In the Dead of the Night (12 page)

“I had to act as your husband, Jenny.
To keep you safe. It was the job.” In the back of his mind, he hoped to hell she would be able to forgive him. It didn’t matter that it was a job, that he was a professional. How she felt about their relationship was all that was important to him now.

“I see,” she whispered, choking back the tears.
“Stop here.”

“I can’t, Jenny.
We’re being tailed.”

“I’m going to be sick.
Stop the car!”

“I can’t.
They’ll kill you if they get hold of you. Throw up in the car if you have to, but we can’t stop.” He couldn’t help the harshness of his words. He’d always thought of himself as one of the good guys. Not this time around. But with the killers on his tail, there was no way he was going to jeopardize her life further by stopping the car.

When the next light turned red, no cross traffic waited, so he barreled straight through it.
The car behind him had vanished, but the driver would know where he was headed. The next stretch of road was dark, most of the businesses closed for the night, and only dim security lights illuminated them. He drove twenty miles over the speed limit, hoping no cop would be waiting to catch him. Then two vehicles drove out of the dark, like panthers targeting the same prey.

Allan breathed a sigh of relief when he finally recognized the two vehicles as belonging to the Agency, driven by Samuel and Dale.

He peeled into the condo parking area and slammed on the brakes.
“Stay put.”

But Jenny ignored him and jerked the door open.
After jumping out of the car with the kitten hugged tightly to her breast, she promptly threw up on the asphalt.

Allan darted around the car and grabbed her arm.
His heart thundered as he worried she might be taken from them at any moment.

“Let go of me, you…
you, imposter!” She attempted to jerk free, but he gripped her tighter. If she ran off, he would never be able to ensure her safety.

He ignored her protes
ts and ran her to the safety of the condo. Dale peeled his brakes in the parking area when Allan unlocked the condo. Then he hurried her inside.

Dale was dogging their footsteps when Cameron met them in the stairwell.

Cameron said, “Got a call from Beasley. They shot out his tires, he crashed into a telephone pole, and was knocked out temporarily.”

“And Crowlston?”

“No word yet. The police are bringing Beasley here. We’ve got a flight booked for now. Police escort. I’ve grabbed a few things for Jenny. We’ll be on our way as soon as the police arrive.”

“All right.”
Allan ran Jenny up the stairs, not realizing she was sobbing until he reached the landing. Shoving the door open to the condo, he pulled her inside.

He should have let
her go. He should have given her the space she needed. But he couldn’t. Gathering her in his arms, he held her tightly, trying to avoid squishing the kitten she cuddled. “I tried to tell you, Jenny. Several times I wanted to break my cover. I didn’t want to pretend I was your husband. I told my boss that.”

She shook her head, but she didn’t try to squirm loose.
The color had vanished from her face; she seemed numb.

“Jenny,” he said, moving her to the couch.
The living room lamps illuminated the room in a soft warm glow. “Are you going to be all right? Are you still sick to your stomach?” He feared she was ready to pass out.

“I made such a fool of myself,” she sobbed.

Sitting down with her on the couch, he held her close. “I was married nine years before my wife and I divorced. I’ve been divorced only for six months, but there’d been no love between us for years.” Her breathing still erratic, she grew quiet in his arms. “For the first time, a woman comes into my life that stirred longings I haven’t felt in years.”

He gave her a squeeze, desiring so much more.
“I’ve never wanted to make love to a woman like I’ve wanted to with you. But I knew I couldn’t. Not when I pretended to be something I wasn’t. You don’t know how much I wanted things to be different between us.”

“But it’s just a job,
” she said, her voice tear-filled.

Yeah, it was.
And now he had a new role. No longer the newly-wedded husband, he was her around-the-clock bodyguard. But their relationship was to change once again, if she agreed. Still, after all she’d been through, there wasn’t any way he was proposing the next scenario to her until she’d had a chance to absorb this news.

“Once you found your memories, I was to serve as your bodyguard.”
He paused. It was her right to ask for someone else to watch over her, one of the other team members, if she wanted. “But if this isn’t acceptable…”

She looked up at him, her eyes still watery and threatening to spill fresh tears.
“I’m sure your boss knows best,” she snapped.

“I told him he was making a mistake
about the marriage deal.” Though asking her to marry him was next on the agenda, he was certain that was going to cause even further problems, not solve them as the Agency honchos claimed it would.

Dale knocked at the door, then peeked in.
“Cars are ready to go. Crowlston was at the hospital with a broken nose. The police are bringing him to the airport pronto.”

Jenny swallowed hard.
“What about Boots?”

Dale raised his brows.

Allan said, “Have one of the police take the cat. Make sure they find it a home.”

“Sure thing.”
Dale took the kitten from her. “Everything else all right?”

“Yeah, we’re ready.”
Allan led Jenny out of the condo to one of the waiting cars. She seemed like a limp rag doll, the whole ordeal too much for her to handle all at once. He never considered himself a soft touch, but this business with Jenny sure gave him a wagonload of guilt heaped on top of an already tough assignment. He still had a lot of explaining to do.

They climbed into the backseat of one of the cars, while Dale and Cameron rode up front.
Beasley and Samuel rode in one of the police cars, while two more led the caravan.

Bodyguards served only to protect.
Allan had gone beyond that duty already. He couldn’t break free of the notion that he was now only her bodyguard, as much as that’s how he’d wanted to serve initially. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. She trembled, and immediately, he worried she was going into shock.

“Dale, hand me your jacket.”

“What’s wrong?” He handed it over the seat.

“I’m afraid Jenny’s going into mild shock.
Turn on the overhead light, will you?”

When the light turned on, he examined her eyes.
The pupils were dilated, and she stared ahead, not focusing on anything. “Jenny?” She didn’t respond.

He unbuckled his seatbelt and laid her on her back on the seat.
After wrapping her in the jacket, he moved to the other side of the car and rested her feet on his lap, allowing the blood to flow to her head. “Jenny, everything’s going to be just fine.” He pulled off her sandals and rubbed her feet to warm them. He turned to Dale. “You can turn off the overhead light.”

“Is she going to be all right?”

“Yeah, she’s a trooper.”

“I didn’t think you were gay,” she whispered.

He sucked in his breath, glad she knew the truth about him. But nothing was settled, not really, not yet. “Where are we headed next?” he asked Dale.

“
South Padre Island. Since Jenny’s starting to regain her memories, he’s going to have her friend, Roxie Adams, meet her there. He thought Roxie might be able to jog some more of her memories.”

A cell phone rang in the front seat, and Dale lifted it to his ear.
“Yeah?” A pause followed. “On our way to the airport now.” He glanced over his shoulder. “She’s in mild shock…yeah…Allan had to tell her.” He didn’t speak for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t think this is the time to bring that up…yes, sir.” Dale handed the phone back to Allan.

Allan knew what the boss was going to say before he said it, and already his neck muscles twitched with annoyance.
“Thompson, here.”

Allan took an exasperated breath as his boss began to speak into the phone.
Hell, couldn’t he let it wait? They were on their way to the airport under police escort, for God’s sake.

Garcia cleared his throat.
“Jenny Brant is fully aware you’re not her husband, that you’re an agent with A.T.A., and that Wilson was the one we’re after. Correct?”

“Yes, sir.”
Allan looked at Jenny. Lights along the road spilled into the car, showing her sleep-filled face.

“And you’ve explained to her the importance of her marrying you?”

Allan ground his teeth. Garcia was like a dog with a chew bone. Once he sank his teeth in it, he wasn’t about to let go. “This isn’t the time. Not in her condition.”

Cameron said, “We’re at the airport.”

“We’re at the airport,” Allan relayed to Garcia, hoping to get his boss off his back for the moment.

But Garcia wasn’t through.
“Tell her, and A.S.A.P. We need to get that money transferred for her protection.”

Allan wasn’t certain that transferring the money was going to take her out of harm’s way.
What if Wilson still wanted to kill her? He wasn’t the kind of man who left loose ends dangling to trip him up.

“Yes, sir.”

His boss was turning the screws good this time. Poor Jenny hadn’t gotten over the initial shock of Allan’s not being her husband in the first place. Now she had to accept that he had to marry her for real for her own safety even if just for a time. Then there was the transferring of her money to the A.T.A.’s accounts to keep it secure.

No way was he going to broach the subject with her until
she’d had a good night’s sleep and a chance to sort out her feelings somewhat.

***

Jenny leaned against the ice cold windowpane of the Boeing 727, trying to remove herself as far as she could get from Allan who sat on the aisle seat, leaving the middle seat between them empty. She pulled a navy blanket tighter around her and reclined the bright blue seat back.

She was torn betwee
n really caring for the man who had been her husband briefly, and despising him for the lie. Her mind kept rerunning the tape in her head of how she had acted toward him in front of his partners.

Way too intimately with
a man she hadn’t even known. She wanted to crawl into a crab hole at the beach and never come out.

On the other hand, Allan had acted the gentleman at every turn, despite her come-ons.
She groaned with the notion. He seemed genuinely concerned about her, and she had acted like a total fool.

She grunted under her breath.
He was only doing his job. And a good one at that. Only…only if he’d really wanted to pretend, he would have made love to her. God, she was glad she hadn’t pushed it that far. What would he have done? Probably shunned her like he had attempted to do all along. The guy had moral fibers of steel. And here she thought he was gay.

Her face heated in morbid embarrassment.
And she was certain his fellow agents would rib him good over it.

What must he have thought of her?
She shied away from his touch when he leaned over and patted her shoulder.

She stared out the window.
There wasn’t anything to see outside of the commercial plane, but unending blackness, a total void, just like her past life.

Inside, the shuffling of papers, a sneeze, a woman’s prattling nonstop behind them, and the overwhelming roar of the engines filled the air.
The cabin was too bright for her weepy eyes. She closed them and smelled coffee being served all around her.

“Jenny, do you want to lay your head in my lap?
Try to get some sleep? You really ought to lie down after all you’ve been through.” His voice coaxed her, but she had no need for a faux husband.

“No.”
Defiant, and resilient, she was her own woman. Somehow, she had to show these A.T.A. agents she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself once she understood what she was up against.

“Do you remember anything else, Jenny?”

“No.”

“Does riding on the plane give you any more memories?”

Taking a deep breath, she let the air out of her lungs in exasperation.

“Well, let me know if you do.
Arrangements have been made to have your best friend, Roxie Adams, see you tomorrow.”

A pang of worry sprang into Jenny’s stomach.
She turned to Allan. “She’s not at risk, is she?”

“Do you remember her?”
His voice sounded hopeful.

“No.
I just worried that maybe if Wilson knew about her being my friend, he’d try to use her as leverage.”

“We’ve had her under protection.”