Behind the Lies (A Montgomery Justice Novel) (10 page)

He let his finger follow the line of her cheekbone to her chin. “Rest, Jenna. Nothing will happen to you. I promise.”

She shouldn’t believe him. He didn’t know about Brad. Her husband appeared to be a nonthreatening, mild-mannered traveling computer expert. Zach Montgomery was no match for a killer. He might be the Dark Avenger in movies, but Jenna knew the truth. Zach Montgomery wasn’t a real hero, only a professional pretender. He couldn’t help them.

She tried to push away from him to sit up, but her body betrayed her again. With a groan, she sagged in the seat. She couldn’t afford faith, but here she was, relying on a man she didn’t know, who could very well be another disappointment.

“Just don’t let Brad find us,” she whispered.

The Hidden Springs medical clinic sat nestled at the base of Fools Peak, in a small valley with a few fields and a sparkling spring nearby. Luckily, the small town housed state-of-the-art equipment, mostly due to the numerous mountaineers going after the surrounding thirteen- and fourteen-thousand-foot peaks. Jenna would get the best care here, even though she’d tried to refuse the CAT scan.

Now, he and Sam just waited for the results. What was taking so long? Zach scratched at the cut across his chest. It had started to itch. Healing, he hoped. Maybe he could palm some more butterflies off the nurse.

A woman whispered to her husband across the waiting room. He nodded slightly and she smiled tentatively at Zach.

Damn.
He’d spent too much time sitting, too many chances to be identified. He normally wore his Zane Morgan disguise into town, but with Jenna hurt, he hadn’t taken the time. It wouldn’t take long for word to get out Zach Montgomery had been in Hidden Springs, Colorado. He’d blown his secret, and he really liked his cabin. If he survived the next few weeks, he’d have to sell.

Zach shifted his gaze away, hoping they’d get the hint.

Within a few minutes, a nurse escorted the couple out, but the knot at the base of Zach’s neck didn’t ease. Hopefully he
could get Jenna and Sam back to the cabin and away from small-town questions soon.

The little boy beside him squirmed in his chair. Zach looked down at Sam. “How are those scratches?”

Jenna’s son sat cross-legged in the chair worrying his jeans. He flipped over his hands and stared at his palms, reddened but now clean and doctored with antiseptic. He straightened his back and looked up at Zach. “I didn’t cry. I’m a big boy. My mommy said so.”

Zach quirked a smile. “I can see that.”

Every so often Sam would get up, but for the most part he’d just stayed next to Zach, unmoving and not speaking—unlike Zach’s four-year-old niece, Joy. That worried Zach more than anything. Weren’t five-year-olds much more…lively and prone to trouble?

Sam was too polite.

“Why can’t I see my mommy?”

Sam gazed up at Zach with eyes just like his mother’s, not only in color, but in the apprehension simmering behind the golf-course-green pools.

Zach ruffled Sam’s hair. “The doctor is looking at her. I’m sure we’ll be able to see her soon.”

Sam bounced his leg up and down, clearly nervous.

“She doesn’t like doctors,” he said, his voice so low Zach had to bend closer to hear him. “My daddy made her go to a lot of them. She gets hurt a lot.”

Zach’s lifted his gaze to the ceiling so Sam wouldn’t see the fury simmering behind Zach’s eyes. Why couldn’t his gut have been wrong? His hand itched to grab Brad Walters by the throat and give him payback for everything he’d ever done to Jenna.

Then the disgust turned inward. Zach had lived next door and hadn’t known what was going on beyond the walls protecting him.

Walters had given off a noxious vibe. If Zach had taken the time to meet him, he would have known something was wrong in the house behind him. When had he lost sight of the world around him?

Even tonight, Zach had been focused on his own problems—he did have someone out to kill him after all. Walters had never been after Zach, though. He’d been after Jenna. The idea of the bastard laying a hand on someone as fragile as her…Zach tightened his fists, and his teeth ached as he gnawed over the truth.

Vulnerable and gentle. With no one to help her.

That would change.

A small tug jerked him out of his contemplation. Zach cast a sidelong glance at the small boy twisting his fingers.

“My mommy needs me.”

Zach picked Sam up and stood him on the floor. With an unswerving gaze, Zach looked the kid square in his wide-eyed gaze. “Do you know what a lie is, Sam?”

“When you make up a story to get out of trouble. Mommy won’t let me lie.”

“I need you to tell me the truth. Does your daddy hurt you? Does he hit you?”

Sam bit his lip and bowed his head, avoiding Zach’s gaze. “Not really. Sometimes he yells a lot. That’s when Mommy and me go away, ’cause he’s in time-out. That’s where he is now.” Sam scuffed his feet. “But after he’s bad, he plays ball with me or takes me to a baseball game. I like that.”

Zach had his own suspicions about what happened between Jenna and Brad behind closed doors.

The clinic’s double doors swung open. “Mr. Smith?” The doctor gave Zach a secretive smile. One more person who clearly knew his identity. He stood and Sam jumped up with him.

“Your
wife
has a concussion, but the CAT scan doesn’t show any other concerns.” He frowned slightly. “She’s a stubborn woman and refuses to stay overnight. I hope you can convince her.”

Zach nodded. “I’ll do what I can.”

He took Sam’s hand and together they followed the nurse to the end of the hallway. The nurse shoved aside a curtain.

Sam dropped Zach’s hand and bounded across the room to his mother. “Mommy!”

He jumped on the bed.

Jenna clutched Sam into her arms, closing her eyes in relief. She kissed his forehead. “You all right?”

“The Dark Avenger saved us,” Sam said.

Jenna struggled to sit up and pasted a smile on her face, but her complexion matched the white sheets.

“Whoa, there,” Zach said, hurrying across the room and pushing her into the pillow. “Now I can see why they want you to stay.”

“I can’t.” Jenna’s gaze fell on her son, but she lowered her voice. “He’ll find us.”

“Mrs. Smith?” the nurse said.

Jenna didn’t answer, she just gaped at Zach, her vulnerable gaze tugging at emotions he’d thought he buried.

“Mrs.
Smith
?” the nurse repeated, giving Zach a long, questioning look.

Zach lifted her chin and sent Jenna a pointed stare. “
Darling
, the nurse is speaking to you.”

Jenna blinked once. Her eyes widened with understanding, and she glanced at the nurse, clearing her throat. “I’m sorry. I was so relieved my son wasn’t hurt in the accident, I didn’t hear you.”

The nurse held out papers for Jenna. “The doctor reluctantly signed your release forms. You’re free to go once you provide your signature.”

Jenna nodded and winced, putting a hand to her head. Zach took the papers.

The nurse sighed. “Call if you need anything.” She gave Zach one last worried look, then left.

“You should stay tonight,” Zach said, even though he would rather get them both up the mountain.

Jenna ignored him and eased her feet to the floor. She stood up and swayed.

Zach let out a sharp curse.

“You said a bad word, Dark Avenger,” Sam muttered from his mother’s side.

Zach flushed and steadied Jenna.

“Clothes,” she whispered. “Please.”

With a shake of his head, Zach handed her a pile from the chair. “Come on, Sam. Your mom needs to get dressed.”

He jumped off the bed, and Zach closed the curtain. “I’m not moving from this spot. Call if you need me.”

There was silence. Sam stood waiting, and Zach listened. A clatter sounded.

Zach threw open the curtain. Jenna stood in a pair of underwear, her shirt halfway on. Her long legs went on forever, though
one was lined with a crisscross of barely healing cuts. Zach studied the injury before the truth slapped him. Cuts from the glass on the top of the wall surrounding his home.

She let out a puff as she struggled with her shirt. She’d tangled the material around her. At the flash of her full breasts, Zach held his breath and walked across the room. He shoved her hands aside and righted the material.

A blush rose up her cheeks.

The awareness between them crackled like the latest Colorado wildfire. Zach shoved the feelings aside. He didn’t get involved with married women. Period.

It was the one line he didn’t cross. She tempted him, though. Boy did she. He snagged her jeans from the chair and held them out.

“Put your hands on my shoulders,” he said.

She hesitated.

He met her gaze. “It’s either this or your ass stays in the hospital tonight,” he said under his breath, sending a sidelong look at Sam, who had poked his head around the curtain.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” Jenna whispered. “No one does. Not anymore.”

She jerked the jeans away from him and shuffled over to a chair. She sat down and slid the denim on. When she pulled them over her knees she stood up, braced herself, then lifted them over the scrap of lace she called underwear.

Zach hovered near her while she glared at him, motioning to her son. She grasped Sam’s hand. “We’re leaving, baby.”

Sam stared up at her. “You’re hurt, Mommy. You need the Dark Avenger.”

Jenna took a shuddering breath. She placed her hands on her knees. “We can make it, Junior Avenger. This is our adventure.”

He crossed his arms.

Stubborn little guy with a good head on his shoulders. Zach stepped in. “Buddy, I think you should come with me. Your mommy needs someone to watch her tonight. Is it all right if I take care of her?”

Sam looked from his mom to Zach. He nodded his head.

Jenna glared at Zach, but he just shrugged. If he let her out of his sight, she’d keel over.

Her flitting focus measured the distance to the door. Zach narrowed his gaze at her. He bent down, his mouth near her ear. “Don’t try it. Not until you can stand for five minutes without falling over. If not for you, for Sam.”

Her confidence wavered.

“Look, stay with me tonight. Doc said you should be much better tomorrow.”

Jenna rose, her legs still shaky. Zach steadied her, but she shrugged his touch away. Stubborn woman.

“You don’t know what you’re getting involved with.”

Zach shook his head and chuckled. “Honey, I could say the same thing.” He tilted her chin up. “I’ll make you a deal. Come home with me. Tomorrow, I’ll spot you the cash you need to go wherever you want.”

She stared up at him, her expression stunned…and suspicious. “Why would you do that?”

“Let’s just say Brad isn’t on the top of my favorites list.” Zach glanced pointedly to Sam.

Jenna let out a long sigh. “I need to regroup,” she admitted. “Just for tonight.” She clutched his arm. “You won’t tell anyone where we are?”

“No one for me to tell.”

She nodded, then winced, pressing her hand against her forehead. “Just for tonight. Then you can forget you ever saw me or Sam.”

Zach pushed her dark hair away from the white bandage on her forehead. “I doubt I’ll forget this day anytime soon, Jenna Walters,” he said, his voice soft.

Taking Sam’s hand, slowly, steadily, she walked out of the room, refusing the wheelchair the nurse brought in.

Zach hovered near her. He admired her grit. And her stubbornness. She’d be fine. Zach could counter Brad Walters’s money advantage. And before she left, Zach could make certain Jenna could defend herself. He refused to leave her without the skills to make a new life. If he could strong-arm a friend or two—given he still had them—Brad Walters might conveniently lose his job jockeying computers and be forced to leave Jenna alone.

Still, the sooner he got her and Sam on their way, the better. It wouldn’t be long before his enemies caught up with him. They had more tools at their disposal than he did. He couldn’t let Jenna and Sam be caught in the middle.

She swayed, and Zach wrapped his arm around her waist, unable to ignore the soft curves pressed against him. Not silicone, not fake. A real, live woman with a heart and soul and strength.

She might have made a wrong choice, but she possessed the courage to change things. It couldn’t have been easy.

Another time, another place, Jenna might have been a woman to tempt him to settle down.

Too bad by the time she and Sam started their new life, Zach would probably be dead.