The Kate Jones Thriller Series 1-4 (Boxed Set)

by D. V. Berkom

  Cole's voice had taken on a husky quality. "How do you feel about hot tubs?"

  "They're my favorite."

  He got up, pulling me after him and led me over to the hot tub. The underwater lights cast a bluish glow onto a mesquite tree growing beside it. The water looked inviting and it would so give me a chance to see more of Cole. I figured he probably had thoughts along those same lines.

  He disappeared inside the house to get some towels and I seized the advantage and took off my clothes, laying them on the rock wall beside the tub. Naked, I slipped into the warm water while I searched for the button that would turn on the bubbles. I found it and the tub erupted as the jets surged to life.

  Cole reappeared through the doors and, seeing me already in the tub, dropped the towels on a chair and started to take off his clothes.

  His body was lean and his muscles well defined- he obviously took care of himself. The tingling started at my toes again and headed north. He slipped into the tub and floated his way over to my side. I smiled and moved a little farther away from him.

  Enjoying the game, he moved closer. I slid to his right and just out of reach. He grinned and faked a move to his right. I fell for it, laughing and he promptly caught me, wrapping his arms around my waist as he pulled me toward him.

  We kissed again and I wrapped my legs around him. He let out a groan and grabbed my hips, pulling me closer. He planted little kisses over my neck and breasts and I impatiently but gently took him in hand.

  It wasn't long before we were both oblivious to anything but each other. The warm water swirled around our bodies in a sensual dance. I looked up at the sky at one point and the stars exploded before my eyes.

  Okay, maybe not, but it was probably one of the best orgasms I'd ever experienced, bar none.

  The intensity subsided and we relaxed against the side of the tub in each other's arms. Stroking my now damp hair, he kissed me as I snuggled into the crook of his arm.

  “Kate,” he murmured, “I don't think I've ever met anyone quite like you."

  I smiled as I looked up at him. He kissed me on the mouth, this time with such tenderness it took my breath away.

  My fight or flight instinct kicked into “flight” and I pulled away. Memories of Sam, a cop assigned to protect me years earlier in Alaska, flooded my mind. He'd almost died because of me. Every time I got close to someone, something awful happened.

  God, I was tired of those fucking bad spirits. They had no place here. Not tonight.

  "I'm thirsty. I think I should go get us a glass of water." I climbed out of the hot tub and grabbed a towel off the back of the chair as I walked toward the house. I looked over my shoulder at him and lifted a corner of the towel to give him a peek, prompting him to whistle softly.

  Laughing, I went into the kitchen and started to open cupboards.

  "Where do you keep the glasses?"

  "They're in that cupboard."

  The voice came from a lot closer than the patio and nearer to the floor. I looked down and let out a yell, dropping my towel.

  A pint-sized girl with light brown hair stood in the doorway leading from the hall to the kitchen. She pointed matter-of-factly at a cupboard to my left.

  Another voice came from behind her.

  "Who are you talking to, Abby?" The voice rounded the corner, attached to a tanned, beautifully dressed, perfectly coiffed platinum blonde woman about my age. She stopped short in the doorway and leveled a cool gaze at me, arms folded across her chest.

  Momentarily flustered, I retrieved the towel from near my feet and wrapped it around my now exceptionally naked body. The stony silence was interrupted by the sound of Cole on his way in from the patio, and I could tell without turning around when he reached the doorway that he'd neglected to put on his towel.

  There was a pause in conversation as he took in the situation.

  "Hey, Abby," he said.

  Abby's face lit up and she looked like she was about to run to him, but the woman restrained her.

  Cole quickly recovered his composure and moved a little behind me as he wrapped his towel around his waist. Once that was accomplished he moved forward and put himself between the ice queen and me.

  Abby looked curiously from Cole to her mother back to Cole. She craned her neck, trying to catch a glimpse of me around her father. I tilted my head to the side so she could see my face. Our eyes met and I winked at her. She grinned and leaned back into her mother who at this moment was speaking in a cool, clipped and rather icy tone.

  "Lauren wasn't feeling well and she asked me to bring them both home tonight. It appears she doesn't want to miss school on Tuesday and she was afraid if she stayed in Scottsdale I wouldn't let her come home until she was completely well." Her light blue eyes had a wintry glint. She appraised me, devoid of emotion. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your…friend?"

  I straightened up from making faces at Abby and stood at attention. She'd make a good drill sergeant, I thought. Abby mimicked my move and comically stood at attention, too. I stifled a laugh.

  "Abby, go to your room," the woman snapped. I winced at her sharp tone.

  Abby's face fell, wondering what she'd done now to get into trouble. I made another face at her and she giggled as she turned and ran down the hallway to her room. Her mother waited until the door to the bedroom clicked closed.

  "Lorna, we made a deal-" Cole began.

  "To what? Expose our children to strange naked women?" Her voice rising, she raked me with a glare I assumed was intended to make mere humans quail. Unperturbed, I debated whether I should make a comment about not being so strange, but bit my tongue.

  "And what kind of an impression do you think that makes on them, hmmm?" she said, as she eyed the empty bottle of wine sitting on the counter.

  "You could've called to tell me you were coming. That's another part of the deal, remember?" The anger in Cole's voice sliced through the room. "And Kate is not some strange naked woman. We've been seeing each other for a while now."

  That was news to me, but what the hell, it pissed Lorna off when he said it and I was all for anything that'd piss her off.

  Lorna's face turned a fierce shade of red beneath her dark tan as I stepped out from behind Cole and adjusted my towel.

  Her eyes followed me with cold calculation. She was predatory, on the lookout for some sign of weakness where she’d be able to press whatever advantage she thought she might have.

  I had a lot of experience with predators.

  Granted, she was fully dressed and the mother of their children, but I had the distinct advantage of having recently had sex with Cole and that trumped bitchy ex-wife any day, at least in my book. Besides, she was the one that brought the girls back early.

  I held out my hand and said, "Hi. I'm Kate. You must be Lorna." I couldn't quite bring myself to spit out the "pleased to meet you" part.

  Lorna ignored my extended hand and glared at me.

  I let it drop to my side. I didn't play that way. With a sympathetic look at Cole, I slipped back out to the patio to put on my clothes.

  As the fresh night air cooled my body, I let out a deep sigh. Well, it had been a good evening up to that point. I could hear the heated conversation going on in the house. I felt so sorry for Cole and especially the girls. It couldn't be easy being the children of a divorce. Hell, it couldn't be easy being the children of that woman. I shook my head. I thought my life was complicated. I only had people trying to kill me.

  A raspy, whistling sound came from one of the windows near the back of the house. Curious, I walked around the big mesquite tree in the corner of the yard toward the noise. It didn't sound dangerous, but I picked my way carefully around the low growing succulents.

  As I drew near the window, I could see a lamp on in the room, illuminating Abby. She had her little face pressed to the screen and her lips puckered up, trying to whistle.

  I walked over to see what she wanted.

  A loud whisper came through the screen. "
I don't know how to whistle yet, but my Daddy's going to teach me, real soon." Abby paused, as if in thought, and then said, "Do you know how to whistle?"

  "Yeah, but it's pretty loud. I don't think your Mom or Dad would appreciate my doing it right now."

  Abby decided to try a different tack. "Why were you and Daddy naked?"

  In my experience, honesty had always been the best policy when dealing with kids. "We were in the hot tub."

  "Really?" Abby's voice was breathless. "We have to wear our swimming suits when we go in. You wanna see mine? It's got fish all over it."

  I didn't have time to answer. She'd already run over to her dresser and pulled the bottom drawer open and was digging through her clothes. Triumphantly pulling out her little one-piece swimsuit with colorful fish on it, she ran back to the window to show me.

  "That's really cool, Abby."

  "Do you have one?"

  "Yes, I do. It's back at home, though."

  "Oh. Is that why you didn't have one on?"

  "Yeah. I forgot to bring it with me."

  A soft cough issued from the hallway near her bedroom door. Abby turned to see who it was. A lithesome young girl with blonde hair who I guessed must be Lauren walked in, wrapped in a blanket. She came over to the window and looked out at me. She had a lot of her mother in her, minus the frigidity. Abby was more like Cole.

  "Who are you?" she asked.

  "My name is Kate. What's yours?"

  "I'm Lauren. Are you the reason Mommy and Daddy are fighting?"

  That put things into perspective.

  "I'm afraid so," I said.

  Lauren nodded gravely. Then she looked up at me and said in a most serious tone, "Don't worry about Mommy. She gets mad about everything." Abby nodded her head vigorously.

  Lauren cocked her head to one side, looking at me through the screen.

  "You're pretty."

  "Why thank you, Lauren, so are you."

  I looked over at Abby. "And you are too, Abby."

  They both beamed. They were sweet kids.

  We all heard it at the same time and looked toward the partially closed door. Lorna was coming down the hall, calling for both of them. They drew in their breath and looked at each other in a panic, then turned toward me. I put my finger to my lips and crouched down, out of sight.

  They let out a collective sigh and said in unison, "We're in here, Mommy." I didn't wait to hear what she was going to say to them - I wasn't in the mood. Silently I slipped back to the patio.

  Cole was dressed and outside looking for me. When he caught sight of me, he shook his head, raised his hands and rolled his eyes.

  I smiled to let him know it wasn't a big deal.

  "God, Kate, I'm so sorry this all happened." He still looked angry.

  "Hey, there's nothing you could've done to change it. A tiny glitch." I grinned. "At least I got to meet your daughters." Abby may have met more of me than I'd intended, but hey, no harm done.

  "Yeah. You know, Lorna was never like this when we were married." He paused. "At least I don't think she was."

  I moved closer, wrapped my arms around him and kissed him. He kissed me back, passionately. I stepped back, fanning myself.

  "You are one great kisser, I'll give you that," I said.

  He took my hand and led me back into the house. I started for the front door.

  Cole held me back. "She's going to be gone soon. She has a long drive back to Scottsdale. You could stay, you know."

  I shook my head. "I think I should go. It was a wonderful dinner, Cole. Thank you for everything." I emphasized the word everything. He grinned.

  I slipped on my shoes and he walked me out through the front door and down the steps to my Jeep. He opened the door for me and I got in and started the engine. He leaned in to kiss me again. It was lovely and soft and it made my lips tingle.

  I put the Jeep into gear and he stepped back as I pulled out of the drive. All in all, not a bad beginning.

  SEVEN

  My eyes shot open and I was instantly awake. Something was different, but I couldn't put my finger on what. I checked the clock on my nightstand: two-thirty. Bright light streamed in through the gaps in the trailer's curtains.

  That meant one thing. Something set off the motion sensor lights outside. I figured it was either Art’s dog, Rudy, sniffing around or one of the other critters that frequented this neck of the woods. I sat up and reached over to move aside the curtain so I could get a better look.

  Everything appeared fine. I padded out to the kitchen and peeked through the curtains at the window over the sink. Nothing out there, either.

  I cracked the window and listened. The sound of the river booming down the canyon behind the trailer drowned out all other sounds.

  It occurred to me that I should probably go out and check to see how high the water had risen in case I needed to move to higher ground. Art told me when I’d moved in that it hadn’t overflowed its banks in the fifteen years he’d been there, but it had been an unusually wet spring.

  I walked back into my bedroom to put on some clothes and grab a Maglite. As I passed my purse lying on the table, I reached in and slid out the 9mm before I stepped outside. Black bears were common in these mountains and having a gun made me feel better.

  The lights in front were still on, so I didn't need the flashlight right away. I moved around to the back of the trailer, holding the gun in front of me. The rear motion sensor lights popped on, illuminating a bright-eyed thief in the middle of my garbage can scrounging for dinner. Relieved, I lowered the gun.

  "Shoo! Go on. You're making a mess." I waved my flashlight at the raccoon. He stood up on his hind legs, clutching a chicken leg in his hands and chattered away, looking at me like I was some kind of entertainment provided for his dining enjoyment.

  I took a step toward him, but a glove-covered hand clamped over my mouth. I tried to hit back at my assailant, but before I could, he pinned my arms to my sides. The gun fell from my hand and skipped across the gravel.

  Struggling against the concrete-like grip, I attempted to bite through the leather glove, but it was too thick.

  Panic raced through my body, threatening to paralyze me. This guy felt like all muscle.

  He began to drag me away from the light of the trailer, heading for the woods near the river. That couldn't be good. I contorted my body, trying to break free, but then remembered an old self-defense instructor said to go limp, like a dead weight to make it more difficult for him to move.

  I dropped. It barely slowed him down. With each attempt at escape, his grip tightened until I could hardly breathe. My ribs felt like they were about to crack.

  He was eerily silent. No grunts, no threatening, nothing. It had a chilling effect.

  I stood up and brought my heel down on his instep. It wasn't as effective as I'd hoped, but I did manage to get a grunt of sorts out of him. His grip loosened and I slipped out of his grasp, swinging the Maglite, hard.

  It connected with a thud and I heard him groan. I ran toward the gun on the ground, my screams drowned out by the roar of the river.

  A searing pain arced across my scalp as his hand clamped onto my hair and he wrenched me back.

  Intense pain shot through my side as I connected with the ground. The flashlight flew out of my hand. I flailed my arms, trying to keep him from pinning me to the ground. He tried to straddle me, but was distracted by my kicking legs.

  I grabbed a nearby rock with both hands and smashed it against his face.

  He fell backward on the ground, shaking his head.

  I scrambled to my feet. On his knees now, his huge frame blocked the door to the trailer. I sprinted toward the gun, a few yards to my left.

  Bad move. I barely made it half way when his hand came down hard on my shoulder.

  Something snapped inside of me. Anger from years of being afraid and looking over my shoulder roiled to the surface. An enormous surge of adrenaline coursed through me. I turned into him and delivered a sh
arp thrust to his groin with my knee.

  He doubled over with a groan and grabbed for me, knocking me off balance. I fell over backward and he fell on top of me.

  We both grunted with pain. It felt like I’d been trapped on my back by a refrigerator. I couldn’t breathe. We were near the riverbank and the cold spray stung my skin. The water rumbled as it fought its way down the canyon. I turned my head to look at him.

  I'd never encountered eyes that cold. They appeared black in the moonlight. He wasn't anyone I knew. A scar ran diagonally across his face from his forehead to his cheek. His neck and shoulders were thick, like a body builder. His expression held no emotion.

  I stared back at him, struggling to break free.

  "Why?" I practically screamed the word.

  He didn't say anything. The next thing I knew, my head exploded in pain and a million stars with the impact of his fist.

  I faked unconsciousness, my eyes opened to slits.

  He pinned my arms down with his knees as he reached behind his back. In that instant I realized my legs were free. I raised them, hooked my heels around his shoulders and dragged him over backwards. The move caught him off guard and he lost his balance. He fell back, arms flailing. A knife flew from his hand.

  I sprang to my feet and dove for the knife, but he recovered quickly and lunged for it at the same time.

  I was faster and grabbed it before he did.

  He eyed me warily, staying just out of reach.

  Scared to death and running on pure adrenaline, I knew I had the advantage, however tenuous.

  We circled each other.

  He feinted right, and I tracked his move. He came in fast using his left hand and I brought the knife down, slicing into his forearm.

  A dark stain of blood appeared and spread. He sucked in a sharp breath and stared at his arm, then at me, surprise evident on his face.

  Fury sprang to life in his eyes.

  I held my ground, trying not to lose my nerve but I was petrified. I wanted to scream, but it wouldn't do any good; the noise from the river would swallow the sound.