“Not this much. We’re talking millions, an amount that would cause him to ask too many questions.”
“Such as?” Jessie wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but she needed to keep him talking until she figured out how to get away. It wouldn’t be long until his accomplice came through that door. If she could just back up a little farther, maybe she could get into the bedroom before he pulled the trigger.
“I don’t want him asking questions about Christy Mendoza’s death.”
Jessie felt her heart sink. “You killed her. It was you.”
He made a sound of superficial agreement. “It was practically an accident, but I couldn’t have her telling Willa that I’d tried to have sex with her, now could I?”
“So you killed her, instead.”
“Yes. I’m glad I could clear your caseload for you. It must give you some satisfaction to know you’ve been right about her death not being accidental.”
What she felt wasn’t anything close to satisfaction. It was a sickening mixture of fear and hate. Christy had died so Douglas could cover up his indiscretions. It was so senseless. So unnecessary. Douglas had already killed at least once and he probably wouldn’t hesitate to kill again. Besides, he had the perfect motive. Millions of dollars.
Douglas obviously intended Jake to take the blame for her death. Even Byron had witnessed Jake and her arguing. He would have to testify about this crazy plot, and God knows how jurors would interpret Jake’s involvement in that. Even if he wasn’t convicted, he would be in jail because there was no bond for murder. During that time, Douglas and Willa would take control of his estate. And they’d rob him blind.
Jessie eased back a step, but that brought Douglas’s aim a little lower. Right at her stomach.
“Don’t move,” he said calmly. “Remember, I don’t want to kill you just yet.”
“And you probably don’t really want to shoot me, do you.” She took a deep breath. “No, I figure you’ll choke me so it looks more like a crime of passion.”
His eyebrow slid up. “Well, I hadn’t thought of it, but you’re right. Leave it to a cop to help me with the perfect crime.”
It wasn’t a perfect crime that she had in mind. If Douglas had to get close enough to choke her, he would also be close enough for her to fight him off. It would be dangerous since he was a large man, but it certainly beat him shooting her at point-blank range.
“Did you know I was a cop before you had those people kidnap me?” Jessie asked.
“Didn’t have a clue. Obviously, I would have chosen someone else. Still, you proved a worthy candidate.”
“Lucky me,” she mumbled. “And let me guess—you killed Dr. Radelman and the nurse from Cryogen Labs. In other words, you’ve eliminated everyone who helped you with this plan.”
“Their deaths were necessary. So were those of the guards. I couldn’t risk leaving witnesses alive. Besides, they entered into this because of greed, because of the money I told them I’d pay for their services. As an officer of the law, I would think, you’d want that kind of scum off the streets.”
Jessie shook her head at the sick logic. The man in front of her was the worst scum of all. “With all the money you spent on this plot, you could have paid off your blackmailer.”
“Don’t I wish. I wrote off the warehouse rental and equipment as campaign expenses. In other words, Jake paid for them. A few diverted campaign contributions paid for the rest. Besides, those costs were paltry compared to what’s in the trust fund.”
No doubt. The irony made her sick to her stomach. Douglas had used Jake’s money to pay for what ultimately resulted in the conception of his child. A child Douglas planned to murder.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he continued. “Why didn’t I just kill Jake and be done with it? I wanted to. I really did. It would have been a helluva lot easier than all of this.”
She blinked hard to fend off the dizzy spell. “Then, why didn’t you kill him?”
Douglas shook his head. “Jake’s will. His estate will go to charity when he dies, and I couldn’t very well ask him to change that, now could I?”
“That doesn’t make sense. If he goes to jail for killing me, that won’t change his will.”
“Ah, but then I can get him to change it. I can convince him that Willa will need the money to pay for all of his legal expenses and the upkeep of the ranch. I’m sure he’ll give his only sister power of attorney.”
So Douglas had it all worked out. Too bad he just might succeed—if she didn’t do something. Anything. Jessie could almost hear the seconds ticking off the clock.
“I have a proposition to make,” she said.
“You’re not in a position to make propositions.”
She continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “I believe Jake will pay you well if you allow this baby to live. You could hold me somehow, keep me hostage until the baby’s born. Then you can kill me.”
He gave her an incredulous look. “Do you honestly think I’d keep you hostage for seven months? It’d be a logistic nightmare. I need the money now. And I don’t need any questions from Jake.”
Jessie jumped on that right away. “Then, make that part of the deal. I think Jake will play by any rules if you tell him the baby will be safe.”
“His baby.” Without taking his gaze off her, Douglas put his ear to the door as if listening for someone. “He knows, by the way. Dr. Lisette found the test results. Jake knows without a doubt that you’re carrying his child.”
Even if she hadn’t had a gun pointed at her, Jessie wouldn’t have known how to react to that. Later, if there was a later, she’d give it plenty of thought. Right now she had to bargain with the devil for her life.
“I’m afraid I can’t make a deal with you,” Douglas concluded. He glanced at his watch. “I can’t allow this baby to be born. I need every cent in that trust fund and I don’t intend to hand it over to Jake’s bastard child.”
She lifted her chin. And met his steely gaze head-on. It was the wrong thing to say to her. The wrong thing. There was already anger simmering with the fear. That brought it to a full boil. Jessie’s eyes narrowed.
“There’s only one bastard in this room and it’s not my baby.”
Douglas squeezed out a hollow laugh. “I suppose you’re right. I am a bastard. And I’m about to be a rich one. It won’t be long now. No, not long at all.”
JAKE WALKED through the suite calling out Jessie’s name. No answer. Nothing but the sound of his voice.
Where the hell was she?
He snatched up the phone and called the head of his security team, which was dispersed throughout the hotel. No one on the team had spotted her, and the guards posted at the exits said she hadn’t left the building. She apparently wasn’t in the suite, either.
Jake searched the bath and the bedroom, and was on his way out when he spotted the ring on the dresser. Jessie’s engagement ring. So she had been there, after all. Jake picked it up and stared at it. The fact she’d left the ring told him plenty. She was ending their pretend engagement, ending their association. And he’d been a damn fool not to come after her sooner. He should have begged her not to leave.
“Jessie?” the man called out.
Jake slipped the ring into his pocket and walked back into the sitting room. Byron DuCiel had apparently let himself in. “What do you want?” Jake snapped.
“I’m looking for Jessie.”
Jake’s first instinct was to toss the man out. After all, it was Byron’s tell-all that had caused the rift between Jessie and him. But it wasn’t Byron’s fault. Jake had needed to hear the truth. He just wished he hadn’t reacted like an idiot. If he’d tried to talk things out with Jessie, maybe she’d be here right now.
“I don’t know where she is,” Jake finally said. “I’ve got my people looking for her.”
“She called me about ten minutes ago.”
Jessie had called him? It figured. She trusted her friend beyond reason. Because of that trust, if B
yron had anything to do with her disappearance, Jake would personally settle the score.
“Where is she?” Jake asked.
“She said she was in the hallway, hiding behind some plant.”
Byron had hardly finished his answer before Jake rushed past him. He hurried up the hallway, looking in every recessed area and behind the plants.
“She said she would wait until I got here,” Byron added. “I thought maybe she’d gone into your suite.”
“No. But I think she was there earlier.” Jake stood in the center of the hallway, his hands on his hips. What now? Where was she? “If she got past security, she might have left the building. Can you think of someplace she might go?”
Byron shook his head. “I don’t think she’d try to make it back to Austin without telling me first. In fact, I don’t think she would leave the hotel, especially since she said she’d wait for me here.”
True, and that shook Jake to the core. There were just a couple of reasons why Jessie wouldn’t have waited for him. Since he’d made it to the hallway ahead of Byron, perhaps Jessie had seen him and decided to hide elsewhere rather than face him. Or. And it was that or that gave Jake the most trouble. Maybe Jessie hadn’t had a choice about staying put and waiting. Maybe someone had taken her.
“Hell.” Jake tipped his eyes to the ceiling and added more profanity. “Markham might have her.”
“Markham? You think he’s the one behind all of this?”
“I think he’s the most likely suspect.” And that was yet another unsettling thought. Everything clearly pointed to Markham. Perhaps too clearly. Was it possible someone had set up the man to make it look as if he was guilty? It might not even matter at this stage of the game. Something might have happened to Jessie.
Not might.
Something had happened. Jake could feel it in his soul.
The bell on the elevator clanged once, indicating that someone was about to get off. Jake quickly motioned for Byron to step into the small recessed area between two suite doors. A moment later, the elevator doors slid open and Abel Markham stepped out.
It took some effort for Jake not to storm toward the man and beat the truth out of him. But something told him to stay back. To watch. He was glad he did. Markham rapped once on the suite door nearest the elevator. Obviously, someone had expected him, because in a matter of seconds he disappeared inside.
Jessie was in there, too.
Jake had no proof to back up his theory and didn’t need any. He was going in after her. One way or another, he would stop Markham. He only hoped he wasn’t too late to save Jessie.
“Do you have a gun?” Jake asked.
Byron took out a pistol from his shoulder harness. “You think we’ll need it?”
“Yes.” Unfortunately, he did.
JESSIE WASN’T REALLY SURPRISED when Abel Markham came through the door. She’d figured all along that he was in on this. What did surprise her was the astonishment on Markham’s face when he saw her. Not just astonishment. Shock.
“What the hell is she doing here?” Markham barked.
As he’d done with her, Douglas reached behind him and relocked the door. Since Jessie had her attention on the gun, she saw the momentary shift Douglas made with his right hand. There wasn’t enough time to lunge at him, but it was enough to keep Markham from seeing the weapon. Once the door was locked, however, Douglas raised the gun again.
Markham looked behind him and scowled first at Douglas, then the gun. “I asked what she’s doing here.”
A brief smile crossed Douglas’s mouth. “She’s a necessary part of the plan. But then, so are you, Abel.”
“Where the hell is my money? You said you had it. So help me God, Harland, if you’re messing me around, I’ll go to the press and tell them that you killed that woman.”
Douglas met Jessie’s gaze. “Christy also called her boss that night and told him that I’d gotten a little rough with her when she brushed me off. Ray told Abel, and he made a calculated guess. Of course, I didn’t know it was a guess until I’d incriminated myself.” He paused. “Obviously, it created a problem. Markham needed money for his campaign and decided to use the adverse situation to blackmail me.”
Now Markham smiled.
But for only a split second.
Then Douglas pulled the trigger.
The sound was like a gust of wind. A solid, deadly swoosh of air. It took her several seconds to realize she hadn’t been hit. But Markham had. A bright red stain was spreading over his pearl-gray suit. With his mouth poised to speak, he collapsed onto the floor in a dead heap.
Jessie didn’t bother to scream. She didn’t have time for it. She dived over the sofa and huddled behind it. In the same motion she pulled a heavy brass figurine off the table. It was probably useless against a gun, but she wouldn’t just let him shoot her without putting up a fight. If Markham wasn’t dead, he soon would be. Douglas no doubt intended to come after her next.
“You know, you did me a favor by telling the police about your insemination,” Douglas continued. “This way I can make it look as if Jake killed both of you. Markham, because Jake just couldn’t contain his anger against the man who tried to ruin him, and you because he thought you were in on the plan, as well.”
There was a mirror on the wall above her. She could easily see Douglas and he was already walking toward her. That also meant he could see her. His eyes, blank and lifeless, seemed frozen. He lifted the gun, took aim.
She gripped the heavy sculpture in her hand and tried to steady her breath. It would be suicide to stay crouched there—Douglas could simply shoot her through the sofa. She had to go on the offensive. Think. She had to come up with something. In that moment, Jessie decided that on the count of three she would stand up and hurl the chunk of brass at him. It was a long shot, but it was the only one she had.
“One,” she mumbled. Douglas’s gaze snared hers in the mirror. And he smiled. Like his eyes, the smile was hollow and cold.
“Two.” Jessie shifted her weight so she could bolt in either direction. Even if he shot her, maybe she could manage to hit him. That way, the cops would certainly question him about how he’d gotten the wound.
“Three.” She sucked in a hard breath and sprang up. Jessie drew back her hand. She made a headlong leap to the other side of the sofa just as she launched the sculpture at him.
It didn’t work.
Douglas dodged it almost effortlessly. And he didn’t miss a step. He came right toward her. The gun still in his hand, and aimed right at her—
Without warning the door flew open, slamming hard against the wall. Jessie caught a glimpse of Byron. And Jake.
Just as Douglas fired.
IT DIDN’T SEEM REAL. Jake prayed it wasn’t real. He would take a million nightmares over this any day.
Glass burst out from the mirror, the shards spearing walls and furniture. Jessie yelled something—for him to get down. Douglas shouted, too. A feral roar that was almost inhuman. His voice was a howl mixed with rage.
Jake hadn’t expected to see Markham unconscious, maybe dead. And he damn sure hadn’t expected to see Douglas like this. Jake didn’t ask any questions. He didn’t even wait for Byron to react. Jake dived at his brother-in-law, ramming full force into him. They both went to the floor.
The gun. It was Jake’s only thought. Get to the gun before Douglas could fire again. He couldn’t let him take another shot at Jessie.
Douglas twisted, somehow managing to keep hold of the gun. He pushed the barrel of the weapon right against Jake’s heart. For only a moment. However, this wasn’t a fight Jake intended to lose. The stakes were too high. Not just a matter of life or death, either. This fight was for Jessie and his child.
Jake managed to shift his weight. Just slightly. But it was enough that he could bring up his forearm. He rammed his fist into Douglas’s jaw and his brother-in-law’s head flopped back. But the punch didn’t incapacitate Douglas. The aim of the gun shifted wildly as Douglas struggled
. Jake prayed that if it went off, it didn’t go off anywhere in Jessie’s direction.
Jake delivered another bone-crushing jolt, and the gun finally scuttled across the floor. He didn’t even bother to go after it. He shoved his forearm right against Douglas’s throat.
“For Willa’s sake, don’t make me kill you.” The calmness in his own voice surprised Jake. He didn’t feel calm. He felt like beating Douglas to a pulp. This man, someone he’d trusted, had nearly cost him everything that was important. Everything. And Jessie was right at the top of that list.
Jessie.
Jake’s heart sank. During the struggle he hadn’t heard her make a sound. My God, had Douglas managed to shoot her? If so, nothing, nothing would stop him from killing his sister’s husband.
“Jessie?” he called out. Even the second that it took her to answer was too long.
“I’m fine. He missed.”
And suddenly she was next to him. She even had Douglas’s gun in her hands. Byron was there, too, already positioned in a triangular stance, his own gun aimed at the man Jake had pinned to the floor.
He glanced at Markham. God knows what had happened here, but Markham had obviously been a part of it.
“Ease away from him, Jake,” Byron instructed. “I want to arrest this sorry excuse for a human being. Who knows, maybe he’ll resist and I can blow a freakin’ hole in his head.”
Jake did get up, making sure that Douglas didn’t try to get away. Of course, that would have been hard to do since Byron seemed to want an excuse to kill him. Byron quickly shoved Douglas onto his stomach, had him tuck his hands behind his head and began to read him his rights.
Jessie stepped closer, and Jake circled her with his arms. She was shaking. Not just trembling. He could only imagine the hell she’d been through before he managed to get to her. Soon he’d have her tell him about it. But not now.
Jake led her to the other side of the room. He called his security people, and once they arrived, he scooped up Jessie in his arms.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
“Away from all of this.”
His Child Page 19
