Pieces of the Past (Witness Security Book 1) (25 page)
Read Pieces of the Past (Witness Security Book 1) Online
Authors: Jamie Hill
He grinned. “I was protecting Christine. I
landed
on Doug. There was blood everywhere. What a mess. I still have nightmares.”
Rolling her eyes, she told their boss, “I’ll go.”
Rhodes smiled. “Clerk says there’s donuts up there. I’ll take a glazed. Don’t bring back anything for our fallen
compadres
. Wouldn’t want to take a chance on them reinjuring old wounds.”
“Hey!” Jordan and Ben said in unison.
“You got it.” Olivia cast disparaging glances at them as she left.
A couple hours later, after Jordan had eaten the donut that Olivia brought her
anyway,
she glanced up to see their chief escorting a man into the office. Something familiar about him, she swiveled her chair to get a better look. Tall and slender, with spiky light brown hair, he sported a familiar, sexy little cleft in the middle of his chin.
She panicked. Rhodes wouldn’t have. He couldn’t have.
No. He. Did. Not.
Pushing away from her desk, she hurried to the break room before either of them spotted her. With her back against the wall, she fumbled in her pocket for her phone and texted Doug.
He’s here. OMG!
Realizing she was being cryptic, she added,
Pierce.
Then,
Nick Pierce is here.
She waited. And waited.
Damn it!
Doug always had his phone on him. Unless he was sleeping. Maybe the baby was keeping them up at night.
Damn it!
Ben entered the room and refilled his coffee cup.
“Ben! I need you to run interference for me. Go out there and distract Rhodes and that other man. I just need to grab my purse and get out of here.”
He looked at her like she was insane. “What are you talking about? I’ve got a meeting in ten minutes.” With an apologetic shrug, he walked out.
Her phone vibrated and she glanced at the screen. Doug had texted her back.
No freaking way!
Wish I was there to run interference for you.
Jordan thought she might cry.
Me too,
she typed back.
I don’t know what to do.
He replied,
I have a few thoughts, but can’t put them in writing. Might be used against me in a trial.
She smiled and typed,
No shit.
A moment of hesitation, then she added,
I’m scared.
His reply was instantaneous.
Want me to come in?
Go hide somewhere and I’ll be there as soon as I can.
Jordan brushed a tear from her cheek.
Love you for saying that, but no thanks. Not going to hide.
She inhaled deeply to bolster herself, then blew out the breath.
Thank you. Go kiss that baby. Talk soon.
She pocketed her phone.
A mirror hung on the opposite wall and she moved in front of it to check her makeup. Nothing had smeared, thankfully. Before she could decide what to do next, a voice from the past sounded behind her.
“Beautiful as ever, Jo.”
* * * *
He could tell the moment she became aware of him. She froze, her gaze searching the mirror for his reflection.
Nick Pierce smiled. She truly was as beautiful as he remembered. Time hadn’t etched a line into her gorgeous face, nor changed her nicely stacked hourglass figure. Thick brown hair cascaded in waves, well past her shoulders.
Stunning.
“Long time, no see. Love the new gold highlights.”
She turned to face him. “What the hell happened to you? You’ve aged twenty years and I know it hasn’t been that long. More like, what? Ten or twelve?”
He played along. She knew damn good and well how long it’d been. “It’s been six, Jo. Guess I should cut out the heavy drug use, smoking and drinking if I look that bad.”
“Maybe you should if it’s only been six years. You could pass for a sixty-five or seventy-year-old man.”
He took a step closer to her. “I’d be thrilled to have this much stamina at age seventy.”
She rolled her eyes. “TMI, you arrogant ass.
Too much information.”
He waggled his brows. “Oh, I see where your mind went. I was talking about work stamina, the ability to do my job well.”
A faint pink blush tinted her cheeks. “Whatever. Why are you here, Nick? Just stopping in to say hello, I hope.”
Grinning, he shook his head. “Not getting rid of me that easily. No, Evan invited me back to team up with you while your partner’s on leave. You’ve got me for the whole month, including our trip to sunny
Los Angeles.”
“No way.” She appeared less than pleased.
“Yes indeed. Please, you don’t have to thank me. I’m just doing what any dedicated marshal would do.”
For a moment he thought her head might explode. She started to say something but stammered, and then she didn’t look like she knew
what
to say.
Nick decided to give her a break and cut through the tension. “Seriously, Jo. Evan thought it’d be easier to bring back someone who knew the area and most of the people. I just happened to be available. It wasn’t such a bad idea, was it?”
Her gaze seared into him and for a moment he considered taking a step back.
She frowned and he decided his instincts had probably been correct. Estimating the length of her arm, he moved just out of striking range. “Jo, I—”
“Don’t call me ‘Jo’,” she snapped. “Nobody calls me that. And as for you filling in here? It’s the flipping worst idea I’ve heard since bacon-flavored Twinkies. The chief’s going to get an earful about this. If I was you, I wouldn’t unpack my bags.” She brushed past him, their arms touching.
Spinning around, Nick clutched her bicep. “Have it your way,
Jordan
. But as far as my being here—”
Her eyes blazed as she jerked away. “If I had it my way, you wouldn’t have gone to St. Louis, you asshole. You’d be someplace a lot warmer.”
He tried not to smile, but seeing the old spark in her come to life made that damn near impossible. “Oh yeah? Where would I be, Dallas?”
“Go to hell, Nick.”
Jordan stomped from the room.
Laughing, he called after her, “I didn’t bring the right clothes for that trip!”
She didn’t reply, just marched directly into Evan’s office and slammed the door.
Nick followed her out and sat at the desk he knew to be Doug’s. When he was a marshal there, Doug was partners with another fellow who’d since transferred out. Jordan and Doug had hit it off from the beginning. He wasn’t surprised they partnered up after he left.
He studied the photos on Doug’s desk.
Pretty wife, cute enough kids.
He’d never been much on children, but other peoples were mostly okay.
Nick glanced at Jordan’s desk and didn’t see any pictures at all.
A pretty, blonde-haired woman with a badge on her belt approached the desk. “Hello.”
“Hey.” He smiled. “Nick Pierce. I’m a marshal from the St. Louis field office, filling in while Doug’s on leave.”
She extended her hand. “Good to meet you, Nick. Olivia Newman. So, do you know Doug?”
“Used to. I was here six or so years ago. Knew Evan, Doug
, and Jordan from those days.”
“Nice. I’m sure they’re glad to have you. I know Ben and I are. My partner, Ben Markham, is in a meeting right now. You’ll meet him soon.”
“You bet.” He glanced up as Jordan exited the chief’s office. Evan followed her out.
“Olivia, I see you’ve met Nick. He’ll be taking over for Doug this month.”
She nodded. “I was just telling him how glad we are to have him. Jordan hates to fly solo.”
Nick smiled at his old partner. “Jordan has
always
hated to fly solo.”
Jordan went to her own desk. “There are some things I hate worse than that.”
He didn’t touch the comment, and could tell by the look on her face that Olivia wasn’t going to, either. The shapely blonde said, “So where are you staying, Nick? Do you have family around here?”
“Not anymore. Evan’s given me the keys to one of the safe houses. Should do me just fine.”
She nodded. “There won’t be much in the way of groceries. What do you say we all go to lunch and get acquainted? I could help you shop later.”
“I don’t cook, so I won’t need to shop. But lunch sounds good if everyone agrees.” He looked pointedly at Jordan.
She wouldn’t meet his gaze. “I can’t make it, but you all go ahead.”
The chief stepped forward. “I’m sure you can rearrange your schedule for one meal to welcome Nick. I’ll even spring for the tab. It’ll be good for the morale of the team.”
Jordan appeared pained to do so, but nodded assent.
“Great. We’ll go about noon, then.” He returned to his office.
“Great,” Olivia echoed, and smiled at Nick before heading to the break room.
He tilted his head and watched her backside as she went. “Nice….marshal.”
Jordan’s eyes flashed. “She’s twenty-five, Nick. Leave her alone.”
Chuckling, he raised his hands. “What? I just said she was nice.”
“I heard what you said. Jackass.”
“Go ahead. Get it all out of your system now. Once we’re on the road to LA, you’re going to have to be nice to me.”
“I don’t have to do anything, you egotistical boor.”
“Oh, so Evan’s going to find you a new marshal to partner up with?”
She didn’t meet his gaze. “No. I’m stuck with you.”
“Ah, so you
do
have to do a few things. That’s good, I wouldn’t want you get too full of yourself.” He reached for the framed photos in front of him, stacked them up, and opened a drawer.
“What are you doing?” Jordan’s eyes flashed again.
“Stashing these away for now. I wouldn’t want to break anything. You know I can get rather—zealous—at times.”
Jordan bit her lip.
Nick wondered if she remembered the time they’d made love on these very desktops, all those years ago. It was a night he’d never forget. Judging from the frown lines creasing her forehead, she hadn’t forgotten either. He rubbed a hand across the top of the desk. “Good memories.”
She jumped up. “Good riddance to bad memories is more like it.” Jordan stomped out of the room.
He smiled. She remembered.
About the Author
Jamie Hill was born and raised in a beautiful, mid-sized town in Midwest, USA. At various times she wanted to be a veterinarian, teacher, cheerleader, TV star or a famous singer. The one thing she
always
wanted to be was a writer. Starting at about age ten, she penned romance as she envisioned it in one spiral notebook after another.
When she’s not working at the day job she loves, Jamie enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and watching movies (the scarier the better!) In her ‘spare time’ she can often be found writing, editing, or doing something more mundane like housework. After that, she’s probably taking a nap. She loves to hear from readers, so feel free to drop her a line.
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. Happy Reading Jamie and Jude
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