Sweet Fortune

by Jayne Ann Krentz

  “We're assuming it is Aunt Glenna.”

  “I'm afraid she's the logical candidate. But that's in our favor. It won't be easy for her to kill Elizabeth. We'll have some negotiating time.” Hatch stopped the car a moment later and got out. He closed the door and leaned down to speak through the open window as Jessie slid into the driver's seat.

  “Remember. Stay in the car. Keep the engine running. If she calls to you, pretend you can't hear her.”

  “All right.” Jessie's fingers trembled on the steering wheel. She watched as Hatch vanished down an alley between two darkened buildings. His dark gray suit blended perfectly into the shadows. Then she turned the corner and drove toward the warehouse.

  There was no sign of life around the entrance of the building. But one of the front doors was open, revealing a gaping darkness inside. Jessie brought the car to a halt, leaving the engine running as Hatch had instructed. She waited.

  Long moments passed in terrifying silence. Jessie began to wonder if Glenna or whoever it was inside had realized she was there. The thirty minutes were up.

  Fearing that the kidnapper might think she had not followed orders and would do something violent, Jessie cracked open the car door. She had to get out and see what was happening.

  At that moment a familiar voice shouted at her from the gloom of the open doorway.

  “Jessie.” Elizabeth's small figure came pelting out of the building. “Jessie, watch out.”

  “Elizabeth.” Jessie was out of the car without even pausing to think. She ran toward Elizabeth, instinctively grabbing her arm and jerking her off to one side of the entrance. Something told her to get her sister out of the direct line of sight.

  An instant later a shot crackled through the darkness. It shattered the awful stillness that cloaked the warehouse.

  “Jessie, she pushed me out here to get you out of the car. She's got a gun.”

  “I can't believe she'd actually shoot us. I just can't believe it.” Jessie dragged Elizabeth farther away from the main entrance, deep into the shadows around the corner of the building.

  Elizabeth clung to her hand. “What are we going to do?”

  “Hush.” Jessie pressed herself back against the wall of the building, trying to listen. She held her sister close to her side. “Hatch is here,” she whispered in Elizabeth's ear.

  “Geez. That's a relief.”

  “You think I couldn't have handled this on my own?” Jessie muttered.

  “Nothing personal, but something tells me Hatch is better at this kind of thing.”

  “Something tells me you're right.”

  Another shot echoed through the night, and then a vast silence descended on the warehouse. Jessie and Elizabeth held their breaths.

  A moment later Jessie heard footsteps coming around the corner of the building. It was the familiar, solid-sounding tread of a pair of wing tips.

  “Jessie? Elizabeth? It's all over.”

  “Hatch.”

  Both sisters ran to him and Hatch opened his arms to catch them both close for a moment.

  “I think,” Hatch said after a while, “that you'd better come and take a look at the kidnapper, Jessie.”

  Jessie closed her eyes, steeling herself. “Yes, I guess I'd better. What am I going to tell Mom? And David?”

  “Not too much, if I were you.” Hatch's voice was wry as he led the way back into the warehouse and turned on a workman's light.

  Jessie stared down at the familiar wiry figure lying unconscious on the floor. A stocking mask lay crumpled beside her pale face.

  “Nadine Willard.”

  “You know her?” Elizabeth asked curiously. “She tried to tell me you did when she grabbed me in the rest room at the mall, but I didn't believe her. Then she pulled that gun out of her purse and made me go with her. She even knew how to deactivate the security system. She cut some wire and did some things with a pair of pliers.”

  “Yes, I know her,” Jessie said, meeting Hatch's eyes with a sense of chagrin. “I vote we don't ever tell anyone about our earlier suspicions.”

  “I agree,” Hatch said dryly. “Dr. Ringstead would no doubt diagnose us both as severely paranoid.”

  “She was working for Edwin Bright all along,” Jessie explained to Lilian, Constance, and Elizabeth two days later in the offices of ExCellent Designs. “A real dedicated type. The kind Aunt Glenna told me got lured into cults. She idolized Bright. Thought he was some kind of savior.”

  “And he used her,” Constance said.

  Jessie nodded. “She had a strange background. Grew up in a rough neighborhood and got into gangs and drugs at an early age. Had some trouble with the law when she was caught breaking into houses. But she seemed to have straightened out. She got her GED, got into Butterfield, and was holding down a job.”

  “And then she got involved with Bright?” Lilian asked.

  “The police say he used her as sort of an inside person to screen the people he was recruiting. She was the one who broke into Mrs. Valentine's office and later tried to get into Hatch's car. She was trying to find out how far our investigation had gone and whether or not we were a genuine threat to DEL.”

  “And when she realized it was all over for Bright, she decided to try to get rid of the people who could testify against him. Starting with you.” Lilian shuddered.

  “Her first try was the night she nearly ran me down. She was fanatically devoted to Bright. She was going to try to kill all of us involved in the case. She started with me because she blamed me for having carried on the investigation in the first place.” Jessie paused. “She had actually tried to stop things right at the beginning.”

  Constance looked at her. “What do you mean?”

  “Mrs. Valentine called to say she recognized her picture in this morning's paper. Nadine is the one who pushed her down that flight of stairs.”

  Lilian shuddered. “She'd found out that Mrs. Attwood had gone to her?”

  Jessie nodded. “Nadine apparently believed in Mrs. V's powers and was afraid that a true psychic might be able to hurt Edwin Bright's cause. Nobody worried about me for a while, until it became apparent I was determined to pursue the case. Then things got complicated. Bright told her to let Hatch and me come on out to the island so that Landis and Hoffman could assess the situation.”

  “But they still weren't overly concerned until they found out Susan had been contacted,” Constance concluded.

  “Right.”

  Constance laced her fingers together on top of her desk and looked at Elizabeth. “I hope you understand that you are never again going to go to the mall with your friends. From now on out, one of us goes with you or you don't go.”

  “Ah, Mom,” Elizabeth muttered.

  Jessie patted her hand consolingly. “Don't worry, Elizabeth. I'll go with you whenever you want. The way I figure it, I owe you about a hundred trips to the mall.”

  “Fat lot of good that will do,” Elizabeth complained. “Hatch won't let you out alone now either.”

  Jessie grinned. “He's a little overanxious these days, but I expect he'll relax after the wedding.”

  “Who's overanxious?” Hatch asked as he came through the door with several cups of coffee. He glanced around at the smiling faces of the four women. Then he shrugged. “You finish telling them the story, Jessie?”

  “I told them everything.”

  “Good. Then we can get out of here.” He glanced at his watch. “I've got a lot of work to do before we leave on our honeymoon.”

  A month later Jessie awoke in the pink-and-white bridal suite of the luxurious beachfront hotel. Outside the lanai window, sunlight danced on the incredibly blue tropical sea. She stirred, aware of Hatch's strong, solid warmth beside her. His arm lay across her breasts, his face buried in the pillow beside her.

  For a long moment Jessie reveled silently in the perfection of the Hawaiian morning and the promise of the future that stretched out before her.

  The wedding had been hastily planned
but had gone off without a hitch, thanks to Lilian and Constance. Elizabeth had been adorable in her bridesmaid attire. Nobody had tried to stuff Hatch into a coral tuxedo. He had waited for her at the altar in austere black and white and it had suited him perfectly. Her father had walked Jessie down the aisle and handed her over, with an expression of deep satisfaction, to the man he had personally chosen for her.

  Vincent had danced with his ex-wives at the reception, clearly enjoying himself in a way that surprised everyone who knew him. He did not excuse himself to make a single phone call to check in at the office.

  Nor did Hatch.

  “What's so funny?” Hatch shifted slightly, opening his eyes. The sexy, hungry memories of the night were reflected in his gaze.

  Jessie turned in his arms. “I was just thinking that you haven't made one phone call or sent a single fax since we got here.”

  “We've only been here a day. Give me time.”

  “I'm going to slap your wrists if I see you reach for the phone.” Jessie propped herself up on one elbow. “Happy, Mr. Hatchard?”

  “Yes. Definitely yes.” He ducked his head to kiss the tip of one rosy breast.

  “It went well, didn't it?”

  “The wedding?” He kissed the other nipple. “It went fine. If you overlook the way your father was bragging to everyone about how he had found your husband for you.”

  Jessie laughed and then sighed as Hatch slid his leg between her thighs. “I'm willing to give him some credit.”

  “What about giving me the credit? I took one look at you and knew I was the right man for you.”

  “True. You know, I'm going to be embarrassed every time I look Aunt Glenna in the face. Thank heaven she doesn't know what we thought on the way to rescuing Elizabeth. I was afraid she wouldn't come to the wedding.”

  “David had a long talk with her. Told her he knew everything and that he was satisfied and she should be too.” Hatch's hand closed over her thigh, clenching gently.

  “David certainly seems to be getting along much better with Dad these days.” Jessie's legs shifted restlessly on the sheet.

  “Ummm.” Hatch was kissing her throat now.

  “Did I tell you what Dad said to me at the reception?”

  “No.”

  “He said it was time I stopped fooling around working for other people.” Jessie inhaled sharply as Hatch's fingers moved to her inner thigh. “He said I was never going to be happy unless I was my own boss. Said I was a lot like him in that respect.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Hatch, you're not listening. It's my future I'm trying to discuss here. I've been doing some thinking, and I've got an idea for starting up my own business.”

  “I'm your future,” Hatch informed her, unabashed at his own arrogance. He lowered himself along the length of her, eyes gleaming in the morning light. “And you're mine. Any further discussion on the subject is hereby tabled until later. There is another matter on the agenda that needs to be taken care of first. Priorities, Mrs. Hatchard. Always remember, one must stick to priorities.”

  She looked up at him through her lashes and wrapped her arms around his neck. “God, I love it when you play chief executive officer.”

  Three months later Hatch looked up from a financial summary as Vincent Benedict stormed into his office and tossed a file onto the desk.

  “Have you seen those contract terms? Personnel just sent them up for review. They're outrageous. Absolutely outrageous. Dammit, Hatch, what the hell are you going to do about her? She's gone berserk.”

  “I assume we are discussing Jessie?” Hatch opened the file and glanced at the proposed contract from a temporary employment agency called Intuitive Services. The owner and sole proprietor of the firm was one Jessie Benedict Hatchard. The company slogan was spelled out on the letterhead: “We Anticipate Your Short-Term Personnel Requirements.”

  “Damn right we're discussing Jessie.”

  Hatch glanced at the terms of the contract and scowled. Jessie was asking for a year-long contract to supply software design services to Benedict Fasteners. She was featuring two exceptionally talented programmers and designers named Alex Robin and Susan Attwood. “You're right. She's asking too much. Tell personnel to keep negotiating.”

  “Won't do any good,” Vincent said, looking glum. “They tell me this is her final offer.”

  “Then tell them to call off the deal.”

  Vincent looked shocked. “But this is Jessie's first big contract. I want her to have it.”

  “If she's going to run her own business, she's going to have to learn to be more competitive when she goes after a contract.”

  “Dammit, man, this is Jessie. Your wife. My daughter. Don't you want her to make this temporary-employment-agency thing work? It's ideal for her. The first decent career move she's ever made. Hell, no one knows more about short-term employment than Jessie.”

  “I agree.” Hatch leaned back in his chair and eyed Vincent with amusement. “And I don't doubt for one minute that she'll make the business fly. She's got a lot of you in her.”

  “Don't you think we ought to give her the contract? We need a couple of good computer jockeys on board to design those new financial programs. You said so yourself.”

  “I know. But if we let her lock us into these terms, we'll never be able to get out of them. Tell personnel to try again, and if they can't get her to lower the cost, tell them to kill the deal. She'll learn fast.”

  Vincent heaved a sigh. “You're probably right.”

  Hatch grinned. “You know I'm right. Hey, this was all your idea, remember? Don't worry. It'll work out.”

  “I hope so. I want to see her make a go of this agency of hers.” Vincent narrowed his eyes shrewdly. “Don't suppose you could, uh, sort of talk to her tonight?”

  Hatch laughed and shook his head. “Impossible. Jessie has this strict rule, you see. No business after I get home from work.” He glanced at the clock. “And speaking of home, it looks like it's about time to call it a day.”

  Vincent frowned. “It's only five-thirty.”

  “I know.” Hatch stood up and put on the jacket of his conservative pin-striped suit. “I've got to get moving. Jessie and I are involved in a major project and I don't want to be late.”

  “What major project?”

  “Planning the baby's bedroom.” Hatch stroked the scarlet petals of a brilliant lily in the bouquet on his desk. Jessie had sent the flowers to the office that morning in honor of the third month of their marriage. “Your grandkid will be here in another five months, Benedict. See you in the morning. Oh, and don't forget dinner at our place on Saturday night. Elizabeth will be there. And be on time. Jessie has another rule. If you're late, you don't eat.”

  Hatch went out of the office and headed home to where Jessie and the really important part of his life were waiting.

  eBook Info

  Contributor:Jayne Ann Krentz

  Coverage:None

  Creator:Jayne Ann Krentz

  Title:Sweet Fortune

  Date:1991

  Format:None

  Identifier:0-7434-9643-4

  Language:en

  Publisher:S and S

  Relation:None

  Rights:Copyright © 1991 by Jayne Ann Krentz

  Source:Paper

  Type:None