by Jo Leigh
The door to the nanny’s suite opened slowly and Mrs. Norris, dressed in a dark blue shirtdress, smiled a welcome. “I know a little boy who’s going to be very happy.”
“Where is he?”
The answer came from Patrick. He’d caught sight of his mommy and screamed with such intensity Jenny thought her heart would break. So overwhelmed at seeing her, he couldn’t even walk, Patrick sat in the middle of the Persian carpet, held his arms outstretched and howled.
Jenny ran to him, scooped him up and kissed him over and over, petting him, smelling him, her own tears mixing with his on both their cheeks.
She rocked him back and forth, barely aware of Mrs. Norris who was making her way to the bedroom, and Jenny whispered her thanks for a nanny so human and understanding. Something she had no reason to expect in this horrible place.
“Honey, shh,” she said, petting his hair. “It’s okay. Mommy’s right here.”
He couldn’t speak yet, although his sobs weren’t quite as loud and he was breathing again.
“I’ll never leave you, sweetheart. Never. I’m just next door, just like in the old house, when I had my room and you had yours.”
“Mommy…”
“I know, baby. I know.”
She closed her eyes, hefted him higher on her chest and walked toward the door.
“Ms. Granger?”
She stopped, turned to see Mrs. Norris standing by a car that she’d seen priced in an FAO Schwartz toy catalog for almost a thousand dollars. “Yes?”
“I’m sorry, miss. But Mr. Todd was most explicit in his instructions.”
“What instructions?”
The older woman blushed as she approached, folded her hands across her stomach as if she was going to pray.
“He told me quite firmly that Patrick wasn’t to leave here without his permission.”
“I’m just taking him to my room. It’s next door.”
“I understand, and I’m terribly sorry. But he specified this circumstance exactly. And I’m afraid I can’t let you take the boy.”
“Come with me, then. I can’t leave him. He’s just a baby. He doesn’t understand.”
“I’m sorry, dear. Truly. But perhaps if I called Mr. Todd…”
“And say what? That I want to be with my own child? Why should he have anything to say about this? Patrick is my baby.”
“I know. And I’m not at all sure what the situation is between you and Mr. Todd, but, dear, I know one thing.” She came to stand next to Jenny and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m willing to bend over backward to see that you and Patrick have as much time with each other as possible. I don’t care if you’re here twenty-four hours a day.” She leaned in, lowered her voice. “But I’ve also worked for men like Mr. Todd before and I know that he’ll dismiss me in a heartbeat if I disobey such an order so quickly. And then, who knows who will take my place? So why don’t we see how things play out over time, yes? For now, let’s be good soldiers. We’ll make accommodations as soon as it’s possible.”
Jenny stared at the woman, surprised at the level of understanding, and her logic. Of course she didn’t want to part with Patrick, but, as in all things to do with Todd, patience would win out over obstinacy.
As much as it killed her, she’d play along. For now. “I have to go shopping, but as soon as I come back, I’ll come see you, my sweet boy.”
He gripped her tighter, digging his little fingernails into her arms.
“I know, it’s hard, baby, but it’s just for a bit. Just like going to see Alice when Mommy went to work, remember? I came and got you every single day, isn’t that right?”
Patrick’s face squeezed into a grimace, the prelude to another round of sobs.
“You have to be brave, Patrick. Be brave for Mommy, okay?”
Mrs. Norris held out her arms and Jenny gathered every ounce of courage she had to hand her boy over. She couldn’t hold her own tears back. “I’ll be back soon, honey. I promise.”
Mrs. Norris peeled him away, held him close, gave Jenny a sympathetic smile.
Coward that she was, Jenny had to get away. His cries tore her apart, ripped her very soul out. She ran to the door. Into the arms of Nick Mason.
She didn’t mean to crumble, but her legs wouldn’t hold her. Nick held her, held her close. And she heard, as if from far away, his voice, no more than a whisper.
“The bastard is going to pay.”
Chapter Six
Nick held her as she wept, the child’s cry still echoing in the hallway. He shouldn’t hold her like this, it was exactly the kind of situation where he should be a bastard, but he couldn’t do that to Jenny. God only knew what Todd had put her through last night. He didn’t see any marks on her. At least there was that.
All he wanted to do was to comfort her. To take her as far away from the hotel as he could. What the hell kind of a man was he that he couldn’t harden his heart when he knew what was at stake? When Todd pulled off his plan, when he had a weapon that could destroy half the country, would Nick comfort himself with the thought that he’d been a pal? A regular sweetheart?
He took hold of her arms and pulled her to her feet, held back his urge to shake her. “We have to go,” he said harshly, making sure she knew he meant business.
It worked. She stopped crying. With red-rimmed eyes, she stared at him, the hurt, the confusion, as painful as a blow. “What the hell happened to you?” she whispered.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You know who he is. Is that what you want? To be like him? To be so hateful that I can’t stand for you to look at me?”
“That would be a start,” he said.
Her eyes closed and she stepped back, wrenching herself free. “Fine. So be it. You can go to hell at his side.”
“I’ve already got my ticket,” he said. “In the meantime, I’ve got the credit card and the limo. You need to get dressed so we can go.”
She turned her back, wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands. Her makeup smeared and somehow the dark smudges brought back in brutal detail the morning after the first night they’d spent together. She’d been so delicate in his arms, he’d been terrified of bruising her. She’d had dark smudges under her eyes then, but they hadn’t been makeup. Stress had put the darkness there. Fear. The marks she tried so hard to cover up with all that damned makeup.
“I’ll be ten minutes,” she said. “I don’t suppose you want to meet me at the car.”
“I have my orders.”
“Yeah. Orders.” She walked away, the spirit that he’d seen in her carriage last night gone, locked behind the door of the nanny’s room along with her son.
He followed her, aware of the cameras hidden in the walls, the ears that were always listening, the eyes that never blinked. He couldn’t be so much of an ass that Todd would fire him. It was a fine line. One he had to find, and toe.
She kept her distance as he unlocked her door, then she swept past him. He let her go, feigned a casual air as he went inside.
He’d worn pressed slacks, a pale blue polo shirt and a light sport coat for their trip to the Forum Shops. He needed to look sharp, but not like a maître d’. One thing he’d learned from working for Todd was how to dress. He could have lived without the lesson.
He didn’t sit. Instead, as Jenny dressed, he cruised the living room. In his breast pocket he had a bug finder, an Omni Spectral Correlator, that would not only detect any kind of monitoring equipment, whether operating or not, but also record the exact location in the walls via a highly sensitized GPS, so that when he came back in the following days, he would be able to draw vectors of fields of vision, map the room according to the sweep of a lens.
As for the microphones, those could be neutralized, at least temporarily, once he understood the type and frequency of the equipment. It was difficult because Todd used the most sophisticated gear on the planet, which his companies, here and abroad, designed and manufactured. On the plus side, Nick had unique acc
ess to state-of-the-art implements and could be reasonably certain that his efforts would be effective.
Reasonably certain wasn’t good enough, but it would have to do. Regardless of his findings and his countermeasures, he would continue to be careful. Any misstep could be more costly than he dared to imagine.
Jenny came back into the room and he was amazed at her ability to get it together. No one would have a clue what she’d just been through this morning or last night. She wore a sleeveless pink dress that came down to midthigh, high-heeled sandals, gold hoops in her ears. Her hair cascaded in soft waves across her shoulders. He wished like hell she didn’t have to put all that crap on her face, but damn it, she was a beauty. She looked like summer.
“Let’s go,” she said.
He nodded; went to the door. “After you.”
She walked by him, the metal back in her spine. She was the kind of woman he’d want on his team. Who would come through no matter what the odds. He hoped she would come through this. She deserved so much more.
They walked silently, her matching him stride for stride. She didn’t even glance at her son’s room when they passed it. As they approached the elevator, he caught sight of their image in the mirror. They looked like a model couple on vacation, perhaps even on their honeymoon. She so blond and slender, him in his crisp slacks and his Bruno Magli shoes and his Prada sport coat. Like one of the commercials for Xanadu.
It made sense that Todd would bring her back now, right when it was all coming to a head. He needed to show her what a big man he was. It wasn’t enough that he had more millions than he’d ever be able to spend. That he donated more to charity than the net worth of several Third World countries. Not that Todd gave a damn about anyone, but it looked good, and Todd needed to look good.
Jenny did that for him. Made him look good. He could have had anyone, and in the past couple of years he’d gone through gorgeous women like used tissues. From movie stars to models to showgirls, Todd had them all. None of them was Jenny.
She had something so… He’d figured it out, actually. It was a certain kind of charisma, a combination of beauty, grace, strength and magic. Yeah, magic.
And the bastard wanted to crush that out of her. Smart. Real smart.
The elevator door opened, but the ride down was silent, uncomfortable. Jenny stared straight ahead, never looking at him, not once.
Kahrim, Todd’s driver, was waiting outside when they got down to the lobby. He nodded at Nick, walked around to open the door for Jenny.
Kahrim hadn’t been around when Jenny was here before. He’d been hired shortly after she’d left. He was a hell of a well-trained bodyguard, and as far as Nick’s information went, he was legit. No underworld ties, no foreign complications. Just a guy who could drive his way out of any situation, shoot like a marksman and generally mess up anyone this side of a tank. A good man to have as a friend.
“How you doin’, Kahrim?”
“Good, Mr. Nick. Better than yesterday, that’s for sure.”
“This is Jenny. She’s a special friend of Mr. Todd’s.”
“I know, Mr. Nick.” He helped Jenny into the back seat, then leaned over, blocking her from the street.
“You need anything, Miss Jenny, you just let me know.”
“Thank you.”
Nick got in on the other side and leaned back for the short ride down the Strip to Caesar’s. All he had to do was to wait a few more minutes. They’d be at the Forum Shops. They’d be alone. Of course, he had no idea what in hell he was going to say to her. He couldn’t tell her the truth.
As strong as Jenny was, she couldn’t help her own natural reactions. If she knew who he really was, she might give something away. It would be inadvertent, but that wouldn’t matter. The consequences would be the same as if she ratted him out.
He had to keep her in the dark.
When it was over, he was gonna give this crap up. No more hiding. No more subterfuge. Maybe he’d run away to the mountains. Or the ocean. Not the desert.
He glanced at Jenny, who sat as still as a stone as they made their slow way down the Strip. It didn’t seem to matter what time of year, or time of day, Las Vegas Boulevard was always too crowded, too full of tourists.
Nick could see Kahrim’s curious glances in the rearview mirror, but he ignored them. It wasn’t so easy to ignore Jenny. Tension came off her in waves, sitting in her silence. His hand was so close to hers. If he could just…
He turned, looked out the shaded window, stared blankly as monuments to excess slipped past.
When they got to Caesar’s Palace, Kahrim let Jenny out. Nick told him he’d call for a pickup in a few hours. The older man seemed hesitant, but Nick assured him it was all right. Todd had given him clear instructions. They’d meet at the same place.
Jenny walked ahead of him, knowing her way through the high-end mall. She barely looked at the Roman statues, the columns, the fantastical art that made the Forum Shops such a tourist trap. Even the huge fish tank near the Cheesecake Factory didn’t warrant a glance, and that had been one of Jenny’s favorites in the past.
They headed first to Armani. After that, she’d go to Versace, Max Mara, Fendi, Bebe, Prada, Ferragamo, DKNY and finally Victoria’s Secret. He fully expected to spend at least a hundred thousand dollars. Jenny wouldn’t like any of the clothes, he was sure of that, too. She’d especially hate shopping at Victoria’s Secret.
He leaned against the wall at Armani, watching her go through clothes that made no sense to him. The well-dressed salesclerk hovered, anxious to be of assistance. She’d wet herself when she found out who was paying for this jaunt.
JENNY LOOKED at each garment with an exacting eye. Todd had very meticulous taste and she had come to know and loathe it. He wanted to flaunt her, to show her off like a racehorse wearing his colors. He also wanted even the most casual observer to know without doubt that her clothes cost a fortune.
She handed the salesgirl a half-dozen garments, then followed her to a dressing room that was decorated more extravagantly than her home in Milford. Despite the night she’d spent, the reality of the situation all around her, she could barely believe she was buying these clothes to be the best-dressed prisoner in history. In a sane world, she’d be able to turn the bastard in and lock him up for years.
Never happen. There wasn’t a cop in town she could truly trust. Not that there weren’t honest cops. She just had no way of knowing which ones were strong enough to resist Todd’s machine. And she had no idea how far up the law-enforcement ladder his power went.
Her gaze went to the door as she pulled a cream silk shift over her head. Nick was just outside, lounging against the wall. Why him? Why couldn’t her jailer have been someone else?
Being around him was too much. She had the strength to bear Todd, the strength to put up with his cruelty, but she wasn’t strong enough to stand so close to Nick Mason and know that he felt nothing. Worse than nothing.
He was Patrick’s father. So much of the reason she loved Patrick so much. He was like Nick. That used to be a comfort, but now it terrified her. Neither Nick nor Todd could know the truth about Patrick. Todd would kill her, probably Patrick. And if Nick found out…
Would he help her then? Would he turn back into the old Nick? Or would a child put too much of a crimp in his plans? She had no idea if she could trust him. And if there was any chance that his knowing could hurt Patrick, she’d take the secret to her grave.
She just had to be careful not to let Todd see Patrick and Nick together. She’d have to be careful around Mrs. Norris, too. She’d see that Patrick’s grin was just like his daddy’s.
If she could just understand who Nick was. What confused her was his whisper when she’d collapsed in his arms. He’d sounded as if he hated Todd, as if he really did want to kill him.
Yet that didn’t mean his feelings had anything to do with her. He’d been hateful toward her. Cold as ice.
She looked in the mirror. The dress was too short, sh
owed too much cleavage. Todd would approve. The next dress looked to be even worse. She’d never be able to cross her legs or bend over at all. Which meant that Todd would have her doing both things at the most embarrassing times. She had to remember it was about power, about control. She didn’t have to submit even when she obeyed.
The man was sick. Seriously sick. And she had to do something before he infected her son.
Whatever it took, she was going to have to find a way out. She’d tried running away. Now she’d try something different. Sending him away.
She would send him to prison. Not for hurting her. No one on earth cared about that. But she knew secrets. She had access. And Todd, for all his posturing, was a very bad man. The illegal kind.
She would build a case strong enough to send him away for life. With the proper evidence, the state would put her and Patrick in the Witness Security Program.
It was her only hope.
She lifted the dress up, over her head. And when she could see again, Nick stood in front of her, inches away. He took the dress and tossed it to the floor.
“Listen to me,” he said, his voice soft, his body tense as a bow string in the confined space. “I can’t help you. I can’t get you out. I can’t even talk to you. Get it?”
She nodded, but she didn’t think he saw her, although he was so close his breath fanned across her lips.
His hands gripped her arms. “Why the hell didn’t you hide? You were out. You were free. You should have stayed away.”
Jenny tried to break free, but his fingers were too tight. “You think I wanted to come back? He kidnapped Patrick. What was I supposed to do?”
Nick, red with anger, shaking, raked her face with his gaze. He looked wild, mad, and she felt something completely unexpected: fear. In all the time she’d been with Todd, she’d never been afraid of Nick, but now she struggled until he let her go, then she used her hands to cover her naked breasts. “Get out of here,” she said.
“No. Not yet.”
“Then give me something to wear.”
