Caught in the Storm (5 page)

Lexi hugged Kat tightly. “You’re stronger. You can do this.”

Kat patted Lexi’s hand. “Thanks, now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go. I can’t say anymore…” The last thing she wanted was to look any of them in the eye. She left and went to her room, alone, where she deserved to be.

Jackson waited until Kat was out of earshot before he turned to the others. “We’ve got to keep a better eye on her.”

“Yeah, she’s a loose cannon,” Evie said as she grabbed a handful of pretzels.

“Evie,” Lexi shot her a look, “that isn’t what Jackson meant. If I’m right, he means because this—
all
of this—has been hard on her. We should be there for her.”

“Exactly, I think with Lexi pushing her, and having someone she’s grown close to have a similar experience is bringing a lot to the surface. We need to be there for her,” Jackson said, while looking at his sister. He knew her, and she would be the one who had the most difficult time with it.

“You do remember she is the one who hid things from us. I still hold her responsible for Lexi being attacked last time. If she had just spoken up
years
ago, Anthony wouldn’t have gone to prison. All those women in his home would not have been killed. She is the reason they are dead.”

“No, Evie, she’s not.” Noah sat down next to her and put his arm around her. “Jeremy is the one who killed them; besides, don’t you think she deals with that every day and blames herself? We’ve spent a lot of time with her since she was Lexi’s bodyguard. I don’t know her as well Lexi does, but I’m willing to bet that eats her alive.”

“I know it eats her up. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about what happened to each of us. While she hasn’t gone into detail about everything that happened to her, I know it all still haunts her.” Lexi dipped some fruit in whipped cream and popped it in her mouth smiling at Noah.

Evie shook her head. “Don’t make me start to feel sorry for her.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, come on. I can take my anger out on her every day; she’s here. Jeremy isn’t.”

“
La mia belezza
, that isn’t very nice,” Anthony said. “We really have no idea how anyone would react in that situation. Look, Lexi reacted completely differently to Kat. We have to work together, not against each other.”

“Fine. But don’t expect me to hug it out with her.”

“Sis, you aren’t a hugger.” Jackson turned and walked out of the room. He hated to see Kat so traumatized. When he got to the landing on the second floor, he looked up the stairs to the third, knowing she was up there—alone, facing her demons. He wanted so badly to be up there with her.

Kat was woken by Lexi early the next morning. “Come on, we’ve got something.”

Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she squinted at Lexi. “What are you doing climbing the stairs?”

“Geez, you sound like Noah. I’m just pregnant.”

“Yes, but it’s easy to trip in your condition.”

“Our bedroom is on the second floor.” Lexi sat back and raised one eyebrow at Kat.

“Yes, but you’re tempting fate going up an extra flight that you have no reason to have to go up.”

“Would you rather I send Noah or Jackson up here to get you out of bed. I can tell you from experience neither one of them would be as nice about it.”

“Yeah, I appreciate the pleasant wake-up. I’ll be down in a few.” She got out of bed. After Lexi walked out of the room, she yelled at her, “And make sure you hold onto the railing.”

“Yes, Mother.” Lexi’s voice wafted back to her.

Quickly putting on some clothes, Kat ran a brush through her hair before turning her attention to her morning breath. Running down the stairs, she skidded to a stop seeing Jackson at the kitchen counter in just a pair of basketball shorts and his hair messed up from sleep.
Holy hell, that man has a body that won’t stop and I’m just itching to run my fingers through his hair.

“Good morning,” he said to her with a voice that was deep and sexy, and had that gruff just-woken-up sound. He got down another cup for her and poured her some coffee.

“Thanks.” She took the cup and walked over to the window where the sun was just starting to turn the clouds pink on the horizon. Looking at the reflection in the glass, she could see him staring at her. After telling them what else happened to her, she was worried they would all treat her differently, especially Jackson. He clearly wasn’t happy. She decided to get things moving and she said to Lexi, “Where is everyone?”

Arranging muffins on a plate and trying to keep them out of Jackson’s grasp, she replied, “Evie and Anthony are in Boston. Something to do with the shop. Besides being more visible, it gives her a chance to check on things. Noah should be along in a moment.”

When Noah entered the room, she sat down; waiting for him to let them know what was going on. She discreetly made sure she wasn’t looking at Noah and Lexi when he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her, while stealing a muffin from the plate. With a quick kiss to her nose, he backed away and started eating it.

“Hey, how come he gets one now?” Jackson protested.

“Because he distracted me before I could stop him.” She wagged a finger at Jackson, “And don’t get any ideas. I know you.” She walked over and offered Kat one before setting them down on the coffee table where Jackson dove in and grabbed three for himself.

Seeing the ladies look at him, he grinned and said, “What?”

“Manners?” was all that Kat said.

“There is no such thing as manners when it comes to Martha’s raspberry muffins. Noah, why don’t you tell us why you called this meeting so early in the morning.”

“Anthony’s men might have found something.”

Kat’s stomach turned over and the muffin held no desire for her any longer. She wanted to go back upstairs and bury her head under the covers.

“What is it?” Jackson asked around a mouthful of muffin.

“There is a lady about an hour or so from here. A very wealthy lady who it would appear has been robbed of some of her money. She’s really embarrassed and hasn’t gone to the police.”

“Then how do we know about it?” asked Lexi.

“Well, she told a friend, who told a friend, who told another friend. It’s only been going around the rumor mill for about a week but as you know we’ve been looking for anything and it seems we’ve got something. From what we know, it seems like it might just be Jeremy.”

Kat closed her eyes. Jeremy only an hour away. She was aware that the more she knew, the better she’d have a chance of getting to him first. But that didn’t make it any easier knowing he was here.

“We need to talk to her.” Jackson stood up and started pacing the room.

“Jackson and I can meet her at ten this morning,” Noah nodded to Jackson.

“But Noah, you can’t go. We’ve got a sonogram today,” Lexi said.

“Shit,” muttered Noah.

“Kat and I can go.”

Kat looked at Jackson, not really wanting to spend hours alone with him in a car.

“You know it would probably be better if a woman went with you. She might open up more,” Lexi stated.

“Great. That’ll give us plenty of time to get ready and get up there. Shake a leg, sweet-cheeks.” Jackson grabbed a couple of more muffins and started out of the room.

“What about security?” Kat asked.

“The car is equipped with GPS and there will be a car following you. Don’t worry; someone will be watching you the whole time.”

That’s what Kat was worried about.

Mrs. Huntley lived in a large estate and had many servants. Coming from a working class family, Kat wasn’t sure how to act. She wasn’t used to this. They sat down in the formal living room to have tea. It wasn’t her favorite thing, but she drank it anyway.

“Thank you for coming to see me. I’m hoping this won’t get out any more than it already has. I must admit I feel like a foolish old woman.” She stopped them before they could say anything. “Yes, I am both foolish and old. You don’t get to eighty-six years old without being made a fool of a few times, I just thought that was all behind me.”

“Wow, eighty-six,” Jackson whistled. “I would have thought you were at least fifteen years younger.” She was a petite woman with stylish hair and clothing who certainly didn’t look her age.

“Thank you, young man, but after my last experience, I’m not in the market.”

Kat tried to hold back a laugh; Mrs. Huntley thought Jackson was hitting on her. She had an idea this lady might just fit in with the Troublesome Trio, which might not be a good thing.

“Oh, I know, I should have known better. I mean really, back in my younger years I could stop traffic, but I’m not silly enough to believe I look the same. But he was so charming. He said all the right things, did all the right things. I felt younger than I had in years.” She stared out the window. “I felt things I hadn’t felt in years. He treated me like a lady and he was always a gentleman; you know, young men these days don’t know the proper way to behave.” She looked at Jackson. “Really, it’s sickening.”

“I was wondering how come you didn’t know it was someone who was being hunted by the police?” Kat tried not to sound accusing.

“Well, honey, I really don’t watch the news anymore. Things are so different now. It’s all doom and gloom, filled with murder and heartache. This world has become a sad, sad place. Heck, I’m close enough to death without having to hear every other story on the news go into detail about people killing other people.”

“What about your friends, didn’t they recognize him?” Jackson wondered aloud.

“Well,” Mrs. Huntley blushed, “we didn’t get out much. If you know what I mean.”

Kat nodded her head and tried not to picture any of it in her head. Troublesome Trio material for sure. “I understand. Do you know when and why he left?”

A tear slid down her cheek. “It was a couple of weeks ago. One day he was just gone. And so was all of my jewelry, and all the cash I had on hand. I really don’t believe in banks, so there was a lot.”

“I’m so sorry you lost all of that,” Kat said.

“Oh honey, most of it was just things.” She waved her hand. “I know it’s wrong of me, but I’ve never felt as treasured as he made me feel. I’d trade everything I have just to stay with him.”