Olive shook her leg, but Spike was determined. His weight and her need to balance her other foot on the branch holding her body up kept her from doing any damage to the dog.
It also kept the sniper from seeing Jess coming.
Jess put her hands on her knees, sucked in a deep breath, and then jumped into the fray.
There was no way to get Olive down from the tree without taking drastic measures. She didn’t appear armed; if she’d had a gun, Olive would have used it on Spike. At least that’s what Jess thought when she pulled her Taser off her belt.
Angry, frustrated and bent on taking a bit of revenge, Jess snuck up behind Olive and zapped her in the ass.
The woman twitched, released the tree, and dropped like a darted bear to the ground.
Spike jumped on the sniper and sniffed and snuffled up and down her leg. Jess tried unsuccessfully to pull him off by his collar, and Olive moaned and twitched from the electrical current.
“Darn it, Spike!” She couldn’t take custody of Olive with Spike in between them. “Bad dog.”
Spike ignored her and braced his feet as she twisted and tugged. Nothing. She finally released his collar. After they got to jail, Jess was so enrolling the dog in training classes.
“Down, boy. Down!” The second round of orders fell on deaf ears. Spike chewed on Olive’s thigh. Oddly, there was no blood.
Jess dug for the flex cuff she’d found in the center console of the SUV while they were chasing the fleeing car and shoved into her pocket. Thank goodness for Sam’s cop preparedness. She pulled it out and tried to decide the next course of action. Olive moaned some more.
Spike’s head came up, finally, as Jess paced around the two of them, looking for an opening. She saw that he hadn’t been getting revenge for having been shot. He had a mauled piece of jerky clamped in his jaws, complete with the slobber covered wrapper still intact that he’d torn from one of the many pockets on her pants.
She frowned. “Some guard dog you are.”
Unabashed, he walked a couple of feet away and plopped down with a grunt. She should have wrestled him over the wrapper, but Olive was coming out of her temporary coma. His digestion would have to take care of the small bit of plastic.
“Good morning, psycho,” Jess said.
“Frucklurp,” Olive groaned and one of her legs jerked. At least that’s what Jess thought she said. Olive opened one eye and looked up. Her lid quavered. Seeing Jess leaning over her she said in slurred but clearer voice, “Fuck you.”
Okay, that made more sense than the previous sentiment. Using the snipers’ paralysis as a tool, she sat on Olive, and wrapped the flex cuff around one wrist.
“No thanks,” Jess said. “I already have someone in my life. But thanks for the offer.”
Olive tried to hit her in the face with a weak jab. Jess zapped her again. The woman went limp. Jess hog tied her just as Sam stumbled out of the overgrown path.
Relief lit his bloody face.
They clearly both needed to take up jogging, although his panting was less than hers had been, and likely caused by the lack of nose usage. But she was sure happy to see him.
“Where’s Albert?” She climbed off Olive, making full use of her elbows and knees while doing so. Olive cursed and drooled out of her slack mouth.
“Calvin and the neighbor ladies went after him.” Sam looked down at Olive. “Thank you for not killing her.”
“Nah. It’ll be more fun to see her go to jail.” She frowned. “Calvin’s here?”
“Apparently he’s either been following us or he has implanted a tracker in your brain while you were sleeping.” He skimmed his eyes up and down her. “I see the take-down left you unscathed.”
Her gaze darted to Spike. He was lying on his side on the ground, content. “He did all the work. I got the fun part.”
Pleased with the conclusion of the case and the capture of the dangerous fugitive, and waiting for Olive to fully come around so they could drag her back to the road, Jess took the next minute to show Sam how much she appreciated him.
She stepped into his arms. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to use your kickboxing skills to take down the perp,” she said and nuzzled his neck.
“I’m okay with Sam taking it from here,” Olive said as her bottom jaw returned to its original position. “You can frisk me, too.”
Sam chuckled and kissed Jess. She melted against him. “Olive may be a sniper, kidnapper, and assaulter of dogs, but she has good taste in men.”
There was little doubt in anyone’s mind that Olive would do time, whether in prison or in a hospital. She had serious issues that needed sorting out.
Sam lifted the young woman and they walked her back to the trailhead. Calvin and the ladies had collected Albert and had him secured in the minivan with jumper cables. He glared as Olive was dropped in on the seat beside him. The pair was not pleased to have been caught.
Spike jumped in between them.
Calvin handed the keys to Sam and took a place in the far back row of seats to oversee the suspects, and three of the women argued about who got to sit beside him.
A park ranger pulled up and Sam explained the situation and promised to return later and make a report. The car and SUV would be towed away as the rest of them crammed into the minivan and headed for Brash & Brazen, Inc.
“Can you do something about your dog?” Olive said.
Jess turned in her seat. Spike had his nose about an inch from the side of her face. “Nope. Sorry.”
“Beat it, dog.”
Spike licked her nose. Olive grimaced. “Gross.” Sadly, for her, with her hands cuffed, she couldn’t do anything to shake him off. “Leave me alone.”
Another lick. “I hate all of you,” she said and tried to rub her face off on her shoulder. “Except for you, Grandpa. And Sam.”
Jess shrugged. As if she cared what Olive thought of her. She wanted answers. “I have a question for you, Olive.” She frowned at Albert who sat in scowling silence. “Why me?”
For a long moment, Jess thought she wouldn’t answer. When she did, the words took her aback. “If Irving hadn’t screwed over my grandpa, I could have been you.”
Perplexed, Jess stared. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Olive sighed. “Grandpa and Irving would have been partners in Brash & Brazen and I would be a Brash Girl if your boss hadn’t cheated us. You have everything: a cool job, a hot boyfriend, respect. What do I have? Nothing. That’s what.”
That certainly explained why she’d taken out her frustration on Jess. What was it about that family and blaming others for their problems? “Albert wanted out of the partnership. Did you ever bother to check out his story?”
Olive looked at Albert. He refused to meet her eyes. She fell into a sullen silence.
Brash loomed over them as Sam parked at the curb in front like a testament of prosperity, further mocking Albert for his bad life choices.
Irving and Alvin were waiting when they got to his office a few minutes later. Despite knowing Albert was behind the whole mess, Irving seemed genuinely surprised that his old friend and partner was actually alive and determined to take him down.
“Albert Grimes.” Irving leaned forward on his desk chair when Sam rolled Albert into Irving’s office, in a wheelchair they’d confiscated from the downstairs storage closet. “I thought we were done with the bullshit when I bought you out all those years ago. Now you’ve come back to haunt me, you old bastard.”
Jess nudged Olive into a chair.
A pair of bushy brows tangled together over angry blue eyes. “We never settled anything. You took Eileen from me. It was never over.”
Olive gawked at her grandfather. Clearly, he hadn’t mentioned Eileen in his angry ramblings.
“Eileen was never yours,” Irving said calmly. “And now you’ve turned your granddaughter into a killer just because you have a desire to see me pay?”
A snort followed.
“Olive never planned to kill anyone. The goal was to see you lose everything. By targeting you and eventually all of your girls, you’d close up shop and scurry off to hide. Then I’d win.”
The plan was not well thought out, Jess thought. But knowing how much Irving cared about his “girls” it might have worked, eventually, had Irving been a normal boss. Albert hadn’t counted on the toughness that made up their group. Irving wouldn’t, and hadn’t, gone down without a fight.
“She could have killed Tom at the church,” Jess said. “She’s lucky her aim was off.”
“My aim wasn’t off,” Olive protested. “I can shoot the eye out of a fly at fifty yards. Had the procession not stopped, I would have put a hole right through your arm.”
“Nice,” Jess said as Olive smiled up at Sam. “You have serious issues, you know that?”
Olive twirled her hair with her cuffed hand. Sam frowned. His face looked like he’d lost a kickboxing match.
A pair of police officers appeared in the doorway.
“I hope you’re pleased with yourself,” Irving said to Albert. “You’ve taken Olive down with you and ruined her life. Now the both of you will have many years to think about whether all of this was worth it.”
For the first time regret filled Albert’s expression as he watched an officer pull Olive from the chair. “Eileen should have been mine,” was all he said as he was wheeled out.
Jess was pleased for a second, then jumped out of her chair. “Wait!” she called and hurried to Albert. “One last question, if you don’t mind.”
He grunted. She took that for a yes. “How did you drug my dog?”
For a minute, she thought he’d leave her hanging. Instead, a smug smile crossed his lips. “When I saw you heading for Olive’s room, I pulled out a jerky stick and sprinkled some old medicine that I had from an irregular heart beat back in 2000. He gobbled it right up.”
She scowled. “You are a mean man.”
He grinned all the way to the elevator bank.
* * *
Once the dust settled and Alvin and Calvin had gone off to share a beer, and hopefully bond again, the rest of the group called the case closed and dispersed.
Sam and Jess accepted a ride home from the ladies in the minivan who had been babysitting Spike in the parking lot. They chattered excitedly about their part in catching the bad guys while they drove back to Sam’s house. Sam couldn’t get out of the van fast enough when they pulled into his driveway. He couldn’t take the estrogen overload.
Jess thanked them for the ride and for the “Calvin for President” T-shirt one of them pressed into her hand as she exited the van with Spike, and followed Sam in. She dropped the keys and shirt on the living room table and Spike headed into the kitchen for some kibble.
“That was fun,” she said as he pulled her into his arms. “I hope that Olive gets help wherever she ends up and can eventually become a productive member of society.”
“You feel sorry for her.”
For all that the woman had done, she shouldn’t feel anything for the sniper. It was strange that she did. “I guess I do. Albert infected her with an evil spell and warped her brain. Maybe an exorcism can save her?”
Sam pulled off her shirt. “Time will tell.” He tugged at her bra. “Enough about Olive. Let’s talk about you and me. We should celebrate our win. Naked.”
“Yes, please.” Even beat up, he was still sexy. Her senses, and her girly bits, zinged to life.
Chuckling, he carried her to the damaged couch and gave her something else to think about.
Chapter Forty
Some things are best unsaid, especially when in an afterglow haze, when your mind was still scrambled. So hours later when they gone off to bed to make love for the second time that evening and Jess muttered “I love you’ as she snuggled against Sam’s warm body, she was sure the words would be well received. After all, he had to feel the same for her. Right?
Her second thought was, why shouldn’t she love him? So she said it again with more feeling in case he hadn’t heard her the first time. Instead of holding her close and confessing the same, he hopped out of the bed like a twitchy rabbit and reached for his jeans. He wouldn’t look at her but she could see the deer in the headlights panic on his eyes.
Double, oh, damn. “I guess I shouldn’t have said that,” she said and pulled the sheet over her naked breasts. Backpedaling began in earnest as she said, “I was in the moment.”
At least he didn’t flee. He sat back on the bed and rubbed his jaw. She braced herself.
“Look, Jess. You are a great person and I do care for you. I’m just not sure if I’m ready for things to get serious. You know that my last serious relationship ended my career in baseball and sent me to a dark place. I’m not ready to risk that again. Do you understand?”
A great person? “Are you kidding?” She climbed out of bed and searched for her panties. Drat, she’d left them downstairs. “That was, what, ten years ago?” Jess jerked the top sheet off the bed. “Do you plan to remain emotionally stunted forever? I’m not asking for marriage, just a mature relationship with a guy I care a lot about.” She wrapped the sheet around her. She wasn’t having this argument naked. “What do you want, Sam?”
Boy, this night had gone sideways fast over three little words. The rest was all in his head.
“I want to come home and not see my couch eaten.”
The words were a kick to the gut.
“Well, you know what. I’m messy and my dog is messy. And we aren’t going to change.” She stomped to the door. “Spike and I will sleep in the guest room and be out tomorrow. Good-bye, Sam.”
* * *
The bedroom door slam made him wince. “Shit.” He walked into the bathroom and splashed water on his face, calling himself all kinds of idiot. He hadn’t meant to piss her off, or hurt her feelings. She’d just hit him out of left field with the whole love thing. It had been a very long time since he’d heard those words and he’d panicked.
Maybe he was emotionally stunted. But they’d only known each other a short time. Was it wrong to feel uncomfortable talking about love when their relationship was so new? No, it was not. He wasn’t wrong.
It was the feeling of having just ruined what could be the best thing that ever happened to him that made him want to apologize for the couch comment. He wasn’t mad about that anymore. He wanted to make up with Jess. It was the idea of racing headlong into a relationship that kept him from walking down the hall to her.
Some decisions were better left to make with a clear head and not in the heat of an argument.
The idea of never seeing her lavender eyes laughing at his jokes or getting smoky during sex, left him flat. Yet, he thought that perhaps taking time off would help define his focus. It was impossible to think when she was underfoot.
When he did settle down with someone, he wanted it to be forever.
* * *
Jess had done some investigating and knew Sam would be at a forensics conference for two days when she directed the delivery men to take out the old couch and replace it with the new one she’d ordered online. She’d done her research and found an exact match to his favorite sports watching couch. Hopefully, he’d be pleased.
In the three weeks since she’d seen him last had been difficult and frustrating. If anything, being apart from him had confirmed that she had indeed fallen in love and that wouldn’t change without time and distance. If ever. Sadly, the emotion was still one-sided. He hadn’t contacted her once.
Obviously, he was happy being a lone wolf, living alone without personal connections, eating raw meat and…scratching.
Gad. She’d lost her mind.
After closing the door behind the two men, she wandered through the house toward the bathroom, and her heart ached. The memories she’d made during her brief stay here cut deep into her heart. It was best to get out before she lost herself in a pity-party. She had more than herself to
think of now.
Crap, Sam was going to have a stroke.
Her hand slid to her flat belly, and she knew they’d have to have a conversation soon. She’d peed on a stick this morning and confirmed the pregnancy. Despite using protection, somehow he’d found fertile ground. She only hoped that he’d be willing to father the baby and not limit his responsibility to sending a monthly check. The idea of raising him or her alone was not what she wanted. They could co-parent even if they weren’t together.
Jess pushed through the bathroom door and stared. On the toilet tank was a toilet paper roll covered with a lopsided poodle with a pink ribbon around its neck.
Tears sprang into her eyes. She headed up to the master bath and found a second poodle on that tank. He must have smuggled out a pair when they’d been at the storage place.
This gave her hope of some sort of reconciliation. He was thinking about her, too. But he’d have to come to her if he wanted to be friends. She was too raw to make that step.
She headed down to the kitchen.
Looking out the door, Calvin’s tent was still in the backyard. She smiled. Sam had lost a dog and the girl, but had kept the Naked Protester. Interesting.
She finished up downstairs and a few minutes later she left. There was a lot of thinking and planning to do that didn’t involve Sam. It was time to stop moping and move forward.
“Come on, kiddo,” she said and rubbed her belly. “Let’s get Spike to his training class before he eats my back seat.”
* * *
Sam knew she’d been at his house even before he saw the new couch and the pair of mossy green pillows on the leather surface. There’d been an energy about the place when Jess was around that had been missing ever since she left. She’d brought life into the house with her laughter and fun, and damn if he didn’t miss that every single day she’d been gone.
He dropped his suitcase by the door and walked over to take a seat on the couch. He grabbed a pillow and held it to his chest. He had to admit, a couple of pillows weren’t horrible.
The Sweetheart Kiss Page 21
