Hidden Hearts Page 22
Middleton grabbed the coffin and dragged it to the hole, where he dropped it in. “Vance is an idiot. All he cared about was getting Susan in bed. When she wouldn’t give in, he tried to find a replacement. Started hitting on clients. Julia was too nice to notice, and by the time she did, he had it in his mind she wanted him.” He chuckled. “So the dumbass just took her. He came to me. Said he messed up.”
“And you offered to get rid of her.”
He grabbed the lapels of Holly’s jacket, lifting her to her feet. She ground her teeth to stop herself from crying out at the pain shooting down her wounded leg.
“Somebody has to clean up his messes.”
“Why? Why you?”
“I’ve been cleaning up after that boy all his life. As soon as he realized how easy it was, he couldn’t stop himself from taking that other girl. He might like taking ’em.” He pressed his lips to her ear. “But he knew I liked killin’ them.”
Holly swallowed. No way was he getting her in that coffin. No way in hell. He yanked her, and she threw her head forward, crashing her forehead to his nose. He howled and released his hold on her. She reached for the gun in his waistband, but he recovered and twisted her arm until she dropped to the ground.
He used his grip on her to drag her toward the box. He’d only managed to pull her a few feet when a body jumped over her and tackled him. He was on his back, cursing, before Holly recognized it was Jack punching Middleton in the side.
It was the second time in one day when seeing Jack had made her the happiest she’d ever been in her life. But then Middleton threw his head back into Jack’s face and Jack fell away.
“Gun!” Holly screamed as Middleton reached for her Glock.
Jack dropped his hands, focusing on Middleton as the man pulled the gun from his waistband. He aimed the gun, ready to fire on Jack, as Holly pushed herself up, gripping the shovel handle as she went. She swung, and a sickening crack filled the air as the flat side of the blade connected with Middleton’s skull. Jack lurched forward, grabbing the gun as the man fell.
Looking up, Jack gave Holly a crooked smile. “Are you ever going to let me be the hero?”
She smiled as warmth spread through her chest. “Not a chance.”
19
Jack didn’t mind having HEARTS around, but he didn’t particularly care for feeling like he was being edged out. He and Holly had been released from medical care and were at her house, where he was perfectly capable of taking care of her. If the mother hens would let him.
Her wound wasn’t even that bad. Not really. Yes, she was sore. Yes, she needed to take it easy. But she was going to be fine. She was already planning to go back to work—desk duty at least. They didn’t need to hover.
“Are you pouting?”
Jack glanced at Rene standing in Holly’s kitchen door. “No.”
“I’m pretty sure behind those black eyes and taped-up broken nose, you’re pouting, Detective.”
“Why would—”
She walked into the kitchen, cutting his question off with that stone-cold stare of hers. “We just need to reassure ourselves that she’s fine, and then we’ll go.”
“She is fine.”
“We know.”
“So why do you need reassurance?”
“Because we love her, too.” She lifted her brow before he could refute her inclusion of him.
He smirked. Holly did that same brow-cock shut-the-hell-up move. He wasn’t going to deny that he cared about her. Not anymore. That was obvious after all they’d been through. But he wasn’t sure they were ready for the L-word just yet. And Jack was fine with that. And if he read Holly right, she was, too. They were in a good place. A solid place. Building a foundation. A life. With each other and all the people in their lives.
Including the one staring at him like she knew every damned thing there was to know.
“Sorry,” he said, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed about his lack of empathy for her friends. “It’s just that we’ve barely had a moment alone since all this happened.”
After the police had arrived and arrested Middleton, Jack and Holly had ended up back at the hospital and hadn’t been alone since.
“You’re right. You haven’t. Between us and your mother, you two have had a revolving door on this place. I’ll round up the troops.”
“I wasn’t kicking you out.”
She grinned. “You couldn’t if you tried, Detective.” With a wink, she left, and Jack finished drinking the coffee he’d been staring into when she’d caught him internally griping.
By the time he’d rinsed his mug and headed out of the kitchen, Holly was hobbling along on her crutch behind the rest of the women, telling them she’d be at work the next day and not to worry about her. She closed the door behind Tika and collapsed against it.
“Do you hear that?” she asked.
“What?”
“Silence,” she whispered as she hobbled toward him. “Blessed silence.”
He smiled as he rested his hands on her hips. “Nice, isn’t it?”
“Amazing.” Resting her cheek on his shoulder, she took a deep breath before rolling her head back. A quiet laugh left her. “You look so terrible.”
“Well, you’re walking like Igor.”
She laughed more heartily, and he had no choice but to smile.
Running his hand over her head, he gently tugged at her messy bun. “What should we do with all this quiet time?”
Mischief lit in her eyes before she whispered, “Eat more of your mom’s basbousa.”
Chuckling, he put his arm around her back and let her lean on him as he guided her to the sofa. “Would you like coffee with your cake?”
“Yes, please.”
Easing her down, he kissed her forehead. “You know she’s never going to stop cooking for you now that you’ve gushed about her food.”
“I hope not. She’s spoiling me rotten, and I love it.”
“Me too,” he said before kissing her head again.
She moaned when her phone rang. “That thing hasn’t stopped for days.”
“People are worried about you.”
“Reporters wanting me to answer questions, you mean.” She looked at the caller ID and then to Jack. Confusion filled her eyes. “It’s my dad.”
“Answer it.”
She hesitated before pressing her thumb into the screen. “Hello?” She lowered her face. “Hey. No, I’m fine, Dad.” She nodded as if her father could see her. “Yeah. That’d be fine. Um, next week sometime, though. I’m still recovering. Okay. See you then.” She hung up and stared at the phone for a minute.
“He wants to see you?”
“Yeah.”
“Why are you so shocked?”
She met his gaze and scoffed. “Because he sounded sober.”
“Maybe he was.”
“Maybe.”
He stared at her while she stared at her phone. Her mind was always going, always trying to put pieces together, always trying to anticipate what to expect. He didn’t blame her after all she’d been through, but he hated that she was always so suspicious of everyone. She never took anyone or anything at face value. He was going to have to work doubly hard to make sure she knew how he felt about her. But he was okay with that. She was worth it. She was definitely worth it.
“You okay?” she asked when she caught his gaze.
He inhaled slowly and realized he’d probably never been more okay in his life—despite the broken nose Middleton had given him—than in that moment as he looked into her curious blue eyes.
Okay, so maybe his mom and Rene were right. Maybe they were there; maybe the L-word wasn’t as far away as he imagined.
“I’m great, Hol.” He smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m more than great.”
Normally Holly would hate being catered to, but she had to admit, she’d been eating it up the last few days. Somehow she’d come to terms with her place in this life—in HEARTS and with Jack.
However she categorized it, knowing that she and Jack had come far too close to losing each other seemed to push her beyond whatever emotional block she’d put in place years ago. Tika had rushed into Holly’s hospital room and given her the customary hug, and instead of simply tolerating it, Holly had hugged her back and clung to her. She’d needed that comfort, and she’d allowed herself to accept it.
And when Ms. Tarek—or Najwa, since she now insisted Holly call her by her first name—had done the same, Holly had hugged her as well. She felt a bond to Najwa that ran much deeper than amazing food. The woman felt like a mother to her. Not her mother, but a mother. And that was the closest Holly’d had for a very long time to feeling like she had a family. And Jack was a part of that. As much as Eva, Alexa, Rene, Tika, and even Sam.
This was her family now. And she had refused to feel that until she’d come so close to losing them all.
That train of thought led to where all her thoughts seemed to lead these days. To the night her mother was raped and murdered in front of her. She’d added her memory of the revolver to her journal, but now she was beginning to question the validity. She’d been under duress when that flashback had happened, and in all these years, she’d never recalled the man having a gun. Why would she remember that now? Maybe she hadn’t. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her. Honestly, she had no way of knowing for certain.
“Those are some pretty heavy sighs you’re letting out,” Jack muttered.
“I thought were you asleep.”
“Your heavy breathing is keeping me awake.”
“Sorry,” she whispered.
He dropped his arm on her waist when she started to lift the blankets. “Where are you going?”
“I don’t want to disturb you.”
“Too late.” Moving closer to her, he kissed her shoulder. “What’s wrong, Princess?”
She smiled at his nickname. One day she’d kick his ass for that, but today definitely wasn’t the day. Turning, she hissed as pain hit her thigh, but she pushed through and turned to face him. Even in the barely lit bedroom, she could see the medical tape across his nose.
“We are a sorry pair right now.”
“I think we’re okay. Considering the alternatives.”
Tilting her face, she put her lips lightly on his. “I’m done thinking about the alternatives. What Fredrickson did to you. What Middleton tried to do to me. It’s over. I’m letting it go.”
He lifted his brows. “You? Let something go?”
“Hey,” she chastised. “Let me have this moment.”
Putting his hand to her face, he cupped her cheek. “You take as many moments as you need, babe. We have all the time in the world.”
Covering his hand, she smiled. “I feel that way, too.”
His kiss was so delicate it melted her heart. Whatever last bit of resistance she was holding to faded, and she felt her soul open to him. Then, as he leaned back and looked into her eyes, Holly realized what the feeling was. Love. This was the moment. The moment she fell in love with this man.
“What is it?” he asked, stroking his hand over her hair.
She swallowed and blinked as unexpected tears filled her eyes. Damn it. She’d turned into a crier. “There is something I can’t let go of, Jack. That I’ll never be able to let go of. Since I was a teenager, I’ve been keeping a journal with what I remember about the night my mom died. Everything I can remember, no matter how big or small. If I remember it, I write it down. I know the odds of finding that bastard are low, but…I have a file at the office. Would you look at it? Would you help me try to find him?”
He brushed his thumb over her lips. “Of course. I’ll do everything I can.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She inhaled slowly. “First, I need you to do something else.”
“What?”
“Help me get all these thoughts out of my head. I can’t stop thinking about losing the people I care about, and I’m about to lose my mind. I need you to make love to me.”
He seemed surprised by her request. She’d never put sex in the context of him having any kind of control, and his reaction confirmed that he’d noticed that, too. She might not have said what was on her mind, but she was certain he’d read between the lines of her meaning. He always managed to do that somehow.
Jack lightly ran his hand over her thigh. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“So be gentle.”
She rolled onto her back, pulling him with her and biting the urge to hiss when her muscles cried out against the movement. If he knew she was in pain, he’d stop. Just one more thing she adored—no, loved—about him.
He kissed her slow and deep, and she let him. She let him take the lead as she followed, determined to allow herself to enjoy not being in control for a change. That was something she was going to have to work on for a while, but she’d taken the first step with Alexa the other day by letting her drive, and now she was taking the first step with Jack…by letting him drive in a different way.
She had to open up and trust. Her friends, her lover, and herself. Now that she’d accepted that, she was finding letting herself care about them a bit easier than she’d thought it would be.
Holly smiled at Jack as he eased back and carefully started removing her underwear—paying special attention as he slid the cloth over her bandaged wounds. Then he tossed the material aside before discarding his boxer briefs.
“This is going to be very interesting,” he commented.
“Why?”
“I haven’t quite figured out where to put your leg so I don’t hurt it.”
“You’re overthinking this.”
“Am I?”
She nodded and gestured for him to return to her side. He stretched out, and she kissed him as she ran her hand down his side, lightly brushing over his skin. She smirked and he gasped when she teasingly touched his erection.
Spreading her legs, stopping only when the muscles in her wounded thigh protested, she tilted her hips and guided him toward her opening. He held her as he moved forward, slowly entering her. She held her breath, bit her lip, and held his gaze as their bodies fully connected.
He gently ground into her and kissed her lips as they made love. She held his face as she deepened his light kisses. As her pleasure grew, she felt the need to climb inside him, to let him consume her. She held him more tightly, wrapping her arm around his shoulders, as her body tensed.
Wrapping her leg around his, ignoring the pain, she pulled their bodies closer together.
“I got this,” he said when she inhaled sharply. Holding her hip, he ground into her.
She gave in and let him carry her with him as he got closer and closer to the edge. Looking into his eyes as he made love to her, she felt her doubts fade as warmth filled her. For the first time in longer than she cared to remember, Holly didn’t feel the need to hide her heart.
Continue the Women of HEARTS with Burning Hearts
The smoke filling Wendi Carter’s kitchen didn’t surprise her. Even after taking a basic cooking course at her local grocery store, she could effortlessly burn water. What was astonishing was the fact that the smoke alarm wasn’t wailing as she pulled the charred ground turkey off the stovetop. The recipe for Easy Taco Salad, a half page torn from a magazine, flittered to the floor in her rush across the room. She snatched the pan off the heating element and cursed the layer of meat stuck to the bottom.
In a routine she was far too familiar with, she dropped the pan into the sink, turned on the fan, and frantically waved her towel to disperse the smoke. Then she leaned back against the counter and looked up at the circle of plastic on her ceiling.
She was so acquainted with the screech
ing, she actually talked to the device in futile attempts to calm it down. “Simmer down, Ol’ Smokey” was what she usually said as she fanned away smoke from whatever she had burned. Then she’d climb on a chair, twist the plastic cover off the alarm, and pull the battery until the air cleared enough to not trigger the sensors.
This particular evening, however, Ol’ Smokey was silent.
Which meant her culinary skills were so poor, she’d actually killed the detector’s battery. She laughed as she considered just how many adults could claim that particular achievement.
After clearing the air, Wendi grabbed a new nine-volt battery from the overflowing junk drawer and climbed the chair she always used to reach the alarm. She twisted the cap off and removed the plastic covering. Staring at the innards, Wendi swallowed hard, trying to understand what she was seeing.
The battery wasn’t dead. It was missing. In its place was a tiny device. One that, after a few moments of inspection, she identified as a wireless camera. She ogled the little contraption, confused how it could have gotten there. Just four days ago, as a blackened pizza cooled on her balcony, she had pulled the battery to stop Ol’ Smokey from beeping. She’d replaced it after fanning out the kitchen.
The battery had been there four days ago. And now it wasn’t. That didn’t make sense. Wendi lived alone. She had a boyfriend, but he didn’t have a key. No one had a key.
And no one had been in her house in the past four days.
At least not to her knowledge.
Chapter 1
Despite her morning ritual of practicing tai chi, Eva Thompson had little patience, especially for scumbags who put innocent people in unnecessary danger. The sweaty, borderline overweight man sitting across from her was doing just that. The president of the Jupiter Heights Condominium Association didn’t seem to mind that the “events” he was describing were illegal activities that could lead to a serious incident. He was more concerned with making sure the reputation of the high-end residence remained unaffected.