No Escape

by Heather Lowell

  How messed up is that?

  “What are you looking so queasy about?” Ronnie asked, interrupting Tessa’s thoughts. “Is your wrist hurting?”

  “Huh? No. It’s something Paul said the other day. He had me pegged when he said I’ve gone through life looking backward, living in the past. God, don’t you hate it when your parents are right?” Tessa groaned.

  “So what are you going to do about it?” Ronnie asked.

  “That’s the kicker. I have no idea. What with Ed and Kelly, this case, what’s been going on with Paul…I don’t have any spare energy to deal with that question right now. Besides, what if the baggage has become so much a part of me that letting go isn’t possible? What if I’m defined by it?”

  “Then we’re doomed as a race. And as the mother of a young child I can’t afford to think that way. So you need to work things out in a grown-up way with those you care about.”

  “What, now I’m immature?” Tessa asked with a scowl.

  “Growing up isn’t something that happens magically when you turn eighteen. Don’t kick yourself for being human and stumbling along that path.”

  “I’m supposedly an intelligent person, you’d think I would have managed to work through these things before now. God, why is he even interested in me in the first place?”

  “There’s no accounting for taste,” Ronnie said.

  Tessa groaned.

  “Come on, you know I was kidding. Look at it this way—Luke is a smart guy, right?”

  “Very smart,” Tessa agreed.

  “Well, he obviously sees something in you that rocks his world. You have to have enough faith in him to believe that he knows what he’s doing.”

  “You’re right. I know you’re right,” Tessa said. “But how do I keep from messing this up?”

  “First of all, stop struggling against it so much,” Ronnie advised.

  Tessa absently massaged the base of her fingers where the cast dug in. “I admit, I’ve fought this thing with Luke every step of the way. Not fighting Luke, you know, but my feelings for him. He’s had to make every overture so far. Much as I’ve enjoyed that, I tried to not even let things get this far. If I’d had my way, they wouldn’t have.”

  Ronnie shook her head sympathetically. “That’s what chemistry is there for, sweetie. It overcomes our logic and intellect and makes us obey the biological imperative to reproduce.”

  “We are more than our animal impulses,” Tessa argued.

  “Not when we’re talking about a man as gorgeous as Luke,” Ronnie said with a wink. “There he is now.”

  They both heard an automatic garage door opener activate, then the sound of the engine being turned off.

  “Finally. It’s after eight,” Tessa said as she looked at her watch in concern. “He must be exhausted. I’m going to turn on the hot tub, order some takeout, and make sure we have an early night.”

  You have it so bad, girlfriend. Ronnie smiled inwardly as she gathered her things. “I want you to promise me that after dinner you two will go at it like bunny rabbits.”

  “Get out of here, you freak.” Tessa grabbed the phone to order dinner, hoping her red cheeks would fade by the time Luke made it inside.

  Chapter 40

  Downtown Los Angeles

  Wednesday morning, March 17

  As Tessa and Luke left the parking garage and crossed the street to the Federal Building, she gave herself a mental pep talk to prepare for the upcoming meeting. Finally, the day had arrived when she would make her pitch to the multiagency task force that was responsible for investigating Club Red, Inc.

  Too bad she was shaking in her shoes.

  They joined Ronnie, who had arrived earlier with MacBeth and the rest of the players in the morning’s meeting. As Luke and his employee went over the logistical plans and timeline for the meeting, Ronnie pulled Tessa aside.

  “Any word on the whereabouts of Ricky Hedges?” Ronnie asked. She’d been so focused on planning Ed’s memorial and investigating his death in the last two days that she’d had little time to keep tabs on the movements of the people who were involved.

  “Just what I last told you. He was last seen leaving Club Red Monday night, and MacBeth hasn’t seen him since.”

  “So how did things go with you and Luke the other night?”

  Tessa pursed her lips. “Not the way I’d planned.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He was so tired he fell asleep,” Tessa said. “I went out to pay for the dinner I’d ordered, but when I got back with the food I found him out cold in the recliner.”

  “What about the next day?”

  “What about it? He was gone when I woke up, and MacBeth was in the kitchen waiting for me,” Tessa said. “I met Luke later at the office, but we both had a ton of work to do. We took it back to his place, after a brief stopover at my apartment so I could get some things. We were still at work around 2:00 A.M. when I fell asleep on his couch. I woke up in his bedroom, but we had just enough time to make it here for this meeting—nothing else.”

  “You at least moved forward on the case, though, right?” Ronnie asked, frustrated that her advice for opening channels of trust and communication hadn’t been put to use.

  “Sure. We found and talked to the financial advisor for both Ricky Hedges and Club Red. It took some arm-twisting, but with Chantal’s help we finally convinced him that we have enough evidence to shut down the whole operation and send him to a federal prison for the next eighty years. He was able to see that it’s in his interest to cooperate with the investigation,” Tessa said. “In fact, he and his lawyer should be here with Chantal any minute.”

  “Well at least the case is coming together. You’ve done a great job with everything for today,” Ronnie said. “Ed would have been strutting like a peacock.”

  “Thanks,” Tessa said huskily. Yes, the work aspect of her life was right on track, while her personal life was, in a word, hosed.

  Typical.

  “You ready, baby?”

  Luke’s voice pulled Tessa from her huddle with Ronnie. “Yes. But I don’t think you should call me that during the meeting,” she said, trying to lighten the mood. She felt sure Luke would be able to tell they had been talking about him by the serious vibes they were giving off.

  “No problem,” Luke replied. “I won’t do this, either.” With that, he tipped her face up for a lingering kiss.

  “Wretched man,” Tessa muttered a moment later as a laughing Ronnie dragged her away in the direction of the building.

  But she did look over her shoulder to exchange a final glance with Luke before they reached the security checkpoint.

  I guess we’ll just have to wait until this whole case is over to work things out. It wasn’t what Tessa had had in mind, but since when did her life go as she’d planned?

  Fifteen minutes later Luke stood with Tessa in what he was calling the staging room—a smaller meeting room just off the main conference suite where the task force was gathering at that very moment. He could see that Tessa’s nerves were winding up, which was why he’d kissed her earlier and tried to take her mind off of what was about to happen.

  She’d been working so hard in the last few days. They both had. The only time they’d been alone and not putting together the plan for this morning’s meeting, they’d been sleeping. Often in different places. One night he’d passed out in the recliner before even getting to eat dinner.

  Then last night she’d drifted off on the couch. He’d taken her upstairs to his room, and she’d readily turned into his arms…but she’d still been asleep. In a way, it was a good thing—they hadn’t had time to discuss anything but the case. Hadn’t had time to feel their way blindly around a situation where they were both without precedent.

  And frankly, he hadn’t had a chance to say something stupid and send Tessa running for her life.

  Which was a good thing, right?

  So why did it feel so wrong to leave everything hanging, to have thei
r entire situation unresolved and up in the air? He’d never been one to push for structure and formality in a relationship.

  Frankly, his current compulsion to do so was giving him heartburn.

  “Carmen! I thought you weren’t going to be able to make it.”

  At the sound of Tessa’s surprised voice, Luke stood up and turned to see a stunning Hispanic woman in a sexy, lipstick red suit approaching them.

  “You didn’t think I’d leave you to face the wolves alone, did you?” Carmen Ramirez asked with a slight smile.

  Tessa stood there organizing her notes, not sure of whether she was pleased or not with her boss’s presence.

  “Don’t sulk,” Carmen said. “I’m not here to steal your thunder. Quite the opposite—I’m going to back you up. There’s no way the head of the task force or the US Attorney’s representative would recognize any deals you make with them. They expect me to give my explicit approval to any arrangements. It’s simply a matter of protocol.”

  “I didn’t mean to imply that you’re not welcome to attend—” Tessa began.

  “No, you just want to protect your case, which I can understand,” Carmen said. “Trust me, I won’t say a word. I’ll just nod at the appropriate moments and expect you to do all the work.”

  “Typical boss behavior,” Luke joked. “Are you sure you didn’t work for the sheriff’s department at one time?”

  Carmen gave Luke a thorough, head-to-toe assessment in a single glance. “No wonder she’s feeling so possessive. Tell me,” Carmen spoke to Tessa, “who is this?”

  “This is Lucas Novak, Carmen. He’s been instrumental in getting us to this point in the case,” Tessa said, clearing her throat a little at the glowing words that came out of her mouth. She meant them, she just hadn’t meant to say them in that tone.

  Luke shook hands with Carmen and made all the appropriate noises and gestures, but his gaze was strictly for Tessa. She felt it on her like a caress.

  Enough.

  Tessa shook herself free of the spell. She was going to have a hard enough time being taken seriously in the next room once the time came for the spotlight to fall on her. She had no doubt she’d be one of only a few females at the conference table, and most probably the youngest by a good decade or more. It was one of the reasons she’d chosen her most conservative blue pin-striped suit and navy pumps, and worn her hair in a businesslike bun, with the old standby pearl earrings and brooch.

  Women at her relatively low level in government work weren’t able to get away with being sexual creatures, whether that meant dressing like Carmen in a suit designed to bring a man to his knees, or having a man look at her the way Luke just had.

  Someday, Tessa would get to that point—the way her boss and even Chantal had. But in the meantime, she had to pay her dues and ensure that everyone knew she’d gotten to where she was through brains, hard work, and ambition.

  Ronnie kept insisting this was a conservative—even reactionary—approach. But Ronnie had never had to make a presentation to a roomful of patronizing and territorial men who had reached their positions the old-fashioned way—through backstabbing, office politics, and the old boys’ network.

  “Are you worrying about how they’ll react to you because of who your father is?” Ronnie whispered to Tessa, breaking into her thoughts.

  She hadn’t been—until that moment. “Now I am. Thanks.”

  Ronnie looked chagrined. “Sorry. I just wanted to tell you that Chantal and Ricky’s accountant, Tristan Rothschild, are here. So are the various witnesses and their attorneys. I’ll keep an eye on everyone over here while you’re at the meeting. It looks like the entire room next door is full, so you and Luke should get over there.”

  Tessa took a moment to acknowledge Chantal with a nod, then smoothed her hair while Luke gathered his briefcase and hers. He winked at her and refrained, just barely, from blowing her a kiss.

  “One last bit of advice,” Carmen said. “There are at least twenty people in that room. Don’t worry about getting everyone’s name and organization right, okay? There are really only two people you need to worry about.”

  “And they are?” Tessa asked.

  “First off is Assistant United States Attorney Gilbert Rabani. He’ll be in a power suit—dark hair and complexion, just under six feet, midforties or so. He’ll have the final say with respect to the federal charges.”

  “AUSA Rabani,” said Tessa. “Check. And the other, I’m assuming, is Special Agent Peebles?”

  “Yes. My assistant did some research because I’ve never met the man. His first name is Dieter, and I understand he’s got the Nordic look going for him. He’s in his forties, and very ambitious. This is his first time heading up a task force, and word is he’s being so cautious in dotting his i’s that the investigation is moving at a snail’s pace. Expect him to be pissy. He didn’t want you here,” Carmen said bluntly.

  “I know. I’ll just have to make it worthwhile for Special Agent Peebles.”

  “Don’t forget, he’s a very small man.” This last bit of advice was given by Chantal as Tessa made her way out the door and into the hallway that separated the staging room from the conference suite. Tessa gave her a smile that held all the confidence she didn’t feel at the moment.

  “I’ll worry about bringing in our guests when the time comes,” Luke said as he handed Tessa her briefcase. “If you want to switch the order we agreed to, just let me know.”

  Carmen led the way into the tightly packed conference room. A slim, pale-haired man seated at the head of the table was speaking to the group, reading off a list of action items from the last time the task force met.

  Special Agent Peebles waited with obvious annoyance as Luke, Tessa, and Carmen entered the room. Tessa saw with some dismay that every seat at the table was occupied, and there were no extra chairs in the room.

  She hesitated, assuming that someone familiar with the facility would offer to find some additional seats. Peebles looked at her, then at his watch.

  “You must be Ms. Jacobi. I’m sorry, but you’re seventy-five seconds late. I like to begin my meetings promptly. You’ll find a copy of the minutes and action items from the last meeting on the table in the corner behind you. Okay,” he addressed the room, “on to the next subject on the agenda.”

  Clearly, no one was going to get any other chairs, meaning they would have to move to the corner and stand there for the length of the meeting. Tessa watched Carmen’s mouth pull into a flat line and wondered how to avoid the inevitable fireworks.

  Luke made his way toward the head of the table. He touched the shoulders of the two men sitting next to Peebles, bent down between them, and spoke loudly enough to be heard by everyone in the room.

  “I’m sure you gentlemen won’t mind giving your chairs up to my colleagues here, right?”

  “Excuse me, sir.” Peebles stood up and glared at Luke.

  “Don’t mind me. I’m Luke Novak, nice to meet you, Dieter. Just making a place for the ladies at the table before we continue.”

  Forced into the spotlight, neither man could gracefully refuse to give up his seats. Luke smiled warmly and held the chairs out for Tessa and Carmen, then stepped back to lean against the wall behind them. The other men made sure there were several feet between Luke and them as they stood in front of the wall and waited to see what he’d do next.

  Round one of the pissing contest goes to Luke Novak. Tessa did her best to look professional as she silently gloated.

  “Please continue, Agent Peebles,” Luke said graciously. “I’ll let you make the introductions.”

  Carmen coughed out loud. She and Tessa settled into their leather executive chairs and waited to be presented to the group.

  But Special Agent Peebles clearly had other plans. He went right back to where he’d left off, checking action items and dealing with administrative details.

  A dark-haired man Tessa guessed to be Assistant US Attorney Gilbert Rabani cleared his throat. “If I could inte
rrupt here, Dieter.”

  “I’m going to ask you to submit any questions to my assistant, and we’ll get to them at the end of the meeting,” Peebles replied. “However, I’ll make note that you’re first in line, Gil.”

  After that, Peebles spent the next five minutes going over a laundry list of relatively insignificant items from the previous meeting. As Luke started to twitch, Peebles switched over to a lengthy discussion of the issues involved with getting wiretaps for the phones at Club Red and several other locations where Ricky was known to reside.

  “So because of the overlapping jurisdictions, including Nevada and Mexico, I wanted our lawyers to spend an additional month tightening the text of the wiretap requests.” He paused to take a sip of water, then continued on about the wording of the requests for subpoenas related to the case.

  Tessa couldn’t believe the rudeness. First of all, the man had neglected to introduce them to anyone. Second, he was spending valuable time going over the nitty-gritty details of the investigation, which was clearly inappropriate given Carmen’s presence. The district attorney of Los Angeles did not involve herself in the minutiae of ongoing investigations.

  “Excuse me, Agent Peebles.” Carmen held a hand up to stop the man in midsentence. “I’m sure the items you’re discussing are quite important to the operational aspects of this task force. But I didn’t come to hear about alterations in the draft text of your subpoenas and search warrant requests.”

  “And you would be…?” Peebles inquired.

  The dark-haired man who had tried to speak earlier stood up. “Allow me to introduce Carmen Ramirez, District Attorney for Los Angeles County.”

  Peebles turned an unattractive shade of brick red. The color in his face was so deep it made his eyebrows look pure white against his forehead. “Pleasure.”

  Carmen smiled her cat smile. “Likewise. I’ve got a tight schedule today, so I was wondering if I could impose and have our little discussion bumped to the top of your lovely, organized agenda.” She waved the document in question. “Then we can get out of your hair and leave you to work at the ant’s ass level of detail. I’m really only interested in the satellite view, if you get my drift.”