One-Click Buy: July 2009 Harlequin Blaze

by Julie Kenner

  “I hope we are, too.”

  “Okay, here we are. Where can I park?”

  Jackie directed her to a space on the street, and Lacey helped her out of the car, noticing a pizza place close by, her heart squeezing a little. Ordinary as it might be, pizza was now kind of a special thing, having been the first date she had with Jarod, even if she hadn’t thought of it that way at the time.

  “That place serves a piece of pizza almost as big as a whole pie—they’re kind of known for it. There’s a great bagel shop, as well. Kinda funky,” Jackie said, noticing her staring down the street.

  They made their way up to the teeny third-floor apartment, and Lacey was delighted to find that there was a roof garden and a patio accessible from Jackie’s loft.

  “This is so cute! I should look for a place over here, if I stay in the city long-term.”

  “It is nice—quieter, more like a small town, in some ways. Nice neighbors.”

  They settled in, and Lacey went out to bring back a couple of the huge pizza slices, figuring Jackie might need a few minutes alone. She was acting a little strangely, and Lacey knew she just had to be patient, and be a friend. It was something she’d been lacking after her own ordeal.

  Returning up the building’s steps, she realized that in a few weeks, she’d developed more close relationships than she had in months before, just by opening up. She didn’t feel alone anymore, and the future looked brighter than it had in a long while.

  LACEY WAS EXHAUSTED and slightly uncomfortable on Jackie’s sofa. She missed Jarod and figured being here on the lumpy couch was better than being home alone in her bed. She jumped when her phone rang, hoping it was him.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, sweetheart, you awake?”

  “Yes, I was just reading and missing you like crazy. Good flight?”

  “Boring. Long. The usual. But they got Hill where they needed him to be, and tomorrow it’s business as usual for me. I miss you, too.”

  “I take it there’s been no information on Scott?” she asked.

  “Nothing. He seems to have evaporated. Maybe he went over the border, who knows? A friend of mine said it wouldn’t be typical of his profile to come back after you, so that’s a comfort, I guess.”

  “Although it doesn’t explain any of the stuff that has been happening.”

  “You alone there?”

  “Jackie’s in the next room, sleeping, though her TV is on. Why?”

  She smiled to herself, able to tell from the tone of his voice that something was on his mind—something sexy, for sure.

  “Because just hearing your voice is turning me on, and I figured, since we’re giving this long-distance thing a shot, we’ll have to get creative once in a while. Are you feeling creative?”

  “Sure, but let me get to a more private spot. There’s a nice patio on the roof, I can go up there. It’s a little muggy outside, but I’m feeling kind of hot anyway,” she said teasingly, and heard him groan appreciatively.

  Making her way up the steep metal fire escape steps to the roof, she was relieved to discover that she was alone. Her heart picked up a little as she contemplated what she and Jarod might say to each other with her sitting out here in the open.

  “It’s gorgeous up here, Jarod. They even planted a small patch of lawn on half of the roof, with flower boxes and benches, a swing and a grill. I guess everyone uses it, the eight people who rent here.”

  “So that means you could get caught.” His tone was low and naughty. “Does that bother you?”

  “Not really… I can be discreet.”

  She could hardly believe that she was getting breathless from just talking to him about sex. Although she had a feeling it was going to go a lot further than talk very shortly.

  “Where are you sitting? The bench or the swing?”

  “The swing. It looked inviting and has a canopy. The cushion is soft and I can stretch out. In fact, it’s pretty warm outside, so I think I’m going to lose my top, do you mind?”

  Another groan. “Are you seriously taking off your shirt?”

  She had a very sturdy running bra on underneath, but Jarod didn’t need to know that, she decided with wicked glee.

  “I am, and I did. There’s a soft breeze, and my nipples are very hard because I’m hearing your voice, and thinking about your mouth,” she said, and that much was true. She was already on fire for him.

  “I thought I was supposed to be seducing you,” he said roughly, but with a laugh.

  “You are. You tell me anything you want me to do, or what you’d do to me if you were here…and I’ll do the same,” she instructed, loving this new way to play.

  “You know I love it when you talk dirty, sweetheart, so don’t hold back.”

  “I don’t intend to. All I’ve been thinking about is how I’d like to—”

  A sharp noise from below her made her stop and frown.

  “Lacey?”

  “I’m sorry—I heard a loud noise, and it sounded like it came from directly below, which would be Jackie’s room.”

  “You should go check. Keep me on the line.”

  “Okay,” she agreed, and heard another loud bang, along with a yelp, and moved faster. “Jarod, something’s wrong. I think I just heard her scream.”

  “Lacey, stop! Forget it, don’t go in there. Get off the line and call for help, but stay out of there, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said, hanging up and dialing 911 at the top of the steps, but as she heard another cry, she flinched and peeped around the edge of the door leading to the escape, and saw Jackie’s apartment door flung open.

  She quickly gave the emergency operator the info and moved carefully down the steps. She had to see if she could help. If Jackie was already hurt, and in there alone, Lacey wouldn’t forgive herself if all she’d done was just wait outside.

  Sliding along the wall, she saw an older lady down the hall poke her head out and yell, “What the hell is going on down there?”

  Lacey put her finger to her lips and frantically motioned her back inside. The woman glared, and muttered something, but ducked inside her door. Probably to call the police. Fine—the more the merrier.

  It was silent in the apartment. Not a good sign, and Lacey stopped just outside the door. Suddenly assailed by a million doubts, she wondered if she was really going to be able to help Jackie, or if she was making a horrible error in judgment.

  She took a deep breath. Too late now. She stepped into the apartment, pushing the door back and saw nothing, but then heard a noise from the bedroom.

  Jackie.

  Heart slamming in her chest, Lacey reached out and grabbed a baseball bat Jackie kept by the door—she called it her “burglar bat,” which Lacey had found funny at the time. Now, the solid wood felt good in her hands. It was something.

  Moving farther in, she heard papers shuffling, and a drawer closing. Could this be a robbery? There was no way Scott could know she was here, unless he had followed them.

  She failed to breathe when her ringtone chimed from her pocket and she realized she hadn’t shut her cell phone off. It had to be Jarod calling back.

  Shit.

  She turned, heading for the door, but didn’t quite make it.

  14

  “WHOA THERE, HONEY. You hold up. And you can put down that bat, too,” commanded a male voice she didn’t recognize. It was an inebriated male voice, as well. She could tell from the slurring of his words.

  She faced a tall blond man who looked rough around the edges and didn’t fit her idea of a burglar at all. Her phone stopped ringing, and went to voice mail. Jarod must be crazed, she imagined, but she didn’t have time to worry about that now.

  “Like hell I will. Where’s Jackie?” Lacey asked calmly, and noted the man’s eyes flare.

  “She shouldn’t-a brought you here…she knows how you piss me off. She told me to get lost. Do you believe that? Picked you over me,” he said with incredulity, his gaze turning mean. “But I showed her.”<
br />
  Lacey then realized whom she was talking to.

  “Kenny? You’re Jackie’s boyfriend?”

  “I was…until the ungrateful bitch dumped me, refused to keep helping me get what I deserved.”

  Lacey heard a soft moan from the other room, behind Kenny, and homed in on his words.

  “How was Jackie helping you do that?”

  “She was helping me get to you, you know? I asked her to mess up a few things. Just enough to make you look bad, but she wasn’t doing a good job, so I had to help,” he said, throwing his hands up, which made Lacey jump. And he laughed more loudly.

  “Why would you want me off the project?”

  He shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled out a wad of paper. “See this? This is the list. She wouldn’t give it to me before, she said she was going to tell you it was me, turn me in.”

  “So you took it and put her in the hospital? It was you?”

  “Dumb bitch,” he muttered. “You’re all bitches. You come in from wherever, flashing your tits and your baby blues and get whatever you want. Do you know how long I have worked in this stupid city, barely scraping by, and you just walk right in?”

  “That’s not my fault, and it’s not Jackie’s fault, either.”

  “It is her fault!” he roared, and Lacey fought a cringe, trying to keep him talking. What was taking the police so long? “She was on the inside, she could have put in a word for me, she could have gotten rid of you! She coulda done a million things, but she wouldn’t do it, wouldn’t help me, she said. Until I made her.” He took a knife from his jacket pocket, smiling.

  Lacey’s mind traveled back along the timeline, remembering Jackie’s hand.

  Five stitches, Jackie had said, from cutting an onion. Jackie didn’t even like onions. She always told the lunch guy to leave them off her sandwich.

  “You cut her?”

  He shrugged. “She had to learn not to say no to me when I needed her. Not to put some bitch at work above her man, or there would be consequences. The cut was just enough to get the message across. I could do much worse. Wanna see?”

  He waved the knife and Lacey felt a shiver run down her body. It had blood on it.

  Oh, God. Jackie….

  She raised the bat, more afraid than she ever had been, and looked him in the eye. She wasn’t taking any chances.

  Where are the cops?

  “What did you do, you lousy, cowardly sonofabitch?” she growled at him. He wiggled his eyebrows, grinning madly.

  “Weeha, you have some spunk, don’t you? This will be fun,” he said with relish, swiping the knife in an arc and moving from one foot to the other. Lacey moved quickly and put a chair between them, a wall at her back, and held the bat poised.

  “I’ve called the police, and so did the lady next door,” she spat, hoping the latter was true. “They’ll be here any minute. You’ll never make it out of here.”

  “Aw, this won’t take more than a minute,” he teased. “I’m so sick of rich, privileged bitches taking everything from the people who work hard for it. Let’s see how well you do in the world if your face ain’t so pretty.”

  The world whittled down to just the small space containing the two of them. He moved closer, swinging and feinting, laughing again, and Lacey held the bat high. She heard sirens wail and car doors slam, but the sounds seemed far away.

  Kenny’s face was fierce as he came closer, moving faster, and she might have screamed, but wasn’t sure. He looked to the side, distracted by something, and she took her chance, swinging forward, fast and hard.

  Home freakin’ run.

  She wasn’t aiming for anything specifically, but hit him somewhere in the gut. The knife went flying, someone shouted, and Kenny fell to the floor with a grunt.

  He started to get back up, and Lacey drew the bat high a second time, but someone grabbed it and people crowded her vision. She fought to free herself, her eyes trained on Kenny.

  “Calm down, ma’am, it’s okay. Lacey? Calm down. We’re here, and we’ve got him.”

  She dared to take her eyes from Kenny when she realized officers had entered the room, the one next to her holding the bat with one hand, waiting for her to recognize him.

  “Officer Ward,” she said, remembering the name from Jarod, and he nodded.

  “That’s me. How about you relax now? We’ve got him,” he said.

  “My friend… Jackie, she’s in there,” she cried, tears, relief and adrenaline all hitting at once. “She’s hurt…he hurt her, again. He attacked her before. He—he cut her hand…”

  Suddenly her phone rang and the cop in front of her glanced toward her pocket.

  “I think that’s for you. Why don’t you answer it, and then we’ll take a statement, okay?”

  She nodded, reaching for her phone, watching two other officers drag Kenny from the room as he cursed left and right.

  She put the phone to her ear, looking toward Jackie’s room, where police had gone in but hadn’t come out. She could hardly breathe as the paramedics raced into the apartment. She pointed and they went into Jackie’s room, too.

  “Lacey? Is that you? You’re there?”

  Jarod’s voice broke through the fog.

  “I’m here.

  I’m…okay.”

  “Oh, God, honey, you near gave me a heart attack when you didn’t answer the phone. What the hell is happening?”

  She started to tell him, but then she saw Jackie being wheeled out by the paramedics. Lacey ran to her side, so happy to see her eyes open.

  “Jackie,” she whispered, taking her hand as they wheeled her through the apartment.

  Jackie looked at her but didn’t respond. She tried to say something Lacey thought might have been “sorry” but she couldn’t tell.

  Jarod was saying something, asking what was happening. Lacey told him she was there, asked the paramedics if Jackie was okay.

  “Lacey, goddammit, what—”

  Lacey fell into a chair, her knees trembling. “It’s okay, Jarod. It was Kenny, Jackie’s boyfriend. He was doing it all, the pictures, the apartment, the fires, the calls… He wanted the calendar project. He made her help. He was the one who hurt her.”

  “Is Jackie okay?”

  “He came after her, but I guess I interrupted him doing anything really bad, and so, yeah, she’ll be okay. Physically. He’s done a job on her mentally. I don’t understand… I never would have guessed. She never showed any sign of a problem like this, but maybe I wasn’t paying attention.”

  “You saved her life. And risked your own, which we are going to have a long talk about…”

  She smiled, and started to laugh and cry at the same time. “There’s a policeman here who wants to talk to me, Jarod.”

  “Okay. Do what you have to. Remember I love you.”

  It was the first time he’d said it just like that, and it put the world to rights.

  “I love you, too,” she said, meaning it. “I’ll call you back as soon as we’re done.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.”

  JAROD LEFT LACEY a message, unable to wait for her to call back. Talking on the phone just wasn’t going to cut it. He had to be there.

  Turning around almost as soon as he’d gotten home, he got a ridiculously expensive last-minute business flight and took off. Five hours later, the sun was just short of coming up, and he was jumping out of a cab in front of Lacey’s apartment. He was nearly crazy with the need to see her, touch her, and make sure she was okay.

  She opened the door to his furious knocking, sleepy-eyed and standing there wearing a shirt—his shirt that he left behind, and he couldn’t get her in his arms fast enough. Closing the door behind him, he pulled her in tight, running his hands over her, making sure everything really was all right.

  When he finally loosened his hold and she looked up, he just captured her mouth in a kiss, soaking in her touch, her scent, her taste, even though it had only been a little more than twelve hours since h
e had last seen her.

  “I had to be here. I shouldn’t have left in the first place,” he said against her mouth, now starting to believe that she really was okay.

  Lacey shook her head, making some utterly female, comforting noise that wrapped right around his heart.

  “I can’t believe you came back. Did you get any sleep at all?”

  “I don’t need sleep. Like I could sleep. Do you have any idea what it felt like to hear you and know that you were in danger, and to not be there? The things that went through my mind, sweetheart, when you didn’t pick up that phone—”

  “I’m sorry. I just… I couldn’t let Jackie be hurt. It was rough, but it worked out okay.”

  “You could have been killed,” he said flatly.

  She nodded. “Twice in a week, that must be some kind of record, even for a New Yorker,” she said wryly.

  “How can you joke about this? And Myers is still missing. No way am I moving from this spot until he’s found.”

  She moved back, looking partly amused, partly turned on, and partly consternated.

  “Jarod, you can’t do that. You have your job, remember? The one you are supposed to report to in—” she slid a look to the clock “—about an hour?”

  “They can fire me.”

  “Be serious.”

  “I’m completely serious. In everything I ever faced in the course of my work, I don’t think I was ever as afraid as I was when you didn’t pick up that phone.”

  She frowned. “You’re focusing on the wrong thing.”

  “What?”

  Sitting on the sofa and pulling her lovely legs up under her, she yawned and patted the seat next to her. He went and sat close, his fingers finding her nape and stroking the silky hair there, still needing to touch her and reassure himself she was okay.

  “You’re focusing on the problem, on the fact that you weren’t here to protect me, but what you aren’t focusing on is that I was able to protect myself,” she said with a sort of fierce look in her eye that surprised Jarod, but shouldn’t have.

  “I know. I know that. Rationally,” he said. “But in here—” he took her hand and put it up against his heart “—I wanted to be the one to make sure you’re safe. That you don’t ever have to do that, ever again. I don’t know how I can do that with us far apart. Or how my job figures in, or what I—”