Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
S chwartz never came right out and told Janelle it would be a bad idea to share the office that afternoon, but she kind of assumed it from the way he stomped over to the desk, grabbed her laptop, stormed into the living area, and set her computer on the dining room table before marching back to the office and slamming the door behind him.
Now that she’d had a few hours of working quietly by herself out here, she had to admit he had a point. Fine, having sex would probably have been a bad idea. She could see that now with the fog of lust lifted. Truth be told, she felt a little stupid for throwing herself at him like she had. She wasn’t normally like that. Hell, Jacques had spent months wooing and courting her before she’d even agreed to go on a date with him, let alone have sex with the guy or agree to marry him.
Fat lot of good that did you, she told herself as she took a sip of the battery acid her brooding protector swore was coffee. She clicked “save” on the Illustrator file she’d been working on, still kicking herself for this morning’s episode.
The last guy you fell for turned out to be a drug dealer and a murderer. You don’t know the first thing about Schwartz Patton.
But she did. It was stupid, but she felt like she knew Schwartz better than she’d known any man in ages. There was a sweetness behind the gruff exterior. A gooey center under the layers of dark chocolate.
Janelle glanced at the coffee mug and wished for a chocolate espresso.
That’s not all you’re craving.
The office door flew open, and Schwartz stomped into the living room. He gripped a small black telephone in one hand, and he held it out as he approached.
“Here,” he said, thrusting the phone at her. “It’s a throwaway phone, and I’ve made sure the call is untraceable. Talk to your sister.”
“Anna?” She sat back in her chair and looked up at him. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. Mac’s watching her.”
Janelle heard a tinge of pride in his voice and caught a flicker of sadness in his eyes, but she didn’t have time to think about it. She snatched the phone and pressed it to her ear.
“Anna? What’s wrong—is everything all right?”
“I’m fine, sweetie. Everything’s okay. But there was an incident.”
Janelle’s heart slammed against her lungs, making it hard to breathe, but she forced herself to keep her voice even. “What sort of incident?”
“I had a wedding to do in San Francisco this weekend, so I drove by your apartment just to check things out. You know, to make sure no windows were broken out and no mail had piled up on the doorstep.”
“Anna, that’s not safe?—”
“I know, I know . I didn’t get out of the car, and I was only driving around the neighborhood for three or four minutes, but someone followed me.”
“What? Who? Jacques?”
“No, not Jacques, but the guy looked familiar. I recognized him as one of those bodyguard types Jacques had with him that last time he tried to talk to you. I got scared, so I called Grant.”
“But Grant’s up in Washington at Fort Lewis.”
“Right, but Grant called Mac, and Mac’s been keeping a close eye on things. I guess I didn’t realize how close, and—” Anna took a shuddery breath. “Anyway, Mac neutralized the threat.”
“He what?”
“I have no idea. I didn’t ask what that meant, exactly. All I know is that one minute this guy was on my tail, trying to get me to pull over, and the next minute this black car comes speeding from out of nowhere and forces the other car off the road and—well, I’m not sure what happened after that. Mac caught up to me at a Starbucks twenty minutes later and told me the threat had been neutralized.”
“Jesus.” Janelle’s eyes filled with tears, and she looked up to see Schwartz still standing beside her. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”
“Don’t say that. I shouldn’t have driven by your apartment. I knew better than that.”
“So you didn’t talk to the guy who followed you?”
“No, but Mac did.”
Janelle shivered, wondering if Mac’s idea of having a talk with someone was the same as Schwartz’s. She glanced at Schwartz again and saw his hands balled into fists at his sides.
Probably.
“Did the guy tell Mac anything?” Janelle asked, looking down at her own hands with their chipped manicure and bark-scraped palms.
“Yeah, I guess so. He was one of Jacques’s men. They’re looking for you, honey. They’re not giving up.”
Janelle swallowed hard and gripped the edge of the table. She hated the fact that she’d put her sister in danger. She hated that she’d dragged Anna’s fiancé’s whole family into this mess. They’d been so good to her. So sweet and generous and kind.
She glanced up at Schwartz again. “Sweet” was not the first word that came to mind when she looked at him, but generous and kind were true.
“I’m so sorry,” she said again, not sure if she was talking to her sister or to Schwartz.
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault the guy you married turned out to be someone different than who you thought he was.”
Yes, it is, she thought. It is my fault. I should have known better. I should have sensed something was wrong. I should have picked better.
“My picker is broken,” she murmured.
On the other end of the line, Anna was quiet. “What?”
“Nothing. It’s just something you said to me years ago. You were right.”
“Janelle, you can’t make this your fault.”
“It’s okay,” she said, taking a shaky breath. “How are you doing otherwise? I mean, aside from the fact that you were chased down by a homicidal maniac sent by a guy we once shared Thanksgiving dinner with?”
“Good. I miss talking to you every day.”
“Me, too.”
“Are things going okay with Schwartz?”
“Yeah.” She looked up at him again. He stood stone-faced beside her, probably trying to make sure she didn’t give anything away. About their whereabouts or plans or the fact that she’d thrown herself at him. All of that was top secret, but she hated keeping things from her sister.
“Schwartz is a good guy,” Janelle said at last. “Very honorable.”
He looked pained, but didn’t say anything. Janelle bit her lip. “Look, I probably shouldn’t talk anymore, okay? I don’t want to slip up and give away any detail about where I am.”
“I understand. Geez, I don’t even have a clue if you’re in a city or the country or on a farm somewhere. You could be on another planet for all I know.”
Janelle held Schwartz’s gaze, resisting the urge to look away. “Another planet,” she repeated. “Yeah. I kinda am.”
That night, Janelle lay back on her rollaway bed and stared at the ceiling. She couldn’t bring herself to close her eyes, terrified the nightmares would come roaring back in vivid color. She’d divorced Jacques more than a year ago. Why did he still own so much real estate in her life?
She rolled over and stretched a hand out to rub Sherman’s furry belly. Schwartz had dragged the dog bed into the office so Sherman could hang out while he worked earlier. When he’d started to move the bed back by the fireplace at the end of the evening, Janelle had stopped him.
“Let him stay?” she’d asked.
“What?”
“Let Sherman stay in my room for the night. I want the company.” She’d avoided his eyes, embarrassed to admit how frightened she was of being alone. Instead, she focused on scratching the sacred spot behind the big dog’s ear. “I don’t want to sleep by myself, and Sherman’s kinda grown on me the last few days.”
Schwartz had just nodded and stepped out of the room. “Yell if you need anything.”
She felt like yelling right now, but it wasn’t because she needed anything. Not the way Schwartz meant it, anyway. She didn’t need medical attention or protection from the bad guys in her nightmares.
She needed him.
It’s not a need. It’s a want. There’s a difference.
Was there? Janelle wasn’t sure anymore.
Sherman groaned in the darkness and rolled over, and Janelle curled her fingers under to scratch his belly. The dog sighed his contentment, and Janelle relaxed a little. She’d talked Schwartz into letting her give the beast a bath after dinner, an endeavor she could tell he hadn’t expected her to succeed at.
But Sherman had been happy to comply and now he smelled like a sweet mix of rosemary and chamomile.
“God bless Avalon Organics volumizing shampoo with wheat protein,” she murmured, grateful she’d brought along a nice assortment of bath products that seemed usable for humans and canines alike.
Sherman grunted in reply and pawed her hand, so she intensified her scratching, making circles the way he liked. “Such a sweet, soft boy,” she murmured.
He groaned in agreement, letting his head loll to one side. She made a few more circles, then gave a soft pat to signal the end of the massage. She rolled over and grabbed the antibacterial hand sanitizer she’d stashed next to the rollaway.
“No offense,” she said. “You’re very clean. I just don’t want doggie dander in the bark scrapes on my hands.”
Sherman thumped his tail on the ground and curled himself into a doughnut shape, clearly not offended. Janelle finished cleaning her hands and set the sanitizer aside, still nowhere near sleepy.
“You’re a good dog, Sherman,” she said. “Thank you for keeping me company.”
A canine snore was the only response. Okay, so Sherman was out cold. Maybe she should try to sleep. Maybe she wouldn’t have the nightmare again. Maybe?—
A buzzing ring jolted her from her thoughts. She glanced at the desk to see the little black throwaway phone Schwartz had lent her earlier. It rang again, buzzing itself across the desk as it trilled in the darkness.
A shiver of fear arced through her. Janelle held her breath, terrified. Had something happened to Anna? Had she given away some detail about her location? Had Jacques figured out where she was?
“Janelle?”
She gasped, yanking the covers up over her head.
It took her ten seconds to realize the voice wasn’t coming from the phone. It was Schwartz yelling from the next room.
“Yeah?” Her voice sounded muffled, since she was still hiding under the covers.
“You can answer that.”
“What?”
“The phone. Go ahead and answer.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. It’s safe.”
She hesitated, still huddled under the covers. “How do you know that?”
“Because,” he yelled, “I’m the one calling.”