Family Secrets: Books 5-8

by Virginia Kantra

  And by God, Jake was not going to let them win.

  Running a hand through his hair, he turned from where Eric and Leigh had vanished around a corner, thankful the press had not found them. All evening hed noticed odd looks between the two of them, deep, meaningful glances as though they carried on a conversation in which he hadnt been invited to participate. Theyd been like that in grad school, and it had amused Jake deeply. Eric had denied involvement with Leigh beyond friendship, but the guys had always suspected the connection ran deeper.

  And now he knew.

  Eric had taken Leigh to bed, then returned to Cloverdale and married Becky.

  And Leigh had a son, not a single picture of whom shed ever sent to anyone. Hed assumed the childs father had been a Brit shed met at Oxford, but now, instinct warned that the truth resided closer to home.

  That shouldnt take long, Ms. Montgomery, the second of two private investigators said. A couple of days, probably. Ill let you know.

  Leigh reached for Glenn Moores hand and shook it warmly. You know I appreciate the good work you do.

  The older man with thinning gray hair smiled. And I appreciate the chance you gave me. I wont let you down.

  Leigh had no doubt of that. If anyone could sniff out the information needed, Moore was the man. Shed met him upon her return from London, a washed-up private investigator whod been framed to take the heat for a slick, middle-aged con artist. Glenn had been hired for a routine surveillance job, never suspecting his client was seeking cover for a string of thefts in an upscale neighborhood. As jewelry and electronics began disappearing, the residents of the posh subdivision recalled seeing an unfamiliar man sitting in a van, day and night, just watching.

  Glenn had been arrested, some of the loot found in his apartment.

  Hed come to Brightman and Associates in search of a defense, and while Thomas had displayed little interest in the case, the haze of desperation in Glenns eyes had tugged at Leigh. Shed taken the case, and, relying on Moores investigating skills, shed gathered enough evidence to prove his innocence and send his client to prison.

  And in the process, shed earned a steadfast ally.

  After the two said goodbye, she crossed to the wall of windows, scanning the glimmering lake beyond. The sweltering heat had yet to break, very few clouds intruding upon the picturesque blue horizon. Soon, the blistering sun would set on the third day since Eric Jones had walked back into her life.

  Shed fought her way through the cluster of reporters camped in the main lobby shortly before seven, intent on setting wheels into motion. Shed barely slept the night before. Too much adrenaline and energy crashed around inside her. Too many memories. Too many consequences. And the house had been unnervingly quiet. She was used to Connors constant chatter, to the television blaring and video games beeping.

  The ache started all over again, tightening her chest. Shed talked to her son the night before and first thing this morning, but she missed him desperately. He was happy as a clam with his grandmother, but Leigh wasnt used to being separated from her child.

  The cold certainty of what lay ahead chilled her to the bone.

  Connor had first asked about his father when he was two years old. Leigh had been wholly unprepared for the question, but shed long since decided she would not lie. Instead, shed told Connor his father was a good man, but he couldnt be with them. Of course, Connor, being two, had wanted to know why, why, why. And for that, Leigh had found no answer.

  Over the years, Connor had continued to ask about his father, typically on his birthday and Christmas. He wanted to know if maybe, sometime, his dad might be able to be with them.

  The question had always cut deep.

  I dont know, sweetie, Leigh would say. Maybe.

  How would he react? Leigh wondered now. How would he react to Eric Jones? Would her son accept his father? Would his father accept him?

  Would either of them forgive her for stealing nine years from them?

  And what would happen if she couldnt prove Erics innocence? If he went to prison for the next twenty years?

  How would she forgive herself for that?

  The questions had kept her awake deep into the night, twisting and taunting. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Eric in the shadows of the parking garage, his big body positioned between her and an unseen assailant, his eyes hot and on fire. Shed never seen him that angry, thatincensed.

  Even now, almost twenty-four hours later, the memory of those volatile minutes alarmed her in ways she didnt understand.

  Exhaling raggedly, she lifted a hand to the back of her neck and rubbed. She tried not to think about the way Eric had touched her the day before, the warm pleasure hed sent drifting through her, but breaking into Quantico would have been simpler.

  She hadnt talked to him since early afternoon. Hed gone into work today, but his superiors had quietly suggested he leave. His presence, and that of the reporters tailing him, wasnt good for business. Until the trial was over and the shadow of doubt gone, it would be best if he kept a low profile.

  Leigh frowned, remembering the frustration in Erics voice. Hed been unusually gruff, telling her not to worry about him. He knew what he had to do.

  So did she.

  From the front seat of a drab navy rental car, he watched Leigh Montgomery emerge from the elevator and stride through the dimly lit parking garage toward her car. She paused and glanced around, then lifted her chin and continued with purpose.

  That morning her high heels had clicked against the oil-slicked concrete, but at some point during the afternoon shed changed into a pair of sexy black boots which made little sound.

  Shes asking too many questions, his superior had complained earlier in the day. I thought you said she was harmless.

  Those hadnt been his exact words. Leave Leigh Montgomery to me. The leggy brunette was tougher than hed planned, had failed to heed his first warning, but he wasnt finished with her yet. Soon both Jones and the little lady would realize this was a game they could never win.

  So would Ingram.

  She wont find anything, hed promised. No one would. Few would even think to look in the right places. Shes grasping at straws.

  See to it she stops.

  Jones Declares Innocence, the front page of the Chicago Tribune had read that morning. My client is a man wrongly accused, Leigh Montgomery had been quoted as saying. He watched her now, sliding into her Camry and closing the door, stealing his view of her lithe body. Hes not Achilles. Hes not a criminal. Eric Jones is an innocent man whos been targeted as the fall guy for a crime about which he knows nothing.

  Red taillights glowed in the darkness as she backed from her parking space. I wont rest until his name is clear, shed vowed in the article.

  He slid his car into reverse and followed. She would stop, all right. He would see to that.

  And as with every other aspect of his job, he would be creative, and he would enjoy.

  With the clock pushing toward ten, Leigh turned onto a narrow, car-lined street south of downtown. Of the eight visible street lamps, light glowed from only one. The majority of the local establishments had shut down, windows boarded up. Halfway down the block a local tattoo parlor was doing its usual brisk busine
ss, while next door, music and patrons spilled from a beat-up building that had once been a drugstore.

  Not finding a spot on the street, Leigh parked in a side lot, but didnt immediately turn off the engine. With the doors still locked, she glanced in the rearview mirror, confirming one more time that she no longer resembled a downtown attorney. Shed darkened her makeup and slicked back her hair, traded a pantsuit for black jeans, a black scoop-neck T-shirt and a leather jacket. Boots completed the look.

  Satisfied she wouldnt stand out like a debutante in a prison cell, she reached for her pepper spray and turned her mobile phone on. Shed been to this part of town before and had never encountered problems, but shed learned the value of precaution.

  Youre a beautiful woman. You should always have an escort after hours.

  The memory slipped in from the darkness and sent warmth streaking through her. The ache came next. It wasnt fair. Ten years should have erased the misplaced draw shed felt toward Eric Jones. Ten years should have eradicated the attraction. Ten years should have killed the longing.

  They hadnt. Instead, Leigh was coming to realize that everything shed once felt for Eric Jones had merely been buried, shoved deep, where the pain couldnt hurt her daily. But with every minute she spent with the man, old feelings came surging back, not faded or threadbare, but strong and vibrant.

  But still, wholly misplaced.

  The second she told Eric about the secret shed kept all these years, the grandson his mother had never had a chance to know, to love, any chance of a future would shrivel up like wildflowers during a drought.

  That didnt matter, she told herself. All that mattered now was making sure Eric didnt spend his life in prison. Her objectives were clear. Fight the charges against him. Nail the unseen bastards trying to frighten her. And above all else, resist the attraction that made her body catch fire the second her client walked into a room.

  That was how she had to think of him. Her client. Not her former lover, the man to whom shed given her virginity, and certainly not her sons father. Those labels were too personal, too intimate.

  Too devastating.

  For now, Eric Jones was just her client.

  Yeah, Leigh thought grimly. And the sun was suddenly going to rise and she would awake to realize the past few days had only been a dream.

  Frowning, she opened the car door and stepped into the hot, sticky night. Off-key strains of jazz mingled with the el rumbling by, while warm, humid air closed around her like a vise. From a cloudless sky, a full, faintly orange moon shone like an eerie ball of fire.

  Please be here, she thought, heading from the rundown lot where only three other cars sat. Please be here.

  Awareness hit immediately, hit hard. She stopped walking and listened, just listened, instinctively slipping her hand into the front pocket of her tight jeans.

  Someone was watching her. She could feel the presence of another just as surely as she felt perspiration breaking out on her body.

  Someone was waiting.

  Show no fear, Leigh reminded herself. It was just a short distance to the Blue Note; inside she would be safe. The owner, Charlie Mac, knew her. He was a friend of Glenn Moores. Once she was inside, he would keep an eye out for her. And when she left, he would walk her to her car.

  She had only to get to the club.

  Hand curled around the small vial, she started forward. Her boot stepped onto the concrete of the curb, but with unmistaken certainty she heard a faint crunching noise. On impulse she spun around.

  She saw no one.

  Only shadows blowing in the warm evening breeze.

  A cat, she told herself. Maybe a scrap of newspaper skittering down the street.

  With renewed confidence she reached the sidewalk and approached the tattoo parlor, not allowing herself to look back. She was safer that way, shed learned over the years. Never look back. Only forward. Her imagination had a nasty habit of playing tricks on her. Cruel, twisted tricks that made her heart pound so hard and fast she could barely breathe. The vandalism to her car and the cryptic note had obviously rattled her more than shed realized.

  With the Blue Note less than fifty yards away, the tight coil of anxiety loosened. A trio of teenage boys and two giggling girls lounged outside the tattoo joint, while a little farther down the street, two men argued outside the nightclub. She would be fine as soon as she

  She heard the footsteps behind her too late. An arm snaked around her waist and dragged her from the sidewalk, toward the darkened, boarded-up building that had once housed Fayes Diner.

  Fight-or-flight kicked in. She slammed an elbow into her attackers gut and stomped down on his foot, spinning toward him with her pepper spray raised and ready.

  Then she went absolutely, completely still.

  Whoa, Eric said, reaching for her wrist. His fingers curled around bone and flesh, as he angled the spray away from his face. Im not going to hurt you.

  For a moment, Leigh just stared. Then reality shoved aside shock and she came to life. You idiot! she shouted, twisting free of his grip. You scared me half to death.

  How the hell do you think I felt when I saw you driving into this neighborhood? he shot right back. You told me you had an errand to run, damn it!

  This is the errand, she practically growled in return. You followed me?

  The line of his jaw hardened. I didnt like how vague you were.

  That doesnt give you the right to follow me. Dont you realize what could have happened? I could have hurt you.

  This isnt about me, Leigh, he said, taking the pepper spray from her hand. This is about you and chances you have no business taking.

  Youre my client, Eric, not my chaperone.

  He moved so fast she barely had time to absorb what was happening. In a cruel heartbeat he had her crowded up against the side of the old diner, his body blocking out the world beyond. She could feel the heat from his chest and his legs, the rapid thrumming of his heart. And though the night was dark and the shadows deep, nothing hid the fierce glitter in his eyes.

  Your client? he said, in an ominously quiet voice that pulsed through her blood like a dangerously seductive drug. Your chaperone? Is that what you think Im trying to be?

  Leigh didnt know what to think. Not anymore. Not with Eric Jones standing so close she could feel every hard, hot ridge of his body. Not with him staring down into her eyes with an intensity that made her pulse hum. Eric, she managed. Please.

  Please what?

  Step even closer. Never leave. Kiss me. Let me go.

  The lines of his face went even harder. I cant, damn it, he said pushing closer. Dont you understand that? Ive dragged you into a dangerous game you have no business playing. You could be hurt, and it would be my fault.

  Leigh wasnt sure how she stayed standing. If he hadnt been pressed up against her, she might not have. Im a grown woman, she told him for the second time in twenty-four hours. You didnt drag me into anything. She hesitated, met his eyes, felt her body catch fire.

  Im exactly where I want to be, she said through the sudden thickness in her throat.

 
; Where shed wanted to be for years.

  For a moment Eric just stared at her. Stared hard. Down the street a horn blared and tires screeched, but Leigh couldnt tear her gaze from Erics. Slowly, those piercing eyes never releasing hers, he lifted a hand to her face and slid his fingers along her cheekbone and into her hair.

  God help us both, he bit out softly, and before Leigh realized his intent, he lowered his mouth to hers.

  Seven

  H e knew it was too soon even as his mouth came down on hers, as he felt her lips part, heard the little gasp tear from her throat. The problem was, knowledge didnt stop him. The need to touch, to taste, burned too deep. Too hot.

  For ten years this woman had existed only in memories. For ten years hed had nothing but hazy impressions from that long-ago night, the welcoming warmth of her mouth, the startling feel of soft flesh pressed to his, the silent tears as theyd come together.

  For ten years, hed tried to convince himself the flare of passion had been the result of emotion running high.

  For ten years, hed fought the truth.

  Hed called Leigh Montgomery friend, but somewhere between the early-morning classes and late-night study sessions, between shared pizzas and coffee, between laughter and poker games, a taboo relationship had grown deeper. Hed fought the attraction with everything he had, treating Leigh like a kid sister even when he saw the disappointment flare in her eyes. His future belonged to Becky, hed known. And even if Becky hadnt needed him so desperately, strict rules existed regarding behavior between grad students and undergrads in the classes they taught. He could have been kicked out of the graduate program if his superiors suspected his relationship with Leigh extended beyond friendship.