"Of course, I do. I know she died, rather suspiciously I gather, leaving him alone to raise their baby boy. It's a terrible tragedy in my opinion."
"A tragedy, yes. For me. The truth is Lauren loved me, not Aidan. I loved her too. Not the wisest act, I know, but we all have our weaknesses. The first time I laid eyes on Lauren it was love at first sight. She was an incredible beauty, you know."
Jamie thought her legs would give out from under her. She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it. Conrad and Aidan's wife? It was too terrible to even contemplate. She looked at Conrad's complacent expression and recovered herself quickly.
"I thought you didn't believe in love?" she asked.
"My heart was broken the day Lauren died, and I knew I would never love again. I decided then and there to devote myself to a life of servitude to our country."
"Save your speeches for the masses. I'm not buying it," Jamie snapped.
"It's the truth. I often suspect that Aidan had something to do with her death, which you admit was suspicious. He drove her away. Why else would she leave her baby? She feared for her life. I cannot abide the man nor can I let you be swayed by his good looks and country charm. He's a very dangerous man."
"He thinks the same of you and so do I" she retorted. She pulled free of him and stormed off the dance floor. She was visibly shaken. By sheer will she pulled herself together as she made her way through the crowd, searching frantically for Aidan. Thankfully Conrad did not follow.
"Jamie!" A large, calloused hand wrapped around hers and Aidan Brice, looking stern and concerned pulled her to him and away from the curious crowd. "You're shaking what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I-"
"I saw you dancing with Conrad." It was an accusation.
"I had no choice. He had a grip on me that I couldn't break without a struggle. I didn't want to cause a scene," she said, knowing full well that she had anyway.
"I see. No doubt he was telling you stories about me." He looked around the ballroom, searching no doubt for the monster who'd ruined his life. There was no missing the tension in his face. "Let me find the bastard and settle this once and for all" he growled. "I've let him get away with too many lies for too long."
He stepped away from her but she grabbed his arm. "I don't think this is the place to discuss it," she said. "Please, let's go. I'm tired."
He turned his attention toward her and rested his palm on her face, caressing her cheek with sweet gentleness. He brought her chin up and looked her squarely in the eyes. "Jamie, I care about you. I haven't told you everything about my past because some of it is very difficult to talk about. A lot of things that happened, I've never told anyone. Not even Travis. But I want you to trust me. I would never do anything to hurt you."
"You already have. With all your secrets, I can't fathom what I'll find out next."
"I'll tell you everything there is to know about my past and then you can decide whether to condemn me or not. No more secrets. I promise."
She looked up into those grey eyes that she had come to know so well. "Tell me one thing. Did Conrad have an affair with your ex-wife?"
Aidan looked away. He dragged his hand through his hair, effectively ruining his well-groomed appearance. There was no mistaking the pain in his expression. "Yes," was all he said.
And Jamie felt her dream had come to an end.
Chapter Sixteen
Aidan knew his time was running out.
Across from him in the limo sat Jamie, her long, slender legs stretched out in front her like a goddess. She stared straight ahead, her expression unmoving, her lips pursed together in silence. Those same lips he had kissed last evening now refused to open to words or to warmth. She was thinking of escape, he knew. Angry at his secrets and lies of omission. Trust betrayed. He had no one to blame but himself.
And he was miserable.
They'd stayed at the famous Breakers Hotel last night after leaving the Gala. He'd booked a suite, a lavish surprise for Jamie. He'd wanted the night to be perfect. He had tried. He'd kept his cool with Conrad, saving his wrath for later. He'd mingled discreetly, danced enthusiastically and looked forward to the end of a perfect night. A night of cuddling the most infuriatingly perfect woman he 'd ever known.
Instead, he spent the entire night on the sofa in the suite's sitting room. That was special all right. Real perfection.
He watched as she tucked her dark strands behind her ears, watched her slender hands as she settled them with poise in her lap. She wouldn't look at him now. He wished she would. He wished she would yell or scream or even thrash him with those delicate hands, but she was composed and silent. He couldn't stand it. He knew what he must do now before it was too late. Before she walked out of his life forever.
"Jamie…" His voice sounded hoarse and raw. He didn't sound like himself at all.
"Mm-mm?" she said, not looking at him.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. What more can I say?"
"I understand," she said staring with great interest out the window opposite him. "I told you last night, forget about it. About everything," she said softly.
He'd had enough. "Either hit me or forgive me but for heaven's sake look at me!" he grumbled. But the most stubborn woman he'd ever known continued to stare out the window. He slid across the limo's expansive seat and reached for her hands, compelling her to face him. Tears were streaming down her face.
"How could you keep that from me? I felt like such a fool when Conrad told me. You are using me to get back at him, aren't you? How could you do that to someone? How could you toy with someone's feelings that way?" she cried.
He pulled her to him drawing her into his arms and she sobbed against him, her body shaking with her tears. He hugged her, kissing the top of her hair as he soothed her.
"I never had any idea of the kind. I don't blame you for being angry, but Jamie, believe me I had no plans about you at all. At least not in the beginning. I didn't know that after fifteen years I would still feel the same."
"What do you mean?" she asked looking up at him with tear-swollen eyes.
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. The emotion in her kiss told him all he needed to know.
"What I mean is that I'm still crazy about you after all these years. That's God's truth," he said, joining her hands in prayer position.
Jamie's heart felt light as bliss filled it. "I think you're just plain crazy," she said will a grin.
Making up really was the best part of a relationship, Jamie thought as she stretched lazily the next morning in Aidan's guest room. She'd never understood that old saying before but now she understood it perfectly. She'd dressed in jeans and a soft tee-shirt, hoping to spend the day with Ross and Aidan.
Aidan peeked his head in the doorway after knocking. "We better get ready. Jo's due to bring Ross home soon," he said.
"I really missed him last night," she mused. It took her a moment to realize she'd voiced her thoughts out loud.
Aidan smiled widely. "He likes you too," he said. He stood in front of her and tapped the tip of her nose affectionately. "Maybe we have time for one more kiss," he said playfully.
A banging sound at the front door startled them from their play. They looked at each other with surprise. Aidan gave Jamie a quick wink and left after flashing the most impossibly charming smile at her. She followed him down the stairs after hastily brushing her hair. She grabbed his hand as he reached for the doorknob. He glanced at her briefly, and she could see the worry in his expression.
He opened the door to find Jo, crying and babbling incoherently. Immediately Jamie went to her and led her inside while Aidan shook hands with the police officer who accompanied her.
"What's going on Larry?" he asked the officer. "Where's Ross?"
The officer looked over at Jo and took a deep breath.
"Will someone tell me what I the sand hill is going on?" Aidan bellowed.
Jo collapsed in a chair in the foyer and Aidan knelt in front of her.
Jamie put her hand on Aidan's shoulder.
Jo's voice kept breaking into a sob every time she tried to speak. Aidan waited, tense. She finally composed herself and looked up at Aidan.
"Ross is gone!" Jo said.
Familiar feelings of horror flooded Aidan. Sirens, ambulances, police, and funerals. It all came back to him in a flash. This could not be happening again. Not Ross, not his son. He wouldn't accept it. He looked at Larry and it began to register. It had been Larry's knock on the door that brought news of Lauren's death.
"He's missing," Larry said. He could be out playing somewhere and lost track of time but…"
"He's six years old!" Jamie cried. "Have you started the Amber Alert?"
Larry nodded, sympathetically.
Jo was sobbing uncontrollably now.
Jamie's face was white as a sheet. "Oh no," she whispered, "Oh no!"
She looked over at Aidan, but his mouth couldn't form words. He couldn't lose Ross. Not his son. Not his Ross. His eyes met Jamie's for a brief moment. She turned to him and cradled his face in her hands.
"We will find him," she said, but her voice was shaking.
Aidan shook his head, not really registering what she was saying. He had to get Ross back, no matter what. He had to find Ross. He felt like he was falling into a dark abyss.
"Aidan!" a stern voice called to him. It was Jamie.
He looked at her but her face barely registered
"I think, I don't know, I think maybe I know who did this…"
"Who?" Larry asked.
Aidan jerked away from Jamie. He was ready to kill whoever had done this, whoever had taken his son. He would hunt them down like an animal if he had to and-
Jo's sobbing grew louder while soft wind chimes sang from the porch. Ross had loved those wind chimes since he was a baby.
"Aidan!" Jamie's voice ripped through the haze in his mind. She grabbed him and turned him toward her. "Conrad Malcolm" was all she said.
A sense of doom pervaded him but in seconds was gone. In its place was a rage he hadn't known existed in him. He took a deep breath and snapped out of the comatose state.
"Larry, call Travis at the Coast Guard. Tell him to meet me at Sabrina Beach right away. At the pier." He ran up the stairs and grabbed his shoes from his bedroom. Jamie followed him.
"Wherever you're going, I'm going with you," she said.
"No. You need to stay with Jo. She's a mess."
Jamie thought about it. She wanted to be there for Ross. "I care about Ross," she said, thinking of Ross's sweet laughter as he played with Thorn. "I have to be there-" her voice broke off and tears began to stream down her face.
Aidan went to her and held her. "I'm going to find him and bring him home alive and well. There isn't any other possibility."
He watched as Jamie took a deep breath and pulled herself together. "I'm sorry" she said, "You need my support now, not another basket case."
He hugged her briefly and rose. "Let me know if Conrad tries to contact you. And don't trust a word he says."
She nodded. "I love Ross," she said, her voice breaking slightly. "I couldn't love him any more if he was my own son."
He turned in the doorway. His face was edged with despair and sorrow but his eyes were kind as they met hers. "I know that. That's one of the reasons I love you."
Then he was gone and Jamie's body shook as she gave into a grief that shook her to the core, a grief she hadn't felt since her mother had died so many years ago.
She took hold of herself and slipped on a pair of jeans. She returned downstairs to Jo and the police officer. Jo had regained some composure and the officer stood beside her, waiting. He looked up as Jamie approached them.
"I'm sorry, Miss, er…?"
Jamie extended her hand. "Jamie Connolly" she said as she shook hands with the officer.
"Larry Marten" he said. "Connolly… I knew a Rose Connolly many years ago."
"Yes, my mother. I grew up here in Seabrook."
He nodded. "I'm sorry about Ross. That child has suffered enough."
She felt her emotions welling up and wanted to cry but she remained composed, her strength returning. She turned to Jo, "Why don't you go upstairs and lay down? Aidan will find him. I am certain of it."
Jo sniffed as she stood up and Jamie helped her to the staircase. "Wait here a minute," she whispered to Larry as she mounted the stairs with the distraught woman. She put Jo in the guest room and soothed her with kind words.
"You don't know that Malcolm the way we do here. He wouldn't think twice about harming a child. He killed Lauren, I'm certain of it," Jo said her voice crumbling.
Jamie had known Conrad to be selfish and controlling but a murderer? He couldn't be something so evil.
"This is my fault. I should have reported him ages ago. I wouldn't marry him and he started stalking me, threatening me, crazy stuff. He's out to hurt me, to get back at me for humiliating him. But I don't think he would harm a child," Jamie assured Jo, although she wasn't sure she believed it herself. "Maybe Ross is playing at a friend's house" she said.
Jo sat up in bed and grabbed Jamie's arm as she turned to go. "You are so much like Rose," she said with sadness, "So naïve about people. She always thought the best of everyone. It was the reason she ended up here, alone and unwed with you. Your father filled her with false hope and abandoned her when she needed him the most. Don't fall into the same trap," she warned.
"Never."
"Conrad Malcolm is as immoral as they come. Don't you dare talk to him, don't listen to what he says. He's dangerous in the worst sort of way."
Jamie jerked free from her grip. "I will do whatever it takes to get Ross back safely," she said vehemently.
"Child, you can't fight evil such as that. Leave it to the police and to Aidan. They will take care of him."
Jamie shuddered to think of Aidan in harm's way.
"I've got to go home to pick up some things. I'll be back later. Please try and get some rest," Jamie said. "I'll make some tea for you."
Jo's silver hair lay back in bed and tears began to stream down her face. "I let him outside to play with the dog. I didn't know this would happen," she cried.
Thorn! Jamie had forgotten Thorn was with them. Was he taken too? "Where is Thorn, Jo? Where is the puppy?" Maybe Thorn had run off and Ross was out looking for him.
"Gone," Jo said. "Not lost, just gone."
And Jamie's heart felt heavy with grief as she realized Jo may be right. Conrad was far worse than she had ever imagined him to be.
~
Conrad stood in Jamie's cottage and surveyed the empty ruins. He watched her dog run off into some closet, no doubt hiding in a corner by now. Pets are like children, he thought, they should be well trained, silent and obedient. It was how he was brought up. "Children should be seen and not heard" his mother used to say. Eventually of course, even being seen was too much for her, and Conrad had been shipped off the boarding school.
There he'd learned discipline at the hands of the Dean. He'd taught him the meaning of pain, running his school more sternly than a prison guard. In some ways he was a father figure to Conrad. He was the only person who had ever taken much interest in Conrad in his whole life and for that he was forever grateful. He'd wept the day they arrested the man, and sent him off to prison for child abuse.
But that didn't concern him now. He had what he'd come for, an ace to make his fortunes turn. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it sooner. Lauren's child was a treasure, there was no other word for it. An instrument that would gain him sympathetic votes, and revenge all rolled into one nice little package.
He hadn't had much chance to look at that package yet. The child was safely stashed away on his boat. He had to get Jamie there with her despicable boyfriend, and then he would finish it. Soon, very soon. It was almost three o'clock. The tides would change in the evening. He scribbled a note on some paper from his pocket and left it on her kitchen table where he knew she would see it.
He stepped outside into the sweltering heat and wiped his forehead with his handkerchief. The lights blinked on his car as he disengaged the alarm. He slunk into his car and sped off with a feeling of triumph.
No, it wouldn't be long now.
~
When Jamie stepped into her cottage, she immediately felt something awry. A familiar smell and a sense of foreboding… she couldn't place it but goose bumps crawled up her arms.
She wasn't sure what had made her return to her house. There was nothing she needed from home since she had been staying with Aidan all week. Jo's home was too far from her and Aidan's neighborhood for Thorn to have found his way home. She still hoped.
"Ross? Thorn?" No response.
A scratching sound filled the silence from one of the bedrooms. She grabbed a piece of lumber that the workmen left lying around and moved silently along the wall of the short hallway. Her breath grew shallow and her heart beat with the cold thump of fear. She slipped quietly through the door of her bedroom and heard a low growl.
"Ross? Thorn?"
She stepped aside the closet and peeked inside. Thorn, dirty and scared lay curled up in the corner shaking. "Thorn" she said as she ran to him. His small tail slowly tapped the wood floor in a welcome wag. But still he didn't move. She put her arms around him and dragged him to her lap. He whimpered with gratefulness. It was clear to her that he had been terrified in some way. A silent anguish filled her.
She cradled the frightened puppy in her arms. She hugged him and kissed him and soothed him with soft, comforting words. She thought of Ross and her worry turned to anger and her anger to rage. She kissed Thorn's head. "I'll be back" she told him and went to the kitchen to get him some water. She was beyond rage when she found the note.
Meet me at Villa Milagros on my Yacht, 6:30 sharp, it said. Conrad.
She knew exactly what she had to do.
Jo was up and sitting on the couch in the living room when Jamie returned to Aidan's house.
"I found Thorn," she told her.
Jo jumped up excitedly. "Ross?"
Jamie shook her head slowly. "But I think I know where he is. I need you to take care of Thorn for me. Can you do this?"
Never Date Your Ex Page 18
