“Technically, they should have been. That’s why it took me so long to track them down. They were filed away with others slated to be inputted into our new digital archive. Of course our ‘new’ digital archive program is already three years old.”
Mallory gave an absent smile, clearly absorbed in the report. Jake followed her gaze to the yellowed page detailing the transmissions from Innovative Engineering’s central monitoring station to the police on that long-ago night.
The panic alarm had been tripped from inside the warehouse.
On the one hand, Jake was glad she had physical proof that he hadn’t sounded the alarm, exactly as he’d claimed. On the other, he wasn’t thrilled that after working together, making love and generally sharing their lives around the clock, he couldn’t be sure whether she’d still needed proof.
But Jake didn’t have long to dwell on wounded pride because suddenly Mallory’s face drained of color. Her hand trembled when she flipped a page, and he settled his hand on her shoulder.
“You all right?”
She didn’t look all right. She looked small and forlorn sitting there, as though the events of this night and those of a decade ago were weighing too heavily on her shoulders.
For a moment Jake glimpsed behind the tough facade she usually wore, glimpsed the very real woman who suffered very real hurts that she didn’t like to share.
He wanted to know what she saw in those reports that he didn’t understand. He didn’t ask in front of the lieutenant, wouldn’t ask until they were alone. Glancing up, he found the lieutenant watching her with an equal amount of concern. That the guy seemed genuine didn’t come as much of a consolation.
But Mallory didn’t give the lieutenant a chance to question her further when she flipped the last page, slid the reports back across the desk and said, “This was what I needed to see. Thank you. I know this was effort to track down. I owe you.”
“No, this was payback for the Fine Art thefts,” the lieutenant said referring to a series of high-profile burglaries that had taken place in museums and art galleries around Atlanta not long ago. Jake hadn’t known she’d been involved with the investigation. “We wouldn’t have cracked that case without you.”
She gave him a smile that never quite reached her eyes. “I’ll stay in touch about Lance.”
And then Jake was escorting her back through the police station. It was just after 5:00 a.m. when he wheeled out of the parking lot. If she noticed they weren’t heading in the direction of her house, she didn’t comment.
“What did you find in those transmission reports?” he asked. “Besides that I was telling the truth.”
“I wasn’t looking for confirmation that you didn’t trip the alarm. I believed you. I wanted to know who did.”
“Who?”
“My dad,” she said matter-of-factly. But she didn’t give him a chance to respond, didn’t give him a chance to express his surprise before adding, “He told me he tripped the alarm, but I didn’t believe him. I thought he was lying so I wouldn’t feel guilty for getting him busted.”
“Accidents happen, Mallory. You and I both know burglary and security aren’t exact sciences.”
Shifting his gaze off the road, he found her watching him with the sort of stark expression he’d come to realize meant she was struggling to keep her composure in place.
“My dad doesn’t make those kinds of mistakes, Jake. Not careless ones. Maybe that sounds impossible to you, but trust me, the man is meticulous. That’s the only reason he survived for two decades without getting busted.”
Jake couldn’t argue that point. “Then what happened?”
“I needed to see the reports to figure that out. Ten years ago I was new to the business, too new to know the right things to look for. But that’s not the case now. I needed to see the placement of that alarm to understand if an accident was even a possibility.”
“Was it?”
“For someone else, but not for my dad,” she said with conviction. “He tripped that alarm intentionally after he drilled the safe.”
“Are you saying he wanted to get caught?”
She nodded her head. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“He wanted to retire the crew.”
“Then why not stop working before spending time in prison?”
She turned to stare out the passenger window into the early-morning sky but Jake could see the grief sharpening her beautiful face even in profile. “He wanted to make sure that none of us would consider continuing without him.”
“Watching him sit in prison accomplished that.”
“It did.”
If what Mallory said was true, then her father had acted for the benefit of the people he loved. And judging by the grief he saw in her expression, she knew it, too.
They fell into a silence heavy with revelations that were too immense to absorb all at once, especially not when they’d been on the run throughout the night. Jake maneuvered through the streets, where streetlamps still glowed and only the sporadic gleam of headlights sliced through the darkness.
He wondered how she would handle the situation now that she’d confirmed her suspicions, whether she’d confront her father outright or continue playing hide-and-seek with her secrets. He knew she still hadn’t explained to her father about how they’d met on the Innovative job.
Jake hadn’t pushed the issue, but the subject wasn’t closed yet, either. It weighed heavily as something unpleasant still needing to be dealt with. Dodging the issue hadn’t felt right, still didn’t, especially since Jake had designs on Mallory that would make the man a part of his life. If he got his way.
He intended to get his way.
“When you’re talking to your father about tripping the alarm, will you mention that I was on the job or do you still want to wait?”
“I don’t have to tell him. He already knows.”
Jake frowned, and she turned to face him, looking tired.
“Chalk another one up to my inexperience,” she said. “That transmission report documented the positions of the close-circuit surveillance cameras.”
“I noticed that. But the tapes were never confiscated.”
“Opal took them so none of us could be made. I didn’t realize it at the time but there was a camera positioned on the warehouse door.”
When Jake thought about it, he knew she was right and understanding finally dawned. “So there was a camera positioned on us in that foyer.”
She nodded.
“What happened to the tape?”
“Polish Paul and Eddie usually destroyed that sort of evidence right after a job. Whether that night was any different because of my dad’s arrest, I can’t say. But it doesn’t really matter. Opal would have seen in the monitoring station, and I’m willing to bet she recognized you. Why else would they be leaving us alone?”
If Mallory was right, then the problem of Duke’s reaction to his presence at the Innovative job was a non-issue. Given the amount of time his parents, Duke and Opal had been spending together, Jake suspected he had the man’s complete support.
He barely got a chance to absorb the thought let alone savor it, because Mallory asked, “Where are you taking me?”
“To my place. We’ll deal with straightening out your house tomorrow. Right now we both need to sleep, and I want to do that in my bed.”
He didn’t add that he couldn’t be sure of the general response to pressing charges against Lance. He didn’t want her to have to deal with Polish Paul, her father or any of the crew until she’d had a chance to rest and pull herself together.
On some level she must have known though, because she didn’t put up a fight. She just lapsed into silence and stared out the window.
“I’m here for you, Mallory.” And he would be until he figured out what it would take to get through to her, to earn her devotion and get her to commit to an us.
15
MALLORY KNEW Jake wouldn’t make any promise he didn’t mean. He
cared. They might not have discussed how much he cared—because she’d refused to—but there was no missing the way he’d stepped into her life as though he wanted to be there, as though he belonged there.
She knew he wanted to fit her into his life, too, and a few hours ago she wouldn’t have considered letting him take her home. She hadn’t wanted to see where he lived, had needed to keep distance between them to maintain a grip on her emotions.
But now he would bridge that distance, and she would let him. She didn’t feel like fighting how she felt for him anymore. She didn’t see the point. He would only hold her, and she would feel as if she belonged in his arms, as if their being together was right. She’d been running from this feeling, promising herself she’d deal with it tomorrow.
Tomorrow had come. She had to deal with Jake now because when the sun came up, she’d need to tackle her dad and what he’d done ten years ago. She’d have to rally the courage to face Polish Paul and the crew once they found out she’d thrown Lance to the wolves.
She couldn’t handle struggling with her feelings for Jake, too. Not when she found so much strength in his arms. Not when by his side seemed like the safest place in the world to be.
Tomorrow had definitely come.
And the first thing she had to deal with was Jake’s house, which was nothing like Mallory had expected. She’d envisioned him living in a suburban home with a large lot and neighbors who mowed their yards religiously on Saturday mornings.
There wasn’t a picket fence in sight. His home was a contemporary marvel with huge plate-glass windows overlooking a conservation reserve. Even in the dark it looked streamlined and stark in design, almost rebellious compared to those of his neighbors.
She liked it. And as he silently led her through rooms decorated in subdued tones where the only color came from the elaborate indoor trees and plants, Mallory knew that the floor plan had been cleverly designed to make the view of the conservation reserve the focal point of the whole house.
Through a wall of windows, dawn would transform the understated decor. Midday would flood these rooms with light. Dusk would bath them in an ethereal glow. Now, the waning stars jeweled the rooms in glimmering shadows.
The effect in Jake’s second-floor bedroom was even more dramatic, if possible, and she liked that he didn’t ask what she thought of his place, that he didn’t need to. He just came to stand behind her where she glanced out the windows. Slipping his arms around her, he rested his chin on the top of her head and stared out into the fading starlight.
It was a companionable moment, a lull in a night filled with emotional highs and lows: the adrenaline rush of breaking into Eddie’s place, the turmoil of discovering Lance had broken into hers. And finally, finding out the truth that her dad had done what he’d claimed all those years ago—he’d tripped the alarm, an action that sounded so simple when the implication was so incredibly profound.
He’d sacrificed himself so his loved ones would have a chance for a future.
And as she considered how much her dad had been willing to do for what he wanted, another thought struck her.
“You lost your job that night, Jake. TSS is a long way from the career track you were on with Innovative Engineering. Did you blame me?”
He inhaled heavily, and Mallory sensed his resignation at the inevitably of the question. “At first,” he admitted. “Everything I’d been working for went straight to hell when I lost my internship. I lost my scholarship money, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t have a clue what to do next.”
He laughed softly, a husky sound that sounded so right. “I learned a lot. About how easy my life had been until then. About how inflexible I was. I did blame you at first but after a while I realized that meeting you was just meant to be. I might not have understood why, but I was meant to get off the corporate ladder and go into the security field. I will admit that I did think you owed me a favor when I sent my proposal.”
“I got that part loud and clear.” She’d laughed when he’d said he wanted to assist her on the job, had been amused by his lack of trust. Now she wanted to ask him if he trusted her yet.
And she couldn’t bring herself to ask the question.
“I only accepted your job because I felt you owed me something,” she said instead.
“I figured that out when you stripped in the bathroom.”
“It was a test. I wanted to see what kind of man you’d grown up to be.”
“You expected me to hop into the shower. You thought I wouldn’t be able to resist you, didn’t you?”
“I figured you’d either hop into the shower or you’d run screaming.”
He gave a hearty laugh. “I’d never back down from that kind of dare.”
“I thought I’d offend your self-righteous sensibilities. But of course, that was when I thought you’d tripped the alarm.”
“Meaning you don’t think I’m self-righteous anymore.”
“No, I don’t, as a matter of fact. I’ve placed you in a difficult situation, and you’ve handled yourself very well.”
He’d taken what she’d offered that day, only on his own terms, blowing all her preconceived ideas about him right out of the water. She wouldn’t admit that, knew she didn’t have to. This man read her with an ability that had made her uneasy.
She wouldn’t admit that either.
“So you don’t think I’m self-righteous anymore,” he said. “That’s a good thing. I’m guessing you also think I’m adequate in bed and less than adequate as a rock climber.”
“Definitely less than adequate as a rock climber. You’re a nightmare. I’m still not believing you tripped the alarm at Eddie’s tonight.”
“I’m still not believing you didn’t. You gave me a blow job in mid-air.”
Mallory resisted the urge to smile. “You’re more than adequate in bed, Jake.”
“Mmm.” The sound rumbled deep in his chest, told her he was very satisfied that she thought so. “Exceptional lover, lame rock climber. I can live with that. What else do you think?”
Here it was, the place where he’d segue the conversation around to their relationship and try to manipulate her into an emotionally honest corner. She recognized the maneuver after dodging it so often lately.
Tonight she’d surprise him.
“I think you’ve been having as good a time challenging me as I’ve been having challenging you.”
“Oh, you do?” he said, but there was no surprise in his voice, only amusement. “How have I been challenging you?”
“You keep trying to get me to deal with our relationship.”
He shifted position, bracing his legs a little farther apart so she was forced to sink back against him for balance. His arms tightened around her, and he said, “You noticed.”
“I did.”
“I thought it was only fair to let you know where I was. That the more time we spend together, the more convinced I am we should be an us.”
He presented her own words with tremendous new meaning, words that proved how much he did trust her. He laid his heart between them when she’d done nothing to prove that she might be willing or able to handle it carefully.
A thoughtful silence claimed the moment, a silence where she considered whether she was worthy of his trust, when until this very moment she hadn’t even been honest with herself about how she felt about him.
“Why security, Jake?” she asked, not sure this wasn’t another diversionary tactic but suddenly needing an answer.
He held her close, his big body surrounding hers with warmth, enveloping her as though she’d been designed to fit in the shelter of his broad chest. “I wanted to keep beautiful thieves from screwing up other young men’s lives.”
His answer was light, not personal or emotional, and Mallory realized he thought she was running again. He was giving her a place to retreat to in case she couldn’t handle his honesty.
His willingness to put aside what he wanted for what she could handle humbled h
er.
“You’re making very good progress,” was all she could say.
“I have more work to do on securing ceiling access. Any suggestions?”
“I’ll make my recommendations in my summary report, after we see how the Atlanta Safe Exchange job goes.”
He didn’t reply, and they fell back into that silence again, a silence where she recognized that he was letting her take the lead, a silence where she didn’t want him continuing to make concessions because she was too weak to deal with her feelings.
“What do you want from me, Jake?”
“The truth?”
On the surface he asked a simple question, one that should have had an easy answer, but Mallory understood the subtext, knew the answer wasn’t simple at all.
He’d been honest with her from the start. No matter what trick she pulled, he’d risen to her challenges and met them with challenges of his own. His question was perhaps the greatest one of all. To meet this challenge, she’d have to be honest not only with him, but with herself.
Honesty meant facing that he would ask something of her she wasn’t sure she had to give. Honesty meant looking at everything her dad had been willing to do for the people he loved and knowing she hadn’t had the courage to do the same. She’d wanted Jake and had been dodging that very truth since the minute she’d stripped for him in her bathroom.
“Yes. The truth please.” More simple words that changed everything.
“I want a chance for a future.” His voice was rich and warm and completely certain. “I want you to work with me at TSS and perform your magic on every system I put on the market. I want you to live with me. I don’t really care where. And I want you to love me, Mallory.”
A flip comment about wanting a fantasy sprang to her lips, but she bit it back, knowing it was nothing more than a defense to distance them, to stop feeling vulnerable when her heart was coming apart with every word he spoke.
Then he lowered his head until their cheeks were pressed together, his breath flowing gently against her skin. “I want you to make a leap of faith and trust that allowing yourself to love me will be the best challenge of all.”
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