No Happily Every After (Mia and Roman Psychic Suspense #4)

Chapter Thirty-eight

Mia woke to the sound of rumbling thunder. She staggered to the bedroom window and saw the sky was filled with angry clouds but there wasn’t a whisper of wind. The trees stood immobile at the edge of the lawn. Below her, Roman walked slowly back and forth across the grass, staring down at his phone while three of the four dogs frolicked beside him.

She automatically reached her right hand down and stroked it across Mac’s head, and the Doberman made a satisfied groaning sound and leaned into her thigh.

“You stuck with me, huh? Such a loyal soldier. I guess we’d better get some grub organized. It must be almost time for dinner.” When she checked the clock by the bed, she grimaced. “Wow. It’s already after six o’clock.”

Once downstairs, she stepped through the sliding door off the kitchen then walked to the gate and whistled. The other dogs immediately lifted their heads and whirled around and raced toward her with Tucker, the most food-motivated of the bunch, taking the lead. His sturdy Dachshund body barreled into her calves like a cannonball, and she winced and stepped back.

“They already ate,” Roman said flatly when he joined her on the deck. “I literally just fed them five minutes ago and they have the audacity to act like they’re starved. You can’t believe a word any of them say. They’re nothing but a bunch of liars.”

Mia bent down to rub her still smarting calf while Tucker put his front legs on her knee and reached up to lick her cheek.

“Of course I forgive you. It was obviously an accident, little guy,” she said, picking him up and cuddling him to her chest. He bathed her face in kisses. “Aren’t you just the best boy.”

Layla, obviously determined to get in on the action, jumped on Mia and caused her to stagger sideways. Roman grabbed the labrador’s collar.

“Hey. Not cool. It’s okay for Tucker to have some one-on-one time with mommy. You get plenty of attention too. We all have to wait our turn,” Roman said, ruffling the fur behind her ears.

When Mia gave Tucker one last kiss on the top of his head and set him down, Roman straightened and immediately pulled her in for a hug. Cupping her chin, he kissed her before burying is face against her neck and sighing.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” she asked.

“Nothing’s wrong. I guess this thing with Jennifer got me thinking about the times you were kidnapped and how lucky we were to get you back. It’s like every day that we’re together, I’m less and less able to be okay without you. If you … weren’t here anymore … I don’t think I could handle it,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

She stroked her fingertips gently back and forth across his cheek. “I’m fine. Nothing’s going to happen to me. Don’t worry so much. And by the way, I love you too.”

“You’d better.” He lifted his head, a smile tugging at his lips. “So now the only question is, do we have wildly innovative and emotionally connecting sex before or after we eat?”

“Why not both?” She hooked a leg around his hip, and he immediately boosted her up.

“I like where your mind’s at, pretty lady. One thing first, though. This time, I’ll be in charge.”

Her breath hitched when she saw the way his eyes flashed, all deep, dark dominance.

There was nothing slow or tender about the next kiss. The need poured off him as he took her mouth, his tongue pushing in to stroke across hers. She felt that first brilliant spark of lust strike deep in her core and the heat quickly spread, radiating out in lashing waves. He tasted like coffee and smelled of their vanilla body wash, which should have been a feminine scent but somehow worked when mixed with his musky male essence.

He turned and carried her several paces before gently lowering her onto the outdoor dining table. His mouth stayed fixed on hers, and she groaned when his hands went straight to her breasts. She was vaguely aware of the dogs romping on the deck and Fifi whining from somewhere nearby.

Shifting lower, he laid a line of kisses along the side of her neck, stopping to lick and gently nip the heated skin until she was writhing under him.

“That’s amazing. I feel like I’m on fire,” she breathed.

“Quiet. No talking.” His voice was like a whip, but he softened it with a smile.

He undid the buttons of her blouse, his fingers moving deftly down the line of them. Spreading the fabric wide, he studied the white lacy bra before dipping a fingertip beneath the top edge and running it back and forth along her bare skin.

“Hurry. Please hurry,” she moaned when he pushed the straps of the bra down her arms.

His hands had barely claimed their prize when his phone pinged from the pocket of his jeans.

“Ignore it,” she pleaded.

Several alerts sounded in quick succession and Roman growled and dropped his head against her chest before reaching around and pulling out his cell. He squinted down at the screen and sighed.

“It’s Eliza. I guess I should find out what’s going on,” he said. He scrolled to the text messages then reared up. “Shit. She’s had some kind of blow-out with Scott. Claims he’s in danger.”

The hot waves of lust instantly froze into ice. Mia sat up and impatiently shifted her bra back into place before pushing off the table. Her still open blouse billowed around her while she strode across the deck then whirled back to face him.

“I’ve had this weird phrase in my head off and on all day. JP is still alive . I don’t know what it means.”

Roman’s hand shot out. “You mumbled it in your sleep last night, too.”

“JP’s still alive. JP’s still alive,” Mia chanted to herself as she continued pacing. “Why wouldn’t he still be alive?” She stopped short and stared across at Roman. “Bring up the texts from the kidnapper.”

He shrugged. “Okay. Here.”

She jogged over to him and snatched the phone. “I’ve got her. Don’t call the police. Blah, blah, blah. Send the money. Blah. Blah.”

“I know. I was studying them just now. I couldn’t find anything relevant,” he said, shaking his head.

“But there’s something there. I feel it.” She held out her arm. “Look. All the hairs are standing straight up and practically saluting.”

She went to hand the phone back but halfway there, her arm stilled and her face went blank.

“What? You’ve thought of something, haven’t you?” Roman said.

“The kidnapper used such a strange address when Thomas was sending the Monero money.” Her finger flicked over the screen of his phone. “What if it’s some kind of code?”

“Could be, I guess.”

“How can we break this thing?” she asked.

“Well. It’s easy as long as you know the cipher. The most basic types involve assigning numerical values to each letter in the alphabet. A equals one, B equals two, that sort of thing.”

Mia studied the string of numbers on the phone. “Okay. It starts with a nine and a one. That must be two separate letters because there aren’t ninety-one letters in the alphabet.” She counted on her fingers. The ninth letter is I.” She glanced wildly around the deck. “We need to write this down.”

They hurried into the kitchen and Roman grabbed the pad Mia used for making shopping lists. “FYI, your shirt is still open. Super distracting.”

She smirked at him before quickly buttoning the blouse and tucking it into her jeans. “Better?”

“Yes and no. I’d rather we were both still out on the table having us a really satisfying adult moment. Still, there’s always later, right?” He cocked an eyebrow at her before shaking his head. “Anyway. Back to the task at hand. We think our first letter might be an I. What’s next?”

“There’s a one and a five. Which could make two different letters or combine into one.”

He nodded. “Let’s start with single letters. One corresponds to A and five is E. So far we have I A E. Doesn’t look promising.”

She huffed out a breath. “We should keep going. It might make sense once we’ve figured it all out.”

They worked painstakingly through the rest of the numbers, arguing back and forth about possibilities. Not knowing how many letters there were in total, they allowed for multiple variations.

“Tell me we have something?” she said, leaning her hip against the counter.

“Not unless IAEHRRAIHKAAABN or IOHAHRSHAAKARBN mean anything to you,” he said.

She let out a growl. “I must be on the wrong track. Maybe this JP thing is nothing.”

“Or maybe we have the wrong cypher. Either way, we don’t have time to figure this out right now. We need to get going.”

“Yeah.” The phone, which had been pinging in her hand these last few moments – the texts from Eliza getting more and more frantic – signaled again. “I’ll tell her we’re on our way.”

Once Roman had steered the Lexus by the house and started down the lane to the road, he flicked a glance to Mia. “Maybe check in with Thomas and see if everything’s kosher at the lake house.”

“Seems to be,” Mia said several minutes later. “Jennifer’s up and having some soup, which is a good sign. His texts don’t mention anything about Scott or Eliza.”

“Good. Now let’s hope this is nothing more than a lovers’ spat between two stressed people trying to navigate a tough situation.”

When Mia and Roman exited the elevator in Eliza’s building, they found her pacing the hallway outside her door. She immediately rushed to them. Her face was bone-white, and her hazel eyes seemed huge.

“I’m worried about Scott. He was here a little while ago and acting crazy. He wants to get our marriage annulled. I’m not sure what’s going on, but he’s not himself. I think he might be suicidal. After everything that happened to Maryanne, I can’t go through that again. Please.” She clasped her hands together. “You have to find him. Make sure he’s okay.”

“Let’s go inside and take a moment to talk this out,” Roman said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“No.” She shook him off. “You need to go right now. Before it’s too late.”

Eliza’s breath sobbed out and she clapped a hand over her mouth while her whole body trembled.

Mia brushed by her, every one of her senses buzzing. She flung the door to Eliza’s condo open wide and quickly walked through the unit. Roman jogged to catch up and followed her to the primary suite where she stopped to study the room.

It had a walk-in closet and an attached bathroom and was decorated in a soft pink palette. The bed was made and covered with about a dozen throw pillows. One of the pillows was embroidered with Eliza’s name and a second one had been done in matching gold thread for JP.

She marched back out to the main living space where she once again surveyed the area. Directly in front of the floor-to-ceiling window was a beautiful miniature sofa adorned with tiny shag throw pillows and a doll sized blanket.

In the corner of the kitchen was an elaborate doggie food station. Three different ceramic bowls sat on a pink and cream mat with the name Jean Paul Gaultier embroidered in flowing script. Water was dispensed from a squat filtration machine into an oval bowl. It hummed quietly in the background.

Roman’s eyes were fixed to her face. “What is it?”

Instead of answering, Mia turned to Eliza who continued tugging on Roman’s arm and urging him to look for Scott.

“Where’s JP?” Mia asked.

Eliza’s lips pressed together, and she dropped Roman’s arm and stepped back, her shoulders shaking and her breath ragged.

“Let me see your phone again,” Mia said to Roman.

He leaned over her while she frantically swiped the screen of the cell. “What is it, babe. You’re scaring me.”

She studied the conversation between Thomas and the kidnapper. “What if the code starts at zero instead of one? If A is zero nine would be…” She paused and counted on her fingers. “That’s the letter J.”

“And one would equal B. So we have a J and a B?”

She went back to her fingers then lifted her head and smiled hugely. “Or instead of one we put it together with the next number which makes fifteen. And fifteen is the letter P. Now we have JP.”

“Shit. You’re right.” He glanced at the phone. “Next we have an eight which gives us an I.”

“Followed by S.”

They continued converting the numbers, stumbling once or twice until Mia raised a fist in triumph. “JP is still alive. I knew it. That’s why it was in my head. I must have partly picked up on it when Thomas was sending the money.”

As one, Mia and Roman turned to Eliza who had lowered to the couch and sat cowering, her hands covering her face.

“You helped kidnap Jennifer. This whole time you’ve been plotting against the Lambs,” Roman said. “Where’s Scott?”

“And what happened to JP?” Mia strode across the room and sat beside Eliza. She grasped her shoulders and gave her a hard shake. “You’d better start talking.”

Tears flowed down Eliza’s face and her breath hiccupped out. “Please. I’m begging you. Listen to me. Scott’s in trouble. You have to find him.”

“If he’s in so much trouble, why didn’t you go and find him instead of waiting for us to get here?” Mia asked.

She turned her face to the side and squeezed her eyes shut. “Because … because … I can’t. If she sees me—if I warn him and she finds out—she’ll kill JP. The only way I can figure is if you and Roman make it look like you just randomly stumbled into the scene.”

“Who is ‘she’?” Roman demanded.

Eliza stared up at him, her face so drenched with tears that even the super-special, top-of-the-line mascara had started to run.

“Kerry Jones.”