Lexington Connection (22 page)

At first, Jessie hadn’t been concerned. Diana’s schedule, for the lack of a better word, was maybe a month, six weeks. Then she was there again. That time four months went by, and no Diana. Jessie had reconsidered Diana’s reaction to her discovery of Jessie’s profession. Diana had said it was just a surprise and Jessie had wanted to believe that. Someone dropping Jessie because they learned she was a cop wasn’t unusual although Lexington was small enough that most women knew before they started dating. Jessie had encountered almost all the attitudes, but Diana’s reaction had her puzzled and curious. They had certainly been seeing each other long enough that Diana knew Jessie, certainly she had been passionate enough, insistent enough just the night before that it didn’t matter, so Jessie really didn’t understand. It wasn’t like it was a secret. It just never got said, like Diana never said anything about her work, except she was in the area.

When Jessie had gotten curious enough to check Diana out, but found nothing, the only thing was that she was bonded. But that wasn’t unusual, depending on the job she had, and it indicated deliveries.

For months Jessie held onto the hope she’d show up again. Someone just doesn’t throw all those years away, not unless Diana just saw her as a toy, something to be played with while they were both available and then discarded and on to the next one. At least that was the only thing Jessie could come up with to explain why Diana just disappeared, never wanted any contact. Jessie was just a toy. And that hurt.

“Jessie.” Julie laid her hand on Jessie’s shoulder and Jessie looked around to realize both Julie and Margaret were done eating, had cleared the table. “Are you all right?”

Jessie shook off her memories. “I’m okay, just trying to put everything together.”

“Your bringing up the cooking was a masterpiece.” Julie dropped her voice. “Margaret’s really into health. Healthy food, no smoking, exercise. I can’t do the exercise, you’ll have to do that part, but I’ve made a good impression on her. You should do so good with Diana.”

“Yeah.”
Fat chance
. “Speaking of which, I guess I need to go see what our hostess wants.” She pushed back her chair. “Margaret, do you know where Diana might be?”

“I’m right here,” Diana answered from the doorway. She took in Julie helping Margaret with the dishes, Jessie awkwardly getting up. “Want to come with me?”

“I have a choice?” Jessie got up and followed Diana back out onto the deck and around the front of the house.

“You’re moving better,” Diana commented as they went around the far side.

“Moving helps.” And the railing, she thought as she leaned on it.

The deck came to a dead-end where the house extended. Diana reached around the corner of the house and pulled out a satellite phone. “Don’t bother looking for it here again: it won’t be here. I owe you a phone call.”

“What for?”

“I can’t see leaving Nicki hanging this entire time. Not knowing and just waiting to hear something isn’t pleasant.” She punched in some numbers, pointed to Jessie as the phone rang. “Lean against the wall before you fall over.”

Jessie moved back against the wall, puzzled and confused. Was there supposed to be a hidden message here? She folded her arms and tried to be disinterested as someone answered the ring.

“Yo! Everything quiet?” Jessie looked down at the ground, concentrating on the muffled voice coming through. She couldn’t understand a word. “Sounds good,” Diana was saying. “Keep a low profile. Let me know if anything rattles.” She paused, listened. “Yeah, that sounds good. Chat with you later.” She broke the connection.

“Nicki’s been moved to a safe house. After Julie got picked up, the powers that be thought she might be at risk and moved her.”

Jessie looked up at her in real confusion now.
Where is she getting this information?
“You know this?”

Diana nodded. “Nicki wasn’t happy about it, gave them a bunch of gaff but she was finally persuaded. They thought she was high risk so she has a guard on her.”

“You’re watching her,” Jessie realized in surprise.

Diana shrugged as if it were no consequence. “Figured Waldo wouldn’t get through both your police and my people. What’s her cell number?”

“Why are you doing this? Is this some form of torture?” Jessie demanded in a shaking voice. “Are you trying to make me believe that you’re concerned?”

Diana looked insulted as she eyed Jessie. “I told you: I think waiting to hear about whether someone is dead or alive is hell. I can’t see leaving Nicki hanging just wondering about you. But if you don’t want to, that’s fine with me.” Diana started to turn off the phone.

“No, don’t.” Jessie reached out for the phone. “I—I was hasty. Yes, I want to talk to her.” She couldn’t apologize, that would be too much. She met Diana’s chilly gaze and wondered if Diana would demand an apology. She waited and finally Diana turned the phone back on. Jessie supplied the number and Diana punched it in.

“You talk about you and Julie, nothing else. No matter what she asks,” Diana instructed. She pulled a miniature hourglass out of her pocket. “You’ve got this long.” She set it on the railing as the phone rang. She handed the phone to Jessie.

“This is Nicki.”

Jessie felt like weeping at the sound of her sister’s voice. There were so many times in the past three days she had thought she would never hear it again. “Oh, God.”

“Hello?” Nicki repeated.

“Nicki, it’s me.”

“OMG! You’re alive!”

Jessie sagged against the house, not seeing Diana step back, giving her room. “I’m alive. No, I’m not back. Julie’s with me.”

“Are you all right? What’s going on?”

“We’re okay now, just—we can’t come back yet.”

“Why not? Where are you?”

“I don’t know, not exactly. We’re safe, at least for the time being. Nicki, I’m sorry. I need to tell you I love you. I want you to know that. You’ve been the best sister anyone could have ever had.”

“God, where are you? What happened? They said you were kidnapped. Pete was shot. Jessie, are you really all right? I’ve got to do something.”

“No, no, Nicki. Don’t do anything. Just—just stay put. You may be in danger. Just please, cooperate with them. They’ll take care of you.”

“Like they took care of you?” Nicki exploded.

“Nicki, please.” She drew a ragged breath as she watched the sand flow. “I’ve got to go, Nicki. Please. Be careful. I love you.”

She abruptly broke the connection and stood there. She closed her eyes, feeling Diana gently take the phone from her hand. She felt totally undone, uncertain. She had no idea why Diana had allowed the call, maybe there was still some sympathy in her. She didn’t want to cry, no matter how much she felt like it, not standing here in front of Diana.

“You okay?” Diana laid her hand on Jessie’s shoulder, concern in her voice. Jessie could almost pretend it was old times.

Jessie took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together. “Yes,” she nodded.

“You didn’t need to make it sound like a last call,” Diana said quietly. “It’s not.”

“Why’d you let me call her?” she asked numbly.

Before Diana could say anything, the phone in her hand rang. She answered it immediately. “Yo!” She half turned away from Jessie. “Damn, she must have bolted out the door. Let me see what I can do. I’ll call you back. No, keep on her tail. Treat her as one of ours. I’ll get back.”

She broke the connection, hit redial. She looked up at Jessie with a look of exasperation. “Your little sister is definitely a chip off the same block.” Jessie reached for the phone as it rang but Diana caught her hand. “Not this time.” She didn’t let go of Jessie’s hand. “Not a word,” she warned and she put the phone on speaker.

“Jessie!” Nicki answered.

“Not this time, kid.” Diana came on strong. “Now you turn that little green Honda around and get right back to where you belong.”

“Have you got my sister?”

Diana held Jessie back. “Yes, I’ve got your sister, and you’re not helping matters any. Just where the hell do you think you’re going anyway? Think she’s going to be waiting at the corner for you to pick her up?”

“Please, don’t hurt her!” Nicki pleaded. “She’s the only family I’ve got!” Nicki started crying and to Jessie’s surprise, Diana looked touched.

“Nicki, calm down, stop crying. I’m not going to lie to you. Yes, Jessie was hurt but nothing that won’t heal and nowhere close to the last time.” Jessie jerked at that reference and Diana gripped her hand hard. “She’s just got to be kept in a safe spot for a time.”

“Please,” Nicki begged, “don’t hurt her! Let her go!”

“Nicki,” Diana said sharply. “Go back. You’ve got to be safe. Otherwise, Jessie’s only going to worry about you and that’s going to make it worse on her. I’m not going to hurt her.”

“Please,” Nicki begged.

“Nicki.” Diana drew a deep breath and turned away from Jessie. “You’re not helping. Now stop crying,” she said sternly. They heard Nicki get control, sniffle. “Now go back to your safe house and stay there.”

“You know about that.”

“Yes. I know a lot, and I know Jessie and Julie will be safe as long as they behave. And you know Jessie won’t behave if she thinks you’re in danger. So you have to do this to help her.”

“Promise me you won’t hurt her.”

Diana sighed in exasperation. “I promise: as long as Jessie behaves herself, she’ll be safe. Now you promise me you’ll go back and you’ll behave. Because I’ll know if you don’t.”

“You’re watching me.”

“You’ve got a guardian angel, kiddo. Now go back.”

“Can Jessie call me again and let me know she’s all right?”

“Yes,” Diana hissed. “Now go. Goodbye.”

Diana broke the connection, bowed her head, looked at the phone for a few minutes. As if she just realized she was still holding Jessie’s hand, she released her as she looked up. “She sounds all grown up,” she said slowly. “I can still remember her running around the park.”

“She’s going to UK, wants to go to law school.”

Diana shook her head. “Where does the time go?” When the phone rang again she was slower to answer. “Yo. Good. Maybe she’ll stay put. Keep up the rotation. Be safe.” She broke the connection.

“Why are you watching her?”

“She made too good a target,” Diana said absently. “Didn’t want to take a chance.”

“How long—”

Diana shook her head. She lifted the phone. “One more call.”

“Who?” Jessie couldn’t imagine anyone else to notify.

Diana made a connection, asked for a relay, and Jessie sagged in shock when she realized Diana was calling Jessie’s place of work. “Relay to the police department. Insist on Captain Conrad.” She looked up at Jessie. “You need to confirm you’re alive, Julie’s alive,” she instructed. “No message, keep it brief. You can’t talk.” Her expression changed, colder, harder. “You behave. Don’t make me regret this.”

“Conrad.” Diana handed Jessie the phone.

“Captain, this is Galbreath.”

“Galbreath! Are you all right? Where are you?”

“I’ve been allowed to call you to let you know I’m alive. Julie Carlton’s alive. I can’t tell you where we’re at because I don’t know.” She watched Diana, wondering what she could say, would be able to say. “I’ve already talked to my sister.” Maybe they could get something from those phone calls.

“Are you all right?”

“It was rough for a couple of days,” Jessie said carefully, watching Diana. “Then things changed.”

“Is there someone there with you?”

“Yes.”

“Are they listening?”

“Yes.”

“Have you been hurt?”

“Yes, but I think that part’s over.”

“Has Dr. Carlton been hurt?”

“No.”

Diana made the cutting motion across her throat.

“I’ve got to go,” Jessie said.

“Can you call again?”

“I don’t know.”

“Have you been threatened?”

“Not exactly. I’ve got to go. Goodbye.” She closed the phone, hoping the connection wouldn’t break as she handed it back to Diana.

Diana opened it to clear the connection, dialed a number. “Turn it off, shut it down. Log it out,” she instructed. Then she turned it off.

Jessie tried to keep any disappointment from showing in her face.

“Very good,” Diana commented. “You okay?” She picked up the timer and stuffed it in her pocket.

“I guess so.” Jessie pulled herself together. “I guess I have to be.” She looked directly at Diana. “So what are we? Bargaining chips?”

“No. I don’t need that. Let’s go back inside now.”

They started around the deck, Diana walking slowly to keep pace with Jessie.

“You never asked if Julie had family to notify,” Jessie commented.

“There’s only a cousin she doesn’t see much,” Diana replied.

Jessie whirled around, her jaw dropping.
How the hell did she know that?
Diana caught Jessie before she lost her balance and Jessie pulled away immediately. “How do you know that?”

“I do my homework, I still don’t like surprises.” She turned Jessie around. “Don’t give me any.”

What about you giving me surprises?
When they reentered the house, Julie immediately came over to Jessie, slid her arm around Jessie’s waist. “You okay? What—”

“She let me call Nicki,” she explained as she rubbed her forehead. She was still confused over that. She didn’t miss Margaret’s curious look as Diana came through the kitchen.

“Good,” Julie agreed. “Now Nicki won’t be on pins and needles. At least she knows you’re alive.”

“Margaret, why don’t you take Julie upstairs to the storage room. She can pick out some clothes. We can’t have her spending the entire time here wearing the same things.”

“Yes, Diana.”

Diana turned to Jessie. “Think you can take the stairs? The storage room is in the attic.”

“I’ll manage,” Jessie replied. She wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to examine the rafters of this house.

Jessie followed Julie who followed Margaret up the narrow, steep stairs built against the outside wall. She wasn’t sure what she would find, but she was surprised at the built-in cabinets down the length of the cabin. The center aisle under the peak of the roof was the only area they could stand up in without difficulty. Drawers were neatly labeled with item and size. Margaret eyed Jessie and started pulling out drawers. Underwear was still in new packages. Jeans, worn but clean and neatly folded, folded shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts, there was a reasonable variety in sizes and colors. Within minutes, Jessie had a few changes of clothing.