Lightning Lingers

by Barbara Freethy

  Glancing over at Jake, she frowned. She didn’t care for the pallor of his skin. He'd been rock solid through all the questioning, but she knew he was hurting. It was almost two o'clock in the morning, and there appeared to be no end in sight.

  When Agent Wolfe glanced down at his notes and suggested that they go through each story one more time, she knew it was time to call a halt.

  "No, that's enough for now," she said firmly.

  Agent Wolfe gave her a sharp look. "We need to make sure we haven't missed anything."

  "You can do that tomorrow. The three of us are exhausted. We need to find a hotel and call it a night. We can resume this conversation in the morning."

  "Miss Barrett—" Agent James began.

  "That's Dr. Barrett," she interrupted. "Look, we've answered all your questions, and while I am very aware of the importance of this conversation, we'll all think better with some sleep. I'm sure we'll be answering questions for many more days to come, but for tonight we're done." She got to her feet. "I'm going to call a cab to take us to a hotel."

  "I made reservations for you," Dani said. "At the Hotel Marks down the street."

  "We'll take you there," Agent Wolfe said. "And we'll have security outside your rooms tonight."

  "Good." She turned to Alicia and Dani. "Thank you for everything, especially getting these guys to help us."

  "It's about time the FBI listened to me," Alicia said. "I've been trying to get their attention for weeks."

  Agent Wolfe gave Alicia a dry smile. "Believe me, you all have our full attention now."

  Katherine gave Jake a hand, noting the lines of pain around his mouth and eyes as he stood up.

  "Nicely done, Dr. Barrett," he murmured, swinging an arm around her shoulders. "I like when you go into doctor mode."

  "I'll remind you of that sometime. I should have called a halt earlier. And I'm still wondering if I shouldn't be taking you to a hospital and not a hotel."

  "I'd rather have my own personal physician watch over me. I'm just tired."

  "You don't feel chilly or hot?"

  He shook his head. "No fever, Doc."

  "Okay, then."

  "Don't forget the clothes," Alicia said, handing them each a bag. "We'll talk to you in the morning. Be safe tonight."

  "I think it's the safest we've been in days," Katherine returned, following the agents out to their bulletproof black SUV.

  Twenty minutes later, they had checked in to adjoining rooms at the hotel with two guards posted outside their doors.

  TJ gave her a weary hug goodnight and then headed to bed. She left the door ajar between their rooms, needing to feel like she could hear him if anything went wrong.

  Her brother could still be a target. The fact that the FBI felt the need to put guards outside the door backed up that idea. Until they brought Jasmine in for questioning, there were still a lot of unanswered questions.

  But for now, she was going to let those questions go.

  While Jake took a shower, she stripped off her clothes and put on one of the bathrobes hanging in the closet. She couldn't wait to get hot water on her head, but first she wanted to check Jake's wound and make sure there were no new signs of infection.

  Walking over to the window, she glanced out at the lights of DC. What a different view she had tonight than she'd had any day the past week. She and Jake had been alone so much in such an isolated part of the world she'd almost forgotten what it was like to be in a city.

  Jake came out of the bathroom with a towel around his hips.

  Her exhausted body immediately perked up at the sight of him, but she told herself not to be ridiculous. The man needed sleep and nothing else.

  He gave her a smile. "You could have joined me in the shower, babe."

  "I want to look at your wound."

  "Is that all you want to look at?" he teased.

  She couldn't stop the blush that warmed her cheeks. "How can you even have the strength to tease me?"

  "I feel better now that I've had a shower. It woke me up."

  "Well, you're not going to stay up. You need to sleep."

  "I always sleep better after—"

  "Don't say it," she interrupted. "As your doctor, I can't prescribe anything but a night of undisturbed rest."

  His arms slid around her waist. "What about as the woman I really want to make love to?"

  Her breath caught in her chest. "She would be way too worried about you over-exerting yourself. Seriously, Jake."

  "Seriously," he echoed, leaning over to give her a kiss. "Man, I have been wanting to taste your mouth for a long time."

  She couldn't help but kiss him back after a statement like that, but she forced herself to pull away. "Lie down on the bed. I want to check your wound."

  He did as she ordered and stretched out on the soft mattress. "This feels a lot better than anything we've slept on this week."

  As she sat down next to him, she had to agree. She pulled up the towel. "I see you took off the bandage." The wound was no longer red and inflamed. The stitches were holding well, and she actually thought he might not need to have them redone. "It looks good. I still have some bandages from Sylvia. Let me put one on."

  He let her wrap his leg, then said, "Why don't you get into bed with me?"

  "I'm going to take a shower first," she said, forcing herself to get up from the bed.

  "Hurry back."

  She told herself the last thing she should do was hurry back because there was a good chance Jake would talk her into activities that might be bad for him but really good for her.

  She smiled to herself, thinking he wouldn't have a hard time persuading her to do anything he wanted. It had always been like that. It was one of the reasons she'd left him all those years ago. She couldn't trust herself to say no.

  Getting into the shower, she rejoiced in the warm water spilling over her body. She spent a long time in the heated mist, shampooing her hair with lavender-smelling shampoo and luxuriating in the feeling of being clean again. When she got out of the shower, she blew her hair dry and then went back into the bedroom.

  Despite Jake's words, he hadn't been able to wait for her. He was fast asleep—as he should be, she reminded herself.

  She rummaged through the bag Alicia had given her, happy to find some PJs. She put them on, then got into bed and snuggled up next to Jake. For the first time in days she felt like she could really let go and sleep.

  Jake rolled over onto the side of his good leg and wrapped his arm around her. "Beautiful Kat," he murmured sleepily. "Love you."

  Her heart stopped at the words she hadn't heard in over a decade. She didn’t know what to do. Should she say them back?

  The little snore that came from his parted lips told her that she had at least until tomorrow to decide how she wanted to respond. Of course, there was a good chance that Jake hadn't even realized what he'd said.

  "Love you, too," she whispered, then closed her eyes.

  * * *

  When Katherine woke up, she could hear Jake and TJ talking in the adjoining guestroom. She got up, dressed in new jeans and a sweater, then went to join them.

  They were sitting at the table by the window, and the covered dishes in front of them smelled delicious.

  "Perfect timing," Jake said, giving her a warm smile. "Breakfast is here. We saved you a little of everything."

  TJ got up from his chair. "You can take my seat, Katherine. I need to shave before we start another day of interrogation. I'm beginning to feel like we're the criminals."

  "But we're not," she reminded him.

  As TJ disappeared into the bathroom, she sat down across from Jake. "How are you feeling?"

  "Good, but a little disappointed that I fell asleep on you," he said with a sexy smile.

  "I was happy to see you were asleep. You needed to rest. You look better today. Your color is back."

  "I'm on the mend. Can't let a gunshot wound stop me. I will tell you now that thing hurt like a son of a bitch
."

  She smiled. "I can't even imagine. You were incredibly brave."

  "I didn't have a choice." He paused. "So, last night, I think I heard something."

  Her pulse sped up. "Like a noise?"

  "No, like some words, some very sweet words."

  Before she could reply, a knock came at the door. "That must be Agent Wolfe or James," she said, jumping to her feet. "I'll get it." She was actually happy to have an interruption. Had Jake really heard her say she loved him? Well, he'd said it first. But still there were probably a lot of words that needed to be said before those particular ones.

  She opened the door, and Agent Wolfe stepped into the room.

  "Good morning," he said. "I trust it was an uneventful night."

  "Very," she said.

  "Is TJ here?" he asked.

  "Right here," TJ said, as he came out of the bathroom.

  "I have some news," the agent said, moving farther into the guest room.

  Judging by his grim expression, Katherine didn't think it was good news. "What's happened?" she asked.

  "Our agents in Corpus Christi were unable to locate Jasmine Portillo at her apartment last night."

  "I knew she'd run," TJ said in disgust.

  "Well, she didn't run far," Agent Wolfe continued. "There was a single-vehicle crash early this morning. Ms. Portillo was the sole occupant of the car. She did not survive."

  Katherine let out a breath. "She's dead?"

  "Yes," he confirmed.

  "It wasn't an accident," TJ said, shaking his head. "Someone took her out."

  "It appears that she may have taken herself out. There was a note in her car to you."

  "Where is it?"

  "It's currently being analyzed. I'll show it to you as soon as we get it back. I can tell you that she apologized for putting you in danger and hoped that one day you'd forgive her."

  "Dammit," TJ said, running a hand through his hair. "She died and took all the information with her."

  "It's too easy," Jake interjected. "Why would she kill herself now?"

  "She must have realized that TJ was on to her," Katherine said.

  "There will be a thorough investigation," Agent Wolfe said. "And we're not ruling out the possibility that this wasn't a suicide. We'll be going through every phone call, every text message, every email she sent. We'll interview her family, neighbors, friends, coworkers—anyone she might have had contact with in the past year. Hopefully, we'll find a trail to her partners in crime."

  "Is MDT going to cooperate?" TJ asked. "Are they going to give you access?"

  "Yes," Agent Wolfe replied. "I spoke to Reid Packer this morning. He's opened his own internal investigation and has assured us that he and his brother and all of the top executives will work with us—with complete transparency. They had no idea there were missing weapons, which makes the situation significantly more dangerous than just a technology leak." He paused. "Mr. Packer also asked me to pass on a message to you, Mr. Barrett. He said that you are welcome to return to your job and that every effort will be made to ensure your safety. In fact, he is offering you the office space next to his. However, I would recommend that you take a leave of absence until we dig a little deeper."

  "I'm in no rush to go back," TJ said. "But I do need my salary."

  "Mr. Packer said you'll be paid at your full salary for as much time as you need to take before coming back to work."

  "That's a relief."

  "I'll help, too," Katherine said. "I'm not going to let you carry the burden alone anymore, TJ."

  "Thanks."

  "What about Mexico?" Jake asked. "Do you know who survived the fire, whether all the weapons were destroyed?"

  "There were seven bodies found at the ranch," Agent Wolfe replied. "Rodrigo Calderon has been positively identified. Some of the other identifications are pending. The US government is working with the Mexican government to investigate. It appears that the weapons you reportedly saw there were destroyed."

  "Good," TJ said with a nod. "At least they can't use those weapons."

  "We're going to ask MDT for a complete accounting of all products created by the company all over the world," Agent Wolfe continued. "If there has been any further siphoning of weapons, funds, or technology, we're going to find it." He paused, directing his gaze to Jake and Katherine. "We're satisfied with your statements—Dr. Barrett, Mr. Monroe. You're free to go back to your lives. If we have more questions, we'll be in touch. We would, however, like to continue talking to you, Mr. Barrett. We have a car waiting outside."

  "Do you want me to go with you?" Katherine asked her brother.

  "No, I'd like you to go home and check on Mom. Do you have time?"

  "Of course. And when I get there, I'll make sure Mom is set up to get the best medical care." She paused, looking back at Agent Wolfe. "You will continue to look into Jasmine's relationship with my mother's caregivers? I know she's dead, but if those caregivers have knowingly poisoned my mother—"

  "We're on it," Agent Wolfe replied. "And there's an agent at your mother's house right now, as well as a nurse who has been thoroughly checked out by our agency."

  "Okay, good. Thank you."

  "You're welcome. Mr. Barrett, I'll wait for you in the hall."

  "I'll be right out," TJ said.

  As the agent left, TJ gave Katherine a hug. "Thanks, sis. I owe you."

  "I owe you, too, so let's call it even. Stay safe."

  "You, too." TJ grabbed his bag of clothes and headed out the door.

  "Looks like it's over," Jake said, holding open his arms.

  She walked into his embrace and rested her head on his strong, broad chest. "Finally," she murmured.

  "So, getting back to what you said last night…"

  "Maybe we should talk about what you said instead…" She lifted her head to look into his sparkling green eyes.

  "I didn't say anything," he denied.

  "If you didn't, I didn't, either."

  He laughed. "Kat, why can't you just tell me you love me to my face?"

  "Why can't you?"

  "Fine, you want me to go first?"

  "You did last night."

  "I don't remember that."

  "It's true."

  He pressed his lips against her mouth, then lifted his head and said, "I love you, Katherine Barrett. I've loved you since I was sixteen years old."

  "Not always…"

  "Always," he corrected. "Even when I hated you."

  "That doesn't make sense."

  "Love isn't logical, Kat. Now, your turn."

  She let out a little sigh as her feelings for this man threatened to overwhelm her. "I've loved you since I was sixteen years old, too, even when you hated me."

  "You hated me, too."

  She shook her head. "I wanted to, but I didn't. I was always afraid of you, not because you ever hurt me, but because what I felt for you was so powerful, so consuming. That's why I ran away."

  He nodded. "I know. You were smart to run. I was dragging you down, Kat. I see that very clearly now; I didn't back then. I thought you abandoned me at the worst time of my life, but you were right when you said I was pushing you away. I was taking my grief and anger out on you. I was drowning, and if you'd stayed, I might have taken you down with me. But when you left, it was a wake-up call. It shook me out of that numb, crazy, restless state I was in." He let out a breath. "Can you forgive me?"

  "Can you forgive me?" she asked, their gazes clinging together.

  "I forgave you a long time ago."

  "That's not the impression you gave me when I came to the airport."

  "Well, I wasn't ready to admit it then." He brushed her hair away from her face. "My feelings for you have been just as overwhelming, Kat. You're such an amazing person. Look what you've accomplished. You're a doctor. You save lives. I'm sure as hell glad I didn't hold you back. I might not be here right now if I had."

  "I'm proud of what I've accomplished, but the night that TJ called, the last night
of my residency, I had this empty feeling inside. I had climbed this enormous mountain, but when I got to the top, it didn't feel as good as I'd expected. I had what I wanted, but I was alone. By choice," she added quickly. "I had friends, or at least people who wanted to be my friend, and I had family, but I'd distanced myself from everyone. The last few days have shown me that there is a huge world out there to see and that being a doctor is my job, but it doesn't have to be who I am or all that I am."

  "I like the sound of that. Because you are many things, Katherine Barrett, many wonderful things."

  "So are you, Jake."

  "I just fly planes."

  "Which is an important job. You get people where they need to go, and you have the opportunity to spend your life in the beautiful sky."

  "You're becoming a fan of flying?"

  "I am. I'm giving up on the idea of being able to control every aspect of my life, so flying is more fun now, and the view is a lot more interesting than the one on the ground. If I never see another tree…"

  He laughed. "I know how you feel."

  "Anyway, I think we both grew up pretty good."

  "It took us long enough."

  She grinned. "We're a little slow."

  "Slow can be good."

  She saw the passion flare in his eyes. "Really, Jake? You're still recovering. You could rip open your wound."

  "You'll have to be gentle with me."

  Smiling, she said, "I do love you, Jake."

  "I love you, too. Let's go back to bed."

  "And then what?"

  "Then we'll go home and start planning our life together, because I know you'll want a plan, Katherine."

  She shook her head in denial. "I'm ready to wing it."

  "I doubt that, but I want you to know that if you don't want to live in Corpus Christi, I'm open to relocating. I've lived in Texas my whole life. I can live anywhere as long as you're there."

  "I want to move back to Corpus Christi. I want to take care of my mom and TJ and be with you."

  "See, I knew you had a plan."

  "You know me too well." She kissed his lips and felt the familiar zing of pleasurable fire zip down her spine. "When you asked me on the plane if I'd always be there, I didn't get to answer you." She gazed into his eyes. "But the answer is yes. I'll always be there when you wake up. You never have to doubt that."