If he wanted to keep them both alive, he needed to remember lessons from the past.
And who the hell was Claudia, anyway? Why was he willing to put his life and career on hold for her? She pulled at him with an insistent tug that he didn’t understand, brought out all his protective instincts.
But what kind of a woman falls in love with a terrorist?
A jarring thought brought him to a seated position. Had she rabbited without him? No. Surely she wasn’t that stupid.
Certain he detected the enticing aroma of coffee, he sniffed the air. Thank you, Miss Claudia. Everything could wait until he’d had a jolt of caffeine.
When he rose to his feet, he noticed a duffel bag and boxes scattered around the living room floor. She’d been busy with more than morning coffee. The sound of the refrigerator door opening caught his attention. She was in the kitchen. Had she even slept?
Jack wrapped the sheet around his waist and went to find her. They had a lot to talk about, a lot of plans to go over.
* * *
CLAUDIA STARED INTO the freezer with cold air chilling her cheeks, hating the idea of leaving all this food behind. But she had no way to keep the frozen meat or vegetables from thawing. She sighed. Why was she worried about a couple hundred dollars’ worth of food when Carlos and his friends had found her?
Because she needed to eat. She didn’t have enough cash to feed herself for three more weeks, didn’t dare access any bank accounts or risk giving away her location and couldn’t expect Jack the Gladiator to feed her.
Jack. Oh, God. She closed the freezer door, but left her hand on the handle, picturing him as she’d left him last night, staring at her with those intense green eyes as if he knew what she was thinking. Or what she looked like naked. She shivered.
He’d been asleep on the sofa when she tiptoed past into the kitchen, and the sheets hadn’t covered much of his magnificent body. Better he not know what she’d been thinking right then.
She shook her head. She’d hoped she’d come up with a better plan in the light of day. How could she leave this island with a man who was all but a stranger and travel to a new city under his protection? It was freaking nuts.
But what other option did she have?
“Good morning.”
Claudia whirled around and gaped at Jack’s bare chest as he entered the kitchen trailing a sheet behind him. Wow. And there it was. That incredible pull of attraction impossible to ignore every time she was in the same room with him.
She swallowed and managed to say, “Hi.”
“Please tell me I smell coffee.”
She nodded, cursing herself for feeling this awkward around him. But how was she supposed to act? She’d told him her deepest secret, that she’d been foolish enough to marry Carlos Romero. No one else on Earth but her family and Mr. Santaluce knew.
“Cream or sugar?” she asked as she poured steaming coffee into a mug.
“Black is fine.” He stepped close and accepted the mug, brushing his fingers across hers. Her gaze rose to his, and she wondered if he experienced the same jolt of awareness from their casual touch. He seemed unaffected as he took a sip.
“Man, that’s good,” he said. “Thanks.”
She added hot coffee she didn’t want to her own lukewarm brew and suddenly wished he’d take her into his arms and kiss her. How pathetic was that?
“I see you’ve been packing,” Jack said. “That’s a lot of boxes.”
She faced him again. “They’re full of nonperishable food. I’ve been trying to decide if it’s safe to take the stuff that’s frozen. Unless you have a cooler, it’ll thaw on the drive north.”
“Leave it,” Jack said. “They do have grocery stores in Dunnellon.”
She shook her head. “But I don’t have much cash left, and I don’t dare access any or risk giving away my location.”
“Do you think I’d let you starve after going to the trouble to save you from Romero?”
“But I don’t want to leave a mess for Mr. Santaluce after all his kindness.”
“I’ll have maintenance clean the kitchen and donate the food in the refrigerator to a homeless shelter.”
She looked away. “Okay. That’ll work.”
Jack took a swallow from his mug. “You need to trust me, Claudia.”
She nodded. “I know. And I appreciate all that you’re doing. This is just—” She shrugged, not knowing what to say. This sucks? She stole a look at Jack and found him eyeing her intently. She’d love to know what he was thinking.
He placed his mug on the counter. “Talk to me, Claudia.”
“You have to understand I’ve got a lot going on right now.”
“You’re scared.”
“I’m terrified. And then you show up looking all...sexy and gorgeous and complicate my life even more.”
He grinned. “Sexy and gorgeous, huh?”
Heat rushed into her cheeks. Had she really said that out loud?
“You’ve complicated my life a bit, too,” he said.
He stepped close. Too close. She looked down at the floor, certain they weren’t talking about the same sort of complications. Ceramic tile was safer to look at than Jack.
“Sorry about that,” she murmured. But she wasn’t. Not really. She breathed in the alluring male essence of Jack. She detected a lingering hint of his aftershave and accepted that she needed Jackson Richards. The flat-out truth was, without him, she’d be all alone at the mercy of Carlos’s Warriors. They could have come for her at any time, and she’d have never seen the danger coming. She hadn’t even known her car contained a bug.
“Why can’t you look at me?”
His words catapulted her back to the present. The danger Jack represented was a different kind of scary than Carlos, but threatened her safety just as much. “What?”
“Are you still hiding something?”
“No.” Not other than my desire to rip off that sheet and attack you.
Claudia closed her eyes against the heated intensity of his green gaze.
“We need to clear the air,” Jack said. “We’re going to be spending a lot of time together, and I need to know what’s bugging you.”
She took a deep breath and stepped away. He was right. She needed to be honest with him.
“The thing is,” she said, “I’m afraid of you. I don’t know you, and I don’t understand why you’re helping me.”
“Maybe I’m just a nice guy doing his civic duty.”
“This is beyond civic duty. Carlos wants me dead.”
Jack grabbed his mug again. “Maybe.”
“What do you mean, ‘maybe’?”
He took a sip before answering. “I’ve been thinking about that. They knew where you lived, probably where you worked. Why didn’t they put a bomb in your car instead of a tracking device?”
She swallowed. “Gee, thanks. What a lovely thought.”
“I think Romero wanted to keep track of you, know where you were located, but had some reason to keep you alive.”
She stared at Jack. “That’s crazy.”
“Just a theory.” He shrugged. “When you went into hiding, they got nervous. Maybe they want to snatch you, not kill you.”
“Snatch me?” She leaned against the counter, suddenly needing some support. “Why? So they could torture me?”
“Or brainwash you.”
Thinking her ex had already forced plenty of his poison into her head, she said, “What would that gain?”
“Your silence.”
“So would my death.”
“So is there any reason your husband needs you alive?”
Claudia shook her head. “I can’t think of one.”
“Who filed for divorce?”
“I did,
but he didn’t fight it.”
“Could he still have feelings for you?”
She gaped at Jack. “You don’t know Carlos. The man doesn’t have feelings.”
Jack shook his head. “Then why did he marry you?”
“I honestly don’t know. Maybe as a cover, you know, a pretend normal life.”
“Is he that sneaky?”
“You have no idea. After the divorce, he left me alone. Everything changed when he saw my name on the witness list and learned about my journal. Suddenly I was being followed.”
“Did you tell the feds?”
“Yes, and they suggested a safe house.”
“Which you refused.”
“Until they trashed my apartment and wrote a warning on the bathroom mirror.”
“I can guess what it said.”
“‘Keep your mouth shut.’”
Jack nodded. “That fits. And then you disappeared, which they may have expected. The Warriors believe in a crazy ideology. Maybe they have some twisted idea that as long as you don’t testify, you’re worthy of saving.”
“So you think it’s twisted to keep me breathing?”
“You know what I mean.”
She looked away, her thoughts churning about Carlos and his possible strategies. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
But she rejected Jack’s theory. Carlos didn’t think she was worthy of anything. Before he got all tangled up with hatred, maybe he’d once loved her in his own chauvinistic manner. But he hated her now. She knew that even if Jack had doubts.
“So why are they trying to broach the island?” she demanded.
Jack remained quiet for a moment. She could practically see his brain working.
Finally he said, “Maybe to have a conversation and reinforce the need for your silence. Maybe they planned on using a little pain for persuasion. Or maybe they did plan to kill you. But here’s the thing, Claudia.”
Jack’s deadly tone forced her to meet his gaze again.
“Once they realize they’ve lost track of you, they’ll get nervous.”
“Makes sense,” she said.
“They’ll be desperate to locate you again, use any method at their disposal.”
“Okay.”
“If they find you—and I’m not saying they will—they won’t take any more chances. To make sure you don’t testify against their leader, they’ll eliminate you once and for all. Along with anyone else who gets in their way.”
CHAPTER NINE
“I DON’T LIKE IT,” Lola told Jack when he called her with details of his plan for moving Claudia.
“You ordered me to get Claudia Goodwin off the island, and that’s what I’m doing.”
“I didn’t expect you to go with her.”
“Hell, Lola. You’ve been encouraging me to use my vacation time for months.”
“I wouldn’t call this a vacation. And you’ll need backup. What’s wrong with you, Jack?”
“I’ve got friends I can call on if things get hairy.”
After a long silence, Lola said, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“That may be open to some doubt,” Jack admitted. “But I couldn’t send any woman away to face a ruthless gang alone.”
“Damn Boy Scout,” Lola mumbled. “I still don’t like it, but Brad will arrive at thirteen hundred hours to take over for you.”
“Well, at least I’ve made him happy.”
“I’m glad somebody is.”
Lola disconnected, and Jack clipped the phone to his belt. She’d get over it. He had weeks of leave time, and she was only angry because he’d screwed up her carefully laid out schedule. Lola didn’t like anyone messing with her schedule.
He checked the time. Eleven hundred. He wasn’t waiting for his replacement. Ike had proven to be a good man and could handle things for a couple of hours. The Warriors would be occupied tracking down Claudia’s car, anyway.
He’d gone home, showered, packed what he needed and returned with his SUV to find Claudia cleaning the cabana as if she intended to use the space to assist a physician during open-heart surgery. He’d moved her luggage outside, placed it with his own duffel and sent her to take a shower. He listened to the water running, and the part of him that refused to behave like a professional ached to join her.
So he was going on a vacation—of sorts. The first one in years. A week ago he’d have laughed at the idea, although because of Lola’s bitching he had been considering a fishing trip to the Keys. But a visit to check on his home in Dunnellon was overdue, and a remote structure surrounded by fifty acres of pristine north Florida forest was the perfect place to secrete a witness with a price on her head. The isolation would allow him to keep this three-week visit quiet. He wouldn’t contact anyone unless circumstances demanded he ask for help. For sure he didn’t plan on letting his crazy momma know he was back in town.
Claudia entered the living room, freshly showered and looking around like a dog who’d forgotten where she’d buried her bone.
“Who were you talking to?” she demanded.
“My boss.”
“Everything okay?”
“Just peachy.”
She made a face.
“Relax, Claudia. I’ve got everything under control.”
She plopped on the sofa and pulled a throw pillow into her lap. “I won’t relax until we get out of Miami. Maybe not even then.”
“I haven’t told anyone where we’re going. You don’t even know exactly where the cabin is, so there’s no way we can be followed.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, I thought I’d figured out everything when I came here, too. Turned out I was dead wrong.”
Jack sat beside her. Tension vibrated off her body.
“You’re not dead.”
She met his gaze. “Not yet.”
“Are you ready?”
She tried to speak, then cleared her throat. “Can’t wait,” she croaked.
Jack knew soothing words wouldn’t help Claudia at this point. Better to get their escape over with. Fast and clean.
“Come on, then.”
They moved outside. Jack clicked open the SUV. Claudia stared at the huge green plastic gun locker that took up most of the rear compartment. He’d removed all the weapons and placed them in the backseat covered by a blanket.
“It shouldn’t be for more than an hour,” Jack said. “Two at the most.” He narrowed his eyes, evaluating Claudia. Wetting her lips, she looked away from his scrutiny. She clutched her purse as if it were a life raft.
“You told me you weren’t claustrophobic.”
“I’m not—usually.”
“This is the safest way to get you away without being seen,” Jack told her.
“How will I breathe?”
“The locker isn’t sealed, and I don’t plan to lock it.”
“But I won’t even be able to see if something goes wrong.”
“Nothing is going to go wrong.”
Claudia rubbed her hands on her shorts. “Right.”
“What happened to that trust we talked about? I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
She closed her eyes. “I want to believe you. I really do, but I feel so...out of control. Helpless. I’m not good with helpless.”
Jack almost relented at the terror he read in her haunting blue eyes. Shit. He’d hate this escape plan just as much. By trusting him, she was losing all control, blindly placing her life in his hands. And she didn’t know him. Not really. But any other method could alert the Warriors.
A body under a blanket would be obvious to anyone watching.
He wished he’d had time to secure a burner phone. With one, he could keep her aware of where they were, what was
going on, alert her to any problems.
“You can always climb out if you have to, but I don’t recommend it while we’re underway.”
She nodded.
He handed her a plastic water bottle. “In case you get thirsty.”
“Thanks.” She placed the water inside the purse and looped its strap over her shoulder.
“And here’s a flashlight.”
“So I can read?”
“I thought a little light might make you feel better.”
She grabbed the small light, dropped it in a pocket, but made no attempt to get inside the SUV.
“Can you do this?” he asked.
She curled her hands into fists, then released them. After a deep inhalation, she nodded once and hoisted her leg to climb inside his vehicle. Jack wanted to hug her when she crawled into the empty gun locker. He could only guess how much courage that took.
She curled up on the blanket he’d provided, staring back at him. He stepped forward to touch her cheek to reassure her.
Claudia grabbed his hand and squeezed, her gaze searching his.
“Promise you won’t turn me over to Carlos,” she begged.
“I promise.”
“And no government safe house.”
“No feds. I promise. Are you ready? It’s going to be dark, but there’ll be plenty of oxygen.”
She nodded. “Go ahead.”
Feeling like a jerk, wishing there was another safe way, he pulled his hand from Claudia’s fingers and stared into her wide, frightened eyes as he slowly closed the lid, making sure air could get inside the compartment.
* * *
CLAUDIA BLINKED WHEN the lid of the locker closed. Oh, God. So dark.
She fished out the flashlight and clicked it on, but immediately turned it off. She should conserve the battery just in case.
She squeezed her eyes shut and clutched her purse to her chest. Better to just pretend she was somewhere else. Anywhere else. She concentrated on slow, deep breaths, and waited for something to happen. The blanket beneath her felt like plush velvet, soft and comfortable. The locker smelled of gunpowder and the oil used for weapons.
The engine ignited, creating a steady vibration beneath her. Lying in a fetal position on her right side, Claudia’s body shifted as Jack pulled forward, so she braced herself with her feet. They motored smoothly for maybe five minutes and stopped. She opened her eyes and realized the brake lights provided an eerie red glow around the edges of the locker. Not much illumination, but something.
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