The barrel of the gun pressed against the back of Jim’s head, sending a cold chill through his body. The words were filled with a combination of hate and desperation. “You were a major obstacle to me back then, and now, five years later, you’ve pretty much signed an end to me and my plans. I don’t have anything more to lose.”
Jim recognized the voice but could not place it. He swallowed his fear along with the lump in his throat. He slowly rose to his feet, not wanting to make any sudden moves. His primary concern at that moment was to move the danger away from Andi and stall for enough time to attract the attention of one of the policemen on the scene, all of whom seemed to be ignoring him while handling more pressing matters. He cautiously took a couple of steps sideways, then turned around to face his adversary.
“Frank Norton.” Jim uttered the words in a very matter-of-fact tone of voice, showing neither surprise nor emotion. “I should have known. You were the one I reported the bribe to and I never heard anything more about it. I guess that report went directly to Milo Buchanan rather than through proper channels.”
“Hands in the air, nice and easy.”
The words came from directly behind Frank Norton. He stiffened to attention then hesitated. Jim saw the look dart across his face and settle in his eyes—the look that said a desperate man was about to do something very stupid.
“Now.” The policeman’s voice carried total authority and control. Frank blinked a couple of times, then let out a sigh of resignation. He handed the gun back over his shoulder. The policeman took it from him.
“Hands on your head.” The policeman handed the gun to a fellow officer, then handcuffed Frank.
Jim breathed a sigh of relief as his gaze swept across the scene. He spotted the paramedics. He held his hand in the air and motioned to them. “Over here.” He turned around to Andi. “You’ll be fine now. These guys will take good care of you.”
The paramedic placed his hand on Jim’s arm. “Stand aside, please.” He took a closer look at the rip in Jim’s sleeve and the bloodstain. “Is this your only injury?”
“This is nothing, the bullet just grazed my arm. It’s not much more than a scratch. Andi is the one who needs your attention.”
“I’ll get to you as soon as I finish here.” He set his medical kit on the ground and knelt next to Andi.
JIM PLUMPED SOME EXTRA pillows against the headboard on Andi’s bed, then helped her across the room. “There, now you can sit up and be comfortable.” He pulled back the edge of the covers so she could slide into bed, then he sat down on the edge of the bed next to her. “Is there anything I can get for you? Anything you need?”
“What I need is for you to stop treating me like an invalid. The doctor said it was only a flesh wound. There’s no infection, no nerve damage, nothing serious. They kept me in the hospital overnight for observation and sent me home this morning. In a few days I won’t even know it happened.”
He cupped her face in his hands and looked lovingly into her eyes. His voice filled with the emotion that had been bottled up inside him from the previous night, from the moment she had fallen into his arms when the bullet had struck her. “But I’ll know it happened. Because of me you could have been killed. I’ll never be able to erase the memory of the fear and panic that—”
“It most certainly was not your fault. If my memory is correct, clear back on Vancouver Island you’re the one who told me to get on a plane and go home, to not get involved with you. I was the one who insisted that we do this. I was the one who pushed myself into the middle of everything over your very specific and emphatic objections.”
He flashed a teasing grin as he reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “So tell me...are you sorry that you were so pushy?” Before she could answer, he leaned his face into hers and captured her mouth with a loving kiss.
The sound of the doorbell interrupted the quiet moment of tenderness. Jim pulled back a little and gazed into her eyes. “Do you suppose if we ignore it, whoever it is will go away?”
As if in answer to his question, the doorbell sounded again. Jim let out a sign of resignation and rose from the edge of the bed. “I’ll get rid of whoever it is. You rest.”
Jim walked quickly through Andi’s house and opened the front door. Steve Westerfall stood on the front porch with another man, someone else from Jim’s past. He recognized him as Phil Herman.
Jim did not move aside, blocking the doorway so that the men could not come into the house. He glanced at Phil, then settled his gaze on Steve. “Yes?”
A flash of irritation appeared on Steve’s face. “We’d like to come in. I need to talk to Andi, and I’m sure you probably have some questions for me.”
Jim stood his ground. “Andi just got home from the hospital an hour ago. She’s resting right now. Perhaps some other time.” There was no mistaking the animosity in his voice.
“It’s okay, Jim.” Andi stepped into the living room from the hallway. “I think I’d like to hear what Steve has to say.” Andi’s voice did not contain the same rancor as Jim’s, but there was a noticeable combination of hurt and resentment that had never been there before when talking to Steve.
Jim moved aside so Steve and Phil Herman could come inside. The two men sat on the couch, Andi settled in the large easy chair and Jim rested on the chair arm next to her.
There was a moment of awkward silence as Jim and Andi stared at Steve, waiting for him to say something.
“I suppose I owe you—” he made a gesture indicating both Jim and Andi “—an explanation on what happened and why it went down the way it did.”
Andi leveled a steady look at him. “Yes, I’d say you do.”
“Before I get to that, let me introduce you to Phil Herman. Jim already knows him. Phil was the U.S. Attorney on the Buchanan case when it first came about. We’ve kept in touch over the years. Phil long suspected a leak inside his department and Frank Norton was his prime suspect, but there was no proof.”
Andi nodded her acknowledgment of Phil’s presence, then waited for Steve to continue.
Phil provided some additional information. “When Jim disappeared out from under us and blew the case against Buchanan, I came under direct fire from those higher up, which I strongly suspected was fueled by someone on my staff. I had no choice but to accept personal blame and resign. I had no idea what happened, but I knew if at all possible I would one day see Milo Buchanan in jail. I really didn’t know who I could trust in my office, or anywhere else for that matter, so I turned to Steve. I’d known him for several years and knew he was as passionate about seeing Milo behind bars as I was.”
Jim addressed his comment directly to Phil. “I assume Steve filled you in on what happened and why I took off. I’m sorry it cost you your job, but I had no other option.”
“Yes, Steve explained it to me. Had I been in your place, I would probably have done the same thing.”
“None of this explains why you lied to me, Steve.” Andi’s voice conveyed all the hurt that had lived inside her for the past few days. “You played me along just like one of your informants or contacts. And Jim...you used him knowing full well that his very life was in danger. I thought a ten-year relationship would mean more to you than that, but apparently I was wrong.”
Jim felt Andi’s body begin to tremble from the emotional turmoil. He took her hand and gave it a little squeeze of reassurance.
“Andi...” Steve’s gaze darted from her to Jim and then back to Andi again. “I heard it every time I talked to you while you were on the road. Then as soon as I saw the two of you together at the pub, I knew what the two of you probably didn’t even know yet. And being around you for a couple of days only reinforced my opinion.”
“What are you talking—” Andi paused when she heard Jim start talking at the same time.
“What does that—” Jim stopped in midsentence.
Steve seemed a little surprised by their reaction. “It was totally obvious that if the two of you
weren’t in love, you were at least well on your way. I knew there was no way in hell I could depend on either one of you to put your emotions aside and function logically. I could not afford the uncertainty of having to deal with either of you feeling you needed to protect the other.”
Andi looked up at Jim at the same moment that he looked at her. Their gazes locked in a very intense moment of emotion. Each seemed to be silently asking the other the same question—was what Steve had just said the truth?
Steve managed to get in one more comment before completely losing their attention. “And even with all my planning, Andi still ended up with a bullet in her shoulder because she was somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be.”
Steve Westerfall and Phil Herman looked at each other, then they turned toward Jim and Andi, who were lost in their own world. Jim cradled Andi’s head against his chest as he stroked her hair. There did not seem to be anything else for Steve to say, at least nothing that involved Jim and Andi. Phil and Steve left the house, pausing on the front porch for a few minutes of additional conversation.
“What about the money transfers?” Phil asked. “Without any proof I wasn’t able to do anything about Buchanan’s Cayman Islands accounts. I was somewhat limited in having access only to sources that would not get back to Frank.”
Steve considered what Phil had said, then let out a soft chuckle. “I didn’t think you’d be able to work around the system and the chain of command on that one, at least not in the tight time frame we had.”
Phil looked at him curiously. “May I assume that evil little laugh of yours means that you’ve already done something about it?”
“It took a while, but my computer wiz finally cracked the numbered codes on Milo’s accounts. She electronically transferred all the money out of his accounts—almost twelve million dollars—as soon as his flight took off. There was about a ten-minute time frame when he was totally isolated from any telephone or computer communication.”
“Your computer wiz sounds like a real prize. Where did you find him?”
“Her name is Elena and she’s a marvel—one really smart lady. If she weren’t already happily married, and to my wife’s brother...” Steve shot Phil a sly grin. “Well, no use speculating along those forbidden lines.”
“Nice work. I’ll let the Treasury Department figure what to do with the funds. The important thing is that the money is out of his reach. I imagine the IRS will put a freeze on the money as undeclared income for which he owes taxes. That should hold it for a while until we get this whole mess untangled.” Phil glanced at his watch. “We’d better get going. There’s lots of clean-up work to do. I can talk to Jim in a couple of days.”
Steve glanced back over his shoulder at Jim and Andi. He fought the warm smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. They were well suited for each other.
Andi watched as Steve and Phil stepped off the porch and crossed the lawn to Steve’s car. She laced her fingers together with Jim’s. “Well, it’s all over. There’s the trial, of course, but the danger is now in the past. The attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder charges are here in California where Buchanan’s influence is minimal at best.” She felt a little shiver of trepidation. “What do you plan to do now? Have you thought about any plans?”
He considered her question. “Plans? This is a new concept for me. I don’t know...I guess I’m sort of at a loss.” He gazed lovingly into her eyes for a moment, then lowered his head and captured her mouth with a tender kiss. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it spoke volumes. “I thought I might delve a little deeper into what Steve had said—”
“About what Steve said...” Andi’s voice trailed off as the emotion of the moment overwhelmed her.
“Andi...I can only speak for myself....” He nervously cleared his throat. “What he said is true. I love you, Andi. I’m not sure exactly where or when it happened, but it did.”
She felt the warmth of his touch as the elation welled inside her. It was what she wanted to hear more than anything else. “It happened for me, too. I love you, Jim. I truly do.”
The joy he felt at that moment surpassed anything he thought he would ever experience again. “I never thought I’d ever again have someone to share my love with, someone who would love me in return. I’d just about given up hope of ever being able to lead a normal life again. I don’t have a job or a home. I have nothing to offer you other than that love, but I give it to you freely, completely and forever.”
“You do have a home.” Andi closed her eyes as a contented smile turned the corners of her mouth. “It’s right here with me.”
ISBN : 978-1-4592-5131-1
SECRET LOVER
Copyright © 1999 by SKDennison, Inc.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What was there about Jim Richards that seemed so familiar?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Books by Shawna Delacorte
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Copyright
Secret Lover Page 21
