by Style, Linda
She raised a hand to her mouth. “Oh, my God!” She stepped back. “I bet that’s what I heard. The loud noise.”
“What?”
“Last night I heard a noise like nothing I’d ever heard before…like a bomb going off. I thought maybe a tree had fallen or…I don’t know what I thought.”
“You don’t know how this happened?”
“Oh, I think I do now. I just didn’t know it at the time.”
He holstered the .38. “Enlighten me,” Jordan said as they went into the kitchen. He noticed two wineglasses in the sink and an empty bottle on the counter.
She sat on a stool, her expression tight. “Why don’t you enlighten me?”
“Excuse me?”
“Why didn’t you tell me this place belonged to your family?”
He squared his shoulders. “It isn’t important.”
“And was making love with me not important, too?”
He took her hand. “What does one have to do with the other?”
Lowering her gaze, she pulled her hand away. “Honesty.”
Honesty? He was confused—about the door, the wineglasses, and what the hell she really meant. “If you’re thinking it was just a one-night stand, you’re wrong.”
“What was it, then?”
“It was a wonderful night with a woman I’m beginning to care a great deal about.”
“So why didn’t you tell me the cabin belonged to your family? What did you think would happen if I knew?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I didn’t think. I’m just not used to telling too many people about myself. I’ve been burned a few times.”
Her back went ramrod straight. She got to her feet and grabbed the coffeepot as if she wanted to throttle it. She poured herself a cup, but didn’t bother asking him if he wanted any.
“So, what did you think? That I was some money-grubbing gold digger who’d sleep with you to get at your family’s riches?”
He stood in front of her, blocking her path and forcing her to stay in one spot. “I never thought. That’s what. I’m not used to spilling my guts and there’s no more to it. No ulterior motives. I brought you here to protect you and Cait.”
His muscles were still tensed for action. “Besides—” he waved a hand in the air “—they’re not my real family. I was adopted.”
“Well, gee, that explains everything,” she said facetiously, her gaze narrowed.
“You’re right. It doesn’t have anything to do with anything. I should’ve said something and I didn’t. But I don’t think it’s the important issue here. I tried to call all morning and couldn’t get through. Then when I drove up and saw the door, I was… I—I thought something had happened to you.” He ran a hand through his hair in an effort to calm his ragged nerves. “What did happen?”
With a deliberate sigh, she said, “Long story short, Harry was here.”
Jordan felt the usual jab to his solar plexus. “Harry?”
“Yes, the guy at the airport. Your brother. Remember him?”
“Harry broke down the door?”
“I’m guessing now that he did. I was hearing lots of strange noises, the wind and all—you know how it is when you’re in a strange place. After I’d been in bed a while, I heard a horribly loud noise. I was searching upstairs for something to defend myself when a man grabbed me. It was Harry and he thought I was trespassing.”
“Are you…did he hurt you or—” He reached for her, but she quickly held up a hand.
“I’m fine.”
Jordan swung around, clenching and unclenching his hands. “What did you tell him?”
“Nothing. Just that you brought us here to stay for a while.”
“Did he say why he was here?”
“He was drunk and he said a lot of things. But he never said why he was here. He was gone when I woke up this morning.”
A truly awkward moment passed between them.
Jordan took a breath, then, keeping his voice even, asked, “What things did he say?”
She moistened her lips, then said softly, “He said you slept with his wife.”
Crap. They were back to that again. “It’s not true. I was helping her, just as I’m helping you.” Damn it. His inability to stay away from women in distress was going to ruin his life one way or another.
“Harry has some major anger issues. When he’s drinking, he gets…aggressive with women. And he blames others for his problems. I’ve always been the closest target.” He looked away. “When he’s not drinking, he’s a good guy.”
She cast about the room for some place to look other than at him. “Well, that’s between you and him, isn’t it.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I don’t know what to believe. But something else happened here that you should know.”
He saw her hands were trembling.
“And I don’t think Harry had anything to do with it.”
Laura shuddered, suddenly feeling more vulnerable than she had in a long time. Her choices kept narrowing and Cait seemed more at risk than ever.
Jordan stood there waiting for her to continue, but, she didn’t even know how to start. Pacing, she went through the night’s events.
“When I was downstairs, well before I heard the loud noise, I heard other sounds. I thought I saw something move outside, so I turned on all the outdoor lights, figuring if some animal was out there, the lights would scare it away. A loud crash woke me up a few hours later, so I got up and looked out the window and…I saw the snowmen we’d built had been…they were covered with something. Something dark red.” She took a breath, her heart pounding violently.
He strode to the window.
“You can’t see now. It snowed again early this morning and the drifts covered them over. Thank heaven. I don’t know what I would’ve said to Cait. Anyway…I told you all the rest about Harry. I didn’t tell him what had happened. I thought there might be some explanation. And now that it’s daylight, things seem…more normal.”
“Are you sure about what you saw?”
“Yes, but I go out there and didn’t get a good look.” She pursed her lips. “I wasn’t hallucinating.”
Jordan smiled—trying to make her feel better, she supposed.
“I just want to be sure of the facts,” he said, then headed for the door. She followed on his heels, both of them grabbing jackets on the way. Jordan snatched a shovel.
Outside, the sun was shining, and the snow was starting to melt. She pointed. “Over here.” They crossed the yard, footsteps crunching as they went, and when they reached one of the mounds, Jordan picked at the snow with the tip of the shovel, stopping when he reached red.
Laura fell to her knees and started gently scooping with her bare hands, careful not to disturb anything.
Jordan crouched down next to her. “It looks like paint,” he said as he tunneled to the part where the color showed most vividly. “Anything else wouldn’t be so bright.”
Anything else… She knew what he meant. “Well, thank God for that.”
Jordan gave a half grin and touched her cheek. “Let’s get rid of this, move it someplace or cover it up so Cait doesn’t see.”
After they’d finished, they passed through the broken door in the garage and, once inside, Jordan prowled the perimeter. “Here,” he said, calling her over. “One of the paint cans is missing.”
A gasp tore from her throat. “Which means the person who did this came into the garage…before Harry got here.”
“Probably. And if Harry ruined the door, the other person got inside another way.”
“But…how? I had the alarm on.” Laura covered her face with her hands, her fragile emotions ready to crack. She felt trapped. Cornered. “Harry said he’d turned off the alarm, but he was so pickled, he probably didn’t know if he did or didn’t.”
“I’ll check it out. Right now, it’s all speculation,” Jordan said. “Maybe it was Harry, but…we don’t know anything for sure, and I’ll have to talk to him. L
et’s go inside.”
Though he’d said the words, he didn’t move, he just kept looking at her. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, placed his hands on her arms, and said, “Please tell me what you’re really afraid of. It might help explain some of this.”
Laura stiffened.
Keeping her mouth shut meant Cait would be safe.
Only she wasn’t sure that was true anymore. Someone was threatening them and she didn’t know if it was about Cait or something else.
Jordan led her to the den, the room where she’d discovered the photo album. She stiffened as he led her to the couch.
Why should she tell him anything? How could she trust a man who’d lied to her? A man who probably thought she was after his money because he’d had a bad experience or two. Hell, she’d had a lot of bad experiences, multiple reasons not to trust a man again…and yet she had. What made him think he was so freaking unique.
He took her hands, forcing her to look at him. “Let’s put this in perspective. Someone is stalking you…but you’ve had stalkers at the shelter before and you’ve never run away. You ran and brought your daughter along, too, so it’s apparent you’re worried about her as well as yourself. What is it that you’re not telling me?”
She shook her head.
“I can help,” he said with conviction. “Whatever it is, I can make sure nothing happens to either you or Cait.”
Listening, her resolve weakened. “If a whole police force couldn’t protect Eddie, what makes you think you, one person, can protect the two of us?”
“That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? Eddie’s murder.”
Oh, God. She jerked her hands from his. Did he know? And if he knew, how could he help her escape from the prison of secrecy and lies she’d been living in?
He took her hands again, tightening his grip. “I want to help you. If you know something, you’ll never be safe. Do you want to live in fear for the rest of your life?”
She shook her head. Swallowed the acidic lump that had formed in her throat.
“Do you want Cait to live like this? Running from place to place? I want to help, Laura. I can. I have the means.” He moistened his lips. “But I can’t help if you’re not honest with me.”
She gritted her teeth. “You’re talking about honesty?”
“Okay, I guess I deserved that. But we’re talking about you and Cait. This is your life. Your future. Do you want to have one or do you want to always be looking over your shoulder?”
She closed her eyes.
“What suddenly changed to make you so afraid? What happened, Laura?”
She drew a deep breath. All the raw emotion and fear she’d bottled up inside her for so long threatened to explode. Maybe if she told him part of it… “I don’t know what specifically happened. It all started about the time you came to the shelter asking questions.”
Surprise registered in his eyes, but he kept them on her. “What started then?”
“The black car. And Cait saw a man by the house.”
“And he hadn’t been around before?”
“No. At least I never saw him.”
“Were you wary right away?”
She rubbed her temples with her fingers.Too many questions. Too much to think about. What if she said the wrong thing? “I don’t know. No, I don’t think so. I thought maybe it was someone for one of the girls. A parent, an old boyfriend…”
Standing, Jordan shoved a hand through his hair, impatient, or as confused as she was…she couldn’t tell.
“So you didn’t think anything of it at first. What made you change your mind?”
She told him about the breakin and the shredded quilt.
His eyes darkened.
“I thought it…seemed personal,” she said. “Because Eddie had given Cait the music box, and his mother had hand stitched the quilt. And then there were the phone calls. The last one in particular.”
Jordan’s lips thinned, but he nodded for her to go on.
God, she wasn’t sure she could.
“How was the last call different?” As he said the words, he sat beside her again and held her hands.
She knew he was trying to reassure her—and it worked. The comfort she felt in his touch nearly overwhelmed her. She didn’t want to go through this alone anymore…the uncertainty…the never-ending fear, old fears, new fears. Would it ever be over?
No. The answer settled deep within her. It would never be over. Not unless Frank DeMatta was dead or was in prison for life.
She swallowed, cleared her throat. “The first calls were silent, just breathing and then a hang up.”
“I’ve had some of those, too. One when we were together.”
“Does that mean something?”
“Maybe.” He gently pushed her hair from her eyes, brushed his fingers against her cheek. “But I don’t know what. Maybe someone wanted me, or you, to know he knew we were together. What was different about the last call?”
Her skin got clammy, her stomach turned and acid rose in her throat making her nauseous. “He s-said if—”
Before she got out the words, he pulled her into his arms and held her, almost as if he could transfer some of his strength to her. Wanting it to be so, she huddled against him. “He warned me to stay away from the police. He said my daughter’s life would be in danger if I didn’t.”
Laura heard footsteps and pulled from Jordan’s arms.
“Jordan. You’re back!” Caitlin ran into the room, came over and threw her arms around him.
“Hey, squirt!” He ruffled her hair and then sat back. “Are you having fun here?”
“Uh-huh.” Cait’s face beamed—until she looked at Laura. “Mom? What’s wrong? You look sad.”
Jordan nodded to Laura, then mouthed, “We’ll talk later.”
Laura pasted on a wobbly smile and touched her daughter’s cheek. “Nothing, sweetheart. Nothing’s wrong.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
JORDAN PACED THE concrete floor in the garage while he punched in Luke’s number on his cell, praying for a connection. He’d fixed the door as best he could, taking a door from inside the house and replacing the broken one. It didn’t fit exactly right, but it served the purpose. He wanted to leave as soon as possible, but he was determined to get the whole story from Laura first. He couldn’t make a plan if he didn’t know what he was getting into.
Someone wanted her to stay away from the police… DeMatta’s man had given him a warning about her. The phone crackled. Bad reception. He clicked off and redialed.
What did Laura know that might be threatening to someone if the police knew? Based on her earlier reaction to his question, it had to involve her husband’s murder. What else could have such dire consequences? He’d thought from the moment he’d met Laura that she was withholding something. Now he was certain.
He was also certain she was doing it to protect her daughter.
And whoever was threatening Cait probably knew Laura and Cait were at the cabin and they couldn’t stay there any longer.
“Coltrane,” a gravelly voice finally answered after several rings.
“Luke. Glad I got you.”
“You back?”
“No. Who knew I was coming up here?”
“No one besides me. Why?”
“Laura’s cover’s blown. Someone knows and I need a backup plan.”
“My house is available if you need it.”
“Thanks. I’m not so sure that’s a good idea, either.”
“You find out why she ran?”
“Some of it.”
“What can I do?”
“Check to see if the photo composite we did on this Nicholas guy produced anything. We’re heading back before it gets dark.”
“Sure thing.”
Jordan disconnected and went into the living room where Laura and Cait were watching a DVD. He motioned to Laura to follow him into the den.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes, Cait. I need to talk to
Jordan about something.”
“That means it’s private, doesn’t it?”
Laura gave a forced smile. “It does.”
When Laura came in, Jordan said, “Sit. Please.”
He closed the door. “We need to finish our conversation.”
She sat on the edge of the chair, as if ready to bolt at any second. He stood in front of her, but far enough away not to crowd her.
“If I’m going to help you, I need to know everything.”
She blinked. “The pictures I looked at were in the album over there. They’re nice family pictures.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
As if he hadn’t said a word, she asked, “Have you ever tried to find your biological mother?”
His stomach knotted. “No. Now, tell me what you’re so afraid of.”
“I told you about the threat.”
Nodding, he dropped into the chair directly across from her and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. He reached to take her hands, but she pulled back. “You didn’t tell me why you’re being threatened. What gives someone so much power over you?”
For a long moment she just sat there, fear and uncertainty battling in her eyes. “Power over me?”
“Yes. You’re hiding out because someone has threatened you. Threatened Cait. That’s power. You take that power away by telling the truth.”
She launched to her feet. “I told you the truth.”
“Yes, but not all of it. I can’t leave you here alone again. You know that. It’s time to stop letting this creep direct your life.”
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. She turned to look at him, realization in her face. “That’s what he’s doing, isn’t it. Directing my life.”
He remained silent.
After a few moments, her shoulders slumped and she said, “As much as I hate being a pawn, it doesn’t matter. If I say anything, I’ll truly be putting Cait’s life in danger. If something happened to her because of—” The words caught in her throat. “I just can’t do it.”
“Or maybe just the opposite would happen. Maybe we’d arrest the guy and you’d release yourself and Cait from his control.”
“‘Maybe’ isn’t good enough.”
“Maybe is life. Laura, there are no guarantees. What you’re doing doesn’t guarantee Cait’s safety. You’ve seen that already. So, forget about what happened to your husband. One day later, safely under witness protection, and he’d be alive today. I’ll do everything in my power to protect you and Cait. Whatever it takes, I’ll do it.”
