Negotiation Tactics (Sutton Capital Series Contemporary Romance)

by Lori Ryan

  “Jennie…” Kyle’s dad took an almost imperceptible step forward and seemed to want to reach for her – but didn’t. “Honey, she’s right. He wouldn’t want to see you like this. He wouldn’t want you to give up on having a life, on finding love again, just because he’s gone.”

  She heard the murmured agreements by those around her but she knew the truth. She knew what they didn’t know. What no one could know.

  The words were wrenched from her soul, but it was time to tell them. Shaking her head as if to will the words – the truth – away, Jennie finally spoke. “I can’t. I… You don’t know. I’m the reason he died. I killed Kyle.”

  The words came pouring out in a torrent that Jennie couldn’t control, couldn’t check in any way. “I told him to wait. Kyle was sick and getting so many headaches. He was tired all the time, but he had just started his new job. When we graduated from school, Kyle started it right away but I didn’t have a job yet. Money was so tight and his health insurance wouldn’t kick in until he’d been at his job for ninety days.”

  As Jennie doubled over, Chad’s arms came around her. He lifted her up and carried her to the couch, where he cradled her in his arms and held her tight while she continued to talk through the tears.

  “When he was in the hospital, I asked the doctor, ‘If we had found it earlier, would that have made a difference?’ He said every day, every week, with cancer treatment makes a difference. Because of me, Kyle waited for those three months before seeing a doctor.”

  As Jennie leaned into Chad and cried, he shushed her, and rocked her, surrounded by Kyle’s parents and her parents. Jennie looked up at them and couldn’t understand why they all still looked at her with love in their eyes. With understanding and concern instead of hatred. Why weren’t they looking at her with disgust after what she just told them? Didn’t they understand?

  Kyle’s mom took Jennie’s hand in hers. “Jennie, you didn’t kill Kyle. You listen to me, Sweetheart. That doctor had no right to tell you that. No right at all, Sweetheart. You and Kyle were so young when you married. You’d have no reason to think he was so sick. None of us did. I brought him chicken soup, for heaven’s sake, Jennie. I didn’t make him go to a doctor. I made him soup.”

  Jennie’s breath was ragged. It hitched uncontrollably with every inhale as she tried to process what was said. And through it all, Chad held on tight to her, rocking her until she wore herself out and the flow of tears began to slow.

  As Jennie caught her breath, Kyle’s father spoke so quietly Jennie almost couldn’t hear him at first.

  “Kyle knew, Jennie,” he said.

  “What?” Jennie’s head snapped up and it sounded as if everyone in the room was holding their breath.

  “He told me. About a week before he died. He told me he had gone to a clinic without telling you. He used a fake name and saw the doctor so it wouldn’t be on his work medical record as a preexisting condition. They told him he needed to start treatment right away, but he didn’t want to strap you with that burden financially. By that time, it was only a matter of about three more weeks before his insurance kicked in, so he waited. He made a choice, Jennie. And, it wasn’t that choice that killed him and it wasn’t you that killed him. It was cancer that killed Kyle. It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right for him or for you to have to go through that, but that doesn’t make it your fault, Jennie.”

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Dinner forgotten, they all settled in the living room as Chad held Jennie in his arms. She had worn herself out. She lay limp against him, having finally succumbed to sleep. He suspected she hadn’t been sleeping well since they had their fight at the cabin. He leaned back against the couch, shifting sideways so he could let her stretch out a bit and sleep.

  Her parents and in-laws surrounded them, as if unable to pull themselves away. Her father started talking first, and initially, Chad wished they wouldn’t tell him about Kyle. But, after a minute, he realized they weren’t. They were really telling him about Jennie because Kyle was as much a part of Jennie as they all were. To really know Jennie, Chad had to know Kyle, too.

  “She used to follow him around when he was twelve. She thought he hung the moon and the stars, but he thought she had cooties at that age,” Jennie’s dad said, laughing at the memory.

  Chad could picture Jennie then. He pictured a young version of the happier Jennie he used to know, not the Jennie she had been in the last few months.

  “She would do things to get his attention like hide his football or put itching powder down the back of his shorts,” said Kyle’s mom.

  “Oh, God. I remember that! The things she put that poor boy through,” said Jennie’s mom shaking her head.

  They began to tell stories about Jennie and Kyle. About the year Kyle finally noticed girls in general, and Jennie in particular. About their junior prom and their senior prom. About Kyle saving up to buy Jennie a promise ring and the time they caught Kyle climbing the trellis to get to Jennie’s room at night. About how Kyle proposed to Jennie at the family celebration of their college graduation and how she cried when he got down on one knee.

  They talked late into the night as Jennie slept. Chad thought he would feel jealous, hearing about her perfect relationship with the man he couldn’t begin to compete with. But he didn’t. He liked hearing about how happy Jennie had been. He wanted that back for her. It hurt like hell that he couldn’t give her that happiness, but if he couldn’t give it to her, he wanted her to find it any way she could.

  Eventually, the stories of Kyle and Jennie stopped and the group sat quietly for a bit even though it was well past midnight. It was as if none of them could stand to leave Jennie for the short time she’d be home. They had turned out the lights and had only a small lamp on as they talked. At some point they’d eaten cold burgers, bringing the plates in from the dining room to eat picnic style in the living room.

  “What do you think you want it to be, Chad? A boy or a girl?” Asked Jennie’s dad with a grin.

  “Oh, it can’t be a girl,” Chad said with an equally big grin that told them he really didn’t care if it was a boy or a girl. “Then two women will have me wrapped around their little fingers,” he said with mock fear in his voice.

  As they laughed, Chad heard a car creep to a halt outside Jennie’s parents’ house next door. He went immediately on alert just as Zeke stood and growled, low and in his throat. It was an almost silent warning.

  The headlights on the car were cut before it even finished pulling to the curb and whoever was in it didn’t exit right away.

  Chad sat Jennie up, placing a finger to his lips to indicate to the group to be quiet.

  “Jen,” he shook her a little. “Jen, did you tell anyone we were here? Text or call anyone?”

  Jennie looked at him with confusion but shook her head, no.

  Chad looked up at the couples sitting around him. “Have you called anyone since we arrived?”

  He had a bad feeling about this. And he trusted his gut. It had kept him alive in a lot of tough situations.

  They all shook their heads.

  Chad left Jennie on the couch and motioned to all of them to stay put. He slipped his Glock out of his duffel and held it by his right leg as he went to the window to watch Jennie’s house.

  Two men exited the car. He didn’t recognize them, but their dark clothing furthered the feeling of unease coming over him. As he watched, they crept toward the house carrying large containers. It took only seconds for Chad to recognize they had containers of gasoline.

  Chad grabbed his phone and tossed it to Jennie’s dad. “Call 911. They’re setting your house on fire. Stay inside until I get back,” Chad said as he turned toward the back of the house. He heard Jennie cry out behind him but he had to leave her. He needed to find out who the men next door were and how they’d tracked them down.

  Chad crossed through the dining room and into the kitchen, then slipped out into the yard. He moved silently as he took in the location of the m
en next door. Chad stopped and listened, focusing only on the sounds around him. He could hear one man at the front of the house and one at the back. And neither was expecting him. Chad hoped he could get to them before one of them lit a match. The smell of gasoline was overpowering as he got closer to the house. Using a gun was out of the question with so much accelerant around.

  It was clear that the men weren’t professionals and had no clue what they were doing. Surrounding the house with gasoline wasn’t a very effective way of burning it down. They needed to be working from the inside out. Not to mention, the men hadn’t even checked to be sure Jennie was inside the house before they started. Whoever had sent these guys hadn’t taken the time to find someone who knew what they were doing. They were either acting hastily or were acting on someone else’s plan, with little thought as to how to execute it.

  Chad moved into position behind the man at the back of the house. The guy was tall but looked to be fairly out of shape. Chad moved quickly, grabbing him in a carotid hold designed to cut the blood supply to the man’s brain. It was a very quick way to render someone unconscious, and usually worked faster than a choke hold. Chad felt the man go limp in his arms. With no cuffs or zip ties to secure the first arsonist, he’d have to hope he was able to take out the second man before the first one came to. He lowered him to the ground and listened for his accomplice.

  The sound of trampling through the bushes told Chad the second man was heading around the side of the house toward him. Chad ducked into the shadows against the side of the house and waited.

  “Barry,” came the man’s voice in a whisper. “Barry? Where the hell are you?”

  Chad stepped out from the shadows, leading with his fist. The second man was in better shape than the first. It wasn’t easy to take a dead-on hit from Chad like that and still be standing. He came back at Chad with a right cross and a series of jabs. Chad deflected the man’s blows, waiting for an opening. When one came, Chad exploded, shoving the man back against the house with a series of shots. When his adversary’s back hit the house, Chad cut off his air supply with a forearm across the neck.

  “Who sent you?” Chad growled.

  The man clawed at Chad’s arm with ineffective hands, his eyes bulging as he fought for breath. Chad eased up a fraction, allowing the man a small amount of air as he asked again, “Who. Sent. You.” Chad’s tone was deadly and fierce because he needed to extract any information he could, quickly. Once the police came, there wouldn’t be a chance for any more of Chad’s style of questioning.

  The man shook his head and Chad pressed in once again, cutting off the assailant’s air supply. Hearing sirens, Chad knew his time was up. Whoever this guy was, he wasn’t talking easily. Chad yanked the arsonist around and gripped both his arms in a hold behind the man’s back. Chad shoved him ahead of him to meet the police as his mind processed the implications of this attack.

  Only one person knew he and Jennie were back in town and where they were. He hadn’t even called Jack and Kelly or his mother to tell them they were coming. Nope. There was only one person other than the people sitting in the Evans’ living room who knew where he and Jennie were. Agent Burke.

  ***

  As the police car pulled away from the house, Chad turned to Jennie’s parents.

  “Each of you pack a bag quickly. We need to get out of here before Bandon finds out they failed and sends someone else. Meet back out here in five minutes. Tops.”

  They didn’t argue. Chad’s tone hadn’t left much room for that and they loved Jennie as much as he did. They wanted her safe as much as Chad. He turned to Kyle’s parents next.

  “I doubt they know about you, so you should be safe here, but if you’d rather go stay at a hotel with Jennie’s parents, I’m happy to pay for it. We can get you guys a suite and call it a vacation,” he said, smiling. Most people weren’t used to dealing with arson attempts in the middle of the night. A little levity couldn’t hurt.

  Chad didn’t miss the look Annie gave her husband. She was frightened.

  “A vacation sounds good right about now,” Brian Evans said. “Where will you and Jennie be going?” he asked Chad.

  “We’ve got to go see one of my friends with the FBI. If Agent Burke leaked Jennie’s location, we need to bring him and Rick Bandon in quickly.”

  Kyle’s father nodded and walked toward the house with his wife to pack their things.

  Chad waited on the front lawn, eyes on the road, scanning in case any other unexpected visitors arrived.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  After getting Jennie’s family set up with their new bodyguard at a hotel, Chad and Jennie drove to his condo in New Haven. It was nearly dawn, but Chad had to work out who had sent the two men to Jennie’s parents’ house. After getting Jennie safely inside, Chad called the only person he trusted to help him take down a dirty federal agent.

  Mike Hayes was a Supervisory Special Agent in the New Haven field office. Mike served in the military with a close friend of Chad’s and, if Burke was dirty, Chad was sure Mike wasn’t involved. Mike was clean as a whistle and as dedicated to the agency as they came.

  Mike set things in motion quickly, getting in touch with Burke’s supervising agent and the Assistant United States Attorney in charge of the case, Caroline Waters. AUSA Waters would have worked closely with Burke on the case and would have as much information to help them flush out any leaks as Burke’s supervisor would. She’d also be able to help them figure out what they could and couldn’t do quickly within the bounds of the law and she could help push through any warrants they needed in a hurry.

  Since Burke’s phone belonged to the FBI, not Burke, they didn’t need to wait for a warrant to dump his phone records. With Burke back in Florida and Jennie here in Connecticut, normal procedure meant he should have called a field agent in Connecticut to take Jennie’s statement here. The phone logs would easily show if he’d done that or called someone else – Rick Bandon, for example.

  Chad and Mike formulated a plan. The details would stay within their small circle of Chad, Mike, AUSA Waters, and Burke’s supervising agent. No one else would know the full details of what they were doing. Burke would be given a fake meeting location and time. It would be a location that was not anywhere near Jennie. Mike would bring in a decoy posing as Jennie. Then, they’d wait to see what Burke did. If information had been leaked, they’d have their source, and hopefully, enough leverage to lead to the location of Rick Bandon.

  Chad got off the phone with Mike and looked over at the couch. Jennie was curled in a ball, fast asleep with Zeke on the floor by her feet. Chad scooped her up and started down the hall toward the guest room he’d put her things in earlier, cradling her small body against him.

  ***

  Jennie snuggled deeper into Chad’s arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. When he stopped at the guest room, Jennie shook her head.

  “Take me to your room,” she whispered.

  She wanted to be with him. She had no idea where this was going, but she knew that much. She needed to be near Chad. Somehow, things had changed in the last day. It was as if tiny slivers of light had begun to come through the gray shadows that surrounded Jennie since Kyle died.

  Oh, Jennie had gone on with her life to some degree. She had good friends and she laughed and joked and played the game every day. But, there had been a heaviness surrounding her heart and her soul. Jennie wasn’t sure if it was the talk with both sets of parents about Kyle’s death that started to let some light in or something else altogether. But she felt better.

  Her feelings for Chad swirled in her heart and her head and she didn’t know what she wanted. She only knew she didn’t want to let him go. She didn’t want him to leave her.

  Chad set her feet on the floor of his room. Two minutes ago, Jennie had felt so tired she was sure she would fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Now, with one look, Chad set her body on fire again.

  “I should let you sleep,” he said in a low voi
ce that sent shivers through her. His eyes burned with intensity.

  “I don’t think I want you to,” Jennie answered.

  Chad trailed one finger down her neck, over her collarbone, and down to the supple curve of her breast. Warmth rushed through her body, waking her instantly.

  “What do you want, Jen?”

  Jennie loved it when he called her Jen. It was such a common nickname for people named Jennifer but for some reason, she’d always been Jennie to everyone. Only Chad called her Jen.

  Jennie stood on tiptoe and ran her hands up his chest, and around his neck, pulling him down to her mouth.

  “You,” she whispered against his lips.

  For the first time, Jennie realized she wanted to be with Chad purely because she wanted to be with him. Not because she wanted to forget. Not because she needed him to take her out of her head, away from her heart. This time, Jennie wanted to experience every moment, savor every touch, taste, and sensation.

  She unbuttoned Chad’s shirt slowly, one button at a time. She felt the intensity of his gaze on her, bringing the heat in her body to a boil as her breath began the quickening she’d come to realize would always happen when she anticipated Chad’s touch.

  Jennie leaned in and pressed her lips to his chest, hearing a rumbling growl from Chad in response. Her breath came in short pants as her hands traveled greedily and her mouth explored the taut lines of his muscular torso. And then Chad’s hands were on her, lifting her up and turning to lay her on the bed.

  Jennie laughed at the thrill of making Chad’s control snap, but her laughter died quickly, replaced with a gasp as Chad lowered his body over hers. Framing her face with his arms, he captured her mouth, kissing her deeply, intently. Jennie knew what Chad meant when he’d said he could get lost in her if they kissed. She was lost in him.

  Chad lifted the hem of her shirt and pressed kisses to her stomach, playing lazily back and forth on the few inches of skin he’d exposed above the waistline of her pants. Jennie felt like every nerve ending in her skin was hypersensitive somehow. Even the slightest touch sent her reeling and moaning and wanting more. So much more.