Strip Tease (22 page)

“Were you using me to get Ginger?” Had she
been living in a lust-filled fog since she’d been with him?
Believing Nate might have actual feelings for her?

“Of course not. I care about you,
Janelle.”

She stared into his dark eyes and
desperately wanted to believe him. But she was exhausted after the
adrenaline rush of the last few hours. Exhausted and scared and so
freaking worried, she didn’t know what to do.

“Don’t shut me out because you’re too scared
to face the truth.” He pulled her closer, embracing her within his
strong arms and she breathed in his warm, familiar scent.

It made her want to cry.

“I—I need to go home.” She pulled away from
him yet again. “I’m tired.”

“I’ll take you home,” he offered but she
shook her head.

“I can drive myself. It’s okay.” Turning
around, she began to walk away, but he caught up with her, grabbing
her by the arm.

“I have to drive you home. We came in my
car.”

She kicked at the ground like a little kid
and he let her go. “Fine. But I don’t want to talk about it. Just
take me home.”

They walked together toward his car, a
uniformed officer stopping him to talk for a brief moment. She
didn’t bother listening to what they had to say.

“They want you to come down to the station
so they can get your statement now,” he said once the police
officer walked away.

“Of course they do.” She breathed deep, sick
of everyone telling her what to do.

“I promised him I’d bring you in tomorrow
morning. First thing.” Leaning in, he pressed a quick kiss to her
cheek. “Let’s get you out of here.”

“Okay.” She nodded, ignored the tight clench
in her chest, could hardly look Nate in the eyes.

She felt his weighted stare on her as he
opened the passenger side door and she slid into the car. Biting
down hard on her lower lip, she closed her eyes tight to stop the
tears.

God, she was so confused. And sad. More than
anything, she was disappointed. In Nate and in herself.

* * * *

“You let her go?” Greg yelled and Nate
winced.

The headache that started the second he
dropped Janelle off at her apartment intensified under his
partner’s booming voice.

“Stop yelling,” Nate muttered.

“Why the hell would you do something so
stupid?”

“It’s not like she’s going to run. She’s not
Ginger.”

“We need to get her statement. I doubt
Ginger Pearson is going to be a willing witness.” The look on
Greg’s face said it all, expressed exactly what Nate had been
trying to explain to Janelle.

Too bad she hadn’t believed a word he
said.

“Janelle’s coming in first thing in the
morning to give her statement. She needs her rest. She’s been
through a lot.”

“Ginger’s been through a lot too, but I
don’t see her resting,” Greg said, still loud enough to make Nate
grimace.

“She has an arrest warrant, asshole. Janelle
did nothing wrong.”

“Says who?”

“Says me,” Nate practically snarled.

Greg took a step back. “What is it between
you two anyway?”

“I’m in love with her.” Nate said the words
so quietly, he almost didn’t hear them.

“Say what?” Greg stared at him wide-eyed.
“
You
are in love with
her
?”

Nate nodded, rubbing his unshaven jaw. “Damn
it, I am. But I doubt she feels the same way.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because she didn’t say a word to me the
entire drive back to her place. She’s pissed her sister was
arrested. She accused me of using her to get to Ginger.”

“She’s freaked out. I don’t blame her. That
was some heavy shit, Diaz blowing his head off.” Greg shook his
head, his expression grim. “You shouldn’t have let her go home
alone. She might need you.”

Great, now his partner was making him feel
guilty for letting her go. “I tried, but she told me to leave her
alone.” And that hurt more than he cared to admit.

“If you’re so in love with her, you need to
be with her. Comfort her in her time of need.”

“She wouldn’t let me.”

“You should have insisted.”

“Lay off, all right? I feel guilty enough as
it is.” Nate walked away, frustrated with himself, with Janelle,
with everyone.

How had this ended so badly between them? He
didn’t understand why Janelle was so damn angry. Yeah, her sister
was arrested, but it was a formality. And it was mostly out of his
control. She acted like it was personally his fault.

“I heard they want you to sit in during the
questioning of Ginger,” Greg said as he glanced around. As if
making sure no one heard him. “It’s because of your connection with
the sister.”

“Really?” That gave him a bit of hope. Maybe
he could convince the agents to let her off easy.

And maybe not, he thought uneasily.

“That’s what I heard, though don’t quote me.
They’re taking her back to headquarters so they can use one of our
rooms. Go talk to one of the feds. Find out what’s going on.” Greg
flicked his head in their direction.

Turned out Greg was right. The moment Nate
approached the group of federal agents, they asked if he wanted to
sit in during the questioning. Of course, he said yes.

He was doing it for Janelle.

The uneasy feeling stayed with him the
entire drive to the station, right until he walked into the tiny
room and saw Ginger Pearson sitting huddled in a metal chair. She
looked terrible, even worse than the last time he saw her, nothing
like Janelle. How had he confused the two of them in the first
place?

“I want to make sure you’re aware you’re
participating in this interview without a lawyer present. And
you’ve already been read your rights. Is that correct?” One of the
agents asked as precaution, and for the recorder that taped the
entire conversation.

A shaky sigh escaped her. “Yes, I
understand. There’s nothing a lawyer could do for me anyway.”

“Ginger.” Everyone looked at Nate when he
said her name and he took a deep breath. He needed to say
something, warn her before they started questioning her
extensively. “It would be in your best interest to have a lawyer
with you.”

The agents glared at him, but he didn’t
care. He had to protect her for Janelle’s sake.

“I can’t afford one,” she admitted, her
voice small, her gaze on her lap.

“Janelle will help you.”

She looked up at him, her gaze dry, her lips
drawn thin. “I don’t know...”

“I’ll call her,” Nate offered and one of the
agents groaned out loud.

“Don’t fuck this up,” another one muttered
under his breath, shooting daggers at him with his eyes.

“You shouldn’t be questioning her alone when
she’s in this state,” Nate said, shaking his head. “She’s in shock.
She just watched her boyfriend kill himself.”

A sob escaped Ginger and she covered her
face with her hands, her shoulders shaking.

“Thanks a lot, Banks,” another one
mumbled.

But Nate didn’t give a damn. He went to
Ginger and offered her an awkward hug, then pulled out his phone.
He needed to protect Ginger for Janelle’s sake.

More than anything, he needed Janelle to
forgive him.

Janelle sat huddled in bed, the covers
wrapped around her chilled body. Trying to concentrate on the
mindless TV show blaring at her, but she couldn’t focus.

The memory of Billy holding the gun against
her sister’s head made her tremble. When he shot himself in front
of everyone? That particular image was burned in her brain for the
rest of her life.

Going to work had been a nightmare. She’d
walked around most of the day like a zombie, unable to concentrate.
Her far too perceptive boss noticed and asked if the upcoming fund
raiser was worrying her. Jumping at the easy excuse, Janelle
readily blamed it on the Fashion for Passion event and Marnie left
her alone.

Her friend Theresa though, had her all
figured out.

“I saw you on the news last night.” She’d
stood by Janelle’s desk, a solemn expression on her face.

“What?” Janelle’s jaw had dropped open and
her cheeks had burned with embarrassment. She’d forgotten about the
media vans swarming the parking lot. Of course, they’d made the
news. The story was chock full of drama.

God, maybe Marnie had seen the broadcast
too. She didn’t want to know.

“That drug dealer killing himself and your
sister being arrested? You were held hostage by him in a
restaurant? They mentioned your name, though I didn’t see a picture
of you. Well, I did see a mug shot of your sister. Ginger? Was that
really about you?”

Janelle had watched her friend carefully,
saw nothing but concern in her kind eyes. Maybe she wouldn’t judge
her. Maybe she would offer acceptance instead of turning her
away.

“Yes. Ginger is my sister.” Janelle had
whispered the words with a miserable sigh.

Theresa had been full of sympathy, hugging
her close and asking why she’d bothered coming to work. Janelle had
blown it off, told Theresa she was fine and she needed to be there.
Too much was going on and it was all her responsibility.

She’d also begged Theresa not to breathe a
word of it to anyone.

Nate had called her last night, just before
they started questioning Ginger, asking if she would help pay for a
lawyer. She’d readily agreed, he’d thanked her and promptly hung
up. He hadn’t let her talk to Ginger either, let her stew in her
worry for the rest of the night.

A representative from the DEA had called as
well, demanding she come in to give a statement. She’d gone in
before she started work, a quick and painless half hour of
carefully constructed questions. She’d asked about Ginger, but they
hadn’t offered much information beyond her still being held at the
county jail.

It had been enough information to crush her
heart.

Monday night, and still no word from Ginger.
She was worried sick. Did she confess all so they could go forward
with the charges against her? It was eating her up inside, driving
her crazy. If she had her mom’s phone number, she would’ve called
her but Janelle had no idea where she was.

So she spent the evening desperate and
alone. Oh, Theresa had offered her to come over after work but
Janelle refused. She didn’t want to dump her major problems on
someone else. It was difficult enough, revealing the basic details
to her friend, let alone all the scary crazy stuff Janelle really
needed to get off her chest.

How she wished she could talk to Nate. He
would understand, would hold her and let her cry. She rarely cried
but she’d let the tears fall constantly the last twenty-four
hours.

She was still too unsure where their
relationship stood though. And his recent behavior was pointing
directly to her suspicions. Now he had her sister where he wanted
her, he wasn’t calling. He wasn’t coming around.

As if he might be through with her.

A light knock sounded on her door and
Janelle sat up with a gasp. Pushing out of bed, she padded toward
the front door, peering through the peephole to see who stood on
her doorstep.

Ginger. She couldn’t believe it.

Throwing open the door, Janelle dragged her
inside, pulling her sister into her arms. They stood in front of
the open door, holding each other in silence. Wetness touched her
shoulder and Janelle knew her sister was crying.

Which made her cry a little, too.

Finally gathering her wits, Janelle released
Ginger, slamming the door shut and locking it tightly. “Why didn’t
you call me? When did they release you?”

“About an hour ago. One of the detectives
gave me money for a taxi and told me to come straight here.” Ginger
set her purse on the arm of the couch. “I’m exhausted.”

“I can’t believe they kept you in jail the
entire time.” Janelle was horrified.

“No, it was nothing like that. They started
in on me when they brought me in, but that detective, the one who
gave me the taxi money, he took care of me. Nate. Once I got the
lawyer, they questioned me all night long.” Ginger shook her head.
“They let me take a break so I could sleep on a small couch in a
conference room for a while. But then they woke me up and made me
start all over again. They sure are persistent.”

Janelle grew wistful. It touched her that
Nate had been involved in her sister’s questioning, protecting
Ginger, watching out for her. She reached for her sister, rubbing
her shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Ginger released a shuddering breath. “Not
really. I’ve done enough talking to last a lifetime. I’d love to
crawl into bed and sleep for the next twenty four hours.” She
paused, her gaze meeting Janelle’s. “Thanks for helping me. For the
lawyer. For everything.”

“Of course.” Janelle offered a shaky
smile.

“Nate bailed me out. They set my bail and he
paid for it.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe he did
that.”

Janelle’s mouth dropped open. She couldn’t
believe it either.

“He’s nice. He said he knows you. Are you
friends or something?”

“More like ‘or something’,” Janelle mumbled,
her mind a tumble of confused thoughts, all of them involving Nate.
“Come on.”

They went to Janelle’s bedroom and she
pulled out a pair of short pajamas from her dresser, handing them
to Ginger. “Take a shower, change into these and then let’s crash.
You can sleep with me tonight.”

“Like old times?” Ginger took the clothes
from her.

“Like old times,” Janelle agreed with a nod.
They’d shared many a bed in their youth, usually due to the fact
their mother couldn’t afford to provide each of them their own.

It had made them crazy then, but it had also
drawn them closer. Something Janelle didn’t regret now.

Ginger started for the bathroom but then
stopped and turned. “I’m going to end up in jail, Janelle. And I
want you to know I’m okay with it. I need to face facts that the
stuff I did for Billy, it was wrong.”