Tangled Hearts (12 page)

“The bathroom is yours,” Brianna said as she came into the kitchen the next morning. She refused to look at Jake, though she could see he wore a shirt this morning. She'd packed her bag and set it by the front door. Her jacket and hat were on top. She was ready to leave as soon as they finished eating.

Operating on autopilot, she refused to dwell on anything. She had her whole future to think. Today she just wanted to get home.

She went through the motions of cooking oatmeal, setting the table and pouring the coffee as if in a trance. She only had a little longer, then she’d be free. Free of the need to watch every word, every gesture, lest she give herself away. Free of the constant hunger to touch him, listen to him, look at him. Free of the heartache that threatened to drown her.

Hearing the shower, she paused for a moment as she realized sadly their time of playing house was coming to an end. However brief, for the most part it had been interesting. She drew out the list of items she’d made and set it at his place. Whether he implemented her ideas or not, she no longer cared. She wouldn't be coming back to the cabin.

They were silent as Jake drove back to Texarkana. The highway had been cleared and they made good time. He pulled up before her house and turned off the engine.

“Let me go in first to check things out to make sure the place is secure,” he said, opening his door.

She nodded, then alighted. Reaching for her bag, she gave him her key. Her chin held high, she led the way up the snowy walk. She’d have to shovel it later. It would give her something to do.

Opening the door, Jake walked in while Brianna stood to one side, waiting. His sweep was brief. He returned and paused beside her. “No sign of any unlawful entry,” he said formally.

“Thank you, Officer. I appreciate your help.” She stepped inside and pushed the door shut. He caught it before it closed all the way and held it a moment.

“I’ll pick you up in the morning and take you to the college. When your car’s ready, I’ll give you a ride to pick it up.”

“That’s not necessary, but thank you. I have friends—”

“I’ll pick you up in the morning.” His hard tone brooked no refusal.

She swallowed. “Very well.” Pushing on the door this time shut it. She stood for a long moment, listening as he started his car and drove away.

Fortunately, she had plenty to do. It kept thought at bay. She worked on lesson plans, shoveled the walk and visited briefly with her neighbors. Life had returned to normal.

The next morning, Brianna stood at her front window, watching the street. She and Jake hadn't set a time when he would come, yet she knew he’d be there early enough for her first class. He was too good a police officer to have let something like her class schedule slip past an investigation.

She wondered what else he’d uncovered in trying to solve this case. He couldn’t know she didn’t date since he kept trying to find out who she was seeing. Why? Did he really suspect a love affair gone bad might be behind these break-ins as retaliation or was he simply curious?

When his car pulled to a stop in front of her house, she put on her coat, gathering her briefcase, she let herself out of the house. He opened the passenger door for her.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.” She could be as formal as he. The drive to the university took less than five minutes. He circled the wide circle that was the center of the campus and came to a halt before the Thompson Building. She glanced at him before opening the door, not meeting his eyes, her gaze on his chin. “Thank you for the ride.”

“Your car will be ready at two. I’ll pick you up and take you over.”

“I can—”

“Don’t argue, Brie. Just do as you’re told.”

“Let me tell you, Jake Morgan, I do as I please, not as some bossy cop tells me.”

He ran his fingers through his hair and glared at her. “I didn’t sleep worth a damn last night. I’ve a million things to do. If I take time to come pick you up to take you to get your car, you had better be waiting right here!” He leaned over her, almost shouting in his frustration.

“And there's no reason for you to do that. I have friends who can take me. I don't need to add to your million things to do!”

He took a calming breath and clenched his jaw. She could see the tightness.

“Never mind. Thank you. I’ll be waiting right here at two.”

She hopped out of the car and slammed the door. Waiting as he accelerated away, she turned and headed for her office. Why hadn’t he slept last night? And if he were so inconvenienced at having to chauffeur her somewhere, why not let someone else do it? She had friends who would be glad to give her a lift. She needn’t rely on him.

Shaking her head, she started up the steps. Since her office was on the third floor, she liked taking the stairs as a form of exercise. They flanked the ends of the U-shaped building. The windows at each landing were open in the stairwell, which did nothing to keep the wind out. Each floor had a heavy door that handled that task.

Running up the first flight, Brianna was so busy thinking about Jake she didn’t at first see the other person in the stairwell. Suddenly he was in front of her, pushing against her, yanking her briefcase. She staggered, scraped her head against the concrete wall, lost her balance, then fell down the stairs, bumping every one as she tried her best to stop her fall.

She came to rest in a heap at the landing. Her wrist hurt, her head burned and her ankle throbbed. Gingerly she sat up. Wincing as she pulled some muscles, she reached up and found blood on her forehead.

She couldn't hear a thing. No footsteps, no one appeared to still be in the stairwell.

Someone had had pushed her! And stolen her briefcase!

Trying to stand, she groaned and sank back to the floor. Her ankle hurt too much to bear any weight.

Hearing some voices outside, she called for help. Thankfully two students arrived in seconds.

Brianna sat alone in the cubicle at the county hospital’s emergency room, her legs dangling over the edge of the examination table, when she heard Jake’s voice. The scrape on her head had been cleaned, treated and covered with a bandage. Her wrist and ankle, both sprained, had been x-rayed. Her foot was in a walking cast and her arm was wrapped in Ace bandage.

She'd answered all the questions the campus police had asked and now awaited someone from that department to take her home. Her department head had been notified and arranged to cover her classes if she wasn't able to be there when they started again.

She counted the seconds from the time she first heard his voice until he found her. Eight. Pretty good. But then, she'd known he was good.

“What the hell happened?”

Jake burst into the cubicle like a bull in a raging temper. The waves of frustration and anger radiated from him like steam from a hot spring. His badge was clipped to his coat, his hair wind-tossed and his eyes narrowed and lethal. She shivered, glad she wasn’t the focal point of that dangerous look.

“Someone wanted my briefcase, I guess,” she said. “Maybe that’s what they wanted all along. Maybe the break-ins will stop now.”

“Are you all right?” His voice tempered. He leaned over her, his fingers gently brushing near the bandage on her forehead. Gently he pushed her hair behind her ear. Some of it was still matted with blood, though the nurse had tried her best to clean it when cleaning the scrape.

“I will be fine.” She swallowed hard, blinking to keep tears away. She longed to reach out for comfort, to have him hold her and keep her safe. Taking a shaky breath, she tried to smile.

“Hell, Brie, I said I’d keep you safe and look what happened.” The anger was leashed, his voice soft and gentle.

“It’s hardly your fault,” she said, reaching out to touch his shoulder, the tactile feel of his coat anchoring her. Who was offering comfort to whom? she wondered.

“I should have walked you to your office,” he muttered.

“Oh, come on, Jake, be reasonable. Are you going to shadow me all the livelong day? You delivered me to my office building. No one could predict he’d try something like this. Every other incident has been against my property. He did bump me, but if I hadn’t lost my balance, I might not have fallen. It happened so fast, I couldn’t react. By the time I realized what was happening, I was already at the bottom of the steps.”

He looked over her, touched her wrist lightly. “Anything broken?”

She shook her head, then winced as it throbbed. “No, just a few scrapes and bruises. And a sprained wrist and ankle. I’ll be fine in a few weeks. Really.”

“What was in your briefcase?” The switch from concerned friend to official cop was instant.

“Nothing important. Lesson plans. God, I can’t believe I have to do some of them over again. This is getting ridiculous.”

“There had to be more than lesson plans. Think.”

The curtain to the cubicle slid open and a young resident entered. “Is this your ride home, Professor?” he asked, eyeing Jake suspiciously.

Brianna looked at Jake, her eyebrows raised questioningly.

“Yes, I’m taking her home. Any instructions?” Jake asked.

“We went through them a few minutes ago. She should stay off that foot for the next couple of days. Then she can walk on it as she feels comfortable, providing she wears the support. We’ve already scheduled a follow-up appointment.”

A nurse arrived pushing a wheelchair. Before anyone could move, Jake lifted Brianna and placed her in the chair. “I’ll take care of her and see she follows your orders,” he said gruffly.

Who says? she wanted to ask, but prudently kept quiet. There would be time to deal with a bossy Jake after they left the hospital.

The nurse assisted her into the car, and collapsed the wheel chair and let him put it in the back of the jeep.

“It's on loan. Since you can't use crutches because of your wrist, and the doctor's adamant you keep off that foot, I arranged to borrow the wheel chair.”

“I have two steps up into my house,” she commented, feeling a bit groggy and still disoriented.

“We'll manage.” He drove her home, took her keys and opened her door, then returned to the car and lifted her out.

“I can use the chair they gave me, hop up the two steps. Put me down. I weigh too much.”

“You’re not heavy. I think you’ve lost weight over the past couple of years. You should eat more.”

“I eat plenty. Put me down.” Her arm encircled his neck and even through the bulky clothing, she could feel the strength of his chest and arms. She longed to rest her head against his shoulder, longed to give up and let him take care of her, if only for today.

“I'll put you down when we get inside.” He walked through the house and directly into the bedroom. Depositing her gently on the bed, he helped her remove her coat and remaining shoe. Drawing a knitted afghan over her, he stood and looked around.

He’d seen the room before, of course, when checking out her place. But now he thought about it being her bedroom. A glance at the big bed and he instantly wondered when she had acquired it and why.

A single woman living alone didn’t really need a queen-size bed. But that was the thing—had she always been alone?

Not liking the trend of his thoughts, he looked at Brianna. She was watching him, a puzzled expression on her face.

“I have to check in at the station, then go home and get a few things. I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” he said. “I'll stop at your neighbors and see if she can sit with you. Do you need anything before I go?”

“You’re coming back? What for? Martha will be glad to help me. She won’t mind.”

“I’m staying here until you're mobile.”

“No!”

“Don’t argue.”

“Jake, you can’t stay here. I don’t have another bedroom.” Her mind was scrambled. There had to be other reasons why he couldn’t stay.

“I’ll sleep in the living room.”

“That sofa is hardly big enough for someone your size.”

“I’ll manage. Rest until I get back. I bet those pain pills the doctor gave you are kicking in about now.”

She did feel like she was floating, but still had to make herself clear.

“I don’t need you to come back. I have neighbors—”

“I’ve already taken the time off. Might as well stay here as at the cabin. If we’d stayed there, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“I do have a job,” she said.

“What was in your briefcase?” he asked again.

“You keep asking that.”

“I’m trying to find a reason that makes sense for all this.”

The only reason he was back in her life was because of the recent events. Once he solved the case, would she ever see him again?

“So far nothing has made any sense. I had my attendance book for all my fall classes. My calendar for the spring semester.” She paused in thought. “An outline of a journal article I’m doing. An invitation to a faculty tea honoring a new professor in the computer science department.” She closed her eyes, trying to remember everything that had been in her briefcase. She was so concerned about the lost lesson plans that she had difficulty remembering the other items. “Let me think…the mail I picked up last Thursday from my box but hadn’t read. You wouldn’t let me take work with me to the cabin, remember? And I didn’t get to it yesterday. And then my lesson plans—or the start of them anyway.”

He frowned, frustrated. “Why would anyone want any of it? Is the article about some breakthrough?”

“Not really, just a different adaptation on an already much-discussed theorem. It’ll get me some brownie points with the higher-ups, but it’s certainly not worth stealing. Besides, if anyone used it, we’d know instantly who the culprit was.”

“The campus police said you didn’t recognize the assailant.”

“No, he was tall, taller than I am anyway. He wore a ski mask, a dark blue jacket and dark jeans. It all happened so fast, I didn’t notice anything more.”

“You’re a bright woman. You must have something someone wants—or wanted if he got what he was after today. Think about it while I’m gone.”