally—even her regular customers seemed too dear to give up. She slammed a door in her heart and sat up straight, fixing him with a smile she hoped would mask her tumbling emotions. “An operative, huh?”
“We have them everywhere.” Like Chuck ? Again she cut off the words. Almost time. She let him continue. “It was only a question of when. You knew that.”
But she hadn’t. And the relative security of the world she’d built here crumbled at her feet. “Sounds more like the FBI than the Harrisburg Police Department.” He didn’t answer and her thoughts raced on. He still didn’t know she lived in New Castle. She should have time to give Derek a little notice.
“Did you know what I was doing that night? That it was a sting?” His index finger stroked the column of her neck, slow and sizzling. “No.” That much she could tell him honestly.
“Would it have made a difference?”
“No.”
He nodded. “I figured as much. So why?”
She shrugged and gave a nervous laugh. “I was bored.” That piercing gaze was all over her—she could feel it—so she folded her hands on top of her napkin and stared at them. “Are you bored tonight?” That—and the hand he returned to her knee—startled her eyes back to his. A knowing smile lit his face. His low voice was a husky murmur. “We could skip dinner and go straight for the danger. Back at the hotel. If that’s the kind of thing you like when you’re bored. I brought along a Rachmaninoff CD. I’ve always wanted to use him for background music—so much passion.”
Rachmaninoff. She loved that music during a thunderstorm. More often than not she didn’t even need a storm. All she needed was the right combination of turbulent, pent-up emotions. Like right now. How did he know?
She was sorry she’d looked at him. Even sorrier when she couldn’t look away. She prayed her eyes wouldn’t betray her secrets. “I’m not bored.” She cleared her throat and forced a strength she didn’t feel into her voice. “Anyway, I was much younger then.”
He slowly shook his head.
Just look away.
Impossible.
“Younger. Not much. Melissa is young.”
Melissa. The reason for everything she’d done. Very safe subject. “She thinks she’s in love with you.”
He shrugged. “It was never about Melissa. You know that. Only you. For two years, there’s been only you.”
His hand on her knee shot off sparks, igniting flames that flooded her body. “I—stop, please.” Fascinated, she watched his tongue come out to brush over his sensuous lower lip. “I can’t.” It was a husky growl. The sound sent more little licks of flame straight to her belly. “You’re a drug, darlin’.” His hand slid behind her neck and his fingers moved over her scalp. “Now I’ve tasted you. One taste isn’t enough.”
“I’m not going to sleep with you.” Not the calm, firm statement it was meant to be. She sounded a little too hysterical, even to her ears. Maggie clamped her lips shut. “Maggie, my Maggie. . . You know you’ve thought about making love—just like I have.” His voice rumbled through her—more than just her ears, the murmur slipped inside, holding her still when she knew she should push his hand away—should run for cover as surely as if he’d pulled a gun.
But she didn’t. Lost in his eyes, she sat still as he traced her lips and jaw with his thumb, then lower, down her throat. He smiled at the small whimper that escaped her lips. “You have thought about making love, haven’t you, Maggie?” His drawl was as soft as his touch—almost a part of it.
How did he know? She’d dreamed of him for two long years—wild, racy dreams where she held the gun and ordered him to do more than just take his clothes off. His fingers moved lower, nudging her shirt aside, skimming her collar bones. Tell him to stop. . .
“I’m not going to sleep with you,” she whispered, not caring if she sounded desperate. She was desperate. He reached for her earlobe, running it between his fingers, sending strong, quick splashes of desire cascading through her. They carved into her soul, running fast—slicing deep, deep inside. “Yeah, you are.” His voice was little more than a whisper now. “I’m going to touch every inch of you.” Maggie inhaled sharply, but he wasn’t through. “I’m going to kiss every inch of you. And you’re going to stop lying to yourself and admit how much you want me to touch you—how much you need me to touch you.”
The need was there, nearly overpowering. Maggie moaned—a little whisper of a sound that had him smiling all over again. Ridiculous the things he had her wanting—but ridiculous or not, she wanted them desperately. She wished they’d stayed at the hotel.
“Your eyes are getting smoky, darlin’.” His eyes made promises that had slow, simmering volcanoes threatening violent eruptions deep inside her.
“I don’t—“ She couldn’t get the protest out.
“Yeah, you do,” he whispered. He turned her hand over, opened her curled fingers and kissed her palm. “You do,” he repeated, “and you will. It’s going to be very, very good.” The sensations were already very, very good. He’d barely touched her.
“You folks ready to order?” The waitress smiled.
Maggie gasped and took a startling, painful fall back to reality. She pointed blindly to the menu, still unable to make the words flying through her mind come out in complete sentences. “What were—what about Melissa?” Thoughts of her sister were all that could save her. Jack shrugged and finally released her. “She’ll get over me
quick enough. She liked the attention. She liked the drawl. When the next cowboy comes to town she’ll fall in love all over again.”
He’d spent exactly one week with Melissa. He knew her far too well for just seven days. Jack continued, a faint smile teasing the corners of his mouth. “She’s a complete sweetheart, Maggie. Not an unkind bone in her body. A man would be lucky to get her. Except she talks too much.”
“But you didn’t sleep with her.” The fact bothered her—like a puzzle she couldn’t solve.
“I don’t sleep with little girls.” He smiled wickedly at her. “Just their older sisters.” Special Lieutenant Jack Myles terrified her. For once, the terror had absolutely nothing to do with Melissa. Time for her to go. Even if not all of her wanted to leave. Especially since not all of her wanted to leave. “Speaking of little girls. . .” She smiled, convincingly she hoped. “I’ll be right back.”
The restrooms were conveniently located next to the kitchen. That was the reason she chose the restaurant. Maggie didn’t look back. Within twenty-five seconds she was through the kitchen, out the rear door and inside her waiting car. She could be home in just over an hour-and-a-half. But she wasn’t going home.
Alone at the table, Jack smiled. Those eyes of hers. . . They telegraphed everything—just like he remembered. He’d had her wishing—hell, he’d had both of them wishing. He shook his head, wistful now. He hated to let her go. He might need his gun after all. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. If the evidence he needed had been in her waiting car, Chuck would have brought it—and her—inside.
“Talk to me.”
“Your little bird just flew, Jack.”
“I know. Tell me you had enough time.”
“More than enough. I was done before the two of you even got here. Her ID says Megan Chase, by the way. Phony address here in Grand Junction.” First things first. “How’s the signal?”
“Nice and strong. You won’t have any trouble. The unit’s on your front seat.” “Front seat of what?”
“Silver Chevy Tahoe—just like last time.” Chuck laughed. “You can take that piece of shit she drives anytime you want.”
“Then I’ll give her some time. Did you load the other things?”
“Everything you ordered and more. You could hide out for a week, maybe two, and be just fine.”
“Better not take a week or two. You hungry? I don’t know what she ordered, but it should be here anytime.”
Chapter 4
Kevin Cormack called his brother from a pay phone at O’Hare. Paul wrote down his instructions. Kevin hadn’t determined his course of action until just before he’d landed in Chicago. Never mind his instructions weren’t really Kevin’s at all, rather a contingency plan Nathan had come up with years ago. A contingency plan to be used if Maggie Chambers broke her word. She hadn’t. That didn’t matter to Kevin.
Kevin left the pay phone and glanced at the older apartment building behind him. In his contingency plan, Nathan hadn’t ever mentioned Chicago. Kevin grinned. He located the correct door and picked the lock easily. She was pretty. So pretty that Billy’d lost his head and died. The Chambers sisters had been trouble from the start. Billy went off the deep end first, then even Nathan lost it. But Kevin had an edge. He didn’t have a heart to lose. And he didn’t mind hurting those who stood in his way.
Like Nathan Mitchell. A quick check of the living room and bedroom confirmed she wasn’t home. He searched her refrigerator for a beer, but had to settle for a wine cooler. Knowing her, that didn’t surprise him. He took the bottle into the living room, shut out the lights and sat down to wait.
*** Maggie patted the dash of her temperamental car, murmuring encouragement. The night was warm, and she hadn’t even made the climb to the little town of Collbran yet. The air would be much, much cooler in Collbran. She counted on it, to cool the car and her own wayward thoughts. The top of the Grand Mesa would be cooler still. If the car made it that far. She frowned at the temperature gauge.
She’d have to stop in Collbran. Maybe the clouds would lift so she’d have moonlight. She watched the temperature gauge climb another notch. Hopefully the car would make it to Collbran.
Thirty minutes later, Maggie wrapped her hand in a towel and gave the radiator knob another one-eighth turn. “Poor baby. You were warmer than I thought.” She pulled the air filter off while she waited, walking around the car to toss it in the back seat. Where she was going, there wasn’t enough air to start with. No sense overworking the engine by trying to filter what little there was.
She strolled up to a nearby pay phone, smiling at a couple walking arm-in-arm in the lovely evening. Could have been you tonight, Maggie, alone with him. . .
She scowled at the phone. “Derek, it’s Megan. Everything go okay?”
“Everything’s fine. Except your sister’s cuddled up with Clint. I knew I shouldn’t have let him come.” Maggie grinned. “Just take care of her. Tell her I’ll be home tomorrow.” “You lose your cop?”
She hadn’t told him Jack was a cop. Her silence told him that.
“I can smell ‘em, Megan.”
“Don’t tell Melissa.”
“I’m not stupid, you know. Where you gonna stay?”
“Up on the mesa.”
“You’ll freeze your ass off.”
“I’ll build a fire. And I’ve got a sleeping bag.” She wasn’t worried.
“I was born here, Megan. You’re gonna freeze your ass off. There’ll probably be snow at the top.”
“Then I won’t go all the way up. I’ll be fine. See you tomorrow. Thanks again, Derek, for all your help.” The cap was loose, and the radiator was finished steaming. Maggie started the engine, poured in a water/antifreeze mix and replaced the cap. The gauge read normal. She lowered the hood, then leaned on it to force the latch. A whisper she tried to ignore reminded her of the man she’d left behind in the city. The supplies she’d just purchased—a new flashlight, a fresh set of batteries, a small bundle of wood and a spare candy bar—were in the car. She’d consumed the first candy bar while waiting for the radiator to cool down. Money for a more substantial meal was back at her cabin.
She looked up at the cloudy sky. “A little cooperation, please,” she requested and climbed back behind the wheel. The radio produced nothing but static, so she hummed as she pointed the car up the mountain.
*** Jack picked at his dinner. The longer he was away from her, the more anxious he became. It had been an hour since she’d left. Surely long enough for her to get home. Definitely too long for his nerves. He left cash for the bill with Chuck and headed out to his car. The sophisticated tracking system was everything Chuck claimed. Her car was in a little town called Collbran. It wasn’t moving. A lighted map showed him the way. Jack smiled and revved his engine. “Not so easy, after all, Maggie darlin’. Or should I say Megan?”
He frowned when the little blimp that was Maggie’s car started to move again. He was nearly to Collbran. He pulled over to see where she was going. Within minutes her destination was only too obvious. South of the town, the road wound up to the Grand Mesa. “No wonder it took two years to find her.” Unwilling to catch her before she stopped for good, he pulled over in a small shopping center and got out to stretch his legs.
When he got back into his car, the blimp was erratic—there, then not, back again. His heart revved like the powerful engine under the hood when he pulled out of the parking lot. He’d done his homework about the area around Grand Junction. The Grand Mesa was famous for towering cliffs, breathtaking views and about a billion places to hide.
*** Maggie stretched her toes toward the fire and yawned. The wrenching emotions of the day had left her beyond exhaustion. A campfire up here was just what she needed. Melissa was safe, Jack was no doubt scurrying around Grand Junction searching for her and she could wrap herself in the anonymity of being alone with the sky and the stars. They were close enough to touch and went on forever. She’d sleep like a baby, with the wind for a lullaby
and the stars for a nightlight.
She was proud of the campsite she’d picked, considering she’d done it in the dark. Even the wind had cooperated, blowing the clouds away, then dying down while she started the fire. It was picking up now though. She wrapped her coat closer, yawning, and leaned back into the six foot rock behind her. If the wind didn’t shift directions, she should be fine for the night. After the raucous noise of the bar night after night, it was heaven to listen to nothing more than the stars sliding by with the occasional pop from the fire providing accompaniment.
Eyes dreamy, she watched the fire, no longer able to keep her thoughts away from him. And that kiss. One single kiss turned her inside out with wanting him. The memory still did. Deeper than the threat of his presence, she’d felt safe. Secure in his arms. She shook her head, bemused by what he’d managed to do to her in all of fifteen minutes.
Nothing compared to what he’d be doing to you right now if you hadn’t walked out on him.
Maggie groaned. She may as well have brought him with her—she certainly hadn’t left him in Junction. At least she felt warmer when she thought about him. Warmer was certainly better. The stars were going out—one by one at first, then handfuls at a time. Maggie tipped her head back and received the first rain drop squarely on her nose. She wriggled further into her cotton sleeping bag, turned on her side and lay down with her head pillowed on her arm. Rain spit erratically at her back, but if the water wasn’t in her face she could live with it. She yawned again and closed her eyes.
***
Jack found her car an hour later. When he did, she wasn’t anywhere in sight. He turned in a slow circle, surveying the horizon. The rain started before he left the paved road. Then he’d left the storm behind for a time, following a signal that faded in and out, down dirt roads that crisscrossed and circled all over the mountain. He shook his head. No way that car of hers made this climb every day. And there weren’t any houses up here at all. He made the trek back to his car, up the road and around a curve—hidden from view. He popped the trunk to see what Chuck had packed for him.