“Yeah. That’s the ticket. Oh, here,” Jack said and reached into the bag, pulling out a granola bar. “I got this as a treat for you.”
The look Amos gave Jack was more like a death ray. “Oh, wow. Thank you ever so much,” he deadpanned.
“You’re welcome. So question: Are you coming over Sunday to watch the game with me?”
“Do I have to bring the snacks?”
“I figured since you’d be doing that anyway―”
“I don’t believe this.” Amos stormed toward the front door with Jack laughing behind him as he went. “I’ll come watch the game. And I’ll bring all the snacks. But next time―”
“I hope there is a next time,” Jack said, and he meant it. Anything could happen.
The look on Amos’s face was one of pure defeat. “Me too,” he said, and Jack thought he’d heard wrong. His big brother was acknowledging their bond. Boy, this must be worse than I thought, Jack told himself. “I’ll see you Sunday unless you need something between now and then.”
“Got it. Thanks, bro. You’re good people.” Jack was still chuckling when Amos closed the door.
“Did you get anything interesting?” Aleta asked when she wandered into the kitchen where Jack was putting things away.
“No. Well, maybe. Just this.” He held up a chocolate bar and grinned. “Know anybody who’d like to have this?”
“Maaaybeeeeeee …” She reached for it, but he held it higher. “Give it to me!” she whined.
Jack gave her a wicked grin. “It’ll cost you a kiss.”
“Oh, I’ve got plenty of those.” Aleta slid her arms around him and stood on her tiptoes to reach his lips. As he kissed her, he brought his arm down and slipped the chocolate bar down the front of her top and into her bra. Laughing, she broke the kiss and leaned back to grin up into his face. “Good boy!”
“I got it for you anyway.” He gave her forehead a peck before he turned her loose and went back to putting things away. As he did, he hid a few things. Yeah, he had something up his sleeve, and he wasn’t about to give himself away.
The next afternoon, he called a member of the security detail to the door. “Could you maybe take her somewhere? I don’t care where, just somewhere other than here?”
The SRT member shrugged. “Sure.”
“Ask her where she’d like to go and take her. Just make sure she’s safe, and give me about two hours.”
“Roger that,” the officer said.
Forty-five minutes later, Aleta was on her way to a boutique on the edge of town that she’d seen a dozen times but never stopped in to look around. Amos was waiting to come over, and as soon as he’d made his delivery, Jack got to work.
The SRT officer sent him a text to let him know they were on their way back, and Jack put the finishing touches on everything. He cut the lights, lit a bunch of candles, and waited. When the car pulled up in the drive, he waited until he heard the doors close and stood with his hand on the doorknob at the front door. A voice said, “As soon as you’re inside, I’ll go back to my post, ma’am.”
“Thank you, sir. That was fun! I appreciate you taking me.”
“You’re welcome, ma’am. Have a nice evening.”
“You too.” As Aleta’s voice quieted, Jack felt the doorknob turn slightly, so he turned it himself and pulled it open. “Jack!”
“Hi.”
She stood there just outside the door, a puzzled look on her face. “Is something up?”
“Yeah. Come on in.” When he stepped back and swept his arm inward, he watched with a smile as Aleta’s face lit up.
“What’s going on? Oh my goodness, what’s that smell?”
“Come on. I made dinner for you.” Taking her hand, Jack led her toward the dining room. The table was lit with pillar candles, around which were rose garlands, and rose petals were strewn here and there on the table. “Have a seat, beautiful. I’ll be right back.” He was so excited he could barely stand it. Oh, she was going to be so happy!
Their first course was a beautiful endive salad with diced ham, diced boiled eggs, bacon bits, shredded mozzarella, tomatoes, and the freshest greens Amos could find. Jack had to hand it to his brother―when he’d let Amos in on the surprise, the older Fletcher had gone all out to get the right things. “Here you go, miss. Enjoy,” Jack said as he set the salad down.
“This is beautiful! But what’s that smell?” she asked again, sniffing the air.
“Finish your salad and you’ll find out.” Jack sat down in the seat adjacent to Aleta’s and they both tied into their salads. He had to admit, the fresh greens were crisp and delicious. As soon as they were finished, he cleared the plates and headed into the kitchen.
“Here you go. I hope you enjoy it.” In front of Aleta sat a plate fit for a queen. A Cornish hen rested there, its little body cavity spewing out a fragrant sage dressing. The Brussels sprouts he’d sautéed were tender and buttery, and the cauliflower was golden and sweet with its spicy seasoning. As soon as he sat down to his plate, he turned to Aleta, and he hoped his face told her how excited he was to be able to do something like that for her. “Well? Do you like it?”
“Oh, gosh, Jack, it’s beautiful! I can’t believe you did all this!”
He reached for her hand and kissed the back of it. “Just for you.”
“But why? What on earth possessed you to do this?”
“It’s an anniversary dinner!”
She frowned.
“You know,” he tried again. “Come on. You haven’t forgotten. I know you haven’t.”
A look of utter disgust crossed her face. “Jack, you can’t be serious.”
“What? Don’t you want to celebrate?”
Aleta’s eyes went wide and her lower lip trembled. “Celebrate? I hardly think it’s something to celebrate!”
Jack was confused. “I thought you’d be happy that I thought of it and went to all this trouble.”
“Happy? You thought I’d be happy? What kind of monster are you?” Aleta threw her napkin down and ran from the room.
By the time Jack caught up to her in the bedroom, she was sobbing. It wasn’t making sense. Why was she so upset? “Babe, I thought it would be nice to do something like this. Why are you upset? I don’t get it, Aleta. I went to a lot of trouble because I love you and I thought you’d―”
“You’re joking, right?” she bellowed. “Why in the world would I want to celebrate the day my baby died?”
Oh my god, what the hell is today’s date? Jack ran through everything, that day’s date, the length of time since the accident, and the accident date …
It had been five months to the day. He hadn’t made the connection, but it was obvious she had, and that didn’t surprise him at all. It was more surprising to him that he’d been so careless. “Oh, god, no, Aleta! Last week! We had our first kiss a week ago! No, no, no, baby. I’d never plan a celebration for that! I’m so sorry! I didn’t even realize! Please, babe, forgive me? I didn’t mean to upset you. I was trying to do something nice to let you know I was thinking about the last week. It wasn’t about anything else, I promise! Oh, shit, I feel like such an ass …” Jack couldn’t believe what he’d done, and he didn’t blame her for being upset.
“One week since our first kiss?” Aleta asked in a hiccupping sob.
“Yeah. One week exactly. I wanted to celebrate it. God, babe, I didn’t look at the calendar. I wasn’t thinking about that at all. Of course I wouldn’t celebrate Joshua and Jorie’s deaths. No, that was a horrible day for you, and for me too because I love you. I’m so, so sorry, baby. So sorry. I―”
“It’s okay, Jack, really. I’m sorry I had such a come-apart. But I’ve been thinking about it all day, and I’d managed to forget for a little while by having some fun at the boutique, and then I came here and everything was so beautiful, and I thought you were going to say you’d done it because it was a hard day for me, but when you said celebrate … I couldn’t …”
Jack took her in his arms an
d held her tight as she whimpered against his neck. “Babe, I’d never intentionally hurt you that way. I’m not going in to the post so I’m not looking at a calendar, and I hadn’t even thought about the date. But that’s no excuse. It was really, really insensitive of me, and―”
“No.” She pulled back and took his face in her hands. “It’s really sweet. Really. And I’m sorry it hit me so wrong. You went to a lot of trouble, and it’s wonderful, really. Thank you. Thank you so much for remembering and for wanting to do something nice for me. I want to start again. I want to go back in there and have fun, okay? I need that. I need you.”
Jack pulled her up against him again and held her tight. God, he loved her so much. How was that possible in such a short time? Didn’t matter. It was real. Her arms wound around his neck and her cheek rested on his shoulder. “I love you, Aleta. I was so excited to do this for you. And I’m sorry that―”
“I’m excited that you did it for me,” she said, her voice muffled by his shirt. “It’s beautiful, and it’s so sweet. Let’s go back in there, okay? Those little hens are really cute. I bet they’re delicious.”
“Probably a little cold now,” Jack said, hugging her tighter.
“Doesn’t matter. They’ll still taste good. And I bet you made some kind of crazy-good dessert too, didn’t you?”
He had to laugh. It had been a week, and yet she seemed to know him so well. “Yeah. Lemon chiffon cake. But I’ll confess, I didn’t bake it. I bought it. I had a recipe, but I looked at it and decided that was waaaay above my pay grade.”
Aleta leaned back and laughed loudly. “Above your pay grade! Jack Fletcher, I really believe you can do anything you set your mind to!”
“I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m flattered you’d think so. Come on. Let’s go carve into some tiny chickens, shall we?” Taking her hand, he led her back to the dining room and helped her into her chair.
They were celebrating one week since their first kiss. No matter what else had happened on that date, he’d always remember it that way. It was the day his life began.
The sight of her above him was almost more than he could stand. He watched as she let herself down on his hardness over and over, her back arched and tits bouncing, and reached down to stroke her clit as she rode him, listening to her moan as he drove her wild. Her hips bucked, her back bowed, and she threw her head back and wailed.
And the phone rang.
“Oh, shit,” Jack muttered as he reached for the phone.
“Don’t, Jack,” Aleta warned, dropping onto his chest.
“Have to.” He hit ACCEPT and put the phone to his ear. “Fletcher.”
“Jack. It’s Captain Seitzer. I need to brief you. I’m on my way to your place. ETA five minutes.”
“Shit. Yeah, okay. Five minutes. Thanks. I’ll be ready.” He hit END and frowned. “Well, fuck me. I guess I won’t be getting off now.”
“Who was that?”
“It was Cappy. He’s coming over here to talk to me.”
“Dang it. Okay.” She sighed against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “Guess I should get up and get a shower, huh?” she mumbled.
“Yeah. I don’t have time to take one.”
“Sorry.” Seconds later, she padded off to the bathroom, so he pulled on his briefs and a pair of jeans, then slipped a tee over his head and wandered into the kitchen to make some coffee.
Five minutes on the dot and there was a knock on his door. “Come on in,” he said as he held the door for Morgan. “Fresh coffee. Want some?”
“Hell yeah. I don’t want it, I need it,” his captain responded.
“This way.” After pointing to a chair at the kitchen table, Jack got them both a cup of coffee and sat down opposite his commanding officer. “What’s up?”
“Moss knows.”
Jack’s eyebrows shot up. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Intel says he was talking smack at a bar in St. Louis last night about how he’s going to come down here and eliminate someone who could ‘fink’ on him.”
“‘Fink’ on him? What is he, seventy?” Jack asked with a sarcastic laugh.
“Right? He’s nuts. But at any rate, we now know that he knows about the picture. I wish Menendez would clean house and figure out who his spy is. We knew this was going to happen, but it’s further proof that somebody’s feeding info from Menendez to Ortiz.”
“No shit. Maybe one of the undercovers needs to throw that bone to Menendez.”
“I think that’s their plan, but they haven’t found a good way to do it. In the meantime, we still don’t know where the Stone girl is.”
“That’s no good.” Jack could hear Aleta down the hallway in the bathroom, and he wondered how long he could keep her from knowing how dire their situation was.
“The FBI’s got more undercovers working on finding the girl. Right now, my focus is you and getting Moss before he gets to you or Mrs. Culp, but especially her. Her testimony may be the deciding factor on whether he works or walks.”
Jack sighed. “I’m doing my best to keep her safe. So are the guys. I’ve got no complaints. They’ve been vigilant and done everything I’ve asked of them. But I guess it’s time to batten down the hatches.”
Cappy stood. “I have to believe it’s just a matter of time before he tries to come here and find her. That will let us get him. We’re changing tactics, moving into camo, taking up blinds and tree positions. He can’t see us, but we damn sure want to be able to see him. I’ll let you know how we progress.”
“Thanks for coming out. If it’s okay with you, I don’t think I’m going to say anything to her.”
Cappy shrugged. “That’s up to you, but she’s got to stay inside. No going anywhere. No going outside. No going somewhere inside the house that’s all the way across the house from you. You need to know where she is at all times. This guy, he’s sneaky as fuck, and he’s looking for a way to get in here when you won’t expect it. Keep her on a short leash.”
“Yes, sir.” Jack appreciated the time his captain had taken to come there personally. Things were really bad when Morgan went to those lengths. “She won’t be out of my sight.”
“Good. Carry on, and don’t be afraid to let someone know if you need something.”
“Will do.” Jack walked him to the door, waved once, and closed and locked the door before setting the alarm system.
He heard the water stop and waited in the bedroom for Aleta. When she came in toweling her hair, he sat there, watching her. Her hips were so beautiful, so perfectly sloped and so gorgeously round, that it almost brought tears to his eyes. He couldn’t lose her. That wasn’t an option. “Jack! I didn’t see you! You startled me!” she said, wrapping the towel around her head.
“Just waiting for you.”
“Why?”
“Because I missed you.”
She giggled. “I was in the shower!”
“I know, but anytime I’m not with you, I miss you.”
“You could’ve gotten in the shower with me. Did Captain Seitzer come by?”
He patted the side of the bed and she sat down, her bare skin almost glowing. He really wanted to bend her over the side of the bed and drive into her from behind, but they had to talk. “Babe, Moss knows.”
“Oh.” That was all she said.
“Any thoughts?”
“No.”
“Cappy told me to keep you close and keep an eye on you at all times.”
She side-eyed him and grinned. “I like it when your eyes are on me.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah!”
He grabbed her and threw her down onto the mattress, then climbed on top of her and started kissing all over her face and neck. “How ‘bout my lips on you?” he asked, laughing as he went.
“Those too!”
He just kept going until they both were panting from laughing so hard. When he stopped, he looked down into her smiling face. “Aleta, you should know by now, I’d die
to make sure you were safe.”
“I know. And that scares me,” she whispered up to him, stroking down his cheek with a soft hand.
“It shouldn’t. Nobody’s going to die. We’re surrounded by armed specialists who are bound by their commissions to keep us safe. There’s no place on earth that’s safer than where we are right now, except maybe Ft. Knox.”
“But can they? Keep us safe, I mean.”
“If they can’t, nobody can.”
She lay there, looking up at him, and he knew she wanted to believe him, but there was fear in her eyes. Truth be told, he was a little afraid too. Moss was crazy, weird and crazy. He believed himself to be ten feet tall and bullet-proof, and those were the worst kind. They didn’t think or process information like other people. They did things other people didn’t expect because other people couldn’t anticipate what their warped brains were going to do.
He dropped to the mattress and lay beside her, his arms drawing her in close. Ten minutes passed, and then fifteen, before he whispered, “I suppose I should go shower.”
“And I should dry my hair,” she whispered back.
Something crossed his mind, something he’d never thought to ask her. “Do you know how to use a gun? Have you ever used one?”
She shook her head, loosening the towel so her wet hair fell out onto the comforter. “No. Never.”
“We’ve got to fix that. Today. Let me get my shower and then we’ll see what we can do about that.”
Jack made a call and two hours later, a car pulled up in his drive. He greeted the two men at the door, then showed them out the back to the barn.
It only took them an hour to put it together, and an armed contingent of six men escorted Jack and Aleta to the barn. Jack had six weapons―his Ruger, his Glock, a vintage Browning .380 that he’d gotten from his parents for Christmas one year, a Rossi five-shot revolver that held .38 Special cartridges, his brand-new Kimber 9mm, and a .22 rifle. He started with the Ruger. “Hold it in your right hand, finger up here,” he showed her, his finger lying along the side of the barrel. “Now, point with that finger where you want the projectile to go, then move your finger to the trigger and fire.” She squeezed the trigger and when the gun fired, she squealed and almost dropped it.
Justice for Aleta Page 13
