Читать книгу Secret Intentions - Paula Graves - Страница 11

Chapter Three

The bride and groom emerged from the back of the church to a cheering crowd of well-wishers tossing birdseed. Jesse couldn’t resist the urge to raise his binoculars for a closer look, focusing on the pink cheeks and bright eyes of the bride.

Rita was stunning. At thirty-two, she looked nearly a decade younger, her fair skin unlined. Her cornflower-blue eyes glowed with a joy he could see even through the impersonal lenses of the binoculars.

She was happy. It radiated from her like sunshine, warming him from a distance. There had been a time when he’d have resented her finding someone else who could make her happy, but those days were long gone. Maturity and experience had softened the edges of his jealous nature and time had taught him that real love was unselfish.

He would always love Rita and want the best for her, but that didn’t mean he had to be the one to give it to her. If he’d been able to do that—and if she’d been able to make him happy as well—they would still be together.

Suit-clad men surrounded the bride and groom, guiding them down the sidewalk toward a limousine parked nearby. The reception would take place at The Lodge on Gossamer Lake, a sprawling resort on a scenic overlook with a stunning view of the lake. Jesse already had agents positioned there to augment General Marsh’s security contingent.

He watched the limousine move with a stately lack of urgency, the bride and groom waving at their well-wishers as they passed near the front of the church on their way out.

Jesse’s phone rang. Isabel. “You got the limo?”

“I’m on it,” she said. “You’re going to keep an eye on Evie and her parents?”

He spotted Evie waving at the passing limousine. Her face was still a little puffy and red, but her makeup job had hidden the worst of it, and her small, compact body looked amazing in the dark red gown she’d worn as her sister’s maid of honor.

Sometime in the past ten years, Rita’s gangly little sister had grown into a woman. She wasn’t tall and willowy like Rita, but what she lacked in height, she made up in lush curves in all the right places.

She’d been working out at the Cooper Security gym; Jesse had spotted her there a few times when he’d been working out himself. She’d taken the fitness ethic of Cooper Security seriously, even though her work was confined to the accounting department, and he’d seen the results of her efforts a few weeks ago when she’d been caught in a late-night ambush at the office.

She’d held her own, despite being injured and drugged by an SSU operative who’d been part of a siege on the building. Jesse had been impressed.

So why hadn’t he told her so?

Evie followed her parents to a black SUV driven by one of the security guards Jesse had seen earlier outside the bride’s room. But she didn’t get inside, shaking her head as her father clearly tried to coax her to join them. Finally, he stopped arguing and joined her mother in the SUV.

Frowning, Jesse watched the SUV drive away, his chest tightening with alarm. What the hell was she thinking? He sent a quick text to his brother Rick, who was parked nearby.

General and wife in black SUV. Follow.

He adjusted the binoculars and saw Evie was holding her cell phone in her hand. She punched a button and lifted the phone to her ear. A second later, Jesse’s phone rang.

He didn’t bother with a greeting. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Stop worrying.”

“Where’s your bodyguard?”

“On his way.” She pointed to a lanky man approaching from her left. “I just thought it would be better if we didn’t all go in the same vehicle to the reception. I keep thinking about what happened to the Harlowes.”

She had a point. General Emmett Harlowe, his wife and his daughter had all been kidnapped together from the north Georgia vacation cabin they owned. Spreading the Marsh family into different vehicles would make it hard for the SSU to get to them all.

“Be careful, okay?”

“You going to join us at the lodge?” she asked, falling into step with the guard as they walked toward a navy SUV parked nearby.

“That’s the plan.”

“There’s not a convenience store across the street where you can lurk.”

He smiled at the humor in her voice. “That’s okay. I know that area about as well as I know any place in the world. I’ll figure out something.”

“My guard is giving me the stink eye. I guess I need to get off the phone.”

“Be careful.”

“You, too.” She sounded serious.

He hung up and lifted the binoculars again, watching until she was safely inside the SUV. He started his car and pulled up to the road, waiting for Evie and her guard to pass. He didn’t bother trying to keep his distance. If the guard spotted him, Evie could explain his presence.

No way was he letting Evie out of his sight this time.

* * *

“H E ’ S NOT A DANGER,” Evie told the guard in the driver’s seat, a lanky, quiet man in his early forties. Her father had introduced him as Alan Wilson, a former Jefferson County prison guard. “He’s my boss.”

“Jesse Cooper?” Wilson asked.

“You’ve heard of him?”

“Everyone in the security business has heard of him.”

She felt a surge of pride and had to remind herself that she had little right to feel flattered by any praise for Cooper Security. She’d worked there less than half a year as an accountant, and she certainly had no right to take pride in any of Jesse Cooper’s accomplishments.

He was just her boss. Not even her direct boss—there were a couple of layers of middle management between them at least. And any personal connection between them had been severed completely less than an hour ago when her sister had married someone else.

She turned to look behind them, spotting Jesse’s car only forty yards back. She couldn’t see him through the glare on the windshield, but she took comfort knowing he was there. They started around a curve, temporarily hiding Jesse’s car from view. With a sigh, Evie turned back to face front.

And gasped as she spotted two cars sprawled across the road ahead.

Wilson spat out a couple of quick profanities, slamming on the brakes. Only the seat belt and her feet planted on the floorboard kept Evie from pitching through the windshield.

The brakes shrieked, the chassis shuddered as the SUV’s wheels struggled for traction, eating up a terrifying amount of the narrow distance between them and the cars ahead. Evie braced herself for a collision.

They stopped a few yards short of impact. Wilson’s hands trembled on the steering wheel.

Evie pressed her hand to her pounding heart. “My God.”

She looked behind them, expecting to find Jesse’s car right on their bumper. But he’d stopped well short. Of course. Nothing ever seemed to catch Jesse Cooper by surprise.

A cracking sound, incredibly close, drew her attention away from the car behind her. She felt something warm and wet splash her and looked at Wilson for an explanation.

For a moment, she couldn’t process what she was seeing. He was still upright, still facing forward, just as he’d been a moment before. But where his head met the headrest, blood and brain tissue splattered the upholstery.

Another cracking sound made her duck behind the dashboard. The window beside her disintegrated, pebbles of glass falling around her. In rapid succession, two more shots rang in the air.

Oh God oh God oh God!

She was still in her bridesmaid dress, shackled by the tight bodice and long skirt. Her feet tangled in the folds of satin as she unbuckled her seat belt and tried to crawl onto the floorboard to protect herself from more gunfire.

She needed a weapon. Some way to fight back.

She eyed the butt of the Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol peeking out from beneath Wilson’s bloodstained jacket. Tamping down a flood of nausea, she grabbed the weapon, grappling with the holster until she’d tugged it free.

She dared a quick peek over the dashboard. The two cars remained where they were, blocking the road. She could see a couple of men crouched behind the cars, the tops of their heads barely visible. Another gunshot rang out and they disappeared from sight.

Jesse, she realized. He was giving her cover fire.

If she could get back to his car, she had a chance. He’d get her out of here, away from the ambush. He’d take her somewhere safe.

But only if she could get to him.

The dress was a liability. She couldn’t run in the long skirt and didn’t have time or room to undress without putting herself in the line of fire. But if she could get rid of the skirt, she might have a chance.

She grabbed the fabric at the seam where the bodice met the skirt, took a deep breath and pulled as hard as she could. The satin tore away with a satisfying rip. She found the tear and pulled harder, separating the skirt from the bodice until it fell away completely. Wriggling free of the skirt, she grabbed the Smith & Wesson and took another peek over the dashboard just in time to see one of the assailants take another shot.

The bullet thudded against the frame of the car, shaking the whole vehicle. She swallowed a fresh flood of nausea and ducked again.

Okay, think. You’ve got to get back to Jesse. That means you may have to do a little shooting of your own.

She wasn’t a great shot, but thanks to her recent orientation training at Cooper Security, she knew how to lay down cover fire. Of course, doing that while running was a whole other thing altogether, but what choice did she have? Wait for Jesse to run to her rescue? That would just put him in the line of fire, too. And if she didn’t make her move soon, that was exactly what Jesse would do.

He wasn’t the kind of guy who’d hang back and let the situation unfold.

She took a deep breath and visualized her next moves. Open the door. Use it for cover as she fired off a couple of rounds, forcing the men behind the cars to duck. Then run like hell to Jesse’s car and hope she could get out of the line of fire before the ambushers got a chance to shoot back.

She tugged the door handle but nothing happened. It was locked.

She swallowed a frustrated curse and shoved the lock open. Gunfire split the air, making her flinch, but it seemed to come from behind her, so she made her move, swinging the door open.

Scrambling out, she kept her body behind the door and rose just long enough to fire a couple of shots through the shattered window. Then she whipped around and started running.

She spotted Jesse crouched behind his car door, his gun already firing a rapid fusillade of cover fire. Reaching the passenger door, she jerked it open and dived inside, hunkering on the floorboard.

Jesse fired three more rounds, already sliding behind the steering wheel. He fired a final shot as he turned the key in the ignition and slammed into Reverse.

Evie curled into a knot on the floorboard as they rocketed backward for a few endless seconds. Then the car whipped around, flinging her sideways into the door, and shot suddenly forward.

“Stay down!” Jesse barked.

She did as he asked, her pulse thundering in her ears, drowning out the roar of the car’s engine and the squeal of tires as Jesse navigated the winding mountain road at breakneck speed.

After what seemed like hours, the car slowed to a normal speed, and Jesse spoke again, his voice hard and tense. “You can get in the seat now. Buckle up in case we have to make another run for it.”

Slowly, she pushed herself up into the passenger seat, her leg muscles trembling as if she’d been running for miles. With shaking hands, she buckled her seat belt and stared at Jesse’s set profile, her breath coming in short, harsh gasps.

“Are you okay?” he asked without looking away from the road.

“Yeah,” she answered.

He slanted a quick look at her, a hint of amusement in his dark eyes as he took in her state of undress. “You’re rough on clothes, Marsh.”

She managed a shaky laugh that faded quickly as she saw the blood on her arms. “What do you think they’ll do with Mr. Wilson’s body?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. They might dispose of it to get rid of evidence.”

She blinked back tears. “Damn it.”

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and pushed a speed-dial number. “We’ve got trouble,” he told whoever answered.

Evie laid her head against the headrest and closed her eyes, trying not to give in to a sudden assault of nausea. The last seconds of Alan Wilson’s life played in her head like a skipping record, repeating the horror until she wanted to scream.

She heard the engine downshift, felt the forward motion of Jesse’s car slow and opened her eyes. Jesse had pulled off the main road and headed down a narrow dirt track that seemed to lead right into the middle of the woods. He put the car in Park, killing the engine.

“Do you need to throw up?” he asked flatly.

She looked at him. “No.” She swallowed hard and regained control over her rebellious stomach.

“It’s okay if you do.” He bent toward her, his body brushing hers as he opened the glove compartment and pulled out a small canvas bag. He handed it to her. “It’s a first-aid kit, but there are some wet wipes inside. Clean up—you’ll feel better.”

She found the wipes and cleaned off the sticky evidence of Alan Wilson’s murder. “They’re fearless.”

“I think the word you’re looking for is ruthless.”

“They’re not afraid of the police. They’re not afraid of being caught.”

“They don’t want to be caught. But they’re willing to take chances.”

She struggled with tears, hating herself for her weakness. “We have to stop those sons of bitches. Whatever it takes.”

Jesse turned to face her, reaching out one big hand to cup her chin. He made her look at him. “We will.”

A horrifying thought occurred to her. “What if someone ambushed Rita or my parents?”

“Rick’s following your parents. I just talked to him—they made it to the reception just fine. And Rita was already there, so she’s safe, too.”

“Unless they go after them at the reception.”

“I’m not sure they’ll want to take on that many people at once,” Jesse said. “But I’ve already called in reinforcements to cover the perimeter. Rick’s going to tell your family what’s going on.”

“What happens now?”

His hand lingered a moment, his fingers warm against her jawline. “We’re going to a safe house.”

“We?”

“You and me.”

“Oh.”

He cocked his head. “Is that a problem?”

She shook her head. “No. No problem.”

Except it was. It was a huge problem. It was hard enough getting over her lingering feelings for her boss when she passed him in the hallway at Cooper Security three or four times a week.

How was she supposed to move on with her life stuck in a safe house with him 24/7?

* * *

T HE SAFE HOUSE TURNED OUT to be a modest A-frame house on the western shore of Gossamer Lake, miles across the water from Cooper Cove Marina, the marina and fishing camp run by Jesse’s uncle and cousins. “Cooper Security bought it last year through a third party so it can’t be easily traced to us,” Jesse had explained as he led Evie inside.

There were three bedrooms. Jesse let her pick the one she wanted. She selected one of the two corner rooms, a surprisingly large and airy room with pleasant blue walls and simple navy curtains that blocked out the afternoon sunlight, sparing her still-aching eyes.

There was a bathroom at one end of the room, well stocked with plain, soft towels, washcloths, and a selection of soaps and shampoos. She tugged off her bloodstained clothes quickly and took a long, hot shower, trying to scrub out the horrors of the afternoon.

But only the blood washed away.

In the bedroom closet, she found clothes and shoes. Looking through them, she discovered they were mostly women’s clothes, in a variety of sizes ranging from petite to tall. The shoes spanned several sizes as well—apparently Cooper Security liked to cover all its bases.

She found a pair of jeans and a charcoal-gray T-shirt to replace her slip and half a bridesmaid dress. A pair of slip-on sandals replaced the rust-colored pumps that were making her feet hurt. She twisted her hair into a knot at the back of her head, anchoring it with a pencil she found on the writing desk by the bed.

She checked her reflection in the dresser mirror. She looked a wreck, her red-rimmed eyes wide and haunted.

Get control, Marsh. You can handle this.

Taking a deep, bracing breath, she wiped the shell-shocked look from her face and went back to the front room to look for Jesse.

She found him on his cell phone, talking to his brother. “Rick, tell Aaron we’ll both give him a statement as soon as we feel safe, but first, he has to find the shooters. I gave you the description.” Jesse looked up as she entered, his dark-eyed gaze typically inscrutable. Jesse was a cipher. Always had been, even as a young Marine recruit madly in love with a general’s daughter. Evie wasn’t sure Rita had realized just how complicated a man she’d fallen for, but Evie had known all along.

It was one of the most irresistible things about him. Who didn’t love a mystery?

“Make sure her parents and sister know she’s okay,” he said into the phone. “They’ll probably want to see her—”

“And I want to see them,” she said firmly.

He held up one finger, annoying her. She clamped her mouth closed and sat on the sofa opposite his chair.

“Tell them it’s not safe.” Jesse shot her a pointed look. She pressed her lips together more tightly and held her tongue, waiting until he finished with his brother. When he finally hung up the phone, he turned to look at her, preempting her next words. “Your parents will be calling from a secure phone in about twenty minutes.”

“I want to see them, not just talk to them.”

“Evie, someone just tried to kidnap you a second time. We’re damned lucky we’re both still alive.”

She knew he was right, but she didn’t have to like it. “I can’t imagine my father will be happy about this situation.”

Jesse’s eyebrow ticked upward. “I’m sure you’re right.”

“What are you going to tell him when he calls?”

“That you need protection.”

“He’ll want his own people to guard me.”

Jesse’s mouth set in a grim line. “Too bad.”

“Don’t goad him about it.”

“I won’t. But he’s being stubborn. He’s not going to find a security crew better equipped to handle the threat than Cooper Security. We know more about the SSU and AfterAssets than anyone out there. We have an entire section dedicated to bringing them down. He should let us help him protect not just you but the rest of your family, as well.”

“I’m on your side, Jesse. You don’t have to convince me.”

“I know.” His gaze shifted slightly, and she looked down to see that the T-shirt she’d selected was stretched tight across her breasts.

Self-consciously, she crossed her arms in front of her. “I could use some clothes that fit better.”

“I know. Tell me your size and I’ll have someone do some shopping at the thrift store in Gossamer Ridge for you.” Jesse leaned closer, his gaze narrowed as he searched her face. “Your eyes still look pretty red and swollen. Do they hurt?”

“They’re better.” They weren’t stinging anymore, although the sensitive skin around her eyes felt tender and raw. “The blurry vision has gone away.”

To her surprise, he reached out and touched her cheek. “I’m so sorry about what you’ve been through today. I know it had to be terrifying.”

“I didn’t have time to think about it,” she admitted. “Not then.”

He dropped his hand to cover hers. His palm was warm and dry, driving home how cold her own hands were.

With a look of apology, he said, “I need you to tell me everything you can remember about the last few hours.”