“What about the thermal scanner?” she asked. “Please tell me it couldn’t detect them while they were getting into the vehicles.”
“It couldn’t. The stairs and the garage are protected, and that blanket around Gus will block the scanner. Pamela will keep it over him until they’re on the airplane.”
So many details, and yet Jordan had seemingly addressed them all despite the distraction of the warehouse attack and the earlier explosion.
“The vehicles will leave at the same time,” Jordan let her know. “Once they get on the interstate, Elsa will take the first exit in the opposite direction, toward the San Antonio international airport. If it looks as if no one is following them, an unmarked police car will tail Elsa, to make it look as if Gus is in the van. Cal’s brother, Joe, will continue to follow Cal’s SUV.”
It was a solid plan. As safe as Jordan could possibly make it. But that didn’t stop her from being terrified. Because no plan was foolproof, and that meant her son was at risk no matter what they did.
“What about your call?” he asked.
Kinley didn’t take her eyes off the screen. “I had to leave a message with the prison guard. What about you, any luck?”
“Not yet. But I’m running a computer search of Sentron’s records to find out who was in that car at the warehouse.”
Yes. Because that person might not have only had a part in this. He might even be the ringleader.
“Whoever was in that car knew we were in danger,” Jordan verified. “He knew someone was either trying to kill us or kidnap us, and yet he sat there and watched it happen.”
So, this person could have been Anderson’s boss. Or someone else who wanted to use her to try to get that antidote. In other words, definitely not a friend.
Her money was on Burke.
He could have easily switched out vehicles, even though she couldn’t imagine why he would do that. If he wanted to watch them, why hadn’t he used a car that Jordan wouldn’t have easily recognized? Maybe because Burke had wanted them to know he would use Sentron resources against Jordan and her.
Was this part of their game meant to intimidate her?
If so, it was working.
She watched as Cal shut the back door of the SUV, and she could no longer see Gus. A moment later, Cal was behind the wheel and backed out of the garage. He waited until Elsa was right behind him.
And they drove away.
Out of sight.
Kinley forced herself to hold her emotions together, and she was succeeding. Until Jordan slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. Just like that, she shattered. And the tears came in spite of the fight she had put up to stop them.
“He’ll be okay,” Jordan said, comforting her, though from the slight tremble in his voice, it was obvious he needed some comforting as well.
Gus was his son in every way that mattered, and he’d raised the child even though he could have easily turned that duty over to someone else. But he hadn’t. And that’s why Kinley had to trust what he was doing now.
Jordan placed his PDA on the counter next to them and showed her the little blips. “That’s the car Gus is in,” he said, pointing to the green one. “The red blip belongs to Elsa. The blue, to Joe. The yellow one is the unmarked police car tailing Elsa.”
Other blips appeared on the screen. Obviously other vehicles on the road. But none stayed close to Cal.
They stood there, watching. Praying. Kinley was saying a lot of prayers. The minutes ticked off with the blips making their way on the GPS-style map. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Elsa’s car and the unmarked police vehicle turned toward the San Antonio airport. Cal went in the other direction.
“No one’s following them.” The relief was all through Jordan’s voice.
Still, they didn’t take their attention from the PDA. She wasn’t sure how much time passed, but she watched the green blip make its way along the highway that led out of the city limits. The road must have been fairly isolated because the only blips belonged to Cal and his brother.
“They’re at the private airport,” Jordan finally said.
And they waited again. Kinley held her breath so long that her lungs began to ache.
Then, the phone rang, the sound slicing through the room.
Jordan snatched it up. “Cal,” he answered obviously seeing the man’s number on the screen.
Kinley couldn’t hear the conversation. Nor could she move. She just stood there and said a dozen more prayers.
“They’re on the plane,” Jordan said, ending the call. “Gus is safe.”
He caught her to stop her from staggering. It was in the nick of time. The relief was overwhelming. Jordan had succeeded. Her son was safe.
Kinley looked up at him. His expression was a mixture of joy and relief. But some sadness, too. She understood that completely. Gus was safe, but he wasn’t with them.
Since she was already in Jordan’s arms, Kinley let him support her. Yes, it was a risk. The white-hot attraction was always there, but there was something else. Some strange intimacy that perhaps only parents of a young child could have shared. For some reason, that made her emotions run even higher.
It made the attraction even stronger.
She wished for more. That it would consume her. Overwhelm her. That it would make her forget what was going on with Gus.
“Oh, hell,” Jordan mumbled.
At first Kinley thought he was saying that in reaction to something he saw on the screen, but he was looking at her. “This is an adrenaline reaction,” he said.
A split second before he kissed her.
Yes. It probably was an adrenaline reaction. And a human one. Kinley didn’t doubt that she needed him in this most basic human way.
This was what she’d asked for. Something to overwhelm her. Jordan was certainly capable of doing that and more.
“We’re still being monitored with the thermal scan,” he whispered against her mouth.
Kinley tried to think of the consequences of that. Burke, Strahan or someone else might be seeing the heated images of their bodies. The kiss would be easy to detect, even though they’d be just thermal blobs on the scan. This was still an invasion of a very intimate moment.
But Kinley didn’t care.
She wasn’t going to give this up because someone had them under thermal surveillance.
“Consider it a diversion,” Kinley whispered back.
But this was as much a diversion for her as it was for anyone who might be watching. Still, it might be a good idea if it distracted the person responsible for the surveillance.
Soon, though, that thought slid right out of her mind.
That’s because Jordan continued to kiss her.
Yes, she was definitely being overwhelmed, and it’d never felt so right.
He slid his hands into her hair, angling her head so he could deepen the kiss. Kinley went right along with it, and even though nothing could have made her forget her son, she needed this moment. She needed Jordan.
She felt her back press against his office door and realized Jordan was leaning into her. Good. She wanted him against her, and Kinley hooked her arm around his waist to drag him even closer. Until closer was as close as two bodies could get. Almost.
His kiss was clever. Not too hard. Not too soft. It was as if he’d found the perfect tempo and pressure to coax every bit of the passion from her. But the kiss also did something else; it revved up the attraction. The need.
The kiss turned from clever to frantic, and he slid his hand down her waist. He found the back of her thigh and lifted her leg so that it was anchored against his. The new position created some interesting pressure, especially when his sex touched hers.
Kinley lost her breath.
And didn’t care if she ever found it.
“I can stop,” Jordan suggested.
Kinley didn’t look at him. Didn’t listen. She didn’t want to hear the voice of reason. But what did she want?
&nb
sp; Full-blown sex?
That certainly wouldn’t be wise right now since Gus was on the way to the airport and Jordan was waiting on a computer scan. Oh, and there were cops outside the estate who could come knocking at any minute. They didn’t have time for sex.
Or did they?
Jordan moved his mouth to her neck. To the V of her shirt. And he shoved it down so he could kiss the top of her right breast. There went her breath again, and Kinley had no choice but to hang on to him and enjoy this crazy, forbidden moment.
His hand was still gripping her leg, holding it in place, but he also caught the bottom of her skirt.
“Sorry,” he said. “This will be way too fast.”
She shook her head, not understanding. But then he pushed her skirt up to her waist and just like that his hand went into her panties. And his fingers went into her.
Kinley moaned. Nearly lost her balance. But Jordan hung on to her, anchoring her in place with his body. He worked magic with those fingers but behind his hand was what she really wanted.
She pushed his hand away so she could unzip his pants. But he caught her wrist. “I can’t think if we do that.”
“It’ll be quick,” she bargained.
Jordan’s jaw muscles stirred. He grimaced. But he didn’t stop her when she shook off his grip and reached for his zipper again. He was huge and hard, and that didn’t make things easy, but she managed to lower his zipper and take him into her hand.
That was apparently the only foreplay they would have because he dragged off her panties and hoisted her up, sandwiching her between the door and him.
Since time seemed to matter, Kinley didn’t waste any of it. Maybe because if they stopped to think, this wouldn’t happen. And her body wanted desperately for it to happen.
She wrapped her legs around him, and he entered her. He didn’t stay still, didn’t give himself a moment to savor the sensation. He moved once. One long stroke that shot the pleasure straight through her.
But then he stopped.
Just like that, he stopped.
With a groan rumbling deep within his throat, Jordan ground his forehead against hers. “Bad timing,” he grumbled. “Really bad.”
She shook her head and tried to think of what she could say to make him continue. But before she could speak, he shoved his hand back between their bodies and used his fingers instead of his sex.
“I want you,” she clarified.
“I want you. Too much. But I don’t have a condom here. They’re in the bedroom, and I need to stay here to keep an eye on the monitor. I promise, I’ll do better later.”
He didn’t give her a chance to object. Didn’t give her a chance to do anything but go mindless. He touched her in just the right place. With the right pressure. But what caused Kinley to soar was seeing his face. Kissing him.
It was Jordan who sent her over the edge.
Even as the sensations still rippled through her, she instantly regretted it. Not the act itself, not the intimacy, but because she’d been the one to get all the pleasure here. Jordan had remained in control.
He kissed her again. There was control there, too. And he eased her from him so she could stand. He fixed his pants and even located her panties so he could hand them to her.
And the awkwardness settled in around them.
“I’m—” But she didn’t know how to finish that.
“Don’t think for one minute that I didn’t want to have sex with you. I do. I really do.” He cursed. “I just need to have a clear head right now, understand?”
“Yes.” But that didn’t stop her from being embarrassed. “And I, uh, need to start going over Dexter’s notes.” Something she should have started instead of kissing Jordan.
Right.
Who was she kidding? She couldn’t have stopped kissing him any more than she could stop worrying about Gus. Jordan had gotten under her skin, and she was afraid he was there to stay. Great. Just what she needed. Another broken heart.
There was a beeping sound, and Kinley forced herself to come back to earth. To focus. Jordan did the same and hurried to one of the many computers.
“Is it about Gus?” she asked, afraid to hear the answer.
“No. I just got back the results of that computer search for the Sentron car that was parked at the warehouse.”
So he had the identity of the person who’d sat and watched as they’d nearly been killed. “Was it Burke in the car?”
“No.” Jordan scrubbed his hand over his face and groaned. “It was Cody Guillory.”
Chapter Twelve
Jordan took a gulp of the strong coffee and hoped the caffeine would kick in soon.
Eventually, Kinley and he would have to sleep. He wanted to keep going. He wanted to find the person creating the danger so he could stop him and bring Gus home. But he was exhausted. Kinley, too, though she wouldn’t admit it. The caffeine had to buy them a little more time before they would no doubt collapse.
After an officer from SAPD had taken their statements about the attempted kidnapping and shooting, Kinley had taken a couple of catnaps in his office while still in the process of going over Dexter Sheppard’s research notes. Jordan knew this because even though he’d spent most of the night in his bedroom coordinating the new living arrangements for Gus, he’d checked on her and twice he’d found her dozing with her face literally pressed against the notes. The other dozen or so times, she’d been hard at work staring at the pages.
He poured Kinley a cup of coffee as well—it’d be her sixth of the day—and he walked out of the kitchen and through the foyer. The Christmas lights were still on, and with the broken crystal ornaments littering the floor like diamonds, the place managed to look festive. Even if it wasn’t.
It wasn’t shaping up to be much of a peaceful Christmas Eve.
He’d wanted this to be a special holiday for Gus. For months, Jordan had bought presents and hidden them away. He’d planned on spending the day opening those presents and relaxing with the little boy. A prelude to the move.
A move that’d come early, of course, thanks to the danger.
Jordan had no idea when they’d get around to opening those presents now, and a relaxing day just wasn’t in his immediate future.
Looking at the tree, he thought of Kinley. There’d be no real Christmas for her, either, and he wished he’d had the time to buy her some kind of gift. But maybe the best gift he could give her was to distance himself from her. He wasn’t doing her any favors by having sex with her. She was an emotional wreck right now, and he needed to give her space so she could sort out her feelings and get the right mind-set for motherhood.
He drew in a weary breath and went to his office. Kinley was still there, seated at the long counter that held monitors, computers and security equipment. She looked up at him and offered a thin smile.
So much for his little pep talk about giving her some space.
Despite her sleep-starved eyes and the impossible situation they were in, he still wanted her.
“I thought you could use this,” he said, and set the coffee next to the notes.
“Thanks.” She made a sound of pleasure when she took the first sip. “What’s the latest from Cal?”
“I called him about fifteen minutes ago. It’s all good. Gus is settled in an estate near Houston. I’ve been there. With all the security modifications Cal has made, it’s a safe place. Gus will be fine while we wrap up things here.”
“Yes.” Definitely not a sound of pleasure but of disappointment and frustration. God knew when they’d actually be able to wrap up things. “And the thermal scanner situation? Are we still being monitored?”
“No. It stopped several hours ago.” Which could be a good or bad sign. Maybe the person had given up. Or maybe he was just lying in wait and trying to come up with a new plan as to the best way to kidnap Kinley.
“What about Anderson Walker?” she asked. “I don’t suppose he’s said anything yet about who his boss is so the police can make a
n arrest?”
Jordan shook his head. “He’s in the hospital, recovering from the gunshot wound. And he lawyered up and isn’t saying a word. But maybe if we figure who’s behind this, Anderson might be willing to make a deal.”
Might being the crucial word.
Anderson almost certainly wouldn’t get through this without some serious jail time, but he might not get a good enough deal to force him to cooperate and do the right thing.
Strahan was another matter.
“Cal’s brother, Lt. Rico from the San Antonio police, studied the disk of Shelly’s murder. He thinks he might have an ID on her killer—a guy named Pete Mendenhall.”
Kinley’s eyes widened. “Does this guy work for Strahan?”
“We don’t know yet. SAPD tried to do a facial recognition match right after Shelly died, but her killer wasn’t in any of the databases.”
“But he is now?” she clarified.
Jordan nodded. “Not a criminal database, though, but there are a lot more faces and names in the facial recognition system than there were fourteen months ago. Rico got a hit. When he brings in this Pete Mendenhall for questioning, he’ll try to link him to Strahan.”
And maybe Strahan could be arrested for murder.
“What about Dexter’s notes?” Jordan asked.
Her look of frustration went up a notch. “Well, I’ve solved most of the code but only because I was familiar with it. It’s something he used often during his research, even though there are a few entries that don’t follow the normal pattern.”
“But you’re sure they’re his notes and not a forgery?”
She nodded. “Oh, they’re his. There are some summaries about failed experiments that happened only when Dexter and I were in the lab. No one else would have known about them. That makes them authentic.”
That was a start. “Anything about the missing antidote yet?”
“Yes and no. His research for the antidote is here, but he didn’t include just one formula but nearly a hundred. I’ve started to run them on the computer, but the first five took me over eight hours to do.”
Christmas Guardian Page 12
