Emma wasn’t sure where to go, but she kept walking.
* * * *
Jayce and Daniel had left a witness’s house when her cell phone rang.
“Please, don’t worry. I’m sure it’s okay,” Kitty said by way of greeting, achieving the opposite instantly.
“Kitty, what’s going on?”
Daniel gave her a questioning look, and she shrugged.
“Marisa was going to join Emma on her shift today. She says when she arrived, the store was closed, and nobody was there.”
Jayce closed her eyes for a moment. It had been too quick, too easy, Emma’s insistence on going back to the store. She was certain that Emma wouldn’t do anything to harm herself or anyone else, but she didn’t want her to be alone right now.
“I’ll find her,” she promised.
“Thank you so much. I know you’re at work, but…”
“It’s okay. I can take a few hours.”
Chomsky would understand. The question was, where would she start?
Her heart ached for Emma who was hiding out somewhere, thinking that she had to work this out all by herself, the way it had been before. Not anymore.
* * * *
Emma hadn’t made it quite home, emerging out of the fog embarrassed and unsure about what to do next. She had to go back to the store at some point, be responsible, earn her place in society…earn it back. She had worked hard for that goal. At the moment, she didn’t think she could face Kitty—or Jayce. She needed to clear her head—wash her face. Right now, she probably didn’t look like a responsible member of society.
The café on the corner of the street drew her in. She used the restroom to make herself fairly presentable again, then retreated to a corner booth with a vanilla latte.
Small comforts—she had dreamed of this during the long nights and dreary days at the prison. There had always been an undercurrent of tension, something that told you not to let your guard down…but it was mostly boring. Emma was quiet, she didn’t get into any trouble, and so it got better when she was able to work in the prison library, or so she’d thought. At the time, it seemed like a cruel joke, millions of stories, and then her own, being stuck in this place, because someone she’d trusted had made a horrible decision.
These days, she couldn’t blame Maxine so much anymore. Those were her own doubts and fears holding her back—and a desperate man with a gun who thought he should be able to change his fate by similarly bad decisions, uncaring who got caught in the crossfire.
She resented him, resented Maxine…and herself for giving them so much weight.
“Do you mind if I sit here with you for a while?”
Emma jumped at the soft-spoken words, but she shook her head.
Jayce sat across from her. “Hey. How are you?”
“Okay. God, I’m so embarrassed. I need to go back to work. So do you, for that matter.”
“That’s okay. We can both take a moment.” Jayce had brought a black coffee with her to the table.
“How did you find me?” Emma asked, eliciting a small smile from her.
“You probably don’t want to know. It included inappropriate use of resources…but this was important. I needed to be with you.”
Jayce had experienced what it was like to constantly have to keep one’s guard up. Still, she was genuine, not afraid to say what she felt.
“What if it never ends?” Emma blurted out. “What if you do one bad thing, and it screws up your life forever, no matter how hard you try?”
“Except you didn’t do anything wrong, back then, and now,” Jayce said calmly. “In fact, you made sure everyone was safe before thinking about yourself. I can’t promise you it will always be easy, but I’ll always be here for you. I love you.”
“This, when I just managed to stop crying…I love you too. I don’t know what happened in there. The phone rang, and I freaked out.”
“You were right to go back, but it’s also normal that this happens. It will get better.”
“Yeah, I know.” Emma sighed. She shook her head with a wry laugh. “Is it something about me? I mean, I’m always afraid for you. I, on the other hand, have the safest job in the world, and then this happens. I know I’ll get through this. I wish I didn’t have to.”
Jayce took her hand, holding it in hers. “After the accident, it took me a while to enjoy driving again, not think about it all of the time. Eventually, it happened. You love your work. You’ll be comfortable again…and you’re right, it sucks having to get there first—but we don’t have to do it alone anymore.”
Emma held her gaze, grateful for the reminder. It was all that mattered.
* * * *
Emma went back to the store, apologized to Marisa and Kitty, and resumed her work. Customers came streaming in, a couple whose daughter was turning eighteen next month, a group of girlfriends planning a birthday party for their friend turning thirty, and two teens wanting a card for their friend who had finally passed his driver’s test.
Kitty stayed for another hour before Emma sent her home.
“I am so sorry. I swear I’m not going to freak out again.”
Kitty hugged her tightly. “Honey, I’m still freaked out about what happened here. You have every reason.”
“Maybe, but now I have work to do. I won’t let you down again.”
“You did great. Everyone knows. All right, I’ll let you get back to it.”
Moments after Kitty had left, the door opened again, and Emma was startled to see two familiar faces.
She left her place behind the counter to greet Mildred and Carol.
“It’s good to see you. How are you doing?”
“Oh, we’re fine.” Mildred made a dismissive gesture. “I mean…That was certainly not what we’d planned for a Saturday morning, but he let us go first, thanks to you.”
“That’s why we’re here,” Carol said. “We have to thank you so much…”
“That’s okay. I did what I thought would make him give up.” Emma laughed ruefully. “It didn’t work out like I planned either.”
“I hear the young man is alive and almost ready to go to court, so that’s good,” Mildred surmised. “What Carol was trying to say is, we realized that now we have even more to celebrate, and you should be a part of it. We’d like you to come to Jason and Elliott’s wedding. They would love to meet you.”
“But…are you sure…That part when I said I went to prison, wasn’t a lie.”
“Oh dear, do you really think that matters? I’m sure there’s a reason why you’re here, and someone trusted you enough to make you the manager. All of us would be really offended if you didn’t come…and of course you may bring your lady friend.”
Emma couldn’t suppress the smile at the term. She wondered what her lady friend was going to think about the invitation. “Thank you, that’s very kind. We’d love to come.”
“That’s settled then. She was very scared for you,” Carol said.
“I know. You’re right, we deserve a little celebration, and a wedding sounds just about perfect.”
Mildred winked at Carol, both of them obviously happy with themselves.
Emma thought she’d be flinching at the sound of the doorbell or the telephone for a while to come, but that wouldn’t stop her from coming to work—from living her life.
* * * *
When Jayce came home that night, Emma was already there, cooking. It made her feel a bit guilty, since her achievements seldom went beyond ordering in, or picking up takeout on the way. For Emma though, preparing a meal meant something more. She always seemed happy and serene in the process, which eased Jayce’s guilt a bit. That, and it smelled delicious.
“Hey,” Emma said. “Mildred and Carol came by the store this afternoon.”
Jayce moved in close to steal a kiss for a greeting. She remembered Carol Patton who had passed on Emma’s message to her.
“What did they say?”
“They invited us to their grandsons’ wedding.”
“Oh. Okay. That’s nice of them.”
“I said we’d come.”
Emma turned in her embrace, looking up at her with a smile. “You should have seen it. It almost looked like they were secretly plotting.”
“Do you want to get married?” Jayce almost regretted her question. It needed context, a ring, deliberation. Emma had faced many changes in the past months, they both had. She should know better.
“I haven’t really thought about it,” Emma admitted. “I’m happy with the way things are now. You?”
Jayce leaned forward to kiss her softly, relieved that Emma had let her off the hook so easily. After all, it wasn’t that she hadn’t entertained the idea. It deserved more thought. “I am too. We’ll talk about it when the time is right.”
“There’s something else we could do…” Emma’s voice dropped to a whisper, and the next kiss they shared wasn’t so chaste. “Dinner will be fine on low heat for a bit.”
They were halfway to the bedroom when Jayce remembered she’d never given Emma the dress she’d bought for her, but she assumed that could wait a little while longer. All thoughts vanished in the pleasure of making love in the light of the evening sun.
Later though, when Emma was almost asleep in her arms, she thought of marriage, and that it wasn’t hard to imagine at all.
* * * *
Much to their credit, Jason and Elliott didn’t seem to mind that their grandmothers had extended their guest list. They went out of their way, making everyone feel welcome, and thanked Emma once more for her intervention at the store. She and Jayce got to sit at a table with Keisha and her moms who were equally as grateful. Keisha confirmed that she’d come back to work as planned.
Lastly, the setting was giving her a lot to think about. After the grooms’ first dance, other couples began to fill the floor, and to Emma’s surprise, Jayce asked her to dance.
“I know you’re getting a little self-conscious with all the praise, even though you deserve every bit of it,” she whispered.
“Yes. Thanks for rescuing me.”
“I’ll always rescue you. And you look gorgeous, by the way.”
There was a lot Jayce hadn’t known when she let Kitty help her pick the red dress, bad and good.
She saw Mildred and Carol watching them, sharing a knowing smile. Maybe she and Jayce were that obvious to everyone who took a closer look. Emma didn’t mind. They had been inevitable from the moment she’d laid eyes on Jayce in the halfway house. If they’d made it past another dangerous situation to join the celebration of another couple’s bond for life—it meant something.
* * * *
“Detective Finney. Busy, I see.”
Jayce quickly minimized the window showing a wide selection of rings. Chomsky’s amused smile told her that she hadn’t been fast enough.
“I’m sorry about that. What can I do for you?”
“Come to my office for a moment?”
“Sure.” It wasn’t until they entered the room that Jayce realized her friend and colleague Tanya was already there.
Chomsky looked apologetic. “Finney, I heard what you told me after your assignment in the psychiatric clinic, and I’ve been trying to accommodate your wishes best I can. Flynn will be primary on this, but she’s going to need someone to back her up.”
Though Jayce had hoped the situation wouldn’t arise so soon, she wasn’t surprised it did. She had wanted a slower pace, room to figure out her future with Emma, the next steps. She’d known that in her job, she wouldn’t always be able to control those perimeters.
“Tell me about the case,” she said.
It looked like her alter ego, J. C. Turner, was going to keep her company for a while longer.
* * * *
“I had a conversation with the lieutenant earlier.” Jayce had waited until later that night, when the lack of daylight hopefully softened what she had to tell Emma. Considering some of her assignments in the past, this was probably one of the least dangerous ones, but the timing wasn’t the best. Then again, the timing was never perfect, and still they had managed to move forward, even against the most difficult odds.
“Let me guess. She couldn’t keep her promise.” Emma sighed. “Not that it was really a promise. I understand that. It’s your job.”
That was almost too easy. Emma sensed her hesitation. “Come on. If you had to go on a business trip you couldn’t cancel, it would be the same. It’s not all about me. Sure, I wish Marsden wouldn’t have chosen Kitty’s store of all places.” She laughed wryly. “Now that came out wrong. I didn’t mean to say I would have wished that on somebody else.”
“You were very brave,” Jayce said, kissing her softly.
“I’ll be okay. How long?”
“I’m not sure yet. Tanya is primary on this. And no, I can’t tell you more. I don’t want to tempt you.”
Emma turned to her with a smile. “It’s much too late for that, don’t you think?”
“Okay, I’ll take that back. I love to tempt you.”
“You know I always say yes,” Emma teased her. It was impossible to ignore the flash of heat.
“Now that’s what I like to hear,” Jayce told her, her cheeks heating with all the possible ways she could interpret Emma’s words. “I love you.”
“I love you too. And I know things have been kind of difficult, but we got a wedding invitation out of it. That was nice of them.”
“It was,” Jayce agreed. “Speaking of which…”
Emma’s eyes widened.
“I know we said we’d postpone this conversation, but maybe the timing is right after all…You told me you’ll always say yes, so I was wondering…I’m so sorry, I’m doing this all wrong. I should have a ring or something—”
The next moment, Emma was on top of her, ending Jayce’s ramblings with a deep, passionate kiss. “Yes,” she whispered. “Of course. What did you think I’d say?”
“Once we wrapped up this case? Are you okay with that?”
“More than okay. Let me show you.”
Jayce resented her boss a lot less than before she’d made her confession.
* * * *
Emma hadn’t lied. She knew that in the long run, she couldn’t stand in the way of Jayce’s job, no matter how much she worried, and she couldn’t always be involved. That didn’t stop her from crying bittersweet tears and clutching Elvis a little too close the morning she found Jayce’s note.
I can’t wait to be back and get the planning started. Don’t worry too much. Love, J.
She would worry all right, and she still had chills every time she walked through the store’s front door. She felt calmer when Kitty or one of the other employees was around. It would get even better with time.
Emma hated having to be patient once more, but the ultimate reward was waiting for her.
5. Honeymoon Suite
It was Jane Finley, Jayce’s newest alias, showing up for her job at the warehouse at 4:00 a.m. sharp. Ten days max, driving goods from one location to another, no questions asked. After a few run-ins with law enforcement, Jane had a hard time finding a job. She could use the money—discretion was not a problem.
No one would notice, but Jayce had struggled making the transition earlier that morning. On paper, this was supposed to be easy. It was Tanya’s case. Her colleague had posed as a buyer and successfully infiltrated a group of counterfeiters awaiting huge amounts of merchandise in the next few days. Even though she had managed to collect a wealth of information, they still needed some important details about those shipments. They needed hard evidence.
Tanya caught a lucky break when one of the drivers got himself arrested for an offense unrelated to the counterfeiters’ dealings. She suggested a friend of hers, and her business partners trusted her enough to give “Jane” a try.
Jayce, while happy for her colleague, didn’t have the same enthusiastic outlook. She had known that in the long run, an assignment like this would come up. She was good at it, slipping
into another persona, making cocky criminals trust her. Too good, maybe. She wanted a different life, a slower pace, now that her relationship with Emma was moving forward. She hated leaving her with just a note, but it seemed like the easiest way for both of them. Once this was over, Jayce would consider a career change if it kept her from having to cozy up to greedy, ruthless people. She had left J.C., a long-time alias, behind. Now Jane. This would be the last time. She steeled herself and knocked on the metal door.
A man in his mid-thirties opened the door to her. “Finley?”
“That’s me.”
She stepped inside the warehouse, taking in her surroundings. Tanya stood with one woman and three men. Only one of them was wearing a suit—Roger Winston, one of the mid-level suppliers. He had high ambitions, according to Tanya, and was supposed to lead them to the bigger players in the near future. If all went according to plan with the incoming shipments, a big bust wasn’t too far ahead.
“I’m here,” she said. “Where am I going?”
The man who had let her in laughed.
“You’re not going anywhere by yourself, yet, honey. T over there says we can trust you, but I’d like to see for myself.”
Jayce suppressed a wince when he stepped forward and started frisking her, hands lingering in places.
“There I thought you might buy me dinner first. No piece, no wire. I’m not suicidal.”
“All right then. Looking good. I’ll get Connor in here, and we’ll send you on a test run.”
“What does that mean?” she asked, frowning, even though she could guess. “I’ve been driving since I was fourteen. I don’t need a babysitter.”
“Well, I guess T left out some things. You’ll spend a few days with Connor, get familiar with the routes. Don’t worry, we’ll pay you.”
“I hope so,” she mumbled.
“Once we think you can handle it, you can go on your own. Please bear with us, but this is last minute, and there can be no mistakes.”
Jayce & Emma Page 20
