by SUE FINEMAN
More police officers searched the area, and the paramedics arrived about the time the power came on. Olivia wasn’t hurt, but Baylee’s eye had started to swell and her head pounded where she’d hit the floor. If she hadn’t fought back, she’d have more than a sore head and swollen eye.
Olivia said, “We can’t stay here.”
“No, we can’t. Go get dressed and pack a bag or two. Not all of them. We’ll come back for the rest of our things later.” They’d have to find a hotel tonight. She owned two homes in this area, but they couldn’t stay in either one of them. They’d have to find a hotel, and even that wouldn’t be safe. No place was safe when Black Jack Blackburn wanted her dead.
The police hung around while Baylee and Olivia dressed and packed. Olivia wouldn’t stop whining about how she could have been killed.
Baylee finally snapped. “Shut up, Olivia! My head hurts bad enough.”
“This is all your fault.”
“Yeah, right.” She felt like cutting Olivia loose right then and there. Maybe that cute cop with the dimples would take her home with him.
He could have her.
It was still raining when the community’s security people brought a piece of plywood and nailed it over the broken window. Baylee thanked them and asked them to keep an eye on the house over the next few days. She hoped it wouldn’t take longer than that to catch Blackburn, but she had her doubts. If the FBI couldn’t catch him, who could?
Maybe she should rethink the gun thing, although if she’d had a gun on her tonight, she might have shot Olivia by mistake. Right now, with the woman whining about only taking four bags with her, Baylee felt like shooting her. When had the count gone from one or two bags to four? Baylee had one bag and a tote. Maybe Olivia the Whiner needed two extra bags for her makeup. Aside from mascara and lipstick, Baylee seldom wore any.
She loaded her bags in the trunk of the car and Olivia made three trips from the house to the car with her bags. There were eight of them. Baylee sighed. She should have expected this. “Which two do you want to take?”
“All of them.”
Slamming the trunk, Baylee said, “Goodbye, Olivia. Have a nice life.”
“No, don’t leave me here.”
“Two bags. I’ll wait five minutes.”
A police officer helped Olivia take the bags back to the bedroom while Baylee sat in the Jag and used her cell phone. She didn’t have Greg and Neen’s home phone number, so she called the sheriff’s office in Caledonia and asked for Greg. He wasn’t there, but then she didn’t expect him to be there at this hour. She left a message for him to call her. “I know it’s late, but it’s important. I need to I speak with him right away.”
A minute later, Greg called. “What’s up?”
“Jack Blackburn broke into the house a few minutes ago, but he got away. Don’t tell Chance. He needs to be with his kids, and if he knows, he’ll come looking for me.”
“Of course he will, Baylee. The guy’s in love with you.”
If only she could believe that.
“Are you all right?”
“Fine. I’ll find a hotel and sleep until noon tomorrow.” Maybe she could sleep, but she had her doubts. Her headache was getting worse, and her side ached where she fell on that thing she used to hit her assailant with. And someone had to stay awake and watch for Blackburn.
“I have to tell Chance, Baylee.”
“Not unless you can keep him there until after Steven’s game on Saturday. He won’t find me anyway. Tell him I’ll call him Saturday evening to get a blow-by-blow description of Steven’s game.”
“Yeah, okay, I’ll tell him. And Baylee?”
“Yes?”
“Take care of yourself.”
“I’m doing my best.”
Minutes later, Olivia returned to the car with two big bags, a huge makeup kit, and a smaller bag slung over her shoulder. From eight down to four. Not bad, considering.
Baylee unlocked the trunk and Olivia loaded her bags. She put the makeup kit on the backseat and settled herself in the front passenger seat.
In the dark and the driving rain, with one eye swollen shut, Baylee drove toward Houston, wondering if she could deal with city traffic tonight. She gripped the steering wheel tightly to stop her hands from shaking. When she saw the signs for the airport exit, she knew she wouldn’t have to drive into Houston.
She turned off and found a hotel. “Olivia, do you have a credit card?”
“If I had money left on my credit card, I would have bought groceries with it.”
Baylee hadn’t had time to pay off her only credit card, so she’d have to pay cash for a room. Where did she put her money? In her laptop bag? Did she pack her laptop?
She opened the trunk and pulled out Olivia’s bags, which were on top of hers, opened her suitcase, and found the laptop bag and the money. She stuffed the money in her purse and walked inside.
Olivia followed. “You left my bags on the ground.”
“Then pick them up.”
Crossing her arms, Olivia glared at Baylee.
Ignoring the pouting woman, Baylee asked the clerk for adjoining rooms. She paid in advance for two nights. In cash. The woman behind the desk said, “We need a credit card number.”
Baylee handed her card over, knowing their machine would kick it back. She didn’t need this tonight. She really didn’t need this.
The woman said, “I’m sorry, but—”
“Look, my sister and I were just attacked by a madman. We’re tired, my head is pounding, and we can’t go home until the police are finished there. Won’t cash do this time?”
After speaking with the night manager, the clerk gave them keys to adjoining rooms.
Baylee moved the car to the back of the building and carried in her suitcase and tote. Olivia whined about having to carry her bags all by herself. She carried two inside the hotel door and went back for the other two. There wasn’t anyone around to help except the two people behind the desk, and they weren’t paying any attention.
“Baylee, you could help me.”
“No, I couldn’t. This is why I said to bring one or two bags. I’m not lugging your crap all over the hotel, and I’m not paying someone else to do it for you.”
Olivia made two trips from the door to the elevator while Baylee held the door open. A woman stepped on and moved to the back of the elevator as Olivia pulled on her last two bags. “My wicked stepsister won’t help me,” Olivia told the woman.
Baylee had no intention of helping Olivia the Whiner with her bags or anything else. Her face hurt and so did her head and side. She needed to take some Advil and get some rest, and her hair felt sticky. Blood, she assumed. She had to wash it before she could go to bed.
Olivia would have to take care of herself.
<>
Chance stood in Greg’s study door. “Was that Baylee?”
Greg nodded. “Blackburn broke into the lake house, but he got away.”
Fear clutched Chance’s chest. “Is she all right? Why didn’t she ask to speak with me? Is she still there?”
“She said she was okay, and no, she’s not still there.” Greg grabbed the phone. “I’ll call Hudson, for all the good it’ll do. Most incompetent fed I’ve ever met.”
The FBI wasn’t doing much that Chance could see. Hudson and Rolfs had bailed out right after Baylee left for the lake house. No one was watching Mom’s house, and he doubted anyone was watching Baylee’s house in Houston. “Where is she?”
“In a hotel somewhere. She should be all right there for a day or two, and she said she’d call Saturday evening to hear about Steven’s game.”
Chance had his doubts that Baylee was ‘all right.’ If Blackburn broke in, he didn’t do it to rob the place. He went there to kill Baylee like he’d killed Emma and Melissa. “How did he find her? Did he follow her from here or get the address from someone in Houston? Blackburn sure as hell didn’t find that house without help.”
“I agree.”
<
br /> Greg started talking to Hudson, so Chance pulled out his cell phone and walked into the other room. He needed to hear Baylee’s voice, needed to know she was all right. But Baylee didn’t answer, which made the fear clutch him even tighter.
Why didn’t she answer?
He paced with the phone and tried calling every few minutes until Olivia answered.
“Oh, Chance, I was so scared.”
“Where’s Baylee. Is she all right?”
“She’s in the shower, washing the blood out of her hair.”
The word blood said Baylee wasn’t all right at all. He had to get to her.
Now.
“Olivia, where are you?”
“We’re at the Houston airport, at the Hilton. Room 420.”
“I’m on my way. Don’t tell Baylee. I don’t want her to sit up and wait for me.”
“She wouldn’t let me bring—”
Chance cut off the whining voice. “Take care of her until I get there.”
“Okay, but—”
Chance hung up and ran upstairs to pack an overnight bag. He had to find her a decent bodyguard, someone who wouldn’t leave her side no matter what.
Someone who could protect her from a killer.
Chapter Fifteen
Chance arrived at the hotel at two in the morning. He tapped lightly on the door of room 420, and Olivia opened it. She’d obviously been into the mini-bar, because there were little bottles sitting everywhere. All empty. She wasn’t totally sloshed, but she was close.
He glanced around the room. “Where’s Baylee?”
Olivia pointed to the slightly ajar door connecting the room next door. He quietly pushed it open and stared at Baylee lying on the bed. Her left eye was a swollen mess. His hands fisted as rage welled up inside his chest, rage at the man who did this to her, at the FBI for not protecting her, and at himself, for not talking her into staying at Greg’s house.
He thought she’d be safe at the lake house. So did she. They were both wrong. Blackburn could have killed her.
A picture of Emma lying on the cold slab in the morgue flashed through his head. She’d suffered a brutal beating before she died, and then that sick bastard had stuck a card to her stomach with a knife. Her nails were torn and bloody where she’d fought back, but Blackburn had undoubtedly caught her by surprise. Melissa knew he was going to kill her, but Emma couldn’t have known he’d come after her.
Despite being punched in the face, Baylee had fought back and won this round, but the bastard would be back to try again.
She stirred and moaned. He saw the little statue in her right hand. No gun, just something to hit back with. Was that how she got away?
He pictured the cougar in the woods at Snoqualmie Pass and knew she wouldn’t let something like that catch her off guard again. He turned to Olivia. “Did she see a doctor?”
“The paramedics checked her eye and her head. After they left, she said her side hurt where she fell on that thing in her hand. She hit the guy in the balls with it.”
Without missing a beat, Olivia drained her glass and asked, “Would you like a drink? There’s more in Baylee’s mini-bar.”
“No, thanks. Go to bed, Olivia. I’ll take care of Baylee.” Someone had to take care of her.
“I’ve never been so scared. If she hadn’t sent me to the bathroom with her cell phone, he could have killed me.”
“He broke into the house?”
“He broke a bedroom window, and by the time Baylee and I got to the family room, he was inside. The cops said he cut the phone lines, and the alarm was off because of the storm.” She shivered and rubbed her arms. “I don’t ever want to go to that house again.”
“How did he know where to find Baylee? Who gave him the address?”
“Not me. I’m going to bed. It’s your turn to keep watch.”
Chance carried his bag into Baylee’s room and pulled the door between the rooms most of the way closed. She’d left her bathroom light on, probably so she could see to defend herself again. He undressed and crawled in beside her. She woke instantly and raised that thing in her hand to hit him. “Whoa, there. It’s just me, honey. It’s Chance. Don’t hit me.”
“Oh, Chance,” she said on a relieved sigh. “What are you doing here?”
He pried her fingers off the little statue. She had a death grip on the damn thing. “Go back to sleep, honey. I’ll watch for Blackburn tonight.”
She sat up on the side of the bed, holding the ribs on her right side, fully dressed except for shoes. He turned on the light and lifted her shirt. A big, angry bruise covered her ribs. “Honey, I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“Now?”
“Can you sleep?”
“No, I hurt too much.”
He quickly pulled on the clothes he’d just taken off. He peeked in on Olivia, who was out cold, snoring up a storm. While Baylee got ready to go, he left a note on Olivia’s bathroom counter in case she woke and found them gone.
“I can’t bend over to put on my shoes.”
He got down on his knees and pulled on her socks and shoes, then helped her to her feet. She was none too steady, so he carefully put his arms around her and held her in a gentle embrace. She leaned into him, and he gave her a light kiss on her forehead. She’d been through quite an ordeal tonight. He loved her so much. Losing her like he’d lost Emma would destroy him.
“Chance, you shouldn’t have come, but I’m glad you did. I needed to see a friendly face after…”
“You didn’t tell Greg you’d been hurt.”
“No, I couldn’t tell him.” She pulled back. “Let’s go to the hospital. I doubt they can do anything for me, but I need something stronger for pain.”
Chance drove Baylee to the nearest hospital, where he insisted the doctor x-ray her head and ribs and check out her eye. Pacing in the emergency waiting room, he wondered how badly she’d hurt Blackburn. He’d gotten away under his own power, so she couldn’t have done too much damage. She’d been hurt, but her quick thinking had saved her life and Olivia’s.
By the time he drove Baylee back to the hotel, fingers of morning light streaked across the sky. Olivia was still sound asleep, so he tore up the note he’d left.
Before she went back to bed, she asked him to take pictures of her face, so she could send one in with her next column. Although she didn’t need the money, she was still working, still writing for the Tacoma newspaper.
“I want to finish this series about Jack Blackburn. I want people to know how much he tormented his victims.”
Baylee wanted a record, and Chance just wanted to kill the son-of-a-bitch.
She took a pain pill and he helped her undress and get into bed. She dropped right off to sleep. The doctor said nothing was broken, but she’d bruised several ribs, and she’d be sore for awhile. There was no permanent damage to her eye, and although her head had bled where she’d hit the floor, it would heal.
Her body would heal, but it would take time for the fear to leave her.
<>
Baylee didn’t wake until nearly one, when she smelled food. Chance handed her a cup of hot tea, and she sipped it slowly and then walked into the bathroom. She felt a little better, although she was in no shape to go another round with Black Jack.
Olivia sat with them at the table under the window, where they ate soup and sandwiches for lunch. Baylee ate slowly, savoring the warmth of the soup in her empty stomach. Without a word, Chance handed her another pain pill. She shook her head. “Not now, Chance. I need to call Anne.”
“I called her this morning. She hired more guards. They’ll be here around seven this evening.”
“Does she know who told Black Jack where to find me?”
He nodded. “She said Mary came by the house to get some things she’d left behind. Blackburn had apparently been watching the house, and he followed her home.” He glanced at her sandwich. “Maybe you should finish eating before I tell you the rest.”
She pinned him in
a stare. “Tell me now.”
“Anne went by Mary’s house to ask her if she’d told anyone the address of the lake house. She found the front door open and Mary lying on the floor. She’d been beaten to death, and they found a black jack on the floor beside her.”
Baylee gasped, so stunned it took her a few seconds to find her voice. “I didn’t like her, but I didn’t want this to happen.”
“Nobody wanted her dead,” Olivia said, “but she shouldn’t have told him anything.”
Baylee shook her head. “She probably would have told him anything to get him to stop hitting her.”
She saw fatigue in Chance’s eyes. “Did you get any sleep?”
“No, I’ll sleep tonight, after your bodyguards arrive. Anne is looking for another place for you and Olivia to stay until this is over.”
“If my head wouldn’t explode on an airplane, I’d fly to Tacoma and take care of business. I asked my boss to have someone send my mail, but there are other things I need to do there.”
“We’ll go together after you heal. If we go anywhere with you looking like that, people will think I’ve been beating you.”
“If you’d been beating me, you’d be walking funny, Superman.”
His mouth turned up in a quirky smile. “You wouldn’t do that to me, Lois.”
“And you wouldn’t beat me.”
Olivia examined her hands. “I need to get my nails done today.”
“I’ll buy you a bottle of nail polish the next time we go out,” said Baylee.
“I have an appointment at two in the beauty shop downstairs.”
Baylee pushed her uneaten sandwich aside. “Who’s paying for it?”
“Well, I thought…um…”
“I’m running out of money, Olivia.”
“But you have…” She put her hand over her mouth, and Baylee knew the woman had been in her purse.
“How much did you take?”
“I didn’t—”
Baylee threw down her napkin. “How much, Olivia? Here I am taking care of you, even though you treat me like shit, and you have the nerve to steal from me?”
“But you took my inheritance.”
