Safe in His Arms

by Lori Mack

  “Thanks.” She was pleased her voice almost sounded solid, just slight raspy. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Really, Mike, I’m fine. I just want to go home and rest.”

  He still held her but he seemed so much farther away now. Mere inches may have separated them, but she felt a deep sense of loss. She started to shake her head to rid the thoughts, but immediately regretted it. “Oh damn, I shouldn’t have done that.” She gripped the sides of her head, willing the dizziness away.

  “Jenna, I really think you need to stay here.” His arms were supporting her, but even with her eyes closed, she could tell Special Agent Thomas as back. There was a tone of command and authority in the words, even though they were delivered with care.

  Side-stepping him, she spied her clothes on the cabinet across the room. This time she was able to disengage herself without tripping over her own two feet. A fact she was extremely proud of until she realized her gown was completely open and Mike was getting an eyeful of her backside.

  Thirty minutes later she wasn’t quite sure how she’d managed to convince the doctor to release her, but here they were pulling up in front of her beloved home. She had wanted to go to her Aunt’s house and check on the broken French doors, but Mike had Jonah Baudouin send her pictures of the boarded up door to prove the house was secure. He’d also promised to add extra patrols to the street every hour. She’d heard Jonah tell Mike he knew all about dealing with stubborn women because after all, he was married to one himself. She might have to rethink her vote in the next election.

  Jenna shared the old Victorian house with her college roommates, Mole and Samantha. Her aunt had helped her buy the house with the insurance settlement after her parents were killed. The house sat a block off Main Street in St. Helena and had been used as professional offices for the last twenty years. When Jenna and her roommates graduated from college ten years ago, they all moved to St. Helena and converted the house to a mix of living space and office space. The three-story house was painted a bright violet with green and white trim and had a beautiful round turret with built-in window seats that were just perfect for curling up with a cup of tea and good book. The house was nicknamed POSH, which was short for Professional Offices of St. Helena. There was also a 2 bedroom, 2 bath cottage in the back yard and a separate 2 car garage.

  Each of the three women lived in the house and ran their own businesses. Mole ran a web design business from the basement, while Samantha worked as a Certified Financial Planner from her office on the main floor. Jenna was a CPA and her accounting firm also had office space on the main floor. Mole and Samantha had their own bedrooms and bathrooms on the second floor, while Jenna lived on the top floor.

  “Yeah, um, thanks for the ride.” Jenna barely glanced at Mike from as she made to open the door and jump out.

  “Hold it.” Jenna turned back to look at Mike and saw his quick grin as he got out and walked around the car to let her out. So, he’d seen her backside. She shouldn’t be embarrassed, right? It’s not like it’s the first time he’d seen her naked, or nearly naked. Granted it had been 10 years and a few pounds ago, but she thought her butt still looked damn good. Oh well, she couldn’t make him forget it, so she would just forget it ever happened.

  Mike opened the car door and held out his hand, “Come on. I’ll walk you in.”

  “That’s not necessary, Mike. Thanks for the ride and, um, for staying at the hospital with me.” She was flustered and that wasn’t like her. She took his hand and let him help her out of the car. When she tried to let go, he just tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and started walking to the front door.

  “I want to check out the house and make sure someone is home. Mole sent me a text earlier and said she was following up on a hunch, but she should be back later. Do you have any idea what she meant?”

  “A hunch about what? Does she think she knows who hit me?”

  Mike took the keys from her hand and was opening the front door when he stopped. “Go back to the car and lock the doors. If you hear anything, drive straight to the police station.”

  “What?” He wasn’t smiling now. He was pushing the car keys into her hands and practically shoving her off the front porch.

  “Go. Now!” She stumbled down the short flight of stairs and when she didn’t move fast enough, he yelled, “Run!”

  ***

  Mike wanted to kick himself for being so stupid, but he wasn’t sure he had that much time left. As soon as he’d opened the front door, he smelled the gas. The house reeked of it and would blow at any second. He should have made her stay in the car while he checked out the house. Hopefully she was far enough away that she wouldn’t be hurt by the blast. He doubted he would be so lucky.

  He knew he should follow her and get far away, but what if Mole and Samantha were in the house? He turned and was halfway down the stairs when the decision was made for him.

  BOOM!

  He dove off the steps and rolled behind the giant oak tree as the world exploded and glass, ash, and pieces of Jenna’s life rained down all around him. If his ears weren’t ringing, he knew the only sound would be the roar of the inferno eagerly destroying what was left of the wooden structure.

  Jenna! Where was she? Had she made it to the car? He had to make sure she was safe. He tried to stand up, but the world wouldn’t stop tilting, so he crawled in the direction of the car. The air was thick with smoke and ash, but the lawn sloped down to the street. He saw her legs rushing toward him as he reached the sidewalk. Thank God she was safe.

  “Mike! Please, talk to me! Are you okay?” Tears rolled down her face and left white streaks in the soot. She fell to her knees in front of him and nearly choked him when she flung her arms around his neck. She ran her hands all over him, reassuring them both he was still in one piece. Then, she took his face in her hands and cried, “What about Mole and Samantha? Oh, God, are they in there?”

  He didn’t know what to say that would help, so he just wrapped his arms around her and held her while she sobbed.

  Jonah found them still wrapped in each other’s arms a few minutes later. He arrived moments before the St. Helena fire department, and despite their rapid response, there was nothing they could do to save the house. They worked on tamping down the flames and keeping the sparks from reaching the back cottage and garage. The houses on either side were set back and weren’t in any danger from the fire, but they had all suffered broken windows and minor damage from the force of the blast.

  Mike told Jonah what happened while the paramedics cleaned the cuts on his arms and face. He was glad Jenna had been on the other side of the car and hadn’t been injured when the house exploded. He also really liked the fact that she hadn’t left his side since the paramedics arrived. She had calmed down a little since Jonah had been able to track down Samantha at her parent’s house, but they hadn’t found Mole yet. Mike didn’t think she was in the house, but he wouldn’t relax until they knew for sure she was safe.

  “What will you do now?” Jonah asked as he closed his notebook.

  Mike wrapped his arm around Jenna’s shoulder. “We’ll head over to Alice’s house once we’ve finished here. For the time being, it will be easier if we stay there rather than at a hotel.”

  “We will?” Jenna looked up at Mike.

  “Well, it’s not like I can leave you alone and I don’t want to stay at the Napa Grand Hotel. I’d rather we go someplace where I can protect you.” Mike looked at Jonah, “Unless you have any better ideas, I think it’s better to keep her out of sight while we determine who’s trying to kill her.”

  Mike tightened his hold on Jenna when she jumped at his last statement.

  “I don’t understand. Why is someone trying to k-kill me?” She shivered as she choked out the word.

  Mike nodded at Jonah and said, “That’s exactly what we’re going to find out.”

  By the time Mike and Jenna drove out to Alice’s house it was close to 10:00 P.M. and Jenna was ready to drop. As they roll
ed up the driveway, they were surprised to see the house lit up like Buckingham Palace on the Queen’s birthday. No one was supposed to be in the house.

  Mike took out his weapon as he stepped out of the car. He looked back at Jenna and told her to stay put with the doors locked. He wasn’t taking any chances this time. Checking all the doors and windows as he went, Mike circled around the house. When he came to the office at the back of the house, he was relieved to see the broken French doors were boarded up. But, the window to the right of the boarded up door was open and there was someone sitting at the desk, going through files. The chair swiveled and Mike realized it was Mole sitting at Alice’s big desk.

  Mole didn’t seem surprised to see him. “I’m glad you’re here. I’ve got something to show you and Jenna.”

  Chapter 3

  Jenna burst through the front door of Alice’s house and tackled Mole. “Oh, thank God you’re okay. I was so scared, Anna.” Jenna only used Anna’s real name if it was very serious. And, after everything that had already happened in one day, this was serious. “I’m so sorry about your office and everything.”

  Mole squeezed Jenna back. “Jenna, it’s just stuff. We’re okay. That’s all that matters. I can buy new jeans and sweatshirts; I can’t buy new best friends.”

  “Jenna, Mole found something. Let’s talk in Alice’s office. Then you need to get some rest.” Mike’s bad-ass FBI face was back in place and Jenna felt a shiver run up her spine. She couldn’t decide if it was from fear from what Mole might have found or this pesky attraction she still seemed to feel for Mike. Well, crap, she thought. That didn’t help.

  Mole lead them to Alice’s office and had them gather around the large monitor on the desk. Jenna swallowed past the lump in her throat as she looked at the boarded up doors and the empty chair behind her Aunt’s desk. It seemed hard to believe less than 12 hours ago she was hosting a memorial service in this house, before being attacked in this very room. She was vaguely aware of moving closer to Mike and leaning into him for support. Mole motioned for her to sit in her Aunt’s chair as she dragged a visitor chair around the desk. Mike offered her the chair, but she shook her head and started to pace. Mike moved his chair closer to Jenna and rested his hand on the arm of her chair.

  “About five years ago, Alice asked me to digitize all her old files. It took a couple years of on-again/off-again work, but Alice wasn’t in any hurry. She said she wanted everything backed up, just in case.”

  “Just in case of what?” Jenna asked.

  “She never said. She just wanted everything secure.”

  “Secure? Those were her words?” Mike cut in.

  “Yes, I thought it was an odd choice of words as well, but I specifically remember her saying ‘secure’. Anyway, at the time I remember there being something off about the dates on some of the files. I asked, but Alice gave me her files out of date order and kept saying she hadn’t pulled all the files from storage yet. To be honest, I forgot all about this until Alice died and Jenna started saying she thinks Alice was murdered.” Mole stopped pacing and looked at Jenna. “I’m sorry to bring all this up now.”

  Jenna shook her head, “Don’t worry about it. I need to know what happened.”

  Mike moved closer to Jenna and put his arm around her shoulders. “I want to know why you believe Alice was murdered, but first let’s hear the rest of what Mole found.”

  “I accessed all the files I digitized for Alice and went through them three times. I found files for every month and year, except one. I can’t find all the files from sixteen years ago.”

  Jenna went very still as she pictured the time line in her head. She was back to feeling afraid, very afraid.

  Mike sat forward on his chair and studied the monitor. “What month?”

  “February.” But it wasn’t Mole who whispered the answer, it was Jenna. They were all silent for a few minutes as the ramifications of the date settled in.

  Mole finally broke the silence, “There’s more bad news. Someone has been trying to hack into Alice’s files. When I originally set up her database, I also added features that would let us know if anyone tried to hack in. About 2 months ago, Alice came to me and asked me about strengthening the security on all her systems, not just the database. I made a few adjustments, but someone would have to be very good to break my code, so I wasn’t worried.”

  “Have they been able to break into her files?”

  “Did she say why she wanted the security upgraded?”

  Jenna and Mike both spoke up at the same time.

  “No and no. They haven’t been able to get in yet, but they’re attacking the systems hard. They actually started about 2 weeks before Alice died and they upped their attacks this afternoon. I can keep them out … if you want me to.”

  Mike jumped in, “If you let them in, you think you can trace it back and find out who’s behind this?”

  Mole shrugged, “It’s a possibility, but if they are good, they’ll cover their tracks. I think we need to find those missing files.”

  Jenna stood and started to sway, but Mike scooped her up into his arms. “Tomorrow is soon enough. Jenna needs to rest now.”

  Jenna tried to tell him she could walk, but was stopped by a yawn. She tried again, “This isn’t necessary, Mike. I can walk.” A giant yawn broke free as she said the last word. At this point she just gave in and rested her head on his shoulder. And that was the last thing she remembered for several hours.

  ***

  Mike carried Jenna to the front parlor, but instead of laying her down and letting her sleep, he settled himself on the sofa. It had been ten long years since she’d been in his arms and he wasn’t ready to let her go just yet. Mole walked in a few minutes later carrying a blanket and a couple bottles of water.

  “You’re an idiot,” she whispered as she covered them both with the blanket.

  Mike didn’t disagree with the statement, but he wasn’t sure they were in agreement on why he was an idiot. He shrugged and whispered back, “I can’t let go.”

  Mole shook her head. “You let her go last time and broke her heart. This time, it’s your turn. I don’t know if she’ll forgive you once you tell her the truth.”

  Mike was watching Jenna sleep and when he looked up to reply, Mole was gone. Damn, how did she do that?

  He woke up a few hours later and was pleased to find Jenna still wrapped up in his arms. Yes, he was an idiot for letting her go ten years ago, but he had his reasons. Maybe they weren’t quite as important now as they had been back then?

  “Jenna, honey. Time to wake up. I need to see those beautiful emerald eyes.” He leaned down and kissed the tiny beauty mark on her cheek. She used to hate that mark, but he said it was his spot and he claimed it with kisses often.

  “What time is it?” A groggy Jenna was a sexy Jenna, he remembered as she burrowed under the blanket and deeper into his heart. She lifted her head and started to kiss his neck. He knew the precise moment she realized just who she was kissing because her entire body tensed and the soft lips tightened in self-reproach. She tried to sit up, but he held her in place.

  “Shhh, it’s okay. Just relax. I need to make sure you head is okay. Do you want a pain pill?”

  “No, I’m fine.” She pushed at him and this time he let her sit up. He handed her an open water bottle and found himself jealous of the bottle when she rested her lips on the edge to take a sip. She caught him watching her. “What’s that look for? Did I drool in my sleep?”

  “You look beautiful. And no, you didn’t drool. How’s your head?” He wrapped her up in the blanket and settled back on the sofa.

  “Better.” She looked around and asked, “Where’s Mole?”

  “I think she’s still in the office tracking the hackers. Do you want to go upstairs to sleep?”

  “No, I’d rather stay down here closer to you and Mole.” She answered so quickly he realized she was probably terrified but doing a damn good job of hiding it. She abruptly switched tactics and blu
rted out, “Mike, why are you here?”

  Her question shouldn’t have surprised him. He knew in his heart he’d never stopped loving her and he would do anything for her, but his actions contradicted his feelings. He could take the coward’s way out and toss out a generic ‘I’m here for you’ line, or he could tell her the truth. Which is probably going to piss her off ten ways to Sunday. Well, he was a lot of things, but a coward wasn’t one of them.

  “Alice called me a month ago and told me it was time to ‘get off my ass and come home.’” In truth, Alice had told him quite a few things but 3 A.M. wasn’t the best time for the real heart-to-heart talk they needed to have.

  “So, you decided to wait until she was m-murdered?” Jenna choked on that word.

  “No, honey,” Mike said softly. He took her hand in his and pulled her back into his arms. Man, he missed the feel of her in his arms. Maybe Alice was right and it was time to come home. “We have a lot to talk about, but I don’t think now is the time. You need to get some more rest. I’ll be right across the hall with Mole.”

  He kissed her forehead and was about to pull away, but the temptation to taste her again was too great. He leaned in and paused, giving her a moment to pull back. His heart almost stopped until she leaned into him and her lips brushed his. He groaned and lifted his hand to her face as he brushed his thumb over her cheek. Holding her close, he deepened the kiss and slid his tongue along her lips. When she parted her lips, this time he didn’t pause or give her the opportunity to change her mind. He slipped his tongue in and her sweet, familiar taste exploded in his mouth.

  Welcome home, he thought. Because that’s what she felt like, tasted like, and what he realized he’d been missing. He was home when she was in his arms.

  “Hey, Jenna, you’re awake. How’s your head?”