A cement blanket of silence settled around Jared as Jack and Ray, with matching pursed lips, stared at him. Moisture beaded along Jared’s hairline, across his upper lip. “Alone,” he stammered. “She’s in bed alone. She wasn’t feeling good.”
The pair remained silent.
“I took her to look at cars. She was tired.” Was his tongue swelling? “She took some pain pills and went to bed.” Mammoth Cave was nothing but a little hole in the ground compared to the cavern he was digging.
Okay, let them stare. He could handle this. He wouldn’t say another word. Not one. Heck, he might not even breathe.
Not if that boulder didn’t move out of his throat.
“Did she buy something?” Jack was all polite interest.
“A Jeep.” A grin twitched at the corner of Jared’s mouth. “A red one.”
Both Jack and Ray straightened, male approval sweeping their faces. “Way to go,” Ray said in low appreciation.
The boulder rolled away. As oxygen returned to Jared’s brain, he allowed himself a full grin. “It won’t be delivered till tomorrow. But she sat in it tonight.”
“And?”
“And I persuaded her to buy it.”
Jack lifted his bottle of beer in salute.
No way was Jared going to allow these guys to sniff out any more details about his night with Dee. “What’s got you two going tonight?”
Jack took a sip of beer, carefully placed the bottle on the bar and turned considering eyes on Jared. “The overhaul,” he finally stated.
“Remodel,” Ray firmly corrected.
Jack stiffened. “Don’t you start. This has got nothing to do with Dee.”
“I haven’t said a word.” Yet. Of course this had to do with Dee. This was her project, her idea. The single biggest reason holding her here.
“I was suggesting he do it in stages, especially since he has the log walls to add to the expense.”
“This is my decision,” Ray stated sullenly.
Jack swung around to look at Ray. “Yes, it is. But”—he huffed out a breath—“if you did it in stages, you wouldn’t be closed for long stretches. You’d be able to make some income, and you’d be less likely to lose your regulars.”
“If I did it in stages, I’d be shut down multiple times instead of one slightly longer time. And I’d manage to annoy my customers into finding a place that was more consistent.”
“Not if there was a year or two in between….”
“And”—he marched over Jack’s attempt to argue—“it would wind up costing more.”
“You know I wouldn’t….”
“Look, I’ve done some remodeling myself. Not as much as you. You’re the professional. Still, it just makes sense that it’s going to cost more to open and close and reopen walls.”
Jack’s mouth snapped closed.
“It’s now or never. I’m going for broke.”
Was that desperation in Ray’s voice? Was he getting in over his head? “Are you sure you want to make all these changes?” Jared asked. “The place seems fine to me as it is.”
Ray’s mouth turned mulish.
“Maybe what Jack’s saying makes sense. At least for a business. You could check with Dee….”
Anger blazed in Ray’s eyes. “Are you on his side?”
Jared held Ray’s gaze for a long moment. “Will you let your friends help with the work? I’m off another month. And when I start back, it will only be part time.”
“You’re on disability.” Ray snorted. “What are you going to do? Hold the nails while Jack hammers?”
Jared refused to be offended. “That would be a negative. But I’m willing to do what I can. It’ll help me regain my strength.” And it would provide the perfect cover for remaining at Dee’s side. At least during the day.
Frank told him to stay close to her, especially since the accident, but that wasn’t always an option. Staying close tonight would have led to only one outcome. His mind wandered to the little house cozied into the pine grove. He ran his hand over his chest, felt the softness of Dee’s nightshirt beneath his palm. Her cinnamon scent overlaid with her vanilla soap.
Images of soft, pale flesh tangled in cool sheets had his heart pounding against his ribs. He could see, almost feel, the silky waves of dark auburn hair that his fingers would feather across a white pillow.
“I need a drink,” he said between shallow breaths. Every hair, everything stood at attention.
“The usual?” Ray turned to pick up a shot glass.
“Just water,” Jared answered. He didn’t want alcohol in his system. Not if he went back to her house.
He jumped as the cold, wet bottle touched his hand.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Ray asked.
Jared nodded. Speaking was not an option at this moment.
“Then maybe you can tell me why you’re wearing an OSU shirt.”
Jared choked.
Jack laughed.
Jared forced himself to swallow every drop of the cool water. He wasn’t about to own up to planting flowers for Dee. The teasing would be merciless. And if he told them he’d washed up at her house? That memory, and the fantasies that came with it, was private.
With deliberate movements, he set the empty bottle on the counter. “When do you hope to begin work?” He was proud that he’d managed to string together a coherent sentence.
“As soon as possible,” Ray stated. “But we’ve got to know what’s behind that back wall first.”
“You’ll want to take out all the drywall to check the logs beneath,” Jack stated.
“I want to start staking out the additions this week.” Ray kept his gaze nailed on Jack. “I’ll have to get with her about permits.”
Jack sighed. “That will be up to the builder you choose.”
“Dee has a say in that,” Ray said.
Jack rubbed a hand up his forehead and over his hair. “I haven’t finished drawing up my plans yet.”
“Dee’s sharp. If you can’t keep up, she’ll notice.”
The fire of argument flamed in Jack’s eyes before he banked it. Standing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out some bills and slapped them on the counter. “I’ve got some work to do. In the meantime, you need to pull everything away from the back wall.”
“The stage, too?” Jared questioned.
Jack’s voice contained a bite of sarcasm. “You’ll have to check with the Princess, but I bet she wants to demo that, too.”
“What are you doing Sunday?” Jared turned his question to Ray.
“Sleeping.” Sunday was the only day of the week the bar wasn’t open.
“When you get up from your beauty rest, call me. I’ll come by, pick up the key and get everything moved so work can begin first thing Monday morning.”
Ray scraped a hand along his jaw. “Four o’clock okay?”
“Sure.”
“Just meet me here. I want to start pulling down the sheetrock on that back wall.”
Jared nodded. “Dee will want to be here.”
“Fine.”
“I’ll see you Sunday,” Jack said. He offered no apology for eavesdropping.
“Mike will want a piece of it, too,” Jared said as he tracked Jack’s progress toward the door. The deed was in Ray’s name, but for Jared and several of his friends, it was a second home.
“And Katie,” Ray said.
Jared nodded. “And Thorn and Maureen. Sounds like you’re having a party.”
Ray nodded. “Sounds like. Guess I’ll be serving food in here sooner than we thought.”
“Let me take care of the food,” Jared said, plans swirling in his mind. It would provide the perfect cover to call Katie, ask a few subtle questions about Jack. And with her in charge, they’d have something more than chips and cookies. As ruthlessly organized as she was, they’d probably have a four-course meal.
Dee would want to help. Women were like that, always huddling together and planning. He could see Dee with Kati
e and Maureen. She would fit.
However, for Sunday she might need to organize the demo.
And if she was going to be doing any huddling, it was going to be with him.
With nothing better to do, needing a distraction, Jared stayed and helped Ray in the bar. He bussed tables, washed mugs, secured safe rides for some of the under-experienced, over-intoxicated college crowd. He visited old friends, made some new ones.
And thought about Dee.
Was she safe? Was she asleep? Would she mind if he called and checked on her? Would she even answer?
For all of thirty minutes he fought the temptation. But busy hands could only do so much against such a powerful lure. Accepting his weakness, Jared found a relatively quiet corner and pulled out his cell phone.
The phone rang once. “Jared?”
His spine straightened, his hand tightening over the phone. “You answered the phone.”
“You called.”
Duh. “Are you feeling any better?”
She answered but he couldn’t make out the words above a screeching racket in the background. “What is that noise?”
“That,” she shouted, “is Lucky.”
“Lucky’s in the kitchen.” He’d closed the pup in before he left.
“Tell me about it.”
“You’re in your bedroom?” The noise was nonstop, deafening, even across the air waves. Jared’s stomach tightened as earlier concerns jumped to the fore.
“Yes. I tried to quiet him, but he refuses to cooperate. I’m going to have to give in and take him outside.”
The hairs on the back of his neck rose. “I took him out before I left. He should be okay till morning.”
“He doesn’t seem to agree. He’s been scratching at the door and barking for over ten minutes.”
Jared’s feet hit the floor the same time as his stomach. The cell phone suddenly felt too small, too insubstantial in his hand. “Dee honey, do you have any lights on in your house?”
“No. I’m still trying to convince Lucky that it’s bedtime, not playtime.”
All of the scenarios he’d imagined earlier flashed in his brain. Someone was at Dee’s house, and she was alone. Vulnerable.
“Dee…” He wanted her out of there, and under the cover of darkness, he wanted her to run. But he had no way of knowing where the perp was.
Lucky’s barking grew more excited.
“Dee, listen to me. Turn on a light and shout as loud as you can that you’ve called the police. Then get in your bathroom.” There was no window in there; access would be limited, controlled.
“What?”
“Do it!” he shouted.
He held his breath, straining to hear her follow his command. “I want you to lock the door, then sit on the floor. Put your back to the wall beside the door.”
“Jared,” her voice shook, “you’re scaring me.”
Yeah, well I’m scared, too. He wouldn’t say it. He couldn’t undermine what confidence she had.
Weapons. What kind of weapons were at her disposal? He’d bet she didn’t have a gun. Dee wasn’t a gun-toting sort of woman. “Just do what I tell you, Dee. You can do it.”
“Okay, I’m in the bathroom.”
The noise level dropped. She’d put one more door between herself and danger. “Good girl. Now, do you have any aerosol spray cans in there? Hair spray?”
“I don’t use hair spray.”
“Bathroom cleansers? Anything liquid or spray?”
“I have some foam spray cleanser for the tub.”
Curse words he seldom uttered twitched unchecked on his lips. Dodging customers and tables, Jared made his way to the door. “Did you lock the door?”
“Yes, but what about Lucky?”
Catching Ray’s gaze, Jared yelled above the noise of the bar. “Call Mike. Tell him to meet me at Dee’s. Now.”
The warm night air slapped cool against his sweat-coated skin as he jogged across the parking lot. “Lucky’s exactly where he needs to be, doing his job.”
“But…” Her voice was thick with tears, fear.
“Dee, he’s all right.” Jared fought past his labored breathing to give her soothing tones. “You’re going to be okay. I’m on my way. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Just hang on.”
“Don’t hang up,” she begged.
“Not a chance.” A sudden silence filled the phone line. He jerked the steering wheel as panic seized him. “Dee?”
“He’s not barking anymore.”
Her voice was so quiet he had to strain to hear her. “Do you hear anything else?” he asked.
A second’s silence stretched into a lifetime. Finally, he heard her soft, negative reply.
“Dee, do not open that door for anyone but me. Do you hear me? No one but me.” He searched his brain for a signal. “I’ll mention the red Jeep. You wait for that signal before you unlock that door.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
“And Dee,” he prayed as fast as he drove, “if anyone else pushes into that room, I want you to use that spray. Aim for the face. Got that?”
There was no response.
“You can do this Dee. You’ve got to.” He crested the hill and cursed the night that kept Dee’s house hidden from him. Not even a glimmer of the light she’d turned on pierced the absolute blackness.
Her house sat so far back from the road that he’d lose precious time parking on the highway and approaching the house on foot. Too much time. He reached for his glove compartment, pulled out his service revolver. Who was behind this? Did he have enough fire power to stop them?
Plans jumbled in his mind as his gaze flickered from the road to the area where Dee’s house stood. Twin beams of white light crossed the road in the distance ahead of him. Two glowing red dots flashed, then disappeared.
Every hair on his body rose in stiff attention. There was nothing in that area but Dee’s driveway. Someone had just pulled out, and turned toward Maystown, the car now hidden by the bend in the road.
He punched the accelerator. He would catch that bastard. Jared’s knuckles itched with the need to pound him into the ground.
“Jared?”
Dee’s quiet voice penetrated the red mist building around him. “I’m still here,” he assured.
“There’s no sound out there.”
Her whispered voice soothed him. Lulled him. Pulled at him. He wasn’t going to chase after anybody. He was going to Dee. “I just saw a car leave your driveway. Whoever was there is gone.”
He heard her sigh, heard the sound of metal clicking against tile. She’d set the spray can down. “Don’t open that door, Dee,” he shouted.
“But….”
“Not till you know it’s me outside it. That still goes.”
Jared could practically hear her process his unspoken concern.
“Okay,” she finally said. “Why isn’t Lucky barking? Do you think…” She pulled in a breath. “Do you think he’s okay?”
That dog saved Dee’s life tonight. If he wasn’t hurt, Jared was going to buy the biggest steak he could find and reward that four-legged hero. “He’s probably just tired from all the excitement. I’ll be there in a minute and check him out.”
“You’re probably right,” her voice sounded a little stronger, a little calmer. “I’m fine right now. I want you to go catch this guy.”
He wanted that, too. But his need to avenge was eclipsed by his need to secure. He needed to see Dee, to hold her. His galloping heart would not settle until he felt her living warmth wrapped in his arms and pressed against him.
“Whoever it was is long gone,” he said as he slowed to turn into the gravel drive. He navigated his low-riding car just far enough in the drive so Mike could pull in behind him.
There was still an outside chance Dee wasn’t alone up there; he couldn’t afford to make a foolish mistake. Turning off the dome light, Jared opened the door and eased out of his car. Staying within the cover of the trees that grew near the road, Jared strain
ed to see the house, the drive, the yard.
There was no sound, no sign of movement as he waited in the dark for his back up.
Who the hell was behind this? Who knew where she lived? That she was home alone?
With sickening dread, he recalled the conversation he’d had when he first entered the bar. Jack knew. He also knew she was incapacitated by pain pills. He’d left the bar nearly forty minutes ago.
Jack lived in Maystown.
Chapter Thirteen
Jared, Mike, and Frank split up and circled the house from opposite sides.
“Nothing,” Mike whispered when he met Jared in the stand of pines behind the house.
“Me either,” Jared answered. “Dee,” he said into the phone, “we’re at the back of the house. We’re coming in.”
“All right.”
“I’m hanging up now, honey. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
“Okay.”
Weapons drawn, the three officers split again. Jared and Mike approached the deck and back door at wide angles while Frank remained at a distance, but dead-on to the door. Standing two feet from the door, Mike signaled Jared. Pulling out a flashlight, Mike ran the beam in one quick sweep across the door. “It’s closed tight,” he said in a near soundless whisper.
Jared nodded. Bending low with his back to the wall, he climbed the steps. Catching Mike’s eye, Jared signaled him into position, then slowly stretched his fingers toward the door.
The porch light flashed on, blinding them. The door flung wide. The dog barked furiously.
Instinct and training had Jared crouched on the steps, his weapon trained on the door.
Dee fell back a step, her fingers splayed over her chest.
Lucky danced around her feet, his barking continuous, the hair on his neck raised.
“Easy there, pup,” Mike said as he cautiously reached for the dog.
“I thought I told you to stay in the bathroom,” Jared snarled as he lowered shaking hands.
Dee eased her hip against the frame, her hand reaching out for support. “You told me you were out here,” she said with uncertainty. “I thought you could use some light to see….”
Unforgettable Heroes II Boxed Set Page 244
