Swept Away (29 page)

“What about John?”

She laughed. “What? You think he'll be jealous?”

“Don't be stupid.”

“Don't
you.
You're all hot. You need a partner.”

He turned around in his chair and looked at her hard, right in the eyes. “Are you
sure?
”

“I am sure. Annoyed, but sure.”

“We don't have time to pack a lot. You have to be fast.”

“Just book two,” she said again.

The sergeant's door opened. “Hey, you two. Thought you might want to know, they changed destinations. They're not going to Florida. They're going to St. Martin.”

“Shit,” the detectives said in unison.

sixteen

Jennifer had a brief moment of satisfaction when she came face-to-face with Lou and his eyes widened in shock. Yes, she wanted to say, it's me. Fooled ya.

She was warned, very sternly, that if she made any trouble at the airport, she would deeply regret it. In fact, Nick said, “You'd better act like this was an answer to your prayers—that you're so happy to see me, you're beside yourself, or there's gonna be hell to pay.”

So she laughed at his attempts at humor, smiled when he asked her if there was anything she needed, held his hand and hid the surprise from her face when she recognized the very suitcase and hang-up bag she had brought to Las Vegas three months earlier.

But the biggest shock of all waited on the jet. “Oh, my God,” Barbara Noble shrieked. “You did
not
bring your chippy on this plane!”

“This is a nightmare,” Jennifer said, rubbing her forehead between her thumb and forefinger.

“Tell me about it,” said Nick.

“Only you, Nick,” Jennifer said. Talk about major balls in a minor body.

“I swear to
God,
Nick, you're going to pay for this!” Barbara shouted.

He took long, hard strides with those short, thick little legs and whispered something in her ear that made her smile and say, “Ooh,” with a great deal of satisfaction. And Jennifer thought,
Swell. He's going to push me out over New Mexico.

She watched out the window in vain, hoping to see police cars or unmarked federal vehicles roaring up to the plane, though she didn't know what in the world she would do if they did. She'd have to pretend this was what she wanted, or her friends might pay the ultimate price. So she sat in her seat, put on her seat belt and did as she was told. Barbara Noble, with a superior smirk, just kept staring at her from the other side of the cabin.

As they taxied out and took off, Jennifer felt her eyes well with tears. She had been so close! She had almost believed there was a happy ending for her after all! She kept her eyes focused out the window; it was one thing to let Nick see her cry, she'd be damned if Barbara would.

She had no one to blame but herself. This is what happens when you get involved with someone like Nick Noble; when you get involved for all the wrong reasons. She looked at Barbara and wondered, what were her reasons? Had she loved him once? Was it affection or possessiveness that caused her jealous rages? Or just plain greed?

Barbara was a beautiful woman, just a few years older than Jennifer. She had dark ebony hair, pale skin and flashing green eyes. But unhappiness caused her to look hard. She took out her compact, flipped it open and ran her index finger over the rise of her cheek. She pressed her lips together, blotting them, then patted her dark, shiny hair, almost in affection, in a gesture that Jennifer recognized from her own very recent past.

Her glance moved to Nick. He was watching her.

Without asking her if she'd like anything to eat or drink, the flight attendant brought her a champagne cocktail. She looked across the cabin at Nick. “Lighten up, baby. It's a long flight.”

She took the cocktail and thanked the attendant. She took a sip. Only the very best, but this gave her no pleasure now.

She could feel the plane level off at their cruising altitude and heard Nick's seat belt buckle open. He went to the front of the plane where Lou and Jesse were strapped into their seats. The cabin attendant, meanwhile, opened the closet and pulled out Jennifer's suitcase and hang-up. She brought them to her, lying the hang-up on the chaise longue beside her.

She didn't understand. Nick, from the front of the plane, called out to her. “Find something in there to put on. Something that makes you look like a girl.”

“I'm... I'm fine,” she said, declining.

He stomped toward her. “We gonna argue about this?”

“What do you care?” she asked.

“I care because you look like a boy and you smell like a pork chop. Now, find something to wear.”

Resignedly, she got out of her seat. She opened the suitcase and knelt in front of it. She lifted the lid and the scent of her expensive perfume wafted upward. Everything was just as she had left it—neatly folded stacks of expensive, lacy thongs and bras, blouses, shells, slacks, thin silky sweaters, snugly fitting capris. She found her toiletries, makeup, jewelry case and her now perfectly useless mousse and hair dryer. She looked inside the hang-up for something comfortable and not terribly sexy and ended up with a lightweight black knit pantsuit. Under her neatly folded clothes were her shoes, all the heels much too high. One thing missing from her belongings—her cell phone. Naturally.

She took a stack of toiletries, makeup, belts, bracelets and clothes to the lavatory. At least in the private jet there was plenty of room for changing. This transformation would be impossible in a commercial jet.

As she traded her shirt and jeans for this expensive, soft and silky pantsuit, she remembered too clearly the last big change she'd made, and how it had made her cry. But then it was more out of fear than disappointment that she wept. The tears that threatened now were wrought of a breaking heart. She didn't want to be that woman again! She had grown so comfortable in her own skin.

Would Nick let her go? Would Alex be waiting? Would he believe what she'd told Rose—that she was just going home for a while, that she'd be back soon? If Alex believed that, maybe he'd just wait around. But for how long?

The top was low cut, but not the lowest she had in the suitcase. She put on silver bangles, a silver pendant that hung from a black cord just above her breasts, and a black-and-silver belt that hung low on her hips and fastened with a big silver hook. She was in no mood for makeup, or the heels for that matter, but if there was one thing she had learned, it was best not to disappoint Nick. He was as tenacious as a bulldog at getting what he wanted.

When she exited the restroom, he was standing there with a drink in his hand and a smile on his lips. “Better,” he said. “Much better.”

She held the discarded jeans and polo. He took them from her and handed them to the cabin attendant. “Get rid of these,” he told her. Then, taking Jennifer's hand, led her back to her seat. He looked between Barbara and Jennifer. “The two of youse is pretty damn good-looking,” he said.

Barbara groaned and turned her face away, looking out the window. Jennifer just stared at him in awe. What was this? Did he think he was going to have a harem now?

* * *

The flight seemed longer than usual and they had flown over water for quite a while. They were obviously not going to Fort Lauderdale as the cabin attendant had originally announced. But this was typical of Nick, to change plans on a whim. He enjoyed watching people jump around to keep him happy.

Four hours into the flight, Nick finally went to the front of the cabin. He talked to his boys for a minute, then stood in the cockpit doorway to talk to the pilots. Jennifer crossed the cabin to Barbara's side of the plane and sat on the end of the chaise beside her. Barbara was lazily filing a nail.

“Look, Barbara, I don't want to be here.”

“Oh? And you think I do?”

She was a little surprised. “That's what I assumed.”

“Shouldn't make assumptions, little girl.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“The same as you. Enjoying the pleasure of his company. Or that of one of his boys. Twenty-four-seven.”

Jennifer sat back, frowning as she tried to comprehend this. “Since when?”

“Since March.”

“So you
have
been out of the country. At spas, in Costa Rica, on a cruise...”

“How would you know that?” she asked.

“I was trying to find you. I thought he killed you and hid your body!”

A look of shock passed over Barbara's features just before melting into laughter. She laughed a little at first and then laughed harder until it verged on hysteria. “No kidding? You were trying to find out if I was
dead?
”

“Shh,” she warned. “We don't need him back here.”

“What made you think I was
dead?
”

“That day. That fight. I snuck back into the suite. Nick was in the shower and you were facedown on the bed. You looked dead to me.”

“Oh, that,” she said. “Let me give you some advice. Never take a drink Lou has fixed for you.”

“I saw blood. I thought—”

“Bloody nose,” she said.

“You hit him in the face?”

“No, I didn't hit him in the face,” she replied, sarcasm dripping. “He just started gushing. It was disgusting. I think his blood pressure got so high, he sprang a leak.”

“Oh. Pushed some buttons, did you?”

She laughed a little. “I'd say so.”

“That tax record stuff?”

Now Barbara looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

“He said you threatened to turn his records over to the IRS to get him into trouble for tax evasion.”

Her smile was slow and mocking. “God, he is such a liar.”

“You didn't do that?”

“I threatened to turn him into the FBI for fraud and money laundering.”

“You can prove that?”

Her eyes lifted to look over Jennifer's head. Nick stood behind her. “Isn't it nice,” he said, “that my girls are getting along so good?”

* * *

When the plane landed, Jennifer recognized the airport. She'd been here with him before—the island of St. Martin. One of the most beautiful places on the planet. Under any other circumstances, she might have really enjoyed this. Nick had a big place on the beach, fully staffed and luxurious, and every bit as gorgeous as a resort. But it looked very much as if he was planning to keep her prisoner, along with Barbara. He handed her her passport and told her to behave herself. “Don't make any trouble for me.” And after they cleared Customs, he took it back.

She didn't say anything. Barbara might have the goods on him, but she didn't. She had absolutely no idea what kind of illegal activities he'd been involved in, as she had already told the FBI.

They were taken to the house, a ten-thousand-square-foot beach house surrounded on three sides by a ten-foot wall and on the remaining side by the sea. The sky was bright blue, the weather warm and balmy, and the house a big glittering gem with an enormous pool. It appeared as though a person could just walk away from this rich and lavish prison.

She went to her room, the same room she'd had on previous visits. The door remained unlocked and she sat on her balcony, staring at the sea. There was a knock at the door; a maid brought her a glass of lemonade and some fresh towels. It was surreal—that he should bring her here against her will and yet do nothing to try to keep her from leaving. She toyed with the idea of walking down the beach until she came to the road. But she had no shoes for walking.

She wandered around the house for a while, found the staff at work. There was meal preparation going on in the kitchen, the dining table was being laid, and to all appearances Mr. Noble was visiting for a little vacation.

She decided to walk right into the lion's den. She found him at a poolside table, wearing his terry robe, chewing on a cigar, his phone handy and briefcase open. She sat down. “Nick, you can keep me here against my will by threatening my friends, but things are not going to be the way they were between us.”

He smiled. “What? No jewelry? No money for shopping? What?”

“I'm not your girlfriend anymore.”

“Aw, baby, you'll come around.”

“I don't know what you want from me.”

His fist hit the glass tabletop. “I want you under wraps until my people get my business straightened out! Then you can do whatever the hell you want.”

She never flinched. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Maybe you do, maybe you don't.”

“Nick! What do you
mean?
”

“Don't be cute. One of the things I like about you is that you're smart. Maybe too smart. So, we'll have a nice little vacation until the coast is clear.”

She leaned forward. “Is that why you've kept Barbara with you for three months? Till you can tidy up your tax records? So if she talks, she'll be too late?”

He looked into his briefcase, shuffled some papers, stuck the cigar back in his mouth. “Something like that...”

She laughed. “Nick. Three months?”

He made eye contact with her again. Not happy eye contact. “Yeah. It's been a real picnic.”

“I'll bet,” she laughed. “So—how long you think this will take?”

“Not so long. And is this place so bad? You think you can stand this?” he asked, waving a hand.

“Let me call my friend Rose so I can tell her I'm all right and make sure she's all right.”

The hand holding the cigar dropped to the tabletop and he looked at her curiously. “You're really into these people.”

“They were awful good to me. I landed in that town with nothing but the clothes on my back.”

He pointed the cigar at her. “What'd you do with the hair?”

“Left it in a crappy motel behind a railroad track.”

He sucked on the cigar again. “I can't believe you were that scared of me. What ever made you think I could kill someone?” He reached across the table and gently stroked her arm. “You really think that of me? I know I'm a little rough around the edges, but baby...”

“I don't know. All of a sudden I was terrified. I really thought you'd done it.”

He puffed some smoke. “Yeah? Well I shoulda. She's a giant pain in the ass.”

“Three months?” she repeated. “Oh, Nick.”

“Tell me about it.”

She glanced over her shoulder and saw Barbara standing in the doorway. She was dressed in a lovely silver caftan, scowling blackly. She had seen her husband toying with his mistress, or so she thought. She whirled around and went back into the house.