With the need building and building inside her, Kelly reached between them to unbutton his shirt. Jameson helped by taking off his shoulder holster, but it still took some more fumbling on her part to get the shirt off him.
He immediately came back for another kiss, and she got the pleasure of feeling his bare chest against hers. Yes, that was another pleasant memory, too, and they were making more of those memories right now.
The kiss made things better. And worse. Better because it was so good but worse because it made her realize she had to have him now. Thankfully, Jameson was on the same page, and the battle started to get them undressed. They managed the jeans before Kelly froze.
“Please tell me you have a condom,” she said.
Jameson cursed, and for a moment she thought that meant he didn’t. But he stooped down, fumbling with his jeans, and finally came up with one from his wallet. The relief came, briefly, but the pressure-cooker heat quickly took over again.
Kissing her, Jameson pulled her to the floor, moving on top of her. It seemed to take forever for him to get on the condom, but even a few seconds seemed like way too long. Not with this need she had eating away at her.
She got another slam of memories when he pushed inside her. Yes, she definitely remembered this, and it didn’t take her long to slide right into the rhythm of his movements. Of course, this would all end too soon. No way could it last with them starved for each other.
Jameson upped the pace, moving inside her until Kelly could take no more. Even though she wanted to hang on to this as long as possible, she had no choice. She had to let go. She felt herself shatter. Felt the pleasure ripple through her. It rippled through Jameson as well, because he gathered her into his arms and surrendered right along with her.
It was perfect. The slack feeling in her body. Jameson’s taste in her mouth. His scent on her body. But in that moment, Kelly had a stark realization. This wasn’t going to satisfy that fire inside her.
Not for long anyway.
The need would return, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t have Jameson again. No. It wouldn’t take long for the regret to take hold of him. Kelly was certain that’s what was already happening when he moved off her and landed on his back on the floor.
“We should check on Gracelyn,” he said. He turned toward her, hauled her back to him and kissed her. “Give me a minute, and we can do that.”
So maybe not regret after all. He gathered up his clothes and headed to the en suite bathroom. Since Kelly really didn’t want to be lying around on the floor naked, she dressed, too. She braced herself for some awkwardness when Jameson came back into the room, but there wasn’t any.
Probably because he kissed her again. His kisses had a way of tamping down everything but the attraction. Not only was it still there, but it was stronger than ever.
“I remembered some things,” she said while she put on her shoes.
That got his attention. “What?” he asked, hesitation in his voice.
“Us being together.” Which probably wasn’t much of a surprise since she’d had plenty of visual reminders what with seeing Jameson naked.
But that wasn’t all.
It didn’t come to her in a flash as the last pieces had, but it came, and she had to shake her head. “I didn’t steal that file for Boyer. In fact, I wasn’t the one who took it at all. Mandy did. She’s the one who brought it to me.”
“What?” He pulled his eyebrows together. “But she said you stole it.” He paused. “No, wait. Mandy didn’t say that. When she was talking to you, she said as soon as you got your hands on it. I guess that means she gave it to you?”
Yes, her sister had used some clever wording, but with each passing second the memories of that were getting clearer.
“I took it from her,” Kelly corrected. “Mandy had sneaked into your house the night we were together and she took the file back to her apartment. The following morning, I dropped by her apartment and saw her reading it. I was furious and took it from her.” Now it was her turn to pause. “I wonder if she shared any of what was inside it with Boyer?”
Judging from the frustrated sound he made, the answer to that was yes. But that led Kelly to one very big question.
Why was that file so important?
“I went through all the data you’d collected,” Kelly went on, “and I added some files and notes of my own. I’d also talked with some possible witnesses and such. I had even interviewed one of the people involved in the money laundering operation that both Boyer and your father were investigating. I’d intended to take everything to you, but then someone attacked me when I went out to my car and I ran.”
Jameson took a moment, clearly processing all of that. “Someone must have thought you learned something pretty damn important to try to kill you. Did you?”
She had to shake her head. “But I had the feeling that something was there. Some kind of...inconsistency.”
“I know what you mean. I had the same feeling. That’s why I kept digging.” He paused again. “Tell me about that chat you had with the money launderer.”
Kelly blew out a frustrated breath. “The guy’s name was Lionel Rouse.”
“Yeah, I tried to talk to him, too, but he wouldn’t see me. My father had been investigating him.”
“Yes, that was in your notes. I’m not sure why Lionel agreed to see me. Maybe because he thought I would help him get out of jail. Anyway, he said the wrong man was behind bars. I asked him who should be, and he said it was the head honcho. He wouldn’t say more so I started looking for a money trail, something that would tell me who’d paid off this guy. Nothing.”
“But the man or woman who paid him could have believed you found something.”
His phone rang, cutting off anything else he might have added to that, and Jameson frowned, then cursed, when he saw the unfamiliar number on the screen. He answered it but didn’t say anything. However, it didn’t take long for the caller to speak.
“I’m so sorry.” It was Mandy, and her words were rushed together. “I really screwed up, and you have to help me.”
“What’s wrong?” Jameson snapped.
“Some men took Amy. They have Boyer’s daughter, and they took her to your family’s ranch. God, Jameson, you have to save her.”
Chapter Fifteen
Kelly stared at Jameson’s phone, praying that she had misheard what her sister said. But Mandy’s earlier words came back to her.
What I’m about to do might make things more dangerous for you. For others, too.
Had Mandy been talking about Boyer’s child then? If so, if those kidnappers had actually gotten their hands on her and brought her to the ranch, then yes, a lot of people were suddenly in danger.
Not just Amy, either, but Gracelyn and everyone else in Gabriel’s house.
Her sister was sobbing. Kelly had no trouble hearing that. But she also knew that sobs could be faked. She hated to distrust Mandy, but there were too many unanswered questions about her sister’s relationship with one of their top suspects. Now that suspect’s child had supposedly been taken.
“Mandy, what happened?” Jameson demanded. He hurried to the window to look out. “How’d kidnappers get to the baby?”
There was another sob. “I had her in a safe place, and I managed to borrow a car and drive out there. But there was a tracking device on my shoe. The men who kidnapped me must have put it there when they knocked me out, and I must have missed it when we checked yesterday. They followed me there and took her. Please, just get her from them. They’ll hurt her to get to Kelly.”
Kelly couldn’t help but react to that. Those monsters could have a precious baby. It didn’t matter that it was someone else’s child; the emotion hit Kelly as hard as if the little girl were her own.
“What do you think I can do to get her back?” Jameson asked, the frustration and conc
ern in his voice.
“I don’t know.” Mandy was sobbing so hard now that it was difficult to understand her. “But you have to do something. You have to get to her before they hurt her.”
Jameson kept his attention on the grounds outside the window. “I don’t see anyone other than a couple of my ranch hands. Stay on the line while I text one of the deputies. I can have everyone keep an eye out for anything suspicious. You’re sure the men will bring the baby here?”
“That’s what they said. They hit me with a stun gun, tied me up and took her, but I could still hear what they were saying. As soon as I was able to move and get out of the ropes, I started driving to the ranch. But they’re a good hour ahead of me. In fact, they could be there by now.”
Kelly tried to see all possible angles of this, but it was hard to think. Not with this new round of panic coursing through her. “Was there a nanny or someone with Amy?”
“A nanny. They used a stun gun on her, too. I didn’t bring her with me,” Mandy added. “This is going to be dangerous, and there was no need to put her in the middle of it.”
Kelly didn’t like the sound of that. “The middle of it? What are you going to do?”
“Get back the baby,” Mandy insisted. “I’ll be there as fast as I can.”
Jameson cursed again when Mandy hung up, but he didn’t try to call her back. Instead, he called Cameron and filled him in on what was happening.
“Go ahead and tell Gabriel so he can get out here. You and Edwin should stay put for now, but I might need you to get Gracelyn and the others out of here in the cruiser.”
She couldn’t hear what Cameron said in response to that because Kelly’s heartbeat was drumming in her ears. She did want her baby far from here, but that came with huge risks. Just getting in the cruiser meant they’d have to be outside. Even a few seconds in the open could give a gunman a chance to shoot them.
“I can’t be with Gracelyn in the cruiser,” Kelly said the moment Jameson finished his call with Cameron. “I can’t do anything that will make her a target.” And that’s exactly what anyone with her would be.
The muscles stirred in Jameson’s jaw. He was probably trying to think of an argument to counter that. There wasn’t one. It was true the men might try to get to Gracelyn to get Kelly to cooperate, but she believed the men wouldn’t go after the baby if Kelly was still on the ranch where they could get to her.
“It might not even come to that,” Jameson assured her. He brushed a kiss on her cheek. “Go tell Erica, Jodi and Ivy what’s going on. Jodi can get guns for all of you. I’m sure there’s a stash in the house. Then the four of you should take Gracelyn into the bathroom and wait for me there. I won’t be long. I just need to talk with some of the ranch hands.”
Part of her hated being tucked away while Jameson and the deputies were in possible harm’s way, but the bathroom would be the safest place for Gracelyn.
She turned to hurry out, but Kelly gave Jameson one last look. There was already a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, and she hoped this wasn’t the last time they would see each other. Pushing that thought aside, she went to the bedrooms and alerted the others.
Jodi was already up and on the phone. “Gabriel’s on the way,” she relayed, tucking a gun into the back waist of her jeans. “Any sign of the kidnappers?”
Kelly had to shake her head, and she took another gun that Jodi grabbed for her from the nightstand. Jodi got Ivy while Kelly went to the bedroom to get Erica and the baby moving. Like Jodi, Erica was awake as well and had already scooped up Gracelyn in her arms. The nanny reached to turn on the light, but Kelly stopped her.
“It’s just a precaution,” Kelly told Erica when she saw that the woman was shaking, and Kelly prayed that was true.
Erica got in the bathtub with Gracelyn, but Kelly went to the only window in the room. Like the ones in Jameson’s room, this one faced the old house. It was dark, though, with only a watery moon, and it was hard to see much of anything. Though she did spot a rifle-toting ranch hand just below them.
There were footsteps in the hall, and Jodi automatically pivoted in that direction. But it was only Ivy and Jameson. Ivy went to the tub after Jameson motioned for her to do that, and he went to the window with Jodi and her.
“The hands are in place,” Jameson explained. “There are six guarding the house and the rest are walking the perimeter, and they’ve had eyes on the cruiser the entire time we’ve been here. No one could have tampered with it.”
Good. Because if they had to use it to escape, Kelly didn’t want there to be a tracking device on it.
Jameson moved both Jodi and her to the side of the window just as his phone buzzed. It wasn’t Mandy, though. This time there was a name on the screen.
Boyer.
“Is it true?” Boyer asked the moment Jameson answered. Unlike his call to Cameron, he put this one on speaker and continued to keep watch. “Do the men who are after Kelly really have my daughter?”
Boyer certainly sounded like a frantic father in fear for his child. But like Mandy’s sobs, those emotions could be faked.
“I can’t say for sure,” Jameson answered, “but we’re looking out for them. How did you find out?”
“The kidnappers called me.”
Kelly had been certain Mandy had gotten in touch with him. And again, she might have. She reminded herself that this could all be a ruse. At the moment, Kelly couldn’t trust either of them.
“What did the kidnappers say?” Jameson asked.
“That they were at your ranch, in the house where your parents were murdered. Are they?”
Because she was close enough to Jameson, she could feel the muscles in his arm tense. “I don’t see them. That doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”
Sweet heaven. He was right. There were thick woods behind the house, and the kidnappers could have gotten in that way.
“I’m on my way there now,” Boyer added. “If you see my daughter, get her away from those SOBs.”
Jameson didn’t argue with the man. Probably because he knew there was nothing he could say to stop him. If Boyer was truly a father terrified for his child’s life, then he would come no matter what. If he was the person behind the attacks, then he could already be on the grounds. Added to that, Jameson’s phone dinged, indicating he had another call coming in.
“I’ve got to go,” Jameson told Boyer, and Kelly saw Unknown Caller on the screen. Probably Mandy. Jameson must have thought so, too, because he quickly answered it.
But it wasn’t Mandy.
“I’m gonna make this real short and sweet,” the man said. “I got a kid here at your folks’ place. A cute little girl.”
No. It was the kidnapper. Kelly automatically looked at the old house again, but she still didn’t see anyone.
“How do we know for sure that you actually have her?” Jameson asked. “I’ll want some kind of proof, something more than just the sounds of her crying.”
There was a pause, some chatter, and several moments later, Jameson’s phone dinged. “Just sent you a picture. Told you she was cute.”
Kelly looked at the screen when the picture loaded. It did indeed seem to be the same little girl in the photo Gabriel had sent them. “Is that your parents’ house in the background?” she whispered to Jameson.
He nodded. “That’s the family room,” he mouthed.
She hadn’t exactly doubted the men when they’d told them their location, but it seemed to be true. The kidnappers were just up the path from them.
“What do you want?” Jameson snarled to them.
“Well, I want your lady friend, Kelly. You see, that’s the only way you’re gonna get back this cute little girl.”
Even with the dim light, Kelly saw Jameson’s eyes narrow and his jaw go stiff. “You’re not getting Kelly.”
“I figured you’d say tha
t, and that’s why I want her to make the decision. Put her on the phone.”
Jameson shook his head, obviously not wanting her to say anything, but the kidnappers would have known she would be with him. “I’m here,” she said.
“Good. Now we can have a real heart-to-heart.” The kidnapper’s tone had a sickening sweetness to it. “Are you the kind of woman who can live with herself if you caused an innocent little girl to be hurt or worse? I doubt you are. And that’s why you’ll do the right thing.”
“And what is the right thing?” No sweetness to Jameson’s voice. It had that lethal lawman’s edge now.
“Start walking to the house, and it’s okay if Kelly brings you with her. But only you. One cowboy is more than enough for this little adventure. Talk it out with each other and make your decision. But make it quick. I’ll call back in five minutes, and I’ll expect an answer. Oh, and I’m expecting that answer to be yes, or you’ll hear a lot more of this.”
The sound shot through Kelly as if a bullet had slammed into her.
Because the sound she heard was a baby’s cry.
* * *
JAMESON HAD HOPED that all of this was a hoax. But he was pretty sure those cries were real. Of course, the kidnappers could be using a recording of Boyer’s baby—or any baby for that matter—but he had to assume they did indeed have the child.
And the child was now in grave danger.
“Five minutes,” the kidnapper repeated, and he ended the call.
He looked at Kelly, and Jameson knew what she was going to say even before she said it. “I have to go out there,” she insisted.
She probably knew what he was going to say, too. “They’ll kill you.”
There were no doubts in his mind that’s exactly what would happen. Well, it would after they tortured her to tell them the location of that file. After they had that, they would have no more need for her.
Roughshod Justice Page 15
