Rescue Me: A Novel

by Christy Reece

  Before she could pull him to her and respond the way she really wanted, Jordan pulled away just as swiftly. She was gratified that though his smile was of a satisfied predator who'd just captured his prize, he was also breathing heavily.

  Leaning over her, his mouth hovering within inches of hers, he growled, “You know I want you?”

  “Yes.” Though it sounded breathless, she was proud to be able to utter even a single word.

  “I usually get what I want.”

  A slight smile tickled at her lips. “Do I have a say in the matter?”

  “Sweetheart, you have all the say. I just want you to know that I'm going to pursue you until you say yes.”

  “And do you think you'll have to do a lot of pursuing?”

  “That's up to you.”

  Without waiting for a reply, Jordan turned away and went to the minibar. “Would you care for something to drink?”

  What she'd like to have was good stiff drink to settle her nerves. But since it was just past ten o'clock in the morning and that would no doubt make Jordan aware of just how rattled she was, she answered, “Water, please.”

  As he poured bottled water into a glass, she watched his profile. A smile, satisfied and sensuous, played around his mouth. He knew he'd already won. Her pride told her she shouldn't make it so easy for him. But her pride with this man disappeared a long time ago. She didn't want to play games with him. He wanted her … at last … Jordan Montgomery really wanted her. And she, despite all the obstacles and warnings inside her head, was going to take this opportunity for a second chance.

  She accepted the water with a silent nod of thanks. Sipping the cold liquid, she forced rational thought back into her head. Jordan was ready to talk about Devon. She'd been prepared when she arrived, but he'd taken her off guard. She needed to settle down and get back to the place and the person who could handle what was about to take place.

  Pulling courage from deep within, Eden set her glass down and took a notebook and pen from her slender briefcase. She would pretend they were talking about a stranger … someone she had no emotional investment in. This was a case, nothing more.

  Jordan evidently felt the same need to compartmentalize. The sexy seducer disappeared. In his place was a man with a mission. “Let's start with what you do know about Devon … what Noah told you.”

  Eden was glad she'd written down earlier what Noah had told her. If she hadn't, she might have told Jordan a lot more than what she should know. That would be very difficult to explain.

  She glanced down at her notes, thankful she didn't have to face him right now. “I know that Devon Winters was last seen April 6, seven years ago. That you believe you were the last known person to see her before her disappearance.” She didn't look up for his confirmation. “She'd suffered an emotional trauma that night.”

  “Yes … and not that you're interested, but I take full responsibility. She was a young, idealistic girl. I should have seen through that façade.”

  “Why didn't you?” She asked the question before she realized it was out of her mouth.

  Jordan rubbed his forehead and blew out a sigh. “I wanted her… It was as simple as that. I'd just come back from a soured mission… Some good men died. I hadn't slept in almost two days. The drinks I had went straight to my head. I shouldn't have gone at all, but couldn't face being alone. Stupid, I know. And she was …”

  He closed his eyes briefly, and when he reopened them, Eden saw bitter self-recrimination. “Those are just excuses. The bottom line was, she was beautiful. I made the stupid assumption that because she was at this certain event, looked at me like I was her favorite brand of ice cream, and was dressed in a barely there see-through dress, that she was experienced.” His sigh was one of deep regret. “It was a stupid, selfish assumption. One I realized almost immediately.”

  Eden frowned. “Immediately? So you stopped when you realized …”

  Jordan leaned back in his chair and looked out above Eden's head as if seeing that night all those years ago. “No. That's the god-awful part of it. I won't go into detail, because I don't think it would serve any purpose, but suffice to say that within a few minutes after we were alone, I knew she wasn't as experienced as she was presenting herself to be.”

  Though she wanted to ask how he knew that, it wasn't something Eden, the investigator, needed to know.

  “What happened next?”

  “We made love… I went to the bathroom for a warm washcloth. When I returned, she was gone.”

  An aching tenderness filled her. She thought he'd been angry with her, instead he'd wanted to soothe her. Clearing her throat of the developing lump of emotion, Eden looked down at her notes again. “Noah mentioned that she told you her name was Mary, but that you actually knew her and her family, but hadn't seen her for several years?”

  “Yes, she'd changed so much. Even if she'd told me who she was, I might have doubted her. She'd made a complete and total transformation.”

  “Would that have made a difference?”

  “What? If she'd told me she was Devon?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hell yes. No matter how beautiful she'd become, I never would have touched her. I practically watched her grow up.”

  That information only confirmed what she'd known all along. Not that it made her feel any better to know she'd been right about that … since she'd been so wrong about everything else.

  “So, she was gone. What did you do then?”

  “I went looking for her.”

  Now, that surprised her. She'd just assumed he'd gone back to bed. A rush of warmth filled her at the thought of him wanting to find her.

  “And there was no sign of her?”

  “No. By the time I made it out to the street, I saw a taxi round a corner. I assumed it was Devon. I planned to wait until daylight and call the cab company to find out where she was taken.”

  Another rush of warmth flooded her. “Why go to all that trouble?” A question that had nothing to do with the case, but one she desperately hoped he'd answer.

  He shrugged. “I had questions … lots of questions.”

  Well, that hadn't been what she'd hoped for, but pursuing it any further might make him wonder.

  “So after she left, what did you do?”

  “I took a shower and got dressed. Then I checked my messages. I was expecting a call from headquarters about another job. I got that message but there were several more … all from Alise Stevens.”

  Eden forced herself to not stiffen at that name. Her mother and her cruelty could no longer touch her. Jordan's information that Alise called him verified what she'd suspected.

  She glanced down at her notebook and then up at Jordan. “That's Devon's mother, right? What did she have to say?”

  “She kept insisting I call her … that there was something urgent I needed to know.”

  His look of intense distaste surprised her. “You don't look like you care for the woman very much.”

  “I've never met a more devious or self-serving woman in all my life.”

  So surprised at this information, Eden leaned forward with a fascinated interest. “Really? Why do you say that?”

  Jordan shrugged. “It might help you to understand Devon's mind, so I'll explain a little. Henry, Devon's stepfather, was my godfather. My parents were his best friends. When I first met Alise, I was somewhat surprised he'd been able to capture such a young, beautiful wife. It didn't take long to figure out that Alise married Henry for one reason only and it had nothing to do with love. She wanted the prestige of being married to a well-respected man in the government. Henry had contacts she'd never be able to get as a single mother whose only asset was her outward beauty. From the moment she married the man, she made his life a living hell.”

  “Why didn't he leave her?” It was something she'd wondered for a long time.

  “Because of Devon.”

  Eden forced a cough to cover the gasp that caught in her throat. Swallowing hard, sh
e winced slightly at how shaky her voice sounded. “What do you mean?”

  “Henry knew what kind of mother Alise was. She refused to let him legally adopt Devon, so he stayed to protect her … even insisted she go to boarding school and college, hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles away, hoping to keep them separated as much as possible.”

  Eden dropped her gaze down to her notes again, surprised to see them somewhat blurry. How many times had she considered calling Henry? Millions … but she'd never been able to make the call. She blinked back tears. How in the hell would she explain that to Jordan?

  Swallowing hard, she forced strength into her voice. “So, Devon's mother was evil, her stepfather a good man. What does this have to do with Alise calling you?”

  “Alise had been trying to get me into bed for years. I don't know how many times she'd cook up schemes to get me to come over when Henry was out of town.”

  Holy crap. Was there no end to the surprises today? She'd thought this would be information she'd have to listen to to appease Jordan. She hadn't imagined to finding out things she'd never guessed.

  “I only called her because she sounded so furious in her messages.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She told me some people called and told her I'd left the party with Devon. At first I denied it, but when she explained how Devon had changed, I knew she was telling the truth.

  “Since Devon got home very late, she put two and two together and came up with the right answer … that we'd slept together. She said Devon made improper advances to several other of their friends … that she was under the care of a psychiatrist.” His voice hardened with bitterness. “Then she threatened to have me arrested for statutory rape.”

  All this new information slammed into her gut with the force of an out-of-control freight train carrying dynamite. Her heart wanted to leap from her throat. “But … but.” She couldn't get the words out. What could she say? Jordan had thought she was underage? No wonder he was furious. And her devious bitch of a mother had lied about the reasons she was seeing a psychiatrist. Alise had done her best to destroy her daughter … and she'd almost succeeded.

  She cleared her throat. “Of course, from what Noah has told me, that was a lie since Devon was twenty-one.”

  Thankfully Jordan seemed to think she was shocked only because Noah had given her age as twenty-one. He had no way of knowing that she now understood his fury when she'd appeared at his house.

  Something hit her. “I thought you'd known the family for a long time. Did you not know Devon's age?”

  “Stupid, I know. Devon had been a child to me for so long … I lost count of the years … hadn't seen her for so long. When I thought of her, I only saw the child she'd been.”

  “What happened next? I believe you told Noah that Devon came to see you?”

  “Yes, it wasn't long after I talked with Alise. She came to explain why she'd deceived me. Only I was so furious with her, so disgusted at myself, I said a lot of things I didn't mean.”

  Eden concentrated on scribbling her notes, knowing it was the only way to get through the next few minutes. The retelling of this particular episode was the one she'd dreaded the most. The shattering of dreams and the loss of innocence. A fitting prequel to what lay ahead a few minutes after she left his house.

  “Do you need something else to drink?”

  She jerked her head up. “No … why?”

  “I don't know… You're looking a little pale. You feel okay?”

  “Yes, of course … probably just my late night.” Of course this belied her earlier claim that she'd gotten a refreshing night's sleep. She didn't care. They just needed to move beyond this.

  “So, anyway, you said some … cruel things and then she left.”

  “Don't you want to know what I said?”

  No, God, no. “I don't really think it would help the case, unless you thought of something you didn't tell Noah?”

  “No, I told him everything. Actually, I'm glad not to have to repeat what I said. I'm certainly not proud of it.”

  Eden nodded quickly. “So we'll go on. After Devon left your house, what happened next?”

  “I waited maybe all of ten seconds before I went after her. The hurt I saw in her face … hell, I'd never seen pain like that. I didn't know what I was going to say to her, but I didn't want her out on the streets in that kind of condition.”

  It was only by digging into deep reserves of control and determination that she didn't reveal her absolute dismay. Jordan had come after her. He might have been walking the very street she'd been dragged from. Since she'd been unconscious seconds after the attack, she had no idea how far she'd been taken. When she'd come to, everything was a blur … the pain … the blood… Don't go there.

  To think Jordan had been only seconds from her. He could have prevented the attack. He could have saved her.

  Dear God, she was going to be sick.

  Eden jumped up. “Excuse me, Jordan. I'm suddenly a bit queasy.” She dashed to the adjoining bathroom. Slamming the door on his concerned face, she made it to the toilet with no time to spare.

  It was an unfortunate fact that there was no way to throw up quietly. At least, none she'd ever discovered. Eden gagged and coughed her way loudly through her bout of sickness, while humiliation and fear danced with gleeful malice inside her mind.

  How in the world was she going to explain this?

  “Eden … you all right?” The jiggle of the handle gave her barely a second to prepare for Jordan's entrance. She should have known he'd have a key.

  Hurriedly flushing the toilet, Eden rushed to the sink.

  Refusing to look in his eyes, she murmured her apology. “I'm so sorry, Jordan. I must have eaten something last night that didn't agree with me.”

  As she rinsed her mouth, she was startled to feel a warm, gentle hand on her cheek, in a soft caress. Then, surprising her still, he held her hair up, away from her face, to keep it from getting wet.

  “Don't apologize.” His voice was gruff with concern. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”

  She turned the water off, grabbed a nearby towel, and wiped her mouth. “No, I'll be fine. I'm sure it's out of my system.”

  Willing herself more courage, she turned around and tried to smile. Based upon his frown, the smile hadn't been very convincing.

  “I'm fine … really. Shall we continue?”

  “You're as white as a ghost. Go home and we can pick this up later.”

  Go through this again? Not in this lifetime or any other. She would get through this if it killed her. The fact that Jordan had never considered there was another reason for her to be sick only showed her how much he trusted her. Her stomach twisted again.

  “No … the sooner I get all the information, the sooner we'll find out the truth.” She took a step to walk around him and was stopped by his hand on her upper arm.

  “You're sure?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Seated once more, Jordan eyed her for several nerve-racking seconds. She knew he was just trying to determine if she was truly all right, but that intense stare didn't help her nerves.

  Glancing down at her notes, Eden took a breath. “Now, you said you went after Devon, only seconds after she left the house, but saw no sign of her.”

  “Yes, I walked up and down a couple of the streets. It was early morning and few people were out. I asked the ones I saw. No one had seen her. I assumed she'd caught a taxi as she had earlier.”

  A natural assumption. If only she had. Stupidly, she'd been trying to save money and was headed to a bus stop. “And then what?”

  “I went back to my house. I had a new assignment, one that would take me out of the country for a while. I thought it best to get some perspective. When I returned, Devon and I could talk … a bit more rationally.

  “It was almost two months later. I'd had a lot of time to think about what happened. To see Devon's side of things. I stopped to see if she was in or ask Henry how
I could get in touch with her. That's when I found out she'd been missing since that night.”

  “I'm surprised her stepfather didn't contact you … or perhaps the police.”

  Jordan shook his head. “I was deep cover. No one, other than a couple of people, knew where I was, and they wouldn't have told anyone. No one even knew she was missing until her college roommate called to see why she hadn't returned to school. That's when they called the police.”

  It had been years since she'd thought about Mindi Simpson, her college roommate, and one of the few friends the painfully shy Devon had ever made.

  “That's also when I learned her real age and why she hadn't denied seeing a psychiatrist, though it certainly wasn't for the reason Alise claimed.”

  Since it would look strange if she didn't ask the reason Devon was getting therapy, her numb lips mumbled, “What was the reason?”

  Jordan suddenly surged to his feet, as if unable to remain still with his memories. “When Devon was five or six—Henry couldn't remember her exact age—Alise punished her for spilling grape juice on Alise's dress just before she went out to a party. She canceled the babysitter, locked Devon in the closet, and left. She was apparently gone all night. Henry returned from a business trip the next afternoon and found her almost unconscious, still in the closet. After that, Devon suffered from claustrophobia and achluophobia—that's a fear of darkness.”

  Oh, she knew exactly what that term was. Hearing Jordan describe her mother's cruelty was actually somewhat cathartic. Alise Stevens truly was an evil person.

  Jordan's voice jerked her back to the present.

  “I went to the police station and talked with the detective in charge. Devon's photo had been put up everywhere. Henry had posted a large cash reward. The police had interviewed all of the people who knew her, had done everything they could to find her. She became another statistic. I think they decided, based upon what she'd gone through, that she was a runaway and didn't want to be found.”

  This fit in perfectly with the file she'd prepared. So why didn't she feel any relief at how easy it was going to be to convince Jordan?

  “I couldn't accept that. The Devon I knew—not the one I slept with, but the young girl—she was a fighter. I just couldn't see her running away. She was hurt when she left my house, but I saw fire in her eyes. I don't base this on anything other than a gut feeling, but I thought she'd give me some time to cool off and then come back.”